Resident doctors protest at the Medical Education Commission: Opposition to seat and fee increases.
Kathmandu, Nepal Health News: On Friday, resident doctors staged a sit-in at the Medical Education Commission. They protested against the decision made in the commission’s 18th meeting to increase MBBS and BDS seats and fees, demanding the dissolution of the task force formed for this purpose.
Resident doctors pursuing postgraduate (PG) studies claimed that the move to increase MBBS seats was a manipulation to justify raising their allowances, calling for the task force to be scrapped.
Dr. Sheshraj Ghimire, president of the Safe Workplace Struggle Committee for Healthcare Workers, stated that compromising the quality of medical education in order to increase allowances was unacceptable. Therefore, the sit-in aimed to dissolve the task force.
The commission’s 16th meeting had previously decided to grant resident doctors studying in private medical colleges the same benefits as government-employed doctors at the eighth-level pay scale. However, even after two months, this decision has not been implemented, leading to ongoing protests.
Dr. Ghimire argued that the number of existing MBBS seats in private medical colleges is already excessive. Increasing seats further would compromise the quality of medical education. He criticized the government’s decision, which he claimed was meant to boost profits for private medical college operators.
According to the Medical Education Commission, this year, a quota of 2,140 seats has been allocated for MBBS and other medical courses across government and private institutions. Each private medical college is currently allocated 100 MBBS seats.
Across 17 private medical colleges in Nepal, approximately 1,700 students enroll in MBBS programs each year. The tuition fees are set at NPR 4.2 million for colleges within Kathmandu and NPR 4.5 million for those outside Kathmandu.
Private medical college operators are allegedly lobbying to increase MBBS seats by 50. Medical education reform activist Dr. Govinda KC had previously led movements that successfully reduced excessive tuition fees and unchecked MBBS seat allocations in private colleges.
At one point, private medical colleges were enrolling up to 150 MBBS students, but reforms reduced the seat count to 100, which contributed to improving the quality of medical education.
Dr. Ghimire also alleged that private medical college operators were threatening to fail or expel resident doctors in retaliation for their demands. He claimed that the government appears to be siding with these private institutions rather than prioritizing education reforms.
Resident doctors have been protesting since March 21, demanding equal pay to eighth-level government employees. Their demonstrations have included service boycotts and street protests, culminating in Friday’s sit-in at the Medical Education Commission.
