Dr KC has reached Ilam to start his 16th fast-unto-death after the deadline he gave to the government to implement the agreement it signed with him to break the last fast expired on Tuesday. Dr KC, who had started his 15th fast in Jumla, is preparing to start the 16th on Wednesday itself.
Coordinator of the Dr KC’s dialogue team Dr Abhishek Raj Singh told Setopati that Dr KC will fast at a public place this time after complaints that service delivery was affected while he staged hunger strikes at hospitals in the past. The place where he will fast, however, has yet to be revealed.
Dr KC has been demanding formulation of medical education bill as per his demands. The bill is currently being discussed in the Education and Health Committee of the parliament. He has urged that affiliation should not be given to new medical colleges even outside the Valley and inclusion of educational programs under the CTEVT.
The committee has yet to reach consensus on not providing affiliation outside the Valley while Education Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel is adamant that the programs under CTEVT should be kept with the Education Ministry.
Chairman of the Education and Health Committee Jaya Puri Gharti, meanwhile, has sought some time from Dr KC assuring that the bill will move forward as per his demands. “The bill will reach conclusion within a couple of days. We will move the bill forward in spirit of his demands,” Gharti told Setopati. She revealed that the bill will be discussed in the committee and the sub-committee under it even on Wednesday.
Agreement between Dr KC and government while ending last fast
The government and Dr Govinda KC had signed a nine-point agreement to end his 15
th fast-unto-death on the 27th day on July 26.
The government 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 agreed to address all of those demands.
Dr KC had 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 later forcibly brought to Kathmandu from Jumla on the 20
th day by the government, 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 were included in the agreement reached between the government and Dr KC on July 26.
The agreement meant B&C Hospital of Jhapa can get affiliation for medical college in the future but the door for Manmohan Memorial Hospital was 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 had also included a new issue. The government agreed to 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 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.
