One cannot pursue higher level of studies without completing the lower level of education. The guilty should be punished to the extent possible

The medical science is considered one of the toughest subjects of all. Only the meritorious students are expected to join the medical science through tough entrance examinations for which thousands of students vie for a few seats available in all medical colleges within and outside the country every year. New rule has it that even a candidate who wants to study the medical science on pay is required to secure a minimum score in the entrance exams to be eligible for studying in any medical college as it is directly related to human life. In Nepal and in other developing countries, medical science is considered a prestigious field of study as it requires a lot of money and time to complete it. The government and friendly countries provide scholarships within the country and abroad to a few hundred students on merit basis to ensure quality education in the medical field.

But all is not well in the field of medical education if recent media reports are anything to go by. Many students go abroad for medical science education on their own expenses. Once they return home after completing their medical education they are required to take an examination of the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) to get a medical practitioner’s license. The media reports that a dozen doctors practicing for long at various hospitals, including the government-owned Koshi and Janakpur Zonal Hospitals, were arrested on charges of acquiring forged academic certificates of School Leaving Certificates and Proficiency Certificate Level before getting the medical degrees. According to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), NMC and Higher Secondary Education Board, which launched a joint investigation, one of them had submitted a fake SLC certificate, ten had submitted fake certificates of Proficiency Certificate Level and the another had submitted fake documents of both SLC and Proficiency Certificate Level. During the investigation it was found that all of them had acquired the fake academic degrees from India. Four of them were also found to have not acquired the mandatory license from NMC.

The CIB has not disclosed how many years they were in this profession as it is still investigating the matter. What can be said for sure is that they had been playing with the life of unsuspecting people for many years since they joined the profession. Needless to say is that one cannot pursue higher level of studies without completing the lower level of education from a recognized educational board. They not only deserve legal punishment to the extent possible but also the confiscation of their property and the medical degrees they had earned using the profession for which they were not qualified. The cases of getting government jobs producing fake academic certificates in the profession of teaching, police and army had come to light in the past. But the latest case of the people becoming doctors on the basis of fake academic degrees is a harrowing instance. Now the concerned agencies should thoroughly investigate to ensure that none of the fake doctors is involved in this vital profession.

The syndicate system has been rooted in the country in various sectors, restricting the choice for the consuming public who are always at the mercy of providers of products and services in terms of supply, quantity, frequency, quality, price and so on. An example of product is the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and an example of service is transport. But these are just two examples, there are so many other sectors, including areas of daily necessities. Even in politics, ‘syndicate system’ has been criticized from time to time.

Syndicate system

The Pokhara Bus Entrepreneurs Committee’s action of obstructing vehicular traffic in protest against the decision of the Gandaki Transport Management Office to give a route permit to a new transport committee to operate passenger buses in the city area. The existing transport operators and their committees always go all out to prevent new entrants and protect their markets. Almost every route is controlled by the transport entrepreneurs’ committees concerned, and they are simply not interested in improving the quality of their service, such as overcrowding in commercial vehicles. This evil should be rooted out for the greater good of the people.