National
Edu Ministry instructs TU to set MD/MS fees
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has instructed the Tribhuvan University to set fees for the MD/MS courses following a Supreme Court interim order that medical colleges cannot set fees arbitrarily.The Ministry of Education (MoE) has instructed the Tribhuvan University to set fees for the MD/MS courses following a Supreme Court interim order that medical colleges cannot set fees arbitrarily.
The ministry has asked the TU to immediately decide on the fees as the Institute of Medicine, the regulatory body, works to finalise the list of successful applicants for admission in the post-graduate programmes.
“We learnt about the exorbitant costs charged by medical colleges through news reports. And, following the apex court’s interim order, we have asked the TU to set the fees in this academic year,” said Hari Lamsal, spokesperson for the MoE.
A single bench of Justice Anil Kumar Sinha had issued an interim order last Sunday, stating that the admission process should be based on merit and open counseling.
Advocate Devendra Ghimire had moved the apex court demanding an interim order on the arbitrary enrolment and fees of the medical colleges under the TU and the admission process should be entirely based on merit.
The issue related to the fee structure reached the court after the TU failed to regulate the fees of the post-graduate programme in the colleges.
It is learnt that the National Medical College in Birjung and the Bhairahawa-based Universal Medical College have long been charging between Rs7 and Rs 10 million for courses, including radiology and orthopaedics. Both the colleges run MD/MS programme in radiology, orthopaedics, internal medicine, gynaecology and general surgery, among others.
The IoM has already written to the National and the Universal, warning them that it would not recognise the students enrolled without fulfilling the required criteria and that consequences should be borne by the colleges themselves. The IoM has also said that the colleges do not have the right to enrol the students.
The IoM has been struggling to regulate its medical colleges due to disputes over the fees as the TU Executive Council has repeatedly failed to decide the fees for the post-graduate courses.
Many attribute the council’s indecision to influence by medical college owners and political leaders.
IoM Dean Dr Jagdish Agrawal has said they will not hold counselling of the students who got through post-graduate entrance unless the government sets the fees. “We can hold the counselling in a week after the government sets the fees,” he said.