Kathmandu, April 23

Regular health service at the National Ayurveda Research and Training Centre, Kritipur has come to a standstill for the past 13 days after its disgruntled staffers padlocked the centre.

Patients have been affected due to the padlock at NARTC. Staffers had padlocked NARTC demanding timely salary, training for staffers and adequate budget for conducting research,

Nearly 50 patients used to benefit from its services daily.

“People were benefiting from services such as Ultra sound, CT Scan and X-Ray,” according to Anil Singh Basnet, a research Officer at NARTC.

He alleged that the staff were deprived of salary for the past five months. “There are 62 staffers working here but only one staff is permanent. Its executive director is the only permanent staff while the rest are working on contract basis,” he said, adding, even the contract has not been renewed for long.

“Our demand is not just about the pay. We also demand the smooth functioning of the research centre,” said Basnet.

Though the centre has enough equipment to conduct research work, lack of budget has seriously hampered research activities, according to Basnet.

NARTC is the only centre in the country conducting research on Ayurveda.

“The centre has not been able to conduct any research work. If we are given the required resources we can even help to reduce the import of some drugs,” he said.

He also said people with paralysis visited the centre for treatment. The centre also provided services like acupuncture, physiotherapy, OPD services and dental services.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Population has directed Dr Siddhartha Kumar Thakur executive director of NARTC to solve the problem at the earliest and resume services.

Speaking with THT Spokesperson of MoHP Mahendra Shrestha said that the staffers will be provided salary soon.