418 new seats added in medical education, priority to government colleges, taskforce on intern allowance

The Medical Education Commission has added 418 seats across various medical education programs for academic session 2083/84.

The commission's 28th meeting, held today at Singha Durbar under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Balendra Shah, fixed the total number of seats at 9,691. Of the 90 institutions that submitted self-assessment forms seeking seats, only 84 received seats based on monitoring reports.

According to commission member secretary Hari Prasad Niraula, 110 seats were added for MBBS. Shahid Dashrath Chand Health Science University in Gedha received 50 MBBS seats for the first time.

B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and the Nepal Army Institute of Health Sciences each gained 30 additional seats. BSc Nursing added 210 seats and BMS added 98 seats.

The number of seats at private medical colleges has been kept the same as last year, with all added seats going to government and public institutions.

The meeting also decided to form a taskforce on the subsistence allowance for MBBS and BDS intern doctors. One member present at the meeting said detailed figures on how many seats were added by subject and level were not presented at the meeting.