PALPA: Resident doctors at Lumbini Medical College have submitted a memorandum to Health and Population Minister Pradeep Paudel, outlining a set of demands focused on fair remuneration, transparency in postgraduate programs, and reform in private medical college operations.
The doctors, pursuing MD, MS, and MDS programs, are demanding a monthly salary equivalent to the government’s eighth-grade level for residents in private institutions. They also called for rectification of the postgraduate program matching process, arguing that seats allocated in private colleges before the entrance examination must be honored.
Further, they urged the government to revoke affiliations of private medical colleges that fail to comply with seat allocations and demanded cancellation of all government-subsidized schemes, including insurance, for non-compliant institutions.
Additionally, the memorandum includes a call to form a drafting committee for a new postgraduate program operation procedure, which would address issues such as working hours, leave entitlements, fair examination practices, and the conduct of administrative and teaching staff.
The doctors also advocated for the formation of a separate regulatory body to oversee the implementation of these reforms.
Dr. Deepak Kandel, a resident at LMC, stated that doctors have begun a work boycott and will continue to suspend medical services until their demands are fulfilled.
“We will not return to duty unless our voices are heard,” he said, noting that hospital services have already been significantly impacted.
Minister Paudel, after receiving the memorandum, acknowledged the legitimacy of several concerns and assured that some demands would be addressed immediately. He added that he had already instructed private medical colleges to implement existing government decisions related to residents’ welfare.
Comment