Private medical colleges: Senate panel directs PMDC to check surge in fees

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary panel on Friday while expressing serious concerns over manifold increase in fees by the private medical educational institutes has directed the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) to check the practice.

While discussing the heavy fees charged by the private medical and dental colleges and the steps taken by the PMDC in this regard during the meeting of the Sub-Committee of Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services and Regulations held here, the chair Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan said that private medical colleges within the past six years have increased their annual fee from Rs 0.8 million to Rs 3 million in 2023-24.

This increase is almost four times, Senator Palwasha Khan lamented and said that the PMDC has not only failed to regulate the private medical colleges but unfortunately, became an aide to this unholy alliance.

Senator Palwasha Khan revealed that, in 2023-24, private medical colleges charged unprecedented fees for MBBS and BDS programmes. For instance, Abwa Medical College, Akhtar Saeed Medical College, Hazrat Bari Sarkar Medical College have charged Rs 1.87 crore, Rs 1.34 crore and Rs 1.29 crore respectively for MBBS programme.

PMDC Registrar Dr Shaista Faisal highlighted that under the 2023 Act, the PMDC was empowered to regulate the private medical colleges and ascertain whether or not the fees being charged by the medical colleges are justifiable. Earlier, the PMDC had regulated the medical colleges but it was not protected by the law. In 2012, the PMDC has fixed the fee at 0.5 million per annum with five percent increase for private medical colleges.

Senator Syed Masroor Ahsan said that PMDC was empowered in 2023 and asked whether the PMDC had taken any action after that specific period.

However, the PMDC failed to provide any details.

Special Secretary Ministry of National Health Services and Regulations Mirza Nasiruddin Mashud informed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also constituted a committee to determine the reasonableness of fees charged by the medical colleges.

Senator Palwasha, ensuring anonymity, invited the general public to submit their grievances against the medical colleges before the committee. She maintained that the hefty fees charged by the private medical colleges should be reimbursed to the parents of these students. The sub-committee restrained the private medical colleges from charging next year’s fee until the resolution of the matter. The sub-committee also directed the PMDC to examine the audit report of these medical colleges.

Aggrieved parties can submit their grievances by reaching out to Room No 2, Parking Area, C-Block, Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications, G-5 Islamabad, or by calling 051-9223955.

In attendance were senators, Syed Masroor Ahsan, and Dr Muhammad Humayun Mohmand. Special Secretary for Ministry of National Health Services Mirza Nasiruddin Mashud, Registrar PMDC Dr Shaista Faisal and other senior officials from relevant departments also attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024