DHARAN, Nov 9: The 43rd senate meeting of BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) has been cancelled after Health Minister Upendra Yadav exerted pressure on acting vice-chancellor of BPKIHS, Dr Guru Khanal, to recommend Dr BN Yadav, the minister's son's to-be father-in-law, for the post of registrar.
After Dr Khanal said that the issue should be discussed with the chancellor and the prime minister before he could recommend Dr BN Yadav for the coveted post, the senate meeting, which was scheduled for Friday, was cancelled at the eleventh hour. There are a total of 23 members in the senate of BPKIHS. The senate members had already reached Kathmandu on Thursday. The post of registrar is vacant in BPKIHS.
As per the recommendation of the health minister, Dr Yadav was appointed the rector of the Dang-based Rapti Academy of Health Sciences a few months back. A source said that Dr Yadav's daughter and minister Yadav's son are soon getting married.
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“Preparations for the senate meeting started a few months back. It was expected that the meeting would take important decisions. But, the senate meeting was canceled because of minister Yadav's interest,” the source said.
“We heard that the meeting was cancelled on Thursday,” a senate member said. “The minister had pressurized the vice-chancellor to recommend his relative for the post of registrar. The meeting was cancelled as someone can't be recommended for the post without discussions with the prime minister,” the member said.
There is a provision that the vice-chancellor should recommend a name for the post of registrar. As per the recommendation, health minister and pro-vice-chancellor appoint the registrar.
The then vice-chancellor Dr Raj Kumar Rauniyar was held by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) with Rs 800,000 in bribe. Then, Dr Khanal was elevated to the post of acting vice-chancellor.
Meanwhile, Dr Khanal said that the senate meeting was cancelled because of controversies in recommending the name for the post of registrar. Dr Khanal is said to be close with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP). Dr Khanal protected minister Yadav claiming that the meeting was not cancelled due to the self-interest of Yadav. “We are discussing the issue, but we have not finalized the name to be recommended for the post of registrar,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Yadav didn't respond to repeated calls from Republica.
