The professor had started a fast unto death on May 14 demanding merit-based appointments in the vacant posts and implementation of a probe committee report implicating IoM officials in several irregularities. He ended the fast the same evening after TU wrote a letter asking the committee to select three office bearers on merit basis.[break]
Coordinator of the three-member committee Prof Aravinda Lal Bhumi said the committee wrote to Vice-chancellor (VC) of Tribhuvan University (TU) Hira Bahadur Maharjan on Friday seeking extension of the three-week committee mandate that expires Monday. “We have completed around 50 percent of our work and could not complete the rest of the work due to the regular strikes," said Prof Bhumi.
Prof Bhumi said the committee has set four criteria -- seniority, qualification, efficiency and vision -as the basis for selecting IoM office-bearers. "We will complete the rest of the work in the added time that the TU VC would provide us,” he added.
VC Maharjan told Republica that the committee would be given a maximum of two weeks to complete selection of office bearers."They still have many things to do and have sought term extension. We will extend their term by another one or two week,” VC Maharjan stated.
Meanwhile Dr Govinda KC and other doctors and professors held a meeting on Sunday and decided that they cannot give more than another three weeks to the committee to appoint office bearers. "We understand that the committee could not function optimally due to the regular bandas. But I will again start fast unto death if TU does not appoint merit-based officials within the next three weeks and instead makes political appointments or extends the tenure of current officials whose term has already expired,” Dr KC said.
Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had called Dr KC to his residence on May 13 and requested the doctor to not start the fast in view of the critical political situation. PM Bhattarai had himself instructed VC Maharjan to address Dr KC´s demands after the doctor started the fast the next day.
The doctors have also been demanding that the report of the committee, formed under former education secretary Jayaram Giri after the 17-day TUTH strike in March 2010, be implemented. The report had claimed that there was sufficient ground to suspect the involvement of IoM officials in several irregularities.
However, no action has been taken against any of the officials implicated. Dr Arun Sayami, who was dean at IoM when the students went on strike, is still in office as acting dean even though his term ended over six months ago while Assistant Campus Chief of Maharajgunj Campus Dr Krishna Bahadur Oli is serving as the campus chief now.
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