The government is determined to pass the much-disputed Medical Education Bill from the House at any cost.
"Call it autocracy or arrogance of two-third majority, the bill will be passed. It is the government's strategy," Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Baskota said addressing the weekly press conference at the Singh Durbar on Thursday.
The House was adjourned until Friday after lawmakers of the main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) stopped Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel Minister Pokharel from going to the rostrum to present the bill on Tuesday accusing the government of trying to dissolve hospitals opened in the name of former prime ministers (PM) Girija Prasad Koirala and Sushil Koirala.
Minister Baskota has reiterated the government's determination to pass the bill a day after CPN lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai warned that the bill will be presented by Minister Pokharel from his chair if the main opposition party NC obstructs him from going to the rostrum even on Friday.
"The bill prepared by the government has come after endorsement from the House committee. It must be passed by the House through due procedure," Baskota added.
He claimed that the bill has gone one step ahead of the agreement the government signed with Dr Govinda KC while ending his last hunger strike in July 2018, and accused the media of unfairly supporting Dr KC without mentioning the good aspects of the bill. "There are no news reports about the good things in the bill. I request you to mention those points in the news reports if you can," he urged.
He also took swipe at the main opposition party for obstructing the House to stop the bill. "They don't allow the bill to be presented and encircle the well and speaker of the House. What kind of democracy is that?" he fumed. "There are processes in democracy and discussions are held as per the processes. There must be discussions about the bill."
Arguing that the bill is pro-students and people, he pointed that laws cannot be formulated by staging demonstrations and agitations at hospitals.
Dr KC is into the 16th day of his 16th fast-unto death demanding that the agreement the government signed with him before ending his 15th on July 26, 2018 be implemented to the letter.
The Medical Education Bill, passed by the
Education and Health Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) on the basis of majority despite opposition of four NC lawmakers, mainly violated three agreements signed with Dr KC.
The provision prohibiting a university from giving affiliation to more than five medical colleges has been weakened in the bill adding that those outside the Kathmandu Valley that have acquired letter of intent (LOI) can be given affiliation by the Tribhuvan University and the Kathmandu University.
B&C Hospital in Birtamode, Jhapa has acquired LOI from the Kathmandu University, that has already provided affiliation to at least five medical colleges, to operate a medical college.
The bill endorsed on Wednesday will pave the way for immediate affiliation to B&C. The agreement mentioned medical colleges to be opened outside Kathmandu Valley will have to comply with the policies to be formulated by the Medical Education Commission meaning B&C would have to wait for formation of the commission, and formulation of policies by the commission to get affiliation.
The second is formation of the all-powerful commission for regulation of medical education and to formulate policies about the sector. Dr KC suspects that the bill passed on Wednesday mentioned Medical Education University to undermine the commission.
The third is the issue of Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) that the government had agreed to phase out within five years as the Health Ministry has already announced it will not recruit human resources with qualification of just certificate level. But the bill passed Wednesday states that the CTEVT will continue until the government so wishes.
