Dr Govinda KC has submitted a 17-point memorandum to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba that details major changes that Parliament should incorporate before endorsing the Health Profession Education Bill. 

In the memorandum submitted on Friday, Dr KC has called for full scholarships to students from community schools in rural areas and marginalised communities to study MBBS programmes.

“I drew PM’s attention over how parliamentarians are wholeheartedly working to endorse the bill without making changes suggested by the experts. This directly favours a few businessmen and party cadres,” said Dr KC. 

“The PM has assured us to do his best. Yet, I have warned him that if parliamentarians disagree with the changes, I will begin another fast-unto-death from October 5.” 

The senior orthopaedic surgeon at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital put off his 12th hunger strike on September 27 following suspension of the parliamentary business that included preparations to pass a law governing the medical education sector.

Dr KC had launched the hunger strike on September 25, warning against plans to incorporate into the HPE bill provisions that favour a handful of institutions backed by some political party members.

A major point of the memorandum is the 10-year moratorium on establishment of new medical colleges in Kathmandu Valley. Dr KC has stated that a hospital should be run for at least three years before they can apply for affiliation. 

“The recent amendments by the Parliamentary Committee on Women, Children, Senior Citizens and Social Welfare also provide a leeway on granting affiliation to medical colleges inside Kathmandu Valley,” said he. 

The amendment considers colleges that have already built their infrastructure—the Health Profession Education Commission will conduct fresh inspections on the basis of set standards before approving the medical schools to run MBBS classes. 

If passed in its present form, the HPE bill will benefit some of the private medical colleges, including the Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS), B&C Hospital, Nepal Police Medical College, People’s Dental College and Ashwini Medical College, which have been using their political clout to gain affiliation for years.

The MMIHS is promoted by UML lawmakers, while the B&C Hospital has the backing of the CPN (Maoist Centre).

Similarly, the memorandum states that the HPE Bill should limit the number of medical schools that a university can grant affiliation to five.

Besides, he has demanded that the minimum criteria to pass the MBBS entrance be set at 60 percent.