Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Upendra Yadav has said the government should honestly implement the agreement signed with Dr Govinda KC. He said so while responding to a question regarding the 16th hunger strike of Dr KC at a press conference organised at the Health Ministry on Wednesday.

“I arrived here at this stage through agitation,” Deputy Prime Minister Yadav said, adding, “The government should honour the agreement reached with Dr KC.” He said the country’s medical education and health care system should be excellent.

Speaking at the same programme, Health State Minister Dr Surendra Kumar Yadav said the issue has been stuck due to Dr KC’s demand for not allowing one university to grant affiliations to maximum five medical colleges. He said the government is positive towards other demands of Dr KC.

Senior orthopedic surgeon at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Dr KC, had started his 16th hunger strike in Ilam on January 9 after the government showed reluctance to endorse the Medical Education Bill in line with the agreement signed with him earlier. Later, he was brought to Kathmandu after his health deteriorated.

At the same time, the main opposition Nepali Congress has been obstructing the House proceedings for the past two days to foil the ruling party’s bid to push the National Medical Education Bill through Parliament.

Nepali Congress has been objecting to the bill, saying some crucial provisions in the bill were modified by a parliamentary sub-committee where the ruling, Nepal Communist Party, controls majority.

In the agreement reached with Dr KC on July 26, the government had agreed to endorse the bill without making any amendments to it. Following the sub-committee’s move of amending some provisions, KC launched his 16th hunger strike demanding that the bill is passed in its original form.

The Education and Health Committee of the Legislature Parliament on January 9 had endorsed the report on Medical Education Bill presented by its sub-committee without including provisions of the agreement that the government had forged with Dr Govinda KC.

Read: Discord over affiliation leaves medical bill in limbo