Govt mulls legislation to keep tab on pvt medical colleges

Puducherry government will soon bring in a legislation to ensure that private medical colleges adhered to directives of the government on collection tuition fees from those who were joining under government quota.
Stating this in reply to pleas made by opposition AIADMK, DMK and Congress during question time in the Assembly today, Chief Minister N Rangasamy said to keep a tab on private medical colleges the government had initiated steps to bring out a suitable legislation.
He said that this legislation would also take care that each of the seven private medical colleges earmarked 50 per cent of the total seats in MBBS course under government quota.

Earlier raising the issue of "exorbitant fees" being levied by the medical colleges after declaring themselves as "deemed universities", AIADMK's A Anbalagan said though the government was granting Rs 2.25 lakh per year per student joining medical education in private colleges under government quota, managements were levying about Rs 8 lakh for a seat.
Leader of the opposition V Vaithilingam and Theni C Jayakumar (both Congress), Anbalagan (AIADMK) and A M H Nazeem (DMK) said none of the private medical colleges earmarked 50 per cent of the seats in first MBBS course for government quota although this was a condition precedent governing them to start the institutions here.

Vaithilingam also wanted the government to declare that all the seats available in each of the medical colleges in Union Territory should be earmarked by managements for students of Union Territory only.

To another question, Rangasamy said he has been persuading the Centre to extend financial assistance to the territorial government to reopen the government owned AFT mill which remained closed for some years now.
Replying to the pleas by Congress and AIADMK members during question to initiate to steps, he said he had already written to the Centre seeking Rs 500 crores for reviving the mill. "We hope that our plea would evoke positive response" he told the members belonging to the opposition".

The Chief Minister also said that the government was also seeking permission of the Centre to sell the sprawling site belonging to the AFT mill in Pattanur village in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu. "We can use the sale proceeds to meet the commitment of the mill to pay the dues to the workers who had opted for voluntary retirement scheme", he said.