The Ministry of Health (MoH) on Sunday decided to hold a consultation meeting with line ministries and concerned authorities next week to initiate the process for purchasing Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS).

The MoH has decided to hold meetings with officials of the MMIHS and the National Academy of Medical Sciences along with representatives from Education, Law and Finance ministries.

The previous government led by KP Sharma Oli had agreed to acquire the MMIHS during negotiations with Dr Govinda KC while he was staging a hunger strike for the eighth time. Under the agreement, the NAMS of the government would purchase the property of the MMIHS.

Secretary at the MoH Dr Sinendra Upreti said the meeting will initiate all the required process to complete the purchase. “We are working hard to implement the agreement with Dr KC,” said Dr Upreti, who chaired the meeting at the MoH on Sunday evening. NAMS Vice-chancellor Dr Ganesh Gurung and Dr Dipendra Raman Singh, chief of curative division at the MoH were also present at the meeting.  

Leaders of the CPN-UML have the controlling stakes at the MMIHS, with a UML Parliamentarian Rajendra Pandey holding the position of chairman.

While Dr KC has been vehemently opposing establishment of new medical colleges inside Kathmandu, a report prepared by a committee chaired by Kedar Bhakta Mathema, former vice-chancellor of the Tribhuvan University had also given similar recommendations. The Health Profession Education Policy, however, had given the government a leeway to acquire any private entity with the consent from the owners.

The process of acquiring private property by the government was contended by another committee which argued that such a random purchase would set a bad precedence.

Dr Krishna Adhikari, who has been mediating between the government and the MMIHS, said a majority of the  Manmohan officials are positive on selling their property. “The Manmohan medical college has sent an official letter to the Health Ministry expressing their willingness to sell the property,” said Dr Adhikari. “The agreement with Dr KC to purchase the property was based on this letter.”