The Bombay high court on Monday gave some relief to students by restarting the admission process to medical courses in Maharashtra but left them facing the prospect of high fees.

As against Rs 1.46 lakh last year, private colleges this year raised the fees to between Rs 3.50 and Rs 3.80 lakh causing unrest among students.

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Putting an end to the controversy over the proposed fee structure of private medical colleges in Maharashtra, it ordered authorities to accept only 60 per cent of the fees from the student community this year.

Hearing a state government plea on fixation of fees and extension of the time frame for admissions, Justice A P Shah and Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud said the balance fees would be adjusted next year once the exact amount was determined.

The exact amount would be arrived at by a committee, appointed by the state government in consultation with the high court, and headed by a retired judge, the court said.

On September 6, when the admission process was on at St Georges' Hospital, 327 students had staged a protest against the high fees prompting Medical Secretary G S Gill to assure that the state government would move the high court in this regard.

The court has now suggested that students be given an option to seek admission paying 60 per cent of the fees pending determination of the final amount. They would be called for admission on September 11.

The court also asked the government to subsidy students in the government quota (1,356 seats) in private medical colleges in the state. It suggested 100 per cent subsidy to 10 per cent of these students or 50 per cent subsidy to 20 per cent students.

The state government consented to bear the burden of Rs four crore to which the court said a formal order would be passed later.

For the remaining students, the court suggested that the state government formulate a scheme for providing soft loans with the help of cooperative and nationalised banks.

Meanwhile, the time frame for admissions has been extended from September 12 to 19.

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