PGIMER Chandigarh increases recruitment application fee up to 60%

The administration of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has raised the recruitment application fee by 50%, with immediate effect.

Officials said the spike in the fee will be applicable to all categories of the posts and will be notified by the autonomous medical institute in the coming days.

An institute order for the same reads, “In continuation of this office order issued vide Endst No.PGI/RC/2013/2488-2500 dated September 20, 2013, the application fee for various posts of the institute has been enhanced to ₹1,500 from ₹1,000.” Officials said the order will be applicable to the aspirants of general, other backward classes and economically weaker sections for the posts of group A, B as well as group C. For the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe aspirants, there has been a spike of 60% in the application fees. The order states that for the SC/ST categories, the application fee will be enhanced from ₹500 to ₹800.

‘COST OF ONLINE TESTS MORE’

Official spokesperson of PGIMER, Dr Ashok Kumar, said the hike in the fee has been directed keeping in view the institute’s decision to conduct the recruitments through computer-based tests. “The cost of conducting the tests will increase for the institute and thus, this step has been taken. But it is beneficial for the aspirants also as they don’t have to travel to Chandigarh for the examination as centres have been established in all cities across the country,” he said. The spokesperson also said the institute’s teams travel to different examination centres to conduct the tests which in turn, increases the burden on PGIMER on account of their travel allowance.

Since November last year, the medical institute has started computer-based tests for various recruitments, including the entrances for MD and MS courses which come under group A as well as the recruitment of nurses and other cadres.