Intl. Ed.: Commission Orders Private Colleges to Boost Resident Doctors' Allowances

Kathmandu, April 29 -- The Medical Education Commission convened a meeting on Monday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. It instructed private medical institutions to start providing monthly stipends to resident doctors at rates equivalent to those offered by public medical schools as of the originally set date.

The Commission additionally appealed to the protesting doctors to halt their protest and return to their academic and clinical responsibilities.

At the call of the Nepal Medical Association, umbrella body of doctors, 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.

Following the Commission’s meeting on February 7th, private colleges must provide a monthly living allowance of Rs48,737 for postgraduate resident doctors, aligning with the compensation offered at government medical institutions. However, these private medical colleges were previously offering their postgraduate students just Rs20,000 as a stipend. The colleges argued against this new directive, claiming insufficient funds.

At the gathering conducted at the Prime Minister’s Office and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar on Monday, the Commission approved the report put forward 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 headed by Dr. Dipak Kafle, who serves as the Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology.

This report facilitates the establishment of a technical committee pursuant to the Medical Education Act 2018. This group will be responsible for setting the number of available positions and establishing tuition caps, all aligned with scholarly criteria and institutional capabilities.

Professor Dr Sujan Babu Marahatta, 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-secrets from the Ministries of Education, Health, and Finance.

Under Prime Minister Oli's initiative, three different meetings were convened in response to the pressures exerted by both the Association of Private Medical and Dental Colleges and the striking resident doctors with the aim of resolving the matter.