Dr Govinda KC’s victory
Trio wins physics Nobel for quantum mechanical tunnelling
In the media frenzy surrounding the issue of affiliations of new medical colleges, another important aspect of Dr Govinda KC's protest was overshadowed. This concerns the exorbitant cost of medical education in Nepal. To pass out with an MBBS degree from one of the private medical colleges, a student has to pay anywhere between four to six million rupees. But passing out, as around 3,000 MBBS graduates who are currently unemployed are finding out, is only the start of their ordeal. Unless they can add an MD/MS degree to their repertoire, at the cost of another five or six million rupees (at the least), they might struggle just to make ends meet. And imagine the mindset of someone who, by the time he has a master's degree, will have billed his parents for no less than 10 million. Recouping the cost and then finally earning a return on investment becomes his sole concern. It is this kind of blatant commercialization of medical education that Dr KC opposed. Now, let us hope the committee under former Tribhuvan Univeristy Vice-Chancellor Kedar Bhakta Mathema—which has been given the mandate to propose ways to restructure medical education—will offer impetus for much-needed reforms.
The first big test of Koirala government will be when Mathema presents the suggestions of his committee later this month. There are reasons to doubt drastic reforms when the medical sector is virtually controlled by a 'mafia' (in Dr KC's coinage) with strong political links. These people are involved in medicine only to make money. But medicine, like Dr KC says, cannot be a business in a country where half the people lack access to basic health care. The Koirala government has also committed to annul affiliations of medical colleges that do not meet required criteria, to grant no new affiliations and to initiate action against those suspected of foul play in ad hoc licensing. These tasks should be comparably easier. It is now safe to assume that businessmen will think many times before backing new medical establishments in urban areas, already teeming with medical facilities. If they want to get into medical field, they will now have to explore rural areas. It is only right that medical colleges be opened in areas where they are most needed.Dr Govinda KC's satyagraha, above everything else, offers a resounding proof that despite everything that is wrong with today's Nepal, it is still possible for a common Nepali to shake the foundations of the lethargic and often corrupt permanent establishment and their political masters. And just look at the public support in favor of Dr KC over the last few days! Our lawmakers could learn from the noble doctor. The reason we have not had a constitution is that our lawmakers, much like the promoters of new medical facilities, are only thinking about what's in it for them. Dr KC shows that if they can for a change put people first, they would be handsomely rewarded, not only by votes, but, more importantly, by the love and adulation of 27 million Nepalis. In the end, in Dr Govinda KC, who has selflessly served Nepalis and people in need from the Philippines to Haiti, Nepal might have the first real contender for Nobel Peace Prize.
