Govt stops activities of CARe Medical College on capacity issues

The health ministry has revoked approval of the CARe Medical College in Mohammadpur in the capital as the institute failed to meet the requirements essential for a private medical college.

In a notification Wednesday, the ministry cited more reasons for its decision including appeals from the college's students for taking remedial steps as well as admission by the institute's authorities of their operational incapacity.

An inspection committee led by the health ministry's Directorate General of Medical Education visited CARe Medical College on 14 June and found a number of capacity issues: lack of adequate academic environment, shortage of teachers, absence of registered land, absence of common location for the college and the hospital and only 10% bed occupancy against the required 70%.

Overall, college authorities failed to fulfil the minimum requirements stated under the Private Medical College Establishment and Operation Guidelines, 2011 and the Private Medical College and Dental College Act, 2022.

In 2017, the health ministry had halted approval of the college's academic activities. A writ petition filed by the college authorities challenging the ministry's measure allowed activities to continue until the plea was withdrawn from the High Court on 26 July this year.

The college now has about two hundred students but could not enrol any new student in the 2021-22 academic year due to government approval issues and student protests.

Students demonstrated a number of times in August seeing the college's lack of approval from the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council, and demanded migration to other medical institutes.