The government has brought the medical education bill against the past agreements with Dr Govinda KC with an intention of providing affiliation for medical college to four hospitals owned by businessmen close to the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). Dr KC has been staging a fast-unto-death in Jumla since Saturday to protest the bill.
Manmohan Memorial, Kathmandu National and Mediciti of Kathmandu, and B&C of Jhapa will get affiliation if this bill is implemented as it is. Promoters of all these four hospitals are close to CPN chairmen duo KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and other influential CPN leaders.
Promoter of B&C Hospital Durga Prasai is close to both the chairmen and Oli and Dahal had made a breakthrough for unification of the then CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) at a lunch meeting at his residence in Bhaktapur.
Top-level leaders and cadres of the erstwhile UML have invested in Manmohan Memorial Hospital. Rajendra Pandey is chairman of the hospital and affiliation for the hospital is associated with the party's prestige due to him.
Promoter of Kathmandu National situated at Ghattekulo, Kathmandu is Basaruddin Ansari who was close to the Maoists earlier and later joined UML and ran for mayor of Birgunj Metropolis on UML ticket last year.
Sources say promoter of Mediciti of Nakkhu, Lalitpur Upendra Mahato is also lobbying to get affiliation in the name of Ashwini Medical College. Mahato's younger sister Julie Mahato is a CPN lawmaker while her husband Raghubir Mahaseth heads the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport in the Oli Cabinet.
The government has brought the Medical Education Bill under influence of these businessmen in a way to ensure affiliation for their hospitals. The bill has removed some provisions from the Medical Education Ordinance brought by the preceding Sher Bahadur Deuba government.
The ordinance stopped establishment of new medical colleges in Kathmandu Valley for 10 years as demanded by Dr KC. Likewise, a university can give affiliation to a maximum of five medical colleges.
Manmohan, Kathmandu National and Mediciti are all situated inside the Valley while Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University, the only universities that can provide affiliation to medical colleges, have already granted affiliation to five medical colleges each.
B&C is outside the Valley but one out of the two universities will have to provide affiliation to it.
Other universities cannot provide affiliation to medical colleges as universities must operate a medical college of their own to be eligible to provide affiliation for one.
The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has warned it will obstruct the House if the ordinance brought by the Deuba government is not implemented as it is.
NC lawmaker and former health minister Gagan Thapa accused the government of amending the ordinance under influence of interest groups. "The ordinance tried to maintain quality by bringing medical education under the purview of the government. But the provisions kept in the ordinance for people-oriented results have been removed in the bill," Thapa told Setopati.
"The government has brought the new bill in the interest of the group that aims to make profit by opening medical colleges."
