The student wing of ruling CPN, ANNFSU, has demanded arrest of promoter of National Medical College, Birgunj Basuruddin Ansari for thrashing students inside the medical college premises on Friday.
The students organized a rally in Birgunj on Sunday protesting thrashing of students demanding extra fee illegally charged from them be returned. "The main demand of ANNFSU is arrest of promoter of National Medical College Basuruddin Ansari who thrashed students," central secretary of ANNFSU Sudesh Parajuli told Setopati.
Ansari is close to Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli and was seen with Oli when the latter went to Singapore in August for treatment. The then CPN-UML had fielded him as the mayoral candidate from Birgunj in the last local election.
Chief District Officer (CDO) of Parsa Narayan Prasad Bhattarai earlier on the day formed a committee to investigate thrashing of students inside the medical college.
College administration thrashed the students on the second day of their sit-in on Friday. Students claimed that the people from administration even misbehaved with a few female students. They say the misbehavior and attack happened in police presence.
The students then went to the police office demanding security and stayed there till Friday midnight.
Students have been protesting in private medical colleges across the country demanding the extra money collected above the fee set by the government be returned.
The Cabinet meeting on October 14, 2018 had set a fee of Rs 3.85 million for MBBS students inside the Kathmandu Valley, and Rs 4.245 million outside the Valley. The colleges can only charge Rs 2,500 and Rs 500 in registration fees and examination fees on top of that, and hostel and mess charges if the students stay at their hostel. But colleges have been charging up to Rs 5.50 million from each student.
The Education Ministry on March 26 had instructed private medical colleges to return the extra money if they have overcharged after agreement reached in the meeting of agitating students of Gandaki Medical College and representatives of the association of private medical colleges including chairman Basuruddin Ansari and promoter of Chitwan Medical College Haris Chandra Neupane called by Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel. But the colleges including National, Gandaki and Chitwan Medical College have yet to return the extra money.
A meeting a couple of months back at the Home Ministry including Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel and officials of the two ministries took the decision to initiate action if private medical colleges do not return the extra payment they charged over the fee set by the government within a month. The meeting also publicly urged the medical colleges to return the extra money within one month, and decided to take action against the colleges for failing to do so within the deadline.
Home Minister Thapa said political resolution and legal action both will be moved forward to get the extra money returned.
Education Minister Pokharel pointed at the Cabinet decision taken last year that allowed registration of complaints against the offending college at the local district administration office concerned, and proposed that action be taken accordingly.
But the colleges have yet to return the extra money.
