Medical colleges grilled over excessive fees

ISLAMABAD:

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Health on Wednesday took notice of the failure to implement a decision extending the validity of Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) results to three years, while expressing concern over private medical colleges allegedly charging students fees beyond the prescribed limits.

The committee also sought inspection reports of private medical colleges for the past two years after being informed that 45 institutions were collecting additional amounts from students, with some demanding as much as Rs600,000 over and above the approved fee.

The matter came up during a meeting of the standing committee, chaired by Dr Mahesh Kumar, where Health Minister Mustafa Kamal informed members that his ministry had approved the proposal to extend MDCAT results' validity to three years. He said the matter had subsequently been referred to the federal cabinet.

Committee member Dr Shazia Soomro disclosed that 45 private medical colleges were charging students more than the officially prescribed fees. According to her, some students were being asked to pay an additional Rs600,000.

The president of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) told the committee that show-cause notices had been issued to the colleges concerned. The committee subsequently sought their inspection reports covering the last two years.

A separate exchange between the health minister and Dr Soomro over the inquiry report into the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) also marked the meeting, with the two trading heated remarks over the absence of further action.

Dr Soomro questioned the delay in implementing the findings of the PIMS inquiry and demanded an audit report detailing the utilisation of Rs22 billion provided to the hospital over the past three years.

Responding to her objections, Mustafa Kamal said the Ministry of Health had already implemented the recommendations of its own inquiry, while further investigations had been assigned to the Ministry of Interior.