Kathmandu, Feb 7: The 16th meeting of the Medical Education Commission decided to provide resident doctors at private medical colleges with a living allowance similar to those in government medical institutions.
The meeting presided over by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar today took the decision to this effect followed by extensive discussions and recommendations included in reports from the relevant parties.
With this decision, the resident doctors at private medical colleges now will receive a monthly allowance of Rs 48,700, equal to that of their government counterparts. At present, the private medical institutions are offering Rs 20,000 as a monthly allowance to the resident doctors. The disparity had led to slew of protests from the post graduate medical students.
In consideration of the situation where the protest was likely to disrupt the Commission’s exam process, the Head of the Government positively intervened into the matter and took measures to address the grievances of the disgruntled medical students.
Likewise, today’s meeting also addressed the issue of charging a total fee of Rs 2.3 million from students who refuse to sign a two-year of study and work contract in the related colleges. During the meeting, Private Medical Colleges Association’s President Prof Dr Gyanendra Man Singh Karki urged the government to decide on this issue only after the finalization of procedures.
However, PM Oli, also the Chairperson of the Commission, along with the Co-Chairperson Minister for Health and Population Pradip Paudel and Minister for Education, Science and Technology Bidhya Bhattarai did not deter from their commitment to provide equal facilities and services to the resident doctors at private medical institutions.
The Commission, which is mandated to regulate medical education in integrated and efficient way, conduct entrance exams, determine tuition fee structures and seats in medical colleges among others, in the meeting discussed the need to amend the National Medical Education Act-2075 BS.
Also, the Commission’s meeting decided to finalize on other outstanding issues after further discussions.#nepal #Education #rss
