KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 7

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has finally formed a talks team to address demands put forth by Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging fast-unto-death for the plast 24 days.

Dr KC has been demanding reforms in the medical education sector.

The education ministry’s Spokesperson Deepak Sharma told THT that the high level team has been formed as per the wish of the agitating doctors to address KC’s demands. The talks team will be led by education Secretary Gopi Mainali with two more members, ministry’s Joint Secretary Guna Raj Lohani and Chair of Medical Education Commission’s Dilip Sharma. Secretary Mainali, after being appointed as the coordinator of the talks team said he has asked aides of Dr KC to prepare about holding talks from tomorrow. “We are concerned about saving the life of Dr KC as we have been reported that his health condition is deteriorating rapidly,” said Mainali, adding that the talks will be held about the past achievements and the possible ways to address Dr KC’s demands.

The government’s action came a few hours after the Nepal Medical Associations, an umbrella organisation of all doctors, made a decision to hold nationwide protests in a bid to exhort pressure on the government to fulfil Dr KC’s demands.

Some employees of the health ministry had on October 5, made a visit to Dr KC and urged him to break the strike. But, Dr KC had refused to talk to them citing the employees didn’t have authority to make any deal on the behalf of the government.

Dr KC is on the 19th round of hunger strike, seeking reforms in Nepal’s medical education sector. One of the major demands of Dr KC is to launch the MBBS programme at Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, which was also a demand in his hunger strike last year.