Following mounting pressure to grant affiliation to new medical colleges, the dean of the Institute of Medicine (IoM), Dr Prakash Sayami, has tendered his resignation.

Sayami, who is on leave until December 16, put in his papers on Wednesday. This is the second time he has submitted his resignation. Though he had quit on November 6, 2012, citing non-cooperation from Tribhuvan University (TU) officials, the TU did not accept his decision due to pressure from various quarters.

Officials at the Dean’s office at the IoM said pressure from various quarters to grant affiliation to medical colleges is what led Sayami to step down.

“The TU has not even approved the promotion of faculty members after the IoM denied affiliation to new medical colleges,” an official, who did not want to be named, told the Post.

The affiliation row between the TU and the IoM had came to the fore after the university, on September 26, published a notice calling for applications for the affiliation from colleges that have taken the consent letter, known as the letter of intent (LoI), from the Ministry of Education. The TU move was strongly objected by the IoM. The IoM says that new affiliations should not be granted at a time when they are already having a tough time managing and monitoring the existing medical colleges.

Though the TU inspected some private medical colleges with a view to granting them the affiliation, the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) halted the process, saying it was ‘faulty’.

Only the IoM under the TU and Kathmandu University grant affiliation to private medical schools in the country. Two autonomous academies—BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and Patan Academy of Health Sciences—can run their programmes and provide degrees, but they cannot grant affiliations.

Among the 21 medical colleges in Nepal, eight are affiliated to the IoM. The Tribhuvan University Vice-chancellor’s Office had appointed Dr Sayami as the dean on August 17, 2012, breaking its own tradition of political appointments.

source: the kathmandu post,9 Dec 2013