Govt claims Uttarakhand charging ‘lowest’ MBBS fee in country – Times of India

“For an MBBS course, in a government college, a student has to pay Rs 4 lakh per annum. Uttarakhand government has brought the fee down to Rs 1.45 lakh now. Those furnishing a bond to serve in the state for five years after the completion of course will have to pay only Rs 50,000 per year,” Uniyal said.

He added, “Previously, the lowest fee being charged from govt medical students was in Punjab, where a student had to pay Rs 1.50 lakh for the first year and thereafter, it was raised by 15 per cent per year for the remaining period of the course.”
The government spokesperson further added that a state team had studied the fee structure in other states and found that Punjab was charging the lowest amount in state medical colleges.

“Following which, we decided to lower the rates even further as it will be a major help to people pursuing the course,” the minister added.

Uttarakhand also offers the concept of submitting a “bond” to the medical students.

According to which, they are required to serve in the state for a period of five years after the completion of the course. The provisions of the bond mention that in the first year, the doctor will have to serve in a medical college. For the next two years, the doctor would be required to serve in a primary health centre in a remote location of Uttarakhand and thereafter, work in a district hospital or a hospital in a far-flung area for a period of two years.

Students submitting the bond will be required to pay an annual fee of Rs 50,000 for MBBS.

Earlier, all medical colleges of Uttarakhand had a provision of offering bonds to students and the fee charged was Rs 50,000 per year. However, during the tenure of Trivendra Singh Rawat, the norms were changed and the bond was offered only in medical colleges situated in the hills like Srinagar Medical College. However, making a change, the cabinet has now decided to offer the condition of bond in other medical colleges of the state like Doon Medical College and Haldwani Medical College.