KATHMANDU, August 14: Dr Govinda KC has so far spent 143 days in five years fasting-unto-deaths for vital reforms in the medical education sector. However, the government is yet to meet all his demands.
His ongoing 11th hunger strike became his longest one so far on Monday. Dr KC now needs special treatment in ICU as his condition is very critical, according to doctors looking after him. “ He can no longer speak and is being given regular oxygen with a mask,” they said.
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Meanwhile, Ranju Jha, chairperson of the parliamentlary Women, Children Senior Citizen and Social Welfare Committee, said publicly on Monday that she would not forward the Medical Education bill to parliament for discussion. The team engaged in talks on behalf of Dr KC called on senior leaders of the CPN-UML today, urging them to address his demands. Jha belongs to CPN-UML.
Dr KC, professor at the Institute of Medicine (IOM), began his 11th fast-unto-death from July 24; pressing various demands, including bringing in a Medical Education Act.
The major demands including concerning the Medical Education Act are yet to be addressed although talks have been held since the last two weeks.
Dr YP Singh, Dr Ranjan Sapkota and Dr Abhisekh Singh are engaged in the talks on behalf of Dr KC with a government panel headed by Shanta Bahadur Shrestha, secretary at the Ministry of Education.
The two teams are blaming each other for not being serious about making the talks conclusive. Secretary Shrestha said that they called in Dr KC's team for discussions at 3PM Monday but they did not show up. “Some talks are being held informally to sort out the problem,” he added.
Dr Abhisekh Singh of Dr KC's talks team said for his part that the government team is not acting responsibly . “We are always ready if the government comes up with a proper solution,” he added.
