Addressing a programme organised at Dhulikhel Hospital, Paudyal drew the attention of the KU vice-chancellor and other university officials to the tremendous risks posed to the health sector due to haphazard granting of affiliations to private medical colleges. The chief secretary said that such a move would make it very hard to safeguard the sensitive health sector from anomalies and bad practices. “The government had allowed the private sector to provide medical services after concluding that it should not have sole monopoly on ensuring medical services to the public,” he said. “However, the private sector ushered in unhealthy trends. The tendency to garner as much profit as possible rather than providing quality service has been witnessed in the health sector.”

He commented further that this tendency among health professionals has given a bad name to such a respected health profession.

Former KU Vice-chancellor Dr Suresh Raj Sharma had tendered his resignation in November 2012 after being pressed by then Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai for granting affiliation to private medical colleges that, according to Sharma, did not meet the set requirements.

Meanwhile, the university Senate meeting chaired by VC Dr Ram Kantha Makaju Shrestha a few days ago had decided to grant affiliation to two medical colleges—Birat Medical College in Biratnagar and Devdaha Medical College in Bhairahawa.