On March 25th, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, located in the Chikkaballapur taluk, which will offer all of its 100 MBBS seats for free starting in the academic year 2023-24. The college, which will be built less than a year after the foundation stone was laid by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in April 2022, will have 50 of its seats filled through the government quota, with the remaining 50 under the private/management quota. No fees will be collected from any of the 100 students, who will be required to serve for five years in the college hospital following their graduation.

The Prashanthi Balamandira Trust, which operates the college, will provide books, study material, uniforms, and hostel facilities for students at no cost. The college is affiliated with the Sri Sathya Sai University for Human Excellence, a private university. The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will oversee the admissions process for both government and management quota seats. The KEA is the nodal authority for admissions to all MBBS seats in Karnataka and collects fees for government and other quota seats in private colleges, remitting the funds to the institutions concerned. Fees for private medical colleges are fixed as part of consensual agreements signed with the government.

Ramya S, Executive Director of the KEA, said: “Our fee collection depends on the fee structure and seat matrix given by the government.” If the college proposes to the government that it will give its seats free of cost, and the latter writes to us to allot the seats of this particular institution free of cost, we will not collect the fee at all.”

On March 10, 2023, the Sri Madhusudan Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research was granted permission by the National Medical Commission to have 100 MBBS seats for the 2023-24 academic year. In preparation for the college’s opening, the Sri Sathya Sai Sarala Memorial Hospital, a 350-bed facility, was established on the campus several years ago, providing free health services to those in need. The trust has already appointed teaching faculty, who have been discharging their duties at the hospital, which will be used as a clinical facility for the students.

The home minister expressed hope that the college would start functioning from the 2023-24 academic year, and authorities worked tirelessly to ensure that academic activities would commence in August once the KEA’s seat allotment process is complete.