KATHMANDU, Aug 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday directed health authorities to bar medical doctors with fake credentials from practicing.

PM Dahal on Sunday telephoned Dr Senendra Raj Upreti, secretary at the Ministry of Health (MoH), and directed him to ensure that doctors under investigation for the use of fake educational certificates are barred from seeing patients.

“Prime Minister Dahal was concerned over doctors with fake certificate serving patients,” Dr Upreti, said.

Police had arrested 55 individuals who had allegedly used fake +2 or intermediate certificates to pursue their medical degrees.

A joint investigation of the intermediate and +2 certificates of around 1,000 doctors carried out by NMC and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police found that over 100 doctors had produced fake certificates.

A source at the MoH said that PM Dahal has also directed Secretary Uprety to write to Nepal Medical Council (NMC) to take decision over the fate of the doctors who pursued medical degrees with the help of fake +2 certificates.

Meanwhile, the MoH on Monday has directed authorities concerned to annul the contract of such doctors hired by the ministry.

The MoH has also written to Nepal Medical Council (NMC) informing about its latest decision and direction of the prime minister. “We cannot give direction to NMC. So we just informed about our latest decision and PM's direction to us,” Mahendra Bahadur Shrestha, spokesperson at the MoH, said.

 
• prime minister pushpa kamal dahal
 
• health authorities
 
• bar doctors
 
• fake credentials