For days, students of the Government Cuddalore Medical College located in Chidambaram have been protesting against the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, demanding that they be charged the same fees as students of other government medical colleges.
In January 2021, the Government of Tamil Nadu announced that the Rajah Mutthiah Medical College and Hospital (RMMCH) would henceforth function as the Government Medical College for Cuddalore district.
A Government Order (G.O.) was issued to transfer the medical institutions attached to Annamalai University – Rajah Muthiah Medical College, Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing and Rajah Muthiah Dental College – to the Health Department of the state.
Accordingly, its affiliation was changed from Annamalai University to Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.
However, the college did not align its fee structure and continued charge the same fees that it did when it was a private college for students who were admitted before the college was taken over by the government.
The Students of the college have been protesting asking for a change in fee structure on par with other government medical colleges since January 2021.
The DMK which was in opposition then, assured that the fee structure of the college would be changed once the party comes to power.
And the main leader who politicized the matter by instigating students with enticing words was none other DMK chief MK Stalin’s son – Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Udhayanidhi who is also the DMK’s Youth Wing Secretary had made back then met the students and extended his support back in December 2020.
Udhayanidhi also equated the matter with NEET saying training his guns on the AIADMK government.
In a tweet posted on January 21, 2021, he said “It pains to see the slaves (referring to the then AIADMK government) who had allowed NEET to enter and sabotaged medical dreams of many, is now putting poor students under pressure by making them pay high fees”.
This was just weeks before elections.
A few days later on January 26, he spoke to the students of the college through video conferencing emphasizing the same – the DMK government once elected to power will revise the fee structure.
Just a month before election, Udhayanidhi raked up the issue again stating that the AIADMK government continued to collect higher fees despite issuing a Government Order (GO) to revise the fee structure. “This is proof that the promise of the slaves (referring to AIADMK leaders) should only be written in water.”, he said.
He also tacitly instigated students and the parents to rise in protest against the government if the GO was not implemented from the immediate academic year.
It is almost going to be a year since the DMK government came to power and the fee structure of the Government Cuddalore Medical College has not been revised.
Despite the repeated attempts to milk students’ plight for politics, it is Udhayanidhi’s promise which seems to have been watered down.
The fee structure has been revised for only first year students. Now, the students of second, third and fourth years are protesting against the DMK government asking for the fees to be revised for them as well.
On 21st April 2022, the DMK government turned down the request to regulate the fees of Government Cuddalore Medical College.
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma. Subramanian while responding to a calling attention motion in the Assembly registered that the government would incur a loss of ₹300 crore if it regulated the fees for the college.
He said that the fee fixed during the admission process was usually not changed till the end of the course.
“This is because if the fee is reduced after the completion of the admission process, it would be an injustice to those who chose not to pursue admission in the college due to high fees earlier,” Mr. Subramanian said.
He also said that the State government had already incurred a loss of ₹119.88 crore by reducing the fees for first year students.
It is to be noted that the AIADMK government on 1st February 2021, issued a G.O. revising the fee structure for Rajah Muthiah Medical College, Rajah Muthiah Dental College and Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing.
As per the revised fee structure, MBBS students have to pay ₹13,160 a year as tuition fees; BDS students ₹11,610; and B.Sc. nursing students ₹5,000. The fee for postgraduate degrees is ₹30,000 a year, and for PG diploma, it is ₹20,000.
The DMK which had milked the students protests for its political mileage is now turning a blind eye to the protests undertaken by 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year medical students who have been demanding decrease in fees.
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