Fully implement nine-point deal: Dr KC

Kathmandu, August 29

Senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC appeared before the parliamentary Health and Education Committee today and said that he expected amendment to the National Education Bill as per the nine-point agreement the government signed with him.

Dr KC, who has been staging hunger strikes seeking reforms in the country’s medical sector, said everything was crystal clear in the agreement signed on July 26 and he did not want to discuss them again.

“I came here respecting the Parliament but there is nothing left to discuss,” Dr KC told the panel members without taking any questions from them. He threatened to stage 16th round of hunger strike if any attempt was made to derail the agreement.

“The prime minister is aware of the nine-point agreement and he is the Parliamentary Party Leader of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) which commands majority in the Parliament. Everybody is aware of the agreement,” he told the panel.

KC gave his speech in the beginning of the meeting and didn’t wish to take questions from parliamentarians. He told the panel, “Parliamentarians are elected by the people. I am fighting for the people, so I believed that the parliamentarians will come up with the law that people want. I believe the Parliament will accept cent per cent contents of the nine-point agreement signed with me.”

The panel which had called Dr KC had, on Monday, interacted with the members of the high-level commission led by Professor Kedar Bhakta Mathema to discuss the contents of the National Medical Education Bill, which had earlier courted controversy and prompted Dr KC to begin his 15th fast-unto-death that stretched for 27 days.

Some of the major points of the deal between Dr KC and the government are putting a moratorium of 10 years on opening new medical colleges in Kathmandu valley, allowing a university to provide affiliation to a maximum of five medical colleges and allowing new medical colleges to start operation only after operating a hospital for a period of three years.

The Sher Bahadur Deuba government had previously formulated the bill as per the recommendations of the Mathema-led commission but  the incumbent government changed some of the crucial provisions of the bill following which    Dr KC staged hunger strike in July.

He ended his hunger strike on July 26 after the government agreed to address all his demands.