The Directorate of AYUSH (Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homoeopathy) Education has released a detailed fee structure for male and female students, the way it is released for MBBS and BDS students. The fee table will cover students falling under the open category, along with the fees chalked out for candidates from SC & ST, VJ & NT, EWS, OBC, and SEBC categories. The structure has been released as per government norms for Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani, and naturopathy courses.
While these fees have always been the norm, this new fee table comes as a big respite for students who were seeking admission to government, government-aided, and government-aided minority colleges that were allegedly charging large overhead fees. The students can now have complete clarity on which fee bracket they fall under. This comes after the state Common Entrance Test Cell received complaints via e-mail that certain AYUSH colleges, during 2025 Round 1 admissions, were not following the government norms and were allegedly demanding full academic fees upfront from candidates of the reserved category.
Soon after, as of October 13, the directorate 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. The directorate has also set up a committee to visit the institutions in question and start an inquiry into the allegations made by the students. The committee is soon expected to submit two copies of their review along with any self-explanatory opinion and necessary documents.
“While there have been many complaints, releasing a predecided fee brochure like MBBS and BDS courses will help students gain transparency at the time of admission. It will also serve as a reminder to the colleges that the directorate is being vigilant about overhead fees,” said an official from the directorate.
While this move will bring relief to students of 35 government, government-aided and government-aided minorty institutions, over 100 colleges still remain outside the purview of this notice. “A majority of AYUSH colleges are privatised and don’t follow the guidelines of Scholarship Schemes of the state government, and their fee structure does not show the fee details as per caste and category benefits. There are several students across Maharashtra who have been forced to pay full fee or fee for 1.5 years without scholarship benefits at the time of admission and had to cancel their admissions as a result of failure of complete fee payment,” said Abdur Rehman Khan from the Mission Awareness Foundation.
For instance, a 21-year-old Govandi student who had begun applying to AYUSH colleges was asked to pay Rs 1.85 lakh by a private college near Pune. “Unable to pay the amount, I had to cancel my admission, and I approached the Fee Regulation Authority about the same,” she told mid-day.
