KATHMANDU: Agitating students from Janaki Medical College, Janakpur, affiliated to Tribhuvan University, today staged protest against government, demanding resumption of classes at the earliest.

Classes at JMC have been halted for the past 10 months due to management issues.

The students staged a sit-in in front of the southern gate of Singha Durbar, the prohibitory zone for assemblies, sit-ins and other forms of protest. Security personnel arrested some students before releasing them later in the day. The students, worried about their future, have been staging protest in the capital for the past few weeks. They also padlocked the Dean’s Office at the Institute of Medicine yesterday.

Students, who came to Kathmandu two weeks ago, say silence on the part of concerned authorities is putting  their future in jeopardy

Dipendra Thapa, an MBBS fifth year student said, “We are here in Kathmandu for the past few weeks to draw the attention of government and other concerned bodies to our plight, but the government has failed to pay heed to our concerns.”

According to him, future of around 400 MBBS and Bsc Nursing students was in jeopardy due to the negligence of college administration. The government has opted to maintain silence, he said. He stated that the college administration has not provided salary to its staff for the last 15 months, hence they have shut the hospital in solidarity with our protest.

Classes in JMC have been suspended repeatedly in the past also.

When the classes were closed in 2013, a group of students had come to Kathmandu to draw the attention of the concerned authority and the college management had resumed academic activities after Nepal Medical Council and IoM intervened. Again after two months, classes were halted.

Issuing a statement yesterday, Dr Govinda KC, who has long been fighting for end to irregularities in the medical education sector, had asked the government to immediately address the problems of JMC students.