Senior orthopedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC has warned of staging another round of hunger strike from Wednesday. He has already staged 15 rounds of hunger strikes demanding reforms in the country’s health education and medical sector.

Talking to mediapersons in district headquarters Ilam Bazaar on Tuesday, Dr KC said that he has warned of staging 16^th round of hunger strike after the government expressed its reluctance to honour the agreement reached with him at the end of his 15^th hunger strike.

“My hunger strike now is not only for the health sector but against various sides of bad governance as well,” the doctor said.

The doctor had come to Ilam to launch his 16th hunger strike from January 1.  He postponed his planned hunger strike by a week upon the request of parliamentary subcommittee. But as his demands were not addressed, he came to Ilam again on Wednesday to stage another round of hunger strike.

As per the agreement between Dr KC and the government, both Tribhuvan and Kathmandu University are barred from granting affiliations to more than five medical colleges, but the new draft of the bill has a provision that will allow medical colleges outside the Valley, which have already received the Letter of Intent, affiliations, inviting uncertainties yet again.

Earlier in December, Dr KC had mentioned that every government that signed deals with him in the past to make him end his previous hunger strikes had tried to blackmail him to fulfil the vested interests of agents and mafias while disregarding the welfare of the citizens. He had accused the senior government ministers and politicians of colluding with “medical mafias” to subvert the Medical Education Bill.