A committee formed by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) will convene this week to readdress the issue of rationalizing fees for private medical and dental colleges. Despite previous efforts, the PMDC has not been successful in this attempt. Former caretaker health minister Dr. Nadeem Jan said that he had initiated steps towards fee rationalization during his tenure, but the desired outcome was not achieved before his term ended. According to a PMDC official, a three-member committee, led by Prof Dr. Mohammad Zubair Khan, is currently looking into the matter. The committee's upcoming meeting is scheduled for May 8 (Wednesday). It should be noted that medical and dental colleges have raised their annual fees by up to Rs. 800,000 for the ongoing session that commenced in February. The former caretaker health minister stated that he did everything he could to reduce the fees. 'In fact, the committee had finalized the fees at less than Rs. 2 million per annum but I rejected it and insisted on fur ther reducing it,' he told a national daily. A senior official of the PMDC disclosed that while the academic council proposed the fee amount, it was ultimately rejected by the council with instructions to review it. 'Unfortunately, the Pakistan Association of Private Medical and Dental Institutions (PAMI) increased the fees on its own,' he stated. The official added that PAMI refused to reduce the fee, citing an increase in electricity tariffs and other utility services. 'The next meeting of the committee is scheduled on Wednesday in which we will push PAMI to reduce the fee. However, the PMDC Act has not empowered us [PMDC] to take any action if PAMI refuses to reduce the fees,' he said. In January of this year, PMDC requested colleges to justify the abrupt rise in fees. Furthermore, the council reminded colleges of their obligation to submit annual financial statements for the preceding year and to notify PMDC of any fee hikes three months before the start of the new session. According to official docum ents, the annual MBBS fee at Akhtar Saeed Medical and Dental College Lahore was approximately Rs. 1.8 million. However, for the current session, the college has raised it to over Rs. 2.6 million. HBS Medical and Dental College Islamabad has increased its fee to over Rs. 2.2 million compared to Rs. 1.55 million last year. Meanwhile, Foundation University Medical College has announced a fee of Rs. 1.6 million, slightly up from Rs. 1.58 million charged by Pakistani students last year. CMH Lahore Medical and Dental College and Institute of Dentistry Lahore (MBBS) has increased its fee to Rs. 2.2 million from Rs. 1.75 million last year. Shalamar Medical and Dental College is now charging Rs. 2.1 million, up from Rs. 1.65 million last year. Similarly, Islamabad Medical and Dental College has raised its fee from Rs. 1.6 million to Rs. 2.1 million. The Aga Khan University Karachi has raised its annual fees for the MBBS program from Rs. 2.6 million to over Rs. 3 million for the current year. Fazaia Medical College Islamabad has increased its fee from about Rs. 1.4 million to Rs. 1.6 million, while Rehman Medical College Peshawar has raised its fee from R. s1.5 million to Rs. 1.7 million. Source: Pro Pakistani