International Edition: Medical Education Body Orders Private Colleges to Boost Resident Doctors' Allowances
Kathmandu, April 28 -- During the Medical Education Commission’s meeting led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday, instructions were issued for private medical institutions to start providing monthly stipends to resident doctors at rates equivalent to those offered by public medical schools as per the earlier agreed-upon timeline.
The Commission likewise appealed to the demonstrating physicians to halt their protest and return to performing academic and clinical tasks.
At the call of the Nepal Medical Association, resident doctors pursuing MD/MS degrees in private medical colleges have taken to the streets, boycotting all services except emergency and intensive care since April 25 demanding the allowances on par with their counterparts in government medical colleges.
According to the resolution made during the Commission’s meeting on February 7, private colleges must provide a monthly living allowance of Rs48,737 for postgraduate resident doctors, aligning with the standards set by government medical institutions. However, until now, these private medical colleges were offering their postgraduate students merely Rs20,000 as a stipend. These institutions had previously opposed this requirement, arguing they lacked sufficient funds.
On Monday, during a gathering convened at the Prime Minister’s Office and the Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar, the Commission approved the report presented by an 11-person task force tasked with examining the allocation of seats for MBBS and BDS programs as well as their associated fees. This committee was chaired by Dr. Dipak Kafle, who serves as the Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology.
This document clears the path for establishing a technical committee pursuant to the Medical Education Act of 2018. This group will be responsible for setting the number of positions available as well as caps on fees, all grounded in scholarly criteria and institutional capabilities.
Professor Dr Sujan Babu Marhatta, who directs the Planning, Coordination, and Academic Development Directorate at the commission, is leading the new committee.
The other members consist of Professor Dr Dibya Singh Shah, experienced chartered accountant Mahesh Guragain, chartered accountant Santosh Khanal who represents private colleges, along with under-secretaries from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Finance.
Under Prime Minister Oli's initiative, three distinct meetings were convened in response to the pressures exerted by the Association of Private Medical and Dental Colleges as well as the protesting resident doctors, aiming to address the matter at hand.