In India, not only private but also many government medical colleges now have fees for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the millions. This is one of the main reasons why many seats in private medical colleges remain vacant each year. To fill these vacant PG seats, the government has reduced the cutoff percentile for admissions rather than controlling the fee,and this decision has landed the government into a huge controversy which is not ending.Many medical associations are opposing this decision, and many medical  students have sought justice through the courts.

For the past several decades, a narrative has been created that the government has to spend millions to train a doctor. This may not be entirely true. If the government honestly calculates the expenses incurred on medical students, it is likely to be much lower than what is spent on engineering or science graduates. The amount spent on establishing and running an engineering or science college is entirely for the benefit of the institution's students. In contrast, a medical college and its affiliated hospital primarily serve patients. Except for some non-clinical subjects, almost all other departments in medical colleges dedicate around 80-90% of their time to patient care, leaving only 10-20% of their time for medical students. Medical education is, in fact, a byproduct of healthcare services, and the actual cost to the government is much lower. Charging medical students millions in fees is not only unjust but also unfortunate.

Private medical colleges have strict regulations imposed by the NMC, which they must adhere to, and this is the reason private medical colleges are allowed to charge exorbitant fees. However, the government and the NMC must understand that very few students in India can bear the burden of fees in millions, which is why the cutoff percentile for pg admissions  has been reduced to zero percentile. Whenever the price of a product or service goes beyond the reach of most citizens, regulatory bodies try to reduce the cost. But this does not happen in the case of medical seats. In 2022, when this matter went to court.At that time, the honorable court agreed with the government's decision to not to reduce the cutoff, stating that since the medical profession is closely related to the lives of ordinary citizens, compromising on the quality of doctors in a field related to life and death could wreck havoc especially when its related to the issue as important as PG admissions. 

The latest controversy  is actually an opportunity for policymakers to review the fee of medical seats.Exorbitant fee for MBBS and MD/MS admissions needs to be cut down so that there is no need to reduce cut off every year and the nation gets good quality doctors and specialists.