KATHMANDU: The government on Saturday assigned secretaries of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education for the talks with Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging a fast-unto-death at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for past 14 days.

Education Secretary Shanta Bahadur Shrestha and Health Secretary Senendra Raj Upreti have been directed to hold discussions with the veteran orthopaedic surgeon and convince him to end the strike.

Dr KC on November 13 had begun the strike after the TU did not pay any heed to his ultimatum. Earlier, he had issued an ultimatum to appoint a dean at the Institute of Medicine on the basis of seniority, not the political power sharing.

Ignoring KC, the government had appointed Dr Keshav Prasad Singh to the top post, forcing Dr KC to begin the fast-unto-death for the 10th time in past few years.

Dr KC had also demanded that TU Vice-Chancellor Tirtha Khaniya be sacked as he tried to manipulate the appointment process.

He also demanded that tuition fees for MBBS and BDS be implemented as of last year’s, and new medical colleges be granted affiliation only after the enactment of new Medical Education Act.

He also urged the government to reformation the Judicial Investigation Commission to investigate into the examination frauds and anomalies at different universities including the BP Koirala Institute of Medical Sciences.

He demanded that the Parliament conclude the impeachment process against Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Chief Lok Man Singh Karki whereas another Commissioner Raj Narayan Pathak be also be booked for their alleged role in meddling medical education here.