Protesters staged demonstrations in Dharan on Saturday to protest the federal government’s plan to integrate BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) by introducing an umbrella act.

Doctors, students and staffers of the BPKIHS along with civil society, political parties and indigenous nationalities took to the street against the government plan to regulate the BPKIHS under the umbrella act. The protesters said the government aimed to downgrade the autonomous BPKIHS to a medical college. The local people of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City also formed a struggle committee to ‘protect the BPKIHS’.

“The government has taken a regressive decision to integrate various health academies by introducing the umbrella act,” said Muksahang Menyangbo, coordinator of the struggle committee, while addressing a corner meeting. “It is against the spirit of federalism.” Menyangbo claimed the government aimed to confine the BPKIHS as a medical college and nationalise its physical infrastructure and properties worth billions of rupees.

The demonstrators took out a protest rally from the main gate of the BPKIHS that converged into the corner meeting at Bhanuchowk after moving around the city. They warned of a stringent protest if the government was indifferent about their demand.

The government is planning to bring an integrated academy of health sciences umbrella act to regulate six health academies—the BPKIHS, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences and Rapti Academy of Health Sciences. The Ministry of Health and Population is all set to introduce a bill to regulate the academies.

“The government plan to integrate the health academies by introducing the umbrella act is against the spirit of the present constitution,” Shyam Lamsal, professor at the BPKIHS, said, adding that the government was mainly to blame for the problems existing in the academies.

The BPKIHS, established in 1993 and subsequently upgraded as a health science university in 1998, is an autonomous health academy with a mandate to work towards developing a socially responsible and competent health workforce, providing health care and involving in innovative health research. The institute has been crippled by several problems and irregularities.