Valley
Hundreds lend support to Dr KC
Hundreds of Dr Govinda KC’s supporters participated in a mass rally in the Capital on Saturday, urging the government to immediately address the demands of senior orthopaedic surgeon.Hundreds of Dr Govinda KC’s supporters participated in a mass rally in the Capital on Saturday, urging the government to immediately address the demands of senior orthopaedic surgeon. Dr KC has been on hunger strike for the past 13 days at the TU Teaching Hospital demanding reforms in the country’s medical education sector.
People from different walks of life, including medical students, doctors, professors and commoners, joined in the rally that started from Maitighar Mandala. The rally converged into a corner assembly at New Baneshwor.
Among the participants was former chief justice Sushila Karki who in her brief address to the mass said that it is the moral responsibility of people to support Dr KC. She urged the government to address his demands soon. Endorsement of the Health Profession Education Bill, one of Dr KC’s major demands, has been pending in Parliament for the past one year. The bill calls for the formation of an overarching regulatory framework for the medical education sector.
Apart from the HPE Bill, Dr KC has been demanding mandatory enrolment of meritorious students in private medical colleges which have been admitting students with poor results, charging exorbitant fees. He has also urged the government to give the Institute of Medicine the authority to enrol students, set fees and grant affiliation and de-affiliate medical colleges that fail to abide by the directives issued by the government and the court.
NMA warns of stern protest programme
Kathmandu: The Nepal Medical Association (NMA), the umbrella body of medical doctors, on Saturday warned of a stern protest if the government delays in addressing the demands of Dr KC. The association has also decided to form a talk committee to mount pressure on the government.
Organising a mass-meeting at the NMA Central Office in Kathmandu, former NMA presidents and doctors urged the government to take the demands of Dr KC seriously.
Former NMA president Dr Anajani Kumar Jha said that the fight of Dr KC is to develop a better system in medical education and universities.
“The government should not dismiss his fight, saying that it is repeated every now and then,” said Dr Jha. “This fight is ours and we will support him wholeheartedly.”
Other doctors also said that it is the moral responsibility of the government to address all of Dr KC’s demands which it had agreed during 10 hunger strikes he had staged in
the past.