A meeting of the Medical Education Commission, chaired by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, on Monday directed private medical colleges to provide monthly allowances to resident doctors on par with those provided by government medical colleges with effect from the previously decided date.

The Commission also urged protesting doctors to call off their agitation and resume academic and clinical duties.

At the call of the Nepal Medical Association, umbrella body of doctors, resident doctors pursuing MD/MS degrees in private medical colleges have taken to the streets, boycotting all services except emergency and intensive care since April 25 demanding the allowances on par with their counterparts in government medical colleges.

As per the decision of the Commission’s meeting on February 7, private colleges are required to pay postgraduate resident doctors a living allowance of Rs48,737 per month, as per the scale provided by government medical colleges. Private medical colleges, however, have been providing a stipend of only Rs20,000 to postgraduate students. They had resisted the directive, citing a lack of financial resources.

During the meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar on Monday, the Commission also accepted the report submitted by an 11-member task force formed to review MBBS and BDS seat quotas and fee structures. The task force was led by Dr Dipak Kafle, secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

The report paves the way for the formation of a technical committee under the Medical Education Act 2018, tasked with determining the number of seats and fee ceilings based on academic standards and institutional capacity.

The new committee is headed by Professor Dr Sujan Babu Marahatta, director at the commission’s Planning, Coordination and Academic Development Directorate.

Other members include Professor Dr Dibya Singh Shah, senior chartered accountant Mahesh Guragain, chartered accountant Santosh Khanal representing private colleges, and under-secretaries from the Ministries of Education, Health, and Finance.

Following pressure from both the Association of Private Medical and Dental Colleges and striking resident doctors, three separate meetings were held under Prime Minister Oli’s initiative to resolve the issue.