As the health condition of fasting senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC deteriorates further, the government is preparing to bring him to the Capital for treatment despite his denial.

Dr KC, who has been on a hunger strike for two weeks, refuses treatment saying that he would breathe his last in Jumla, where he has been staging his hunger strike, if the government did not address his concerns. Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel said the government wants to save his life even though he had taken an undemocratic path of pressing the sovereign Parliament to address his demands.

Addressing a programme organised by the Federation of Nepali Journalists in the Capital on Friday, Pokharel said the government would send a helicopter to ferry Dr KC to Kathmandu for treatment to save his life.“We are looking for the weather to improve. Despite his denial, we might have to bring Dr KC here,” the minister said. His remarks suggest that the government is determined to endorse the National Health Education Act, which Dr KC opposes. The main opposition Nepali Congress is threatening to obstruct the House if the bill is presented for endorsement.

A commission led by former Trihbuvan University vice-chancellor Kedar Bhakta Mathema had recommended a 10-year moratorium on new medical schools in the Valley and requiring such schools to have a hospital operational for at least three years.

Both the provisions are missing from the bill registered in the Parliament Secretariat. Omitting the moratorium, according to critics, is a ploy to grant the Manmohan Academy of Health Sciences in Kathmandu and the B&C Medical College in Birtamod, among others, university affiliation.