The Medical Education Commission (MEC), chaired by Prime Minister and Commission Chairman KP Sharma Oli, decided to add 209 seats in government health institutions in its 17th meeting held on Wednesday, February 13. With this decision, an additional 209 students will get free MD/MS at the postgraduate level of medical science.
According to Prof. Dr. Anjani Kumar Jha, Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, the quota for postgraduate has been increased as the meeting has ensured the resources for conducting postgraduate studies.
Similarly, the meeting has approved the conduct of General Nursing subjects for students who have studied +2 in any subject. Now, students can study General Nursing even if they have studied any subject at +2 level. Earlier, only those who passed class 12 in science were allowed to study nursing (BSc Nursing) at the undergraduate level. “Even if a student has studied any subject up to class 12, you will be able to study General Nursing," shared Jha, adding, "The subjects that have been studied before will also be continued as before."
Similarly, the meeting also discussed increasing the number of seats for foreign students studying in private medical colleges. In the meeting, a proposal was made to increase the number of foreign students to facilitate the implementation of the earlier decision of the commission that private medical colleges should provide subsistence allowance to resident doctors equivalent to government doctors. A proposal regarding this will be submitted at the commission's upcoming meeting. Until now, there is a provision for medical colleges to teach only 10 percent of foreign students.
Earlier, the 16th meeting of the commission, held on 7th February, decided that private medical colleges should maintain a monthly subsistence allowance of Rs 48,436 equivalent to the government (eighth level) to address the demands of the resident doctors (students).
Sharing that the government cannot educate all the students for free, PM Oli said that it is necessary to get the support of private colleges, for which the problems created in the sector also need to be resolved with further studies. He urged a concrete proposal to prevent nursing education from declining and to increase the service and facilities of nurses in the country.
