Nepal Medical Association (NMA), the umbrella organization of doctors across the country, decided to go ahead with the strike after its deadline to the government to meet its demands expired on Sunday. The last ditch efforts from the government to avert the strike failed to soothe the doctors.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had on Saturday requested the doctors to call off the strike. Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, who is also the acting prime minister in the absence of PM Nepal, convened a meeting with NMA officials on Sunday in the presence of Health Minister Umakanta Chaudhary and Health Secretary Dr Praveen Mishra.
Gachchhadar promised to convene an emergency cabinet meeting at 10 a.m. on Monday to address the demands but the doctors opted to go ahead with their scheduled strike. "We had agreements with the Health Ministry in the past too but they were not implemented. So, we decided to go ahead with the strike despite finding the minister and DPM very positive about our demands," said NMA President Dr Kedar* Narsingh KC during a press meet after Sunday´s meeting.
"We, however, will review our strike immediately if we find the outcome of tomorrow´s cabinet meeting positive," KC added. He revealed that the cabinet may take a decision to address their demands on making Level 9 as the entry level position for appointment of doctors in the government service and waiving the additional five percent tax levied on doctors and health institutions. He said the two demands should be addressed by the cabinet as they cannot be met by the Health Ministry.
The doctors have also been irked by the lack of implementation of the Health Professional Protection Act that was passed in April. NMA General Secretary Anjani Kumar Jha vented ire on frequent thrashing of doctors by patients´ relatives. "What can we expect from common people when a lawmaker gets away with thrashing a doctor?" Dr Jha asked, apparently referring to the manhandling of Dr Upendra Devkota by Ratsriya Janashakti Party parliamentarian Arjun Rai a couple of weeks ago. Health Minister Chaudhary urged NMA officials to take back the strike for the sake of people. He expressed hopes that Monday´s cabinet will address the issue.
But KC said they cannot step back now. "We seek forgiveness from the common people for the inconvenience and plead with them to bear with the hardship for one day for our sake," he appealed.
Employees join Residents at Bir
Different employees´ unions at Bir Hospital on Sunday expressed solidarity with the Residents´ Association of NAMS (Nepal Academy of Medical Science) and demanded resignation of the vice chancellor and other officials of NAMS, saying that they cannot solve the problem.
The residents have been protesting for the past few days slamming the management for not implementing an agreement reached in August. They have declared that they will negotiate only with the Health Minister from now onward.
*(Corrected)
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