The government and Dr Govinda KC have signed a nine-point agreement on the 27th day of his fast-unto-death Thursday night. Dr KC ended his fast shortly after the agreement drinking juice given by Kedar Bhakta Mathema and Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) leader Subas Chandra Nembang who was authorized by the government to resolve the technical aspects of amendment of the medical education bill.
The government has met the majority of Dr KC's demands with this agreement reached in presence of Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli at his official residence in Baluwatar in the evening.
The government has agreed to make 22 amendments in the medical education bill registered by the government in the parliament as prescribed by Dr KC. The government has agreed for all 22 amendments with minor adjustments in some points.
Amendment of the bill was one of the seven demands put forward by Dr KC. The government has agreed to address all of those demands.
Dr KC and Education Secretary Khaga Raj Baral signed on the agreement.
Dr KC started his 15
th fast-unto-death at the Karnali Academy of Health Sciences (KAHS) in Jumla demanding that medical education law be drafted on the basis of Mathema report among others. The preceding Sher Bahadur Deuba had brought an ordinance to address Dr KC’s demands but the current government brought a replacement bill removing four key provisions from the ordinance.
Dr KC, who was at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) after the government forcibly brought him to Kathmandu from Jumla on the 20
th day last Thursday, 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, limited granting of affiliation by a university to a maximum of five medical colleges, allowed affiliation to only those that have operated a hospital, taking permission from the Health Ministry, for three years, and had a provision of full scholarship in 75 percent of MBBS seats in public medical colleges.
The main demand of Dr KC's 15th fast was reinstatement of those provisions in the bill. These demands have been included in the agreement reached between the government and Dr KC on Thursday.
The agreement means B&C Hospital of Jhapa can get affiliation for medical college in the future but the door for Manmohan Memorial Hospital has been almost shut down.
Clause 12 of the amended bill will now include the provision prohibiting issue of letter of intent for medical, dental and nursing colleges inside Kathmandu Valley for 10 years from the date of issue of the act.
The clause will give two options for those institutions that have obtained letter of intent and met all the requisite standards for getting affiliation for medical college. The government will procure assets paying appropriate compensation if they wish to transfer the assets to the government.
The government will provide incentives to the institutions if they wish to transfer the medical college to the places prioritized by the Medical Education Commission.
The amendment on clause 13(6) of the bill agreed between the two sides will also stop Manmohan. "One university cannot provide affiliation to more than five educational institutions from now onward irrespective of anything written elsewhere," the amended clause 13(6) will now read.
Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University have already given affiliation to more than five medical colleges and, therefore, will not be able to give affiliation to new ones.
Providing affiliation to Manmohan Memorial Hospital with investment of many leaders and cadres of the erstwhile CPN-UML was one of the main bones of contention. The amendment on clause 13(6) has stopped the way for Manmohan immediately getting affiliation for medical college.
Manmohan will get affiliation in the future only after opening of a new university and meeting the necessary standards. There is practically very small chance of Manmohan getting to open a medical college in Kathmandu as another university is unlikely to be opened in Kathmandu when the country has already adopted federalism.
The decision to sell Manmohan Memorial Hospital to Bir Hospital was 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 the name of National Academy of Medical Sciences to Manmohan Academy of Medical Sciences to end the fast of Dr KC then.
Promoters of Manmohan had also agreed to sell the hospital to the government. But the promoters including CPN leader Rajendra Pandey made a volte-face refusing to sell the hospital saying they will open Manmohan Memorial Medical College instead. The promoters of Manmohan will now have to operate just the hospital inside the Valley or sell the assets to the government or open a medical college outside the Kathmandu Valley.
The agreement, however, has found a way out for providing affiliation to B&C Hospital of Jhapa in the future. The ruling CPN was mainly concerned about allowing B&C owned by Durga Prasai to open medical college.
"The medical colleges to be opened outside Kathmandu will have to comply with the policies to be formulated by the Medical Education Commission," the amended clause 13(6) will add. This clause can find a way out for B&C as the commission will formulate policies for opening medical colleges outside the Valley.
The agreement between the two sides has also included a new issue. The government will form a high level task force for comprehensive study on how to stop the health and education sectors from continuing to remain profit-oriented.
The two sides have also reached an agreement to form a task force including representatives of the federal government, provincial government of Karnali, KAHS, and a representative and an expert from Surkhet Zonal Hospital about the issue of starting admission of students for MBBS and other graduate courses at the KAHS.
The two sides had agreed on the most contested issue of amendment of the bill in Baluwatar early in the afternoon and sat to discuss the remaining six demands at the Education Ministry. But the dialogue was nearly derailed after Dr KC wanted to include prohibition of affiliation to any new medical college inside the Valley for next 10 years to replace prohibition of letter of intent for any new medical college proposed by the government.
Dr KC’s representatives then left the dialogue and reached the TUTH after the government team refused to comply and asked the 10-year moratorium to be reduced. PM Oli, determined to address Dr KC’s demands today itself, then called the representatives back to Baluwatar in the evening and the final agreement was reached there.
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 talked with Dr KC's representatives for some time and instructed his associates to discuss all 22 amendments demanded by Dr KC throughout the night and present the conclusion to him Thursday morning before going to sleep.
PM Oli talked with Nepal Medical Council Chairman 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 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.
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.
