Doctor's warning to quit services if allowances are not provided

Nepal Health News, Kathmandu – Minister for Health and Population, Pradeep Paudel, has stated that all activities related to private medical colleges will be halted by the ministry if they fail to implement the provision of providing allowances equivalent to those given by the government.

In a meeting today at the Ministry of Health between representatives from the Nepal Medical Association and residential doctors, he emphasized that there is no point in further debating the issue, as the Medical Education Commission has already made a decision regarding the provision of allowances.

Minister Paudel stated, "Until private medical colleges implement the provision of providing allowances, no work related to them will proceed from the ministry. There is no possibility of reversing the decision."

He further mentioned that private medical colleges must implement the decision to provide an allowance of NPR 48,000, and after that, discussions could be held regarding the postgraduate seat allocation and fee increases that the colleges have been demanding.

The meeting included Minister Paudel, President of the Nepal Medical Association Dr. Anil Vikram Karki, and the coordinator of the 'Safe Workplace Struggle Committee for Health Workers,' Shesh Raj Ghimire, among others.

Residential doctors working in private medical colleges have been protesting for the past 22 days, demanding allowances equal to those given to government employees. Doctors have warned that, unless the issue is addressed, they will halt all services except for emergencies starting tomorrow, Friday.

The 16th meeting of the Medical Education Commission had directed that residential doctors should be given allowances equivalent to those of government employees. However, since private medical colleges have not implemented this decision, the doctors have been protesting. (Rastriya Samachar Samiti)