Apart from the emergency and Intensive Care Unit (ICU), services at all other departments of the hospital remained halted. Hundreds of patients have been affected as Out Patient Department (OPD) was forcefully shut without prior warning.
The disgruntled group launched the protest to express dissatisfaction over police's intervention in the hunger strike of the hospital's staffer Kiran Bhattarai, who has been staging fast-unto-death since the last week, putting forth various five-point demands.
Tension ran high after police, on Monday, tried to take him forcefully to the emergency department of the hospital for treatment on the request from the hospital administration after Bhattarai's health began to deteriorate. The hospital staffer Hem Bahadur Basnet had sustained injury in the clash. He is currently undergoing treatment along with Bhattarai. Doctors involved in Bhattarai's treatment said that he does not have sufficient amount of sugar in his blood.
The 12th convocation ceremony of the BPKIHS is scheduled for February 13, which Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is also the institution's chancellor, is expected to attend. The senate council meeting has been slated just a day before the convocation. As major decisions of the institute can be taken only after senate meetings, it is common for staffers to hold protests ahead of the meeting.
"The main demand of the protestors has always been increment in salaries and other economic benefits. We have already addressed their demands in the last senate meeting," said Vice-chancellor Dr BP Das. "The mindset here is that anyone can demand anything here. We will discourage this tradition," said Dr Das, adding, they cannot address demands that are likely to put the institute in economically vulnerable position.
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