A senate meeting of the National Academy of Medical Sciences on Saturday decided to change its name to Manmohan Memorial National Academy of Medical Sciences (MMNAMS) in a move that could settle the row over the Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences (MMIHS).

A key demand of the UML leaders who have stake in the MMIHS has been to have a medical institute in the name of late UML leader Manmohan Adhikari after they failed to obtain affiliation to run MBBS programme.

The decision from the senate, the apex body of NAMS, follows a decision from the government to buy MMIHS, a medical college whose affiliation process from the very beginning was contested.

NAMS Vice-Chancellor Dr Ganesh Gurung said they will soon inform the Ministry of Health about the senate decision of change the name of NAMS. A Cabinet approval is required to effect the senate decision.

“High-level talks are underway to buy the property of MMIHS and we will act according to government decisions,” said Dr Gurung.

MMIHS is run by the Nepal Health Care Co-operative Limited (NEHCO-Nepal) where majority shareholders—more than 2,000—are members of the UML.

NEHCO-Nepal is chaired by UML lawmaker Rajendra Pandey.

The previous government led by KP Sharma Oli had agreed to buy the property of MMIHS for NAMS during negotiations with Dr Govinda KC, while he was on hunger strike for the eighth time.

As per an agreement reached with Dr KC, the government-owned NAMS was to buy the property of the MMIHS. It was also agreed that no new medical colleges will be established in the Valley for the next 10 years and that MMIHS would be merged with NAMS.

While the property was valued at around Rs 7 billion, MMIHS’s debt was found to be to the tune of Rs 3.5 billion.

Recently, during talks with MMIHS and Ministry of Health officials, it was agreed that the name of NAMS shall be change to Manmohan Memorial National Academy of Medical Sciences.

 MMIHS officials had sought two months.

MMIHS had long been trying to obtain affiliation to run MBBS classes. But it was denied affiliation by the institutes, including Institute of Medicine of Tribhuvan University and Kathmandu University.

The Oli-led government had also table a bill in parliament seeking to give the institute the status of an autonomous body.  The Manmohan Adhikari Academy of Health Sciences-2015 bill, however, met with fierce protests.

Dr KC, who has long been demanding reforms in the medical education sector and has so far staged hunger strikes eight times, had called for withdrawing the bill.

Recently, after a warning from Dr KC to stage another round of hunger strike, the Cabinet decided to withdraw the bill.