The 16th meeting of the Medical Education Commission, held today under the chairmanship of Prime Minister and Chairman KP Sharma Oli, has decided to provide resident doctors studying in private medical colleges with a subsistence allowance equivalent to that of their counterparts in government institutions.
During the meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, Singhdarbar, the commission resolved to grant resident doctors an allowance of Rs 48,700 per month—matching the government’s eighth-level standard—following discussions with relevant stakeholders and based on submitted reports. The commission also agreed to deliberate further on other related matters before reaching a final decision in the upcoming meetings.
Additionally, the meeting addressed the issue of an annual fee of Rs 2.3 lakh imposed on students unwilling to commit to a two-year work tenure at their respective colleges. At present, private medical colleges provide a subsistence allowance of only Rs 20,000 per month, prompting continued protests from postgraduate-level students demanding equal benefits. The ongoing demonstrations have even disrupted commission examinations, necessitating an urgent resolution spearheaded by Prime Minister Oli.
During discussions, Prof. Dr. Gyanendraman Singh Karki, President of the Private Medical College Association, suggested deferring the decision until the completion of the necessary procedural framework. However, Prime Minister Oli, along with Health and Population Minister Pradeep Paudel and Education, Science, and Technology Minister Bidya Bhattarai, reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring equal facilities for resident doctors and ruled out any possibility of backtracking on this promise.
The Prime Minister’s Secretariat further stated that the commission, which is responsible for overseeing integrated medical education regulation, entrance exams, student seat allocations, and tuition fee structures, also deliberated on initiating necessary amendments to the National Medical Education Act, 2075. The proposed amendments aim to further streamline medical education policies and regulations across the country.
