Students at the Lumbini Medical College and Teaching Hospital in Palpa have been staging demonstrations for the past three days demanding refund of the additional charges levied on them by the institute.

After the college administration ignored their repeated requests for reimbursement of the amount they were forced to pay as internship and additional charges, the students started a peaceful protest at the college premises.

The tenth batch MBBS students of the Lumbini Medical College and Teaching Hospital, affiliated with Kathmandu University, have accused the college of disparity, claiming that they have been asked to pay unnecessary amounts.

According to the students, the college has charged Rs200,000 as internship fees, Rs95,000 for ‘miscellaneous college expenses’, a service charge of Rs47,900 and other additional fees on various pretexts.

“It is only our batch that has been asked to pay these unnecessary fees,” one of the students told the Post. “We repeatedly asked the administration to return the amount we paid even before the internship period. But our calls were not heard.”

Kathmandu University begins internship courses from June 20 onwards for the students who have passed the examinations held in mid-March to early April. However, students at the Palpa-based college have refused to join.

The additional fees paid by the students and basic allowance for internships should be made available during this period. The students accuse the college of not abiding by the regulations, instead, threatening them.

“We have decided to not start our internships until our demands have been met,” another student said. “We will continue this protest until then.”

Krishna Prasad Parajuli, company secretary of the medical college, claims that the students have been charged as per the regulations of the time. However, due to recent changes in the regulations, the newcomers have not been charged the same.

“We have invited the students for dialogue, but no agreement has been reached,” Parajuli said.

Parajuli added that the amount would be paid back to the students as basic remuneration at the end of the year.

The medical students are paid Rs12,000 to Rs15,000 during their internship. Medical students nationwide have been put under similar conditions.

By law, the colleges cannot charge the students more than Rs4.5 million, however, students complain that they have been compelled to pay over Rs6 million.