Kathmandu, July 17

The government has sought fresh applications for the post of vice-chair of the Medical Education Commission.

Having cancelled all the applications received for the post, a three-member task force, which was formed to recommend names for the post, issued a re-application notice, recently.

The committee said the applications received so far were incomplete as the applicants did not submit required testimonials and documents along with their applications.

The recommendation committee headed by Umesh Mainali, chairman of the Public Service Commission, said the candidates should now apply for the post within 15 days along with a vision paper and a four-year professional work plan.

The committee has also made changes in the age bar of the candidates. According to the new notice issued, a candidate for the post should be at least 45 years old and should not exceed 65 years of age. Earlier the age bar was 61.

According to the notice, eligibility criteria also require that an applicant should not be a shareholder, investor or a proprietor of any medical colleges. It has also said that the applicants should have completed master’s degree and should have at least 20 years of experience working in any of the faculties of medicine or have work experience in medical education for at least ten years, along with twenty years of work experience in health sector.

Earlier on June 24, the committee had published a public notice for the same post. However, only six persons — Nilmani Upadhyay, Sri Krishna Giri, Pramod Sah, Paras Pokharel, Ramesh Singh and Nilambar Jha — had applied for the post of vice-chairman of the commission.

The National Medical Education Act, which was endorsed by the House of Representatives on 25 January 2019, has a provision to form the Medical Education Commission.

The commission has been envisioned as all powerful body to grant or revoke affiliation of medical colleges across the country and to regulate the entire medical education sector.

Cabinet Secretary Khagaraj Baral and Dr Dibya Singh Shah, nephrologist at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, are other members of the committee. From among three names recommended by the task force, the prime minister will approve one candidate for the post.