ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was moved on Thursday to abstain all the private medical and dental colleges across the country from charging more than Rs 0.5 million per student per annum. The petition was filed by Advocate Zulfiqar Ahmad Bhutta in the court under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution making the Federation of Pakistan through Secretary Cabinet Division and Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) through its registrar as respondents. The petitioner requested the court to issue directions to all the private medical and dental colleges across the country not to charge more than Rs 0.5 million per annum per student. The petitioner submitted that he had met some people worried about the fee structure of the private medical and dental colleges, adding that few colleges are charging more than Rs one million and there are plans of the PMDC to raise the fee in the near future, which can be as high as Rs 1.3 million. He said he came to know that in a meeting of PMDC held on August 21, 2017, it has decided to review and discuss the request of private medical colleges about raise of fee in its next meeting. ‘Apparently few words have been introduced regarding sympathy with the common people, but the petitioner believes that its a smart idea by which they will increase minimum fee for every college not less than Rs 1 million which already is being charged by few medical colleges’, the petition maintains. “It is necessary for us to stop this exploitation of the students as well as their parents in the interest of public at large,” the petitioner stated, adding that few departments’ officials are getting salaries more than Rs 0.7 to 0.8 million minimum per month perhaps this cannot be a matter of worry for them but it is a major problem for those who are unable to afford even to pay Rs 0.5 to 0.6 million per year as tuition fee of MBBS/BDS etc, the petitioner stated. The petitioner stated that under the PMDC Rules, a medical college is allowed admission of 150 students in private sector medical institutions, as such if a college charges Rs 0.6 million per student per annum than from only 1st class (First year) of MBBS/BDS, they earn Rs 90 million, adding that even some colleges take benefit by saying that they are working as trust etc. He contended that the matter relates to all the youths of this country as well as those who want to get medical education in Pakistan, thus, he contended that this is fit case to be decided under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. He prayed the court to issue directives to all the private medical and dental colleges across the country not to charge more than Rs 0.5 million per student per annum. Published in Daily Times, September 1st 2017.