Fee hike protested
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 22 2025: Demanding rollback of a steep hike in fees, the Resident Doctors Association of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences staged a sit-in protest at JNIMS Hospital complex and suspended nonemergency services at the hospital.

The fees were hiked from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for a three-year course without any corresponding raise in their stipend.

The protest demonstration and suspension of elective services were launched yesterday.

Speaking by the sideline of today's protest, Dr Kh Anand Meitei, president of Resident Doctors Association, JNIMS and a 3rd year PG student, said that PG students have suspended OPD and ward services since yesterday.

However, emergency services are still available, he added.

Addressing the substantial raise in fees, he said that till February 2022, the total fees charged for their three-year course was Rs 1 lakh with Rs 50,000 for the 1st year and Rs 25,000 each for the 2nd and 3rd year.

However, without any prior notice, JNIMS authority hiked the fees in October of 2022.According to the new fee structure, Rs I lakh each was charged for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year, amounting to a total of Rs 3 lakh for the 3 year course.

The fees have been hiked by Rs 2 lakh, said Dr Kh Anand Meitei.

The students have been requesting JNIMS authority to review the fees since February, 2025.Expressing frustration over the hike in fees, Dr Kh Anand Meitei said that the medical students at JNIMS have all been selected by the Government based on merit.

Many of them hail from underprivileged backgrounds.

If the students wanted to pay such steep fees, they would have opted for private institutions.

The difference in fees charged by Government and private medical colleges are becoming negligible, he said.

He added that the association will continue their protest until the fee hike is rolled back.

The protestors held placards with slogans such as "Education is a right, not a luxury", "Support students, not profits," "Reduce fees, raise stipend" and "They say hike, we say strike", among others.

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