PM Oli publicly announced that the college will soon be receiving affiliation from Kathmandu University   

KATHMANDU, March 3: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday said that the government will soon grant affiliation to the Jhapa-based B & C Medical College.

Inaugurating the Purbanchal Cancer Hospital, Prime Minister Oli said that Kathmandu University is granting affiliation to the B & C Medical College.

But it has been learnt that PM Oli and Minister for Education Krishna Gopal Shrestha have pressurized Kathmandu University to grant affiliation to the medical college.

“Though the government has pressurized Kathmandu University, the medical college could not get affiliation as per the existing laws. Having said that, the Prime Minister himself wants the Jhapa-based medical college to come into operation, breaching the existing laws,” a professor at Kathmandu University told Republica on condition of anonymity.

Even though Kathmandu University has decided to grant permission at the behest of the prime minister and education minister, the B & C Medical College will only come into operation after a green signal from the Medical Education Commission. 

The medical college owned by Durga Prasain, who is close to PM Oli, has not fulfilled all the criteria to run the college. The Medical Education Commission only approves affiliation to medical colleges after they complete all the necessary standards.

However, the Commission has already rejected the application of B & C Medical College. It has earlier said that the college should follow the requirements before seeking an approval from the Council.

As per the Medical Education Act, 2075, universities cannot grant affiliation to more than five medical colleges.  “However, the college receiving a letter of intent before the Act was passed can get affiliation if it follows all the standards before 2075. The application of the medical college was already rejected by the Commission as it had not followed all the standards to run a medical course,” said Dr Jeevan Chhetri, a campaigner for medical reforms.

He also added that B & C Medical College could not get affiliation as it had not completed all the criteria before 2075. “The medical college has also not renewed its letter of intent, and is seeking approval just by exerting political pressure to university and commission,” said Chhetri.

“Even the Prime Minister wants to breach the provision of the Medical Education Act. There is no rule of law in this country, so I think the government will exert pressure on the Commission and grant affiliation to B & C Medical College,” he added. 

Talking to Republica, Dr Shree Krishna Giri, vice-chairman of the Commission, said that the Commission had already rejected the application of the college, asking to follow all the protocol. “We have not received any application after that,” he said, denying further comment on the issue. 

“The Commission recommends universities to grant affiliation after inspecting the medical college. But the commission had rejected the application of the college, so the owner has been exerting pressure on the university through his political connections,” said a professor at Kathmandu University.

In the meantime, Nepali Congress has objected to the decision to grant affiliation to the college just because of political connection with the owner of the college. “It is regrettable that the government is breaching the existing laws,” a statement issued by Nepali Congress reads.

 
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