Council’s secretary says though LHC annulled admission policy, fee structure stays unchanged. PHOTO: FILE
The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has directed the management of all private medical and dental colleges not to charge extra fee from medical students.
PMDC has time and again directed the private medical colleges to enrol students according to its centralised admission policy and charge fixed fee which the private college have been opposing.
But on December 7, the Lahore High Court (LHC) annulled the central induction policy of the council rendering the elected council dysfunctional and allowing medical college to enrol students directly independently. After that the colleges maintain the Council neither can work after court’s decision nor it can fix the fee.
Although, the court has annulled central admission policy and the incumbent council, but the fee structure remains the same, officials say. This fee structure was fixed in 2013 and it will remain the same even if the current policy declared null and void, said PMDC Secretary Arshad Nawaz.
The issue of exorbitant fees is also being heard in the Supreme Court after parents of students studying in medical colleges appealed to the Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar to take notice of the issue.
In the wake of this confusion to guide the parents, the PMDC on Wednesday directed managements of all private medical and dental colleges not to take any extra fee in the name of donation and any other monetary heads.
According to the PMDC rules and regulations, the medical and dental institution training for MBBS and BDS in the private sector shall charge tuition fee Rs642,000 per annum per student excluding university examination fee, taxes, hostel fee, transport fee and one time admission fee, which shall not be more than Rs50000.
Copies of all receipts shall be submitted to the PMDC. The fee for foreign admission in private or public colleges can be in foreign currency and shall not exceed more than $18,000 per annum all inclusive and not even a dollar over this shall be charged on any pretext, the council has stated.
Any other monetary demand or any other charge and donation on any pretext other than the annual fee as laid down in these regulations or any other noncompliance of these regulations if reported shall be construed a major violation and make the institution liable for action under section 22 of the PMDC ordinance 1962.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2017.
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