ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) on Tuesday informed a parliamentary committee that the report regarding reduction in medical and dental college fees was pending with a committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.

The Senate Standing Committee on Health has repeatedly asked the PMDC to fix fees for medical and dental colleges. On Tuesday, the Senate body expressed displeasure over the regulatory entity’s inconclusive reply. The committee’s meeting was chaired by Senator Amir Waliuddin Chishti who directed the authority to conclude the issue at the earliest.

PMDC President Dr Rizwan Taj said the report on fees of private medical colleges had been sent to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

It is worth mentioning here that the PMDC has been informing the same since the last few meetings of the committee.

However, Senator Palwasha Khan said that it was unfortunate that private medical colleges were charging exorbitant fees.

“Private colleges have become a mafia. The committee should ensure implementation of its direction that colleges should return the fees, collected in the year 2024, to the students,” she said.

Senator Humayun Mohmand said that some of the medical colleges were collecting up to Rs3 million per year in tuition fees.

He asked under what criteria were they charging such an amount.

Other members of the committee also criticised the practice. They asked how private medical colleges charged fees even though PMDC had stopped them from collecting it. The committee chairman directed the authority to implement its orders and said that in case of complaints in future, PMDC would be deemed responsible.

Dr Rizwan Taj said the council was waiting for a response from the deputy prime minister and assured the committee that the order would be implemented.

While discussing MDCAT, PMDC representatives said the structure of MDCAT was being changed. “The question paper of one candidate will not match with others. Moreover, there will be the same syllabus at the national level due to which controversy regarding out-of-syllabus question papers will end,” they added.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2025