The agitation at Chitwan Medical College that ended after agreement by the college administration with the students to return the extra money collected above the fee set by the government has restarted after the college reneged on the agreement.
The college during a dialogue held earlier at the District Administration Office, Chitwan had expressed commitment to return the extra money within a month ending on Friday. Students and their guardians on Sunday had given a 24-hour ultimatum to the college to return the extra money.
They demonstrated in front of the college gate on Monday after the college ignored the ultimatum. The guardians have joined the agitation after the college threatened to fail the students in the exams if they continued agitation.
The students say they will not end agitation this time before taking it to a decisive level.
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 Gandaki and Chitwan Medical College have yet to return the extra money and are still putting pressure on students to pay above the fee set by the government.
A meeting recently 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.
