Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday instructed the Ministry of Health to suspend doctors who had been arrested on charge of possessing fake higher secondary certificates.

PM Dahal directed Health Secretary Dr Sinendra Raj Upreti to make sure that the doctors under investigation are not attending to patients.

A statement from the PM’s Secretariat states that PM Dahal told Dr Upreti that the doctors who were released on bail have resumed medical practice and this should stop. He also asked the health secretary to immediately direct the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) to suspend the licences of such doctors until the final verdict is pronounced.

A joint investigation by the Central Investigation Bureau and then Higher Secondary Education Board had found over 110 doctors with fake academic credentials from the Bihar Intermediate Education Council. Out of them, 54 have been arrested since February this year. In June, the CIB had arrested 36 doctors from various parts of the country.

Despite PM’s directive, the Heath Ministry has delayed a full-house NMC meeting to keep the doctors on suspension.

Health Minister Ramjanam Chaudhary, apparently under pressure from the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), had asked the NMC to not take any decision until they prepare a directive on appointments in health councils. In a statement released on April 27, the anti-graft body said that office bearers at several councils that govern the health sector had been appointed illegally. It pointed out that appointments at the Nepal Medical Council, the Nepal Nursing Council, the Nepal Health Professional Council and the Nepal Pharmacy Council, among others, were made directly by the health minister in violation of the law.

A simple majority from the 20-member NMC board is required to reach a decision to suspend the licence of the doctor under CIB investigation. Health Secretary Dr Upreti said they would write to the NMC soon to take the decision.