The House of Representatives (HoR) has been adjourned until Sunday following obstruction by the main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC).
NC lawmakers obstructed the HoR proceedings on Thursday demanding the life of Dr Govinda KC, who is into the 23rd 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, be saved.
NC lawmaker Minendra Rijal speaking at the start of the HoR meeting slammed the government for passing the Medical Education Bill on Friday despite protest by NC, and urged the government to address the demands of the fasting doctor.
NC lawmakers stood up from their seats in protest after Rijal finished his speech and urged the government to save the life of Dr KC. Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara adjourned the House until Sunday after they refused to sit despite repeated requests.
The Medical Education Bill, passed by the HoR, 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 passed by the HoR on Friday 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.
