Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli has convened a meeting at his official residence in Baluwatar Thursday morning to address demands of Dr Govinda KC who is into the 27th day of fast-unto-death.
Dr KC's representatives have reached Baluwatar on summon of PM Oli, according to a Baluwatar source.
The dialogue was stalled Wednesday evening after the government dialogue team led by Education Secretary Khaga Raj Baral stated the team did not have mandate to negotiate about amendment of the medical education bill.
PM Oli then called Dr KC's representatives to Baluwatar in the evening to discuss the issue. He instructed his associates to discuss all 22 demands of Dr KC throughout the night and present the conclusion to him Thursday morning after talking with Dr KC's representatives for some time.
PM Oli has talked with Medical Council Dr Dharma Bhakta Baskota, and coordinator of the Mathema task force Kedar Bhakta Mathema Thursday morning after his associates briefed him in the morning about the details of the night-long discussion.
The fast of Dr KC looks likely to end today itself after discussions with PM Oli Thursday morning. "The dialogue will end today itself if it is not derailed," Press Advisor to PM Oli Kundan Aryal told Setopati.
The dialogue between the government team and Dr Govinda KC’s representatives ended without any conclusion on Wednesday evening after the government team stated the team did not have mandate to negotiate about amendment of the bill.
Dr KC's representatives then issued a statement saying they will not sit for another round of dialogue until the government expresses commitment to amend the bill as per the points submitted to the government.
Doctors involved in monitoring of Dr KC's health, meanwhile, issued a statement of their own stating that his health has deteriorated drastically and warned that he may lose consciousness anytime.
"His white blood cells (WBC) count has fallen to the lowest level till now and he can lose consciousness anytime due to very low blood glucose level," the statement says. "Level of potassium in the blood is very low. His blood pressure is very low and the heart beat is also very slow. His heart may stop beating anytime. There can be serious problem at any time due to lack of coordination in heart beat and blood pressure."
The meeting between the two sides Tuesday night had also failed to reach an agreement on amendment of the medical education bill registered in the parliament by the government.
Dr KC started his 15
th fast-unto-death in Jumla demanding that medical education law should be drafted on the basis of Mathema report. The preceding Sher Bahadur Deuba had brought an ordinance to address Dr KC’s demands but the current government brought a replacement bill removing some key provisions from the ordinance.
Dr KC, who is now at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital after the government forcibly brought him to Kathmandu from Jumla on the 20
th day, has accused the government of bringing the bill with an intention of providing affiliation for medical college to four hospitals owned by businessmen close to the CPN.
The ordinance stopped establishment of new medical colleges in Kathmandu Valley for 10 years as demanded by Dr KC, limits granting of affiliation by a university to a maximum of five medical colleges, and allows affiliation to only those that have operated a hospital, taking permission from the Health Ministry, for three years among others.
CPN sources confide that PM Oli now wants to address the issue by taking a decision for government’s procurement of Manmohan Hospital.
The decision to sell Manmohan Hospital to Bir Hospital was also taken when Oli was PM for the first time. Agreement was reached to procure Manmohan Memorial Hospital in the name of Bir and to change Bir’s name to Manmohan Academy of Medical Sciences to end the fast of Dr KC then.
Promoters of Manmohan, leaders and cadres of the then CPN-UML, had also agreed to sell the hospital to the government. But the promoters including CPN leader Rajendra Pandey have made a volte-face and are refusing to sell the hospital to government saying they will open Manmohan Memorial Medical College instead.
