Reporters Club: The General Secretary of the Democratic Movement Front for Nepal Dr. Chandan Raman stated “the fees that were levied by the government should be applied with honesty by all the Universities. Likewise, the scholarship of 75% as per quota should be implemented accordingly, and these were the core demands”.

The medical colleges and universities have to stop looting the people through the method of the late fee fine. Dr. Raman said that MBBS, Nursing, BDS, MD, and MS entrance examination should be independent. Dr. Raman also requested an investigation upon the selection of 250 candidates of Kathmandu University in the MBBS and BDS through the entrance exam.

Speaking at a special interaction program organized at the Reporters Club by the Democratic Movement Front for Nepal Dr. Raman added, “The question paper was leaked and there should be an impartial investigation into the matter and action needs to be taken against the culprits he said”.

Dr. Raman similarly objected to the fact that Gandaki and Chitwan Medical College did not refund the additional fees in the given timeframe. He also spoke against the police atrocities toward the students who were peacefully protesting against the many policies that were against them, and that the action of the police on the students was condemnable. He was also concerned about the lack of attention given by the university and state.

“The government should address the demands which are legitimate by the students, and they should regard the legitimate demands placed by the students as part of a democratic exercise and respecting its values and the rule of law”. Instead of listening to the legitimate demands the government has given mental torture to the students, failing them in exams, and suppressing the movement in the name of negotiation and round table talks” he opined.

Reporters Club:  The current impasse between medical students, the administration of various private colleges and the government has deteriorated to the point of private colleges opting to shut down completely.

Medical education in Nepal has come under heavy scrutiny over the past few months. President of the Reporters Club Rishi Dhamala began the program at the Reporters Club yesterday talking about the Medical Students Struggle Campaign committee under Prakash Chand Thakuri and the students of various other medical colleges who were protesting the large scale fees and also underpaid resident Doctors that were a part of the campus.

In order to have a clear view regarding both sides in a special interaction program organized at the Reporters Club, Dr. Chandan Raman said that “we have to bring out the entire facts before the public before blaming the institutions of corruption and indifference toward the plight of students. We will have a committee to investigate the entire matter. There are various problems the medical education field faces, including limited seats, distribution of scholarships, and the fee structure”.

Speaking at the same program Mr. Gyanendra Karki stated that please look into the problems faced by the administration of those running medical education colleges and hospitals that are associated with it.

“How do we manage when there is no external help whatsoever, and various committees that have been deputed in the past which have released reports stating the administrative and financial problems faced by the institution has gone to deaf ears and complete lack of concern on the part of the government? We gave to frame a specific modality that will work with both the administration and the students so that both are less burdened he said”.

Om Prakash Aryal stated that “there were several disadvantages, and the prevalence of corruption, there were various anomalies within the system that need to be cleared. We have to improvise and move forward with a consensus and cannot depend on a ‘mafia raj’ where individuals do whatever they feel like. It has to be in accordance with law”.

Dr. Sujan Kadariya said that ” the struggle of the students is not specifically related to a person, it is a problem faced by all the doctors in general, and there needs to be someone responsible to address the concerns be it the administration or the government. Students need to have equal access to medical education, it should not be reserved for a few, there is massive loot in the name of fees and the struggle for opportunity and affordability will continue he said”.

Dr. Suresh Kanodia stated that “the government was not concerned even after a technical committee submitted all the required reports dealing with the medical education and the plight faced by the administration. There has been a lot of debate and objection in the past, but this has not been resolved yet. Similarly, there are various problems when it comes to seat distribution for national and international students. There was a Cabinet circular looking into the operational costs, we have been fair and transparently put all the information on our website”.

Dr. Sunil Sharma stated the dilapidated condition in which the medical institutions were functioning and he also moved on to provide the break-down of each of the costs associated with it.

Providing a brief background of how historically the medical institutions developed from garages and small rooms, he stressed that they were still in a learning phase. According to his break-down of the costs, it roughly costs 4.8 Million Nepalese rupees (NRs) for the entire MBBS course of 5 years.

