Dehradun: Medical College Protest Against Fees Hike

New Delhi: The two-day-old protest by fifth-year MBBS students of Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, in Dehradun, against a massive fees hike turned violent on Wednesday when a group of outsiders entered the campus and attacked them.

The 2018 batch students, whose parents too have joined the protest, alleged that the attackers arrived in an ambulance, attacked them and destroyed a tent under which they were protesting since Monday. The attackers were hired by the college administration as institute officials didn’t intervene, they further alleged.

A video of the incidentcirculated on social media shows a mob of men and women assaulting the students, from the 2018 batch, and destroying the tent. According to the students, several female students sustained injuries and were taken to the Doon District Hospital for treatment.

A protesting female student requesting anonymity told Newsclick that a group of “around 30-40 men and women entered the campus and began assaulting the students”. When she tried to stop the attackers from tearing down the tent, she was punched in the face and started bleeding from her mouth, the student alleged.

“The police and the college principal were present but did not intervene. Other female students were similarly targeted,” she further alleged.

According to aMarch 1notice sent by the medical college, the fees for fifth-year state and management quota students would be hiked from Rs 4lakh per annum to Rs 9.78 lakh and from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 13.2 lakh, respectively. Students who had already paid for the last four years would have to pay the revised feesfor that period plus this year’s fees.

According to the notice, therevised fees for state and management quota students would total Rs 26 lakh and Rs 36.9 lakh, respectively. Failure to pay the revised fees at the earliest would disqualify students from starting internships, which were scheduled to begin on March 9, the notice reads.

Another fifth-year student requesting anonymity said that the decision was “a sudden and unexpected shock for both the students and their families”. 

“Most of us are from modest backgrounds and have taken educational loans to become doctors. When we enrolled in 2018, the fees was still manageable but a hike of 144% is a massive burden. It is unjustified,” he told Newsclick.

College PRO Bhupendra Raturi told a local news channel that theprotest is illegal. “The student demonstration after the fees was fixed by the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee is illegal.”

The parents of the protesting students have decided to approach the High Court (HC) after a recent meeting with college officials, who said the revised fees should be paid, at least, partially for internship.

One of the protesting student’s mother told Newsclick over the phone that “her family would not be able to afford the increased fees and protesting is the only option”.

“After the college administration refused to negotiate during the meeting, we decided to file a petition in the High Court to challenge the decision. Our immediate priority is internshipas the students are losing valuable time,” she said.

Newsclick has copies of the notice and emails sent by the college administration to the students regarding fees payment and the consequences of non-payment. The administration has also instructed the students to vacate the hostel.

In 2018, a similar protest was held at the college when the MBBS fees was increased by 300% with the parents and students seeking the HC’s intervention.

Raturi was unavailable for comment.