Private medical colleges demanding exorbitant cash payment from SC, ST scholarship students, allege affected parents

Students belonging to SC/ST communities, who come under the post-matric scholarship scheme, have been asked to pay several lakhs of rupees in cash annually to private medical colleges towards “development fee” and under other heads every year so as to retain their seat in those colleges, affected parents have alleged.At a press conference in Chennai on Tuesday, some of the affected parents said private colleges were collecting ₹6 lakh to ₹10 lakh from them in cash. No receipts were given to them after payment. “This has been the practice by almost all private medical colleges,” alleged M. Bharathan, state organiser, AKAM (Ambedkar Kalvi Centenary Movement) Foundation. “Out of the 2,500 medical seats available to SC/ST students in Tamil Nadu every year, only around 1,100 get filled due to t