Government defends hike in fee at RCC

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hike in the fee structure of medical PG courses offered by the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) here has evoked mixed response. While a section of doctors allege that the increase would hamper the chances of many eligible candidates, the government made it clear that the institution could not provide subsidised treatment facilitates to poor patients without this hike. The decision to increase the annual fee from Rs 1,30,000 to Rs 3,00,000 was taken by the Executive Committee of this self-governing institution, headed by Health Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan. Later, the Governing Council with Chief Minister as chairman and Health Minister as Secretary has also given its approval for the hike. Though there was opposition to the move to increase the fee, the meeting finally endorsed the stand taken by the Health Secretary that the institution could not continue its pro-poor activities without this hike. This is applicable to the new courses - MD Radiotherapy and MD Radio Diagnosis - and the courses started last year; DM Medical Oncology and Mch Surgical Oncology, said a PG student of the RCC.“The fee in the RCC is almost twenty times that of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), which is situated on the same compound,’’ he said. (See box). ‘’Unlike many other institutions, the funding of the RCC is done through   grants. We are providing treatment to the BPL category patients in a subsidised manner and we cannot compromise on this. The students have to pay the amount incurred for their studies. Further more, the stipend per month to each student will add up to an amount equal to the fee,’’ Rajeev Sadanandan said.“We don’t feel anything bad about the governments decision,’’ said Dr O Vasudevan, KGMOA president.