AYUSH students stuck in limbo over scholarship norms

Students, parents, and activists at directorate office. PIC/ADITI ALURKAR

Unable to gather the funds, many AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) students have no option but to drop their secured seats and reappear for the next admission round. According to the students, these colleges are demanding full fees upfront while promising a reimbursement once the government's scholarship comes through.

Of these, one Mumbai-based girl student was allegedly asked to pay R1.85 lakh upfront at the time of admission. Unable to secure the sum, the student chose to drop the seat and wait for the next admission round. "I applied to a private college for the Ayurveda course, and I was outright asked to pay the whole fees, despite being eligible for benefits created for female students. The college promised that they will pay us back once they receive government reimbursements, but we cannot gather the money at the moment. It will become difficult to persist if CAP 3 does not work out for me," she told mid-day.

CAP 3 refers to the Maharashtra State AYUSH UG CAP Round 3 counselling for students who are eligible for scholarships. Alisha Lokapalli, another 20-year-old student, who is eligible under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota, had applied for Unani course and was allotted a seat at a private college in Nasik. "I was asked to pay Rs 1.69 lakhs with additional hostel fees. My family and I are not able to pay the amount and need the scholarship. As a result, I have given up the seat, and I am banking on the next round," she said.

While being eligible for state and central scholarships, these pupils were allegedly asked to pay up to lakhs upfront by government, aided, minority, and private colleges around the city. Another 19-year-old student, Subhani Aripa, applied to an Ayurveda course (BAMS) at a Pune-based college. "The private college had no proper structure on the site and asked me to pay Rs 1.5 lakh as tuition fees with overhead hostel fees. Now I am waiting for the next round, since I could not afford the sum," she said.

Three more Mumbai-based girl students, who are eligible for scholarships, applied to a city college. "We were selected in the first round and were asked to pay over R1 lakh. The college is also charging exorbitant hostel fees, which begin at R36,000. While we have gathered the money from community trusts, we want to get the scholarship we were eligible for," a student told mid-day. Following this, a group of students and parents on Thursday approached the Directorate AYUSH to express their concerns.

Directorate AYUSH, Prof VD Raman Ghungralekar, told mid-day, "We noticed many such cases in the previous rounds too, which is why we held persistent meetings and inspections of all AYUSH colleges over the past month. Now, as the students approach us in the middle of the admission season, we are making on-the-spot calls and instructing the colleges to admit eligible students at the demarcated, subsidised fees. Taking the whole fee and then issuing a refund is a crime too. State Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif has extended support and asked us to be cognisant about such cases."

The directorate has already issued a notice to six Ayurveda and Unani colleges across the state for non-implementation of scholarship schemes, discriminatory and opaque fee structures, and charging exorbitant hostel and mess fees. Following the complaints, the directorate has set up a committee to visit the institutions and start an inquiry into the allegations made by the students.

"They [directorate] should also have a standardised table in place for private colleges. Once the colleges fill in the amounts for students from each category, authorities as well as aspirants will have full clarity on whether there are any fee discrepancies," said Abdur Rehman Khan from the Mission Awareness Foundation.