That comes down to roughly NRs 60,000 per month, with only a capacity of 100 seats, and with the provision that only 1/3rd of the amount needs to be paid while the rest are in installments, private medical colleges find it impossible to operate. There are other costs associated with it, and after calculating salaries, hospital maintenance and equipment, there is nothing left”.

The private medical colleges have shut down, while students, on the other hand, are in protest while the government has not been able to initiate any favorable response to contain or resolve the current situation. It will be impending for the students seeking admission in the medical sector putting their future at jeopardy if the current impasse continues and is not resolved in a timely manner.

KATHMANDU, Aug 22: In what appears to be one of the most startling revelations regarding the callousness of the government toward the medical sector, medical professionals alike joined for a press conference at the Reporters Club this afternoon. There were representatives from Gandaki Medical College, Janaki Medical College, Central Campus Institute of Medication, and the Kathmandu University Medical School. Speaking at the program the medical professionals raised an alarm over the current state of an anomaly of the sector right from education to professional work in the health care sector.

This press conference was organized in light of the various discrepancies seen in the medial sector and various medical professionals have united to form the “Medical Education Struggle Campaign”.

Speaking at the program Dr. Arbin Adhikari who is an intern at the Gandaki Medical College stated “We are unable to withstand it any longer. We are paid lower than what daily wage laborers earn, and this is affecting the Doctor-Patient relationship, as it is affecting our work”.

The core of the problem of the medical sector in Nepal is high costs and the manipulation of private medical colleges. An average private medical college for a full course of MBBS degree is said to charge anywhere between six million to ten million Nepalese rupees. There are various middle-men involved that charge a lucrative amount in order to provide admission without merit.

“I make a sincere appeal to the government not to be apathetic and make medical education accessible to the common man”. Prakash Chand Thakuri

Similarly, Dr. Hemraj Bhandari said “How can we cope up in work with such low paying salaries. We are sliding toward depression, due to low pay and long hours of work, the infrastructure is poor, and very soon it will be a dream for the common man to study medicine in Nepal. The situation is getting terrible by the day and we all need to unite in order to bring about changes for the common good”.

Third-year medical student Anit Sinha enrolled in Gandaki Medical College said that “receipts and bills of payment made to the college must be provided”. Colleges have been found to charge exorbitant amounts as against the Constitutional provision that has put a cap on the fees to be levied. A college can charge up to 3 million rupees inside the valley, and up to 4 million outside. The problem being that there is no legal recourse and the maximum penalty a college can pay is just thirty thousand Nepalese rupees, which seems highly unfair for the student. We need a nationwide struggle”

Central Campus Independent Students Union President Milan Gaire highlighted the apathy of the government towards the medical sector in Nepal. Kathmandu University student union president of medical sciences Deepak Thakur brought to light the businesslike approach of the health sector. “We have to find a way out where our common goal would be to address all concerns affecting our health sector, we cannot treat such an important profession merely as a business”.

Finally concluding remarks and observations were made by the Coordinator of the Medical Education Campaign, Prakash Chand Thakuri. Thakuri said “We have to increase the visibility of our campaign into a nationwide struggle to achieve our goals in order to bring in improvement to the Health sector. Through this medium today I make a sincere appeal to the government not to be apathetic and make medical education accessible to the common man”.  He spoke about the struggle of medical students and how the exorbitant fees were creating extreme pressure on their daily lives, and with the current scenario, there seem to be no returns for the investment made. “We have to implement that previous agreement with the government regarding the health and education bill, continue our struggle against middle-men and seek stringent measures to implement the policies as decided for the public good”.

While inflation surges, compensation provided to interns and government doctors are not at par, thus creating a situation of hopelessness where individuals have had to leave their profession. This is extremely unwarranted due to the large investment already made in order to be able to be a medical professional. It is a matter of serious concern which has all Nepalese lives at stake, our health is in our hands, but not when we are afflicted. We need our medical professionals to be able to cure us at the right time with appropriate technology, if this condition persists then there are no options but to face certain death. The demands are genuine and the struggle will continue with various programs and protests in the days ahead.