Kathmandu, August 1

Lawmakers of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and main opposition Nepali Congress represented in the House of Representatives have separately registered amendment proposals on the National Medical Education Bill.

NCP (NCP) Chief Whip Dev Gurung, Whip Shanta Chaudhary and lawmaker Krishna Bhakta Pokharel jointly registered an amendment proposal on the bill. “We registered an amendment proposal in the spirit of the nine-point agreement between the government and Dr Govinda KC,” said Pokharel.

Meanwhile, NC lawmakers Gagan Thapa, Rajendra KC and Bharat Shah also registered an amendment proposal on the bill.

The amendment proposals on the bill reiterate Dr KC’s demands that a 10-year moratorium be put on opening new medical colleges in Kathmandu valley, each university be allowed to provide affiliation to a maximum of five medical colleges, and new medical colleges be allowed to start operation only after operating a hospital for a period of three years.

According to the Parliament Secretariat, altogether 22 amendment proposals were registered on the bill. It had given lawmakers till 2:00pm on Wednesday to register amendment proposals.

Lawmakers Bimala BK and Niru Jairu registered an amendment proposal seeking reservation for students from marginalised communities.

The bill was registered at the Parliament Secretariat on July 6 and the Minister of Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel had introduced the bill in the House of Representatives on July 27.