KATHMANDU, March 1: Inspired by BP Koirala, Dr Shankar Prasad Uprety always wanted to serve people in rural communities. As he always dreamed of serving poor people, he quit a government job, and went to Jhapa with the sole aim of providing health care service. He provided free service to poor people for 45 years.

The man of integrity, who made serving the poor people the main aim of life, passed away on Saturday. He was 88.

The final rites of Dr Uprety were performed at the Pashupati Aryaghat on Sunday.

Dr Uprety, who was born in Tehrathum district in 1991BS, completed his MBBS from India in 2017 BS. After completing the course, he came to Nepal and joined a government job, and served for five years. But he was never satisfