Talks between representatives of Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging an indefinite hunger strike for the past 18 days in Jumla, and government team scheduled for Tuesday is yet to take place.

The team representing Dr KC has accused the government dialogue team of trying to bulldoze their way during the talks.

Today’s meeting was scheduled to take place from 9am. However, according to Dr KC’s representatives, the official meeting has failed to take place until 1pm as conducive environment could not be forged.

“A favourable environment could not be created for official talks, though informal discussions are being held with the government team from 9am,” said Dr Abhishek Raj Singh, a member of Dr KC’s talks team, “The government is opting for a bulldozing strategy.”

Dr Singh expressed his grievance over government talks team’s insistence on taking Dr KC to Kathmandu and ignoring withdrawal of the National Medical Education Bill from the parliament to create a favourable environment for talks.

A Cabinet meeting on Monday had decided to form a panel led by the education secretary Khagaraj Baral comprising joint-secretaries from the health and home ministries as members. Following the government’s move, a four-member team including Senior Advocate Dr Surendra Bhandary, Advocate Om Prakash Aryal, Dr Singh and a representative from the Nepal Medical Association was formed to negotiate on behalf of Dr KC.

Earlier, on Monday, the first phase of talks between the two parties had ended inconclusively as both sections remained adamant on their positions.