Is it right of Dr Govinda KC to try to force the government to heed his demands, with yet another hunger strike, when half the country is effectively under siege? It is, in our reckoning. First, there is no link whatsoever between Dr KC's hunger strike, his sixth, and the unrest in Tarai. In fact, he would have launched the strike much earlier. But the government kept assuring him that the recommendations of the Mathema Committee—formed by the government to suggest reforms in medical education following Dr KC's fifth hunger strike last November—would be implemented soon. The government's intent seemed a suspect right from the day Kedar Bhakta Mathema submitted his list of recommendations to Prime Minister Koirala on June 29. The report was not made public for more than a month. Finally, the report entered the public domain on August 4, and only after yet another threat of hunger strike by Dr KC, a senior orthopedic doctor at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. The reason it was kept under wraps for so long, it is now clear, was because some of its recommendations, if implemented, would effectively drive a dagger down the heart of the medical mafia and its political patrons.
There have been some positive steps, no doubt. For instance one of the main demands of Dr KC was free postgraduate education at government-run medical colleges. This has been done. A common entrance exam for all medical colleges—to control irregularities and to reliably compare the competences of medical students studying at different medical colleges—is in the works. But other demands of Dr KC, which are also reflected in the recommendations of Mathema commission, have been completely ignored. He had asked for an autonomous commission to regulate medical education in Nepal. Such a commission would help reduce malpractices in medical colleges, some of which have been given operating license even though they are short of qualified teachers; nor do they have enough patients whom the medical students can study to gain proficiency in their chosen specialties.
Other recommendations of the Mathema committee are also well placed. It has asked for a 10-year moratorium on construction of new medical colleges inside Kathmandu Valley. As it is, the valley is jam-packed with medical establishments. The real need for new medical colleges is outside Kathmandu. It is the far-flung rural pockets that new medical colleges should be willing to serve if they want accreditation. The recommendation on appointment of university officials on competence basis, and not based on their political affiliation, too, is on the mark. A country's medical establishment should reflect its citizens' need for medical services. Medicine is by nature a service-oriented vocation; those who are into it with pure profit motive are in the wrong business. True, Dr KC is an idealist and it might not be possible to meet his each and every demand. But the kind of harsh light he has been able to shine on the mafia-controlled medical education sector deserves a closer look.
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