Chintamani Tiwari, who has returned home on leave from foreign employment, is in a hurry to reach Qatar. But since Wednesday, he has been visiting the rooms of the Medical Education Commission in Singha Durbar and Sanothimi, along with his 20-year-old son Pranab.

Prabhakar was elated after his son came 7th in the MBBS Unified Entrance Examination. He was confident that his son, who was found to be excellent in merit, would be able to study medicine with a free scholarship worth Rs 4.4 million provided by the government. But Chintamani's worries have increased after the Medical Education Commission decided that Pranab would not be able to compete for the scholarship. He has extended his leave from Bharatpur, Chitwan.

The father and son came to Kathmandu on Wednesday night after the commission, chaired by the Prime Minister and co-chaired by the Minister of Education and Health, made an 'unjust' decision. Instead of listening to the complaint, the commission closed its doors saying 'go to court'. They met Education Minister Mahavir Pun on Friday and conveyed their complaints. But the problem was not resolved.

They are staying at a hotel in Gongabu and are looking for a way to meet Prime Minister Sushila Karki. ‘I don’t have the capacity to pay money to train my son to become a doctor, even selling all my land is not enough,’ he said, ‘The government has deceived me. Even my relatives have congratulated me for getting the scholarship. But now my son’s name has been removed because he will not get the scholarship.’ He said that he is trying to meet the Prime Minister by talking to Communications Minister Jagdish Kharel on the phone.

Pranav scored 174 marks in the 200-mark MBBS integrated entrance examination conducted on 15 Kartik and was selected at number 7. The Medical Education Act provides for 100 percent scholarship for meritorious students to study MBBS. As per the provisions of the Act and Rules, he applied claiming to be admitted to Tribhuvan University Medical Campus, Maharajgunj or Patan Institute of Health Sciences on scholarship. While ‘matching’ the educational institution he was studying, Pranav’s name was suddenly removed from the list of scholarship recipients on Wednesday.

He reached the commission. The Commission returned the scholarship saying that it could not be given because I had studied abroad till 10th grade. He filed a petition and sought a written response. But the Commission's Vice-Chairman Anjani Kumar Jha, Member Secretary and Joint Secretary Basanta Koirala suggested going to court. 'If I am not a Nepali citizen, my citizenship should be revoked,' he said, 'If not, why can't I compete? I am looking for an answer under which law and regulation I cannot be given a scholarship.' He complained that the Commission officials said that the scholarship could not be given due to the 'challan' going on in the Commission rather than the law and regulation.

If I am not a Nepali citizen, my citizenship should be revoked, otherwise why can't I compete? I am looking for an answer under which law and regulation I cannot be given a scholarship: Pranab Tiwari, MBBS student

Before going to Qatar, his father Chintamani used to live in Meghalaya, India, raising cows. He also educated his son there till 10th grade. He passed grade 10 from the Meghalaya Board of School Education. He obtained the equivalence of SEE from the Curriculum Development Center under the Ministry of Education of Nepal in 2079. He passed grade 12 from Gurukul School in Chitwan with a GPA of 3.65. He took the MBBS entrance exam with a certificate from the National Examination Board. He scored among the top in merit. But the Medical Education Commission has placed him on the ‘Foreign Student List’. The Act provides for scholarships to be awarded by holding separate competitions between students who have passed SEE from community and private schools. But Pranav was included in the list of foreign students. The Act provides for charging higher fees than the government has set for foreign students.

He had also succeeded in the entrance exam last year. At that time, he was unable to claim for the scholarship after falling behind in merit. Last year, he was ranked 580th in merit by scoring 130. ‘My family does not have the capacity to pay for a doctor’s education. I want to become a doctor. I spent a year preparing for MBBS without getting admission anywhere,’ he added, ‘This time the exam was good. But I was cheated by not getting admission.’ Jha, vice-chairman of the

commission, claimed that the practice of giving scholarships only to students who studied in Nepal till class 10 has been going on. ‘I do not know what is in the law and regulations. It has been a practice since before. That has been continued. It has been done before that those who studied outside Nepal were not given scholarships,’ he said, ‘If you want to get a scholarship, you should have studied in Nepal. Otherwise, you can only study by paying fees.’ He reiterated that only those who studied in government and private schools in Nepal will get scholarships. He also suggested that those students go to court.

Former vice-chairman of the commission, Shri Krishna Giri, says that Nepali students who studied in foreign boards can compete for scholarships just like private ones and has been practicing the same. ‘Whether they studied in America or India, if they are Nepali students who studied in private schools, if they are ahead in the competition on merit, they will get scholarships.’ A former deputy secretary of the commission said that injustice was done to the students by depriving them of scholarships.

‘What law cannot be applied for by a student who has scored good marks in merit to get a scholarship? The commission should answer that. It cannot be dismissed by going to court,’ he said, ‘Students who studied in foreign boards run in Nepal will get scholarships, why can’t those who studied in similar boards abroad get scholarships?’ he asked the commission, ‘Which article of the constitution, which section of the law and regulations has stopped giving scholarships?’ He pointed out that competition from private schools cannot be stopped. ‘When my father went abroad for employment, we went together to study. Is it a crime to put my name at the top of the merit list? We cannot be deprived of scholarships,’ he added.

Gurukul School’s Associate Principal Jagannath Lamichhane said that his former students were deprived of scholarships even when he met Education Minister Pun. ‘The Education Minister called the commission in front of us and asked them to correct the wrong decision.’ But the commission officials backed away, saying that the minister should also go to court,’ he said. ‘Should a student studying medicine go to court or enroll and prepare for studies?’ Along with Lamichhane, two teachers from Gurukul have also come to Kathmandu from Chitwan demanding that Pranab get a scholarship.

There is a system of providing free scholarships to 75 percent of students in public medical colleges and 10 to 20 percent in private medical colleges. In this way, at least 400 to 500 students have been receiving free scholarships according to the number of seats across the country. After the Medical Education Act was promulgated in 2075 BS, arrangements have been made for unified entrance examinations, merit-based 'matching', admissions and scholarships.