In a bid to expedite the process to grant affiliation to Jhapa-based B&C Medical College, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has allegedly put pressure on Nepal Medical Council (NMC) to submit its preliminary findings to Ministry of Education (MoE).

Following the instructions from Prime Minister's Office, the NMC on Tuesday wrote to MoE stating that B&C is on track to run its own MBBS programme.

"We were asked by the Education Ministry to assess the present situation and update on the status of B&C," said Dr Dilip Sharma, Registrar of NMC. "We then formed our own committee whose preliminary report showed that they are eligible in terms of infrastructures and to begin their own MBBS programme."

Since the B&C has now got consent from NMC, they will again write to MoE seeking affiliation. If the MoE agrees with the process of B&C, it will ask the medical college to seek affiliation. The B&C will then apply for affiliation at Tribhuvan University IoM and Kathmandu University. The universities will then conduct their own independent assessment and if they give approval for affiliation, the NMC will again conduct another round of inspection. If B&C gets the go-ahead after the inspection, they can begin the admission process for MBBS programme.

The development comes days after the government reached an agreement with Dr Govinda KC that states that no new affiliation will be granted to medical colleges until the formation of Health Profession Education Commission. KC had ended his 10th fast after 22 days only on Sunday.

Talking to the Post, Dr Govinda KC said this is really unfortunate that the government is working against its own agreement. "The government has cheated the people of this country. We will not allow this to happen until the commission is formed," said Dr KC. "For this I am ready to go on another round of hunger strike."