Bengaluru, Jun 24 (DHNS) : Pursuing a medical or dental course in private colleges in Karnataka will get dearer, as the fees have been hiked substantially this year.

Under the government-CET quota in private colleges, there has been a hike of 28% to 29% in fees for MBBS and BDS seats. On the other hand, the ComedK fees for MBBS seats is up by 35% and BDS seats by 41%.

This means a student, who has got an MBBS seat through the government quota in private colleges, will have to shell out Rs 70,000 (earlier Rs 55,000) per year, while a student coming through the ComedK merit list will pay Rs 5.75 lakh (instead of the Rs 4.25 lakh earlier). As regards dental seats, a student will have to pay Rs 45,000 (from the earlier Rs 35,000) under the government quota in a private college, whereas under the ComedK merit list, a student will pay Rs 3.90 lakh (earlier Rs 2.75 lakh).

Asked whether the hike in fees would affect students, Medical Education Minister, Sharanprakash Patil said: “We have to agree somewhere. Even after several rounds of negotiations, private colleges were not agreeing with us... without a fee hike. This agreement has protected the 40% seats that come under the government quota.”

Negotiations between the government and private medical colleges had been going on for several weeks till a breakthrough was reached on Thursday. Under the new agreement, Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation (KPCF), an association of medical colleges, will share 40% of its MBBS seats and 35% dental seats in return for the fee hike. This will amount to a total of 1,490 medical and dental seats in 11 medical colleges and 23 dental colleges under KPCF.

“Considering the high cost of imparting education in private medical and dental colleges, we have agreed to the fee structure for the year 2016-17,” said KPCF secretary, M R Jayaram.