Activities of five medical colleges have been suspended and approval of one medical college has been revoked due to lack of quality education programs in those institutions, Health Minister Zahid Maleque told the parliament today.

The actions were taken according to country's law and policy, he added.

In reply to a query of Jatiya Party MP Mashiur Rahman Ranga, the minister said there are currently 76 private medical colleges in the country. Of them, five are run by the Bangladesh army.

The suspended private medical colleges are Nightingale Medical College (50 seats), Ashulia, Dhaka; Northern International Medical College (75 seats), Dhaka; Aichi Medical College (50 seats), Uttara, Dhaka; Northern Private Medical College (80 seats), Rangpur, and Shah Mokhdum Medical College (50 seats), Rajshahi.

However, the minister did not mention the name of the medical college whose approval was revoked.