DHAKA, Mar 30, 2022 (BSS) – Private Medical College and Dental College Bill, 2021 today placed in the Jatiya Sangsad to ensure discipline in private medical and dental colleges by bringing those under a law from two separate guidelines.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque placed the bill in the House with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.

While placing the bill, the health and family welfare minister said the proposed law when it would be enacted would help to enhance the facilities of medical education and research.  

Earlier, the cabinet  on September 28 in 2020, gave the final approval to the draft of Private Medical College and Dental College Act, 2021.

The private medical and dental colleges in Bangladesh are now operated under the Private Medical College Establishment and Operation Guidelines 2011 and Private Dental College Establishment and Operation Guidelines 2009.

A medical or dental college must have at least 50 students while its teacher-student ratio will have to be 1:10 as per the proposed law, according to the draft law.

A medical college needs to have at least two acres of land in any metropolitan area while the land requirement for the dental college is one acre, it said.

For setting up a medical college outside any metropolitan area, the land requirement is four acres and it is two acres for a dental college,  according to the bill.

For a medical college, Tk 3 crore will have to be deposited with any commercial bank and Tk 2 crore for any dental college as reserve funds.

The proposed law says any medical college must have one lakh square feet of space for academic purposes and another one lakh square feet of space for hospital purposes.

For a dental college, the hospital space has to be 50,000 square feet each.

The authorities concerned will inspect such colleges and hospitals from time to time.

Medical and dental colleges will have to be affiliated with any public university,said the proposed bill.

The government will fix the academic fees for medical and dental colleges.

Besides, as per the law, private medical college or dental college authorities will have to dispose of their wastes in a scientific manner.

In case of violation of the law, the cabinet secretary said the maximum punishment will be two years' imprisonment or a fine of Tk 10 lakh or both.

Currently, there are some 70 private medical colleges and 26 private dental colleges in the country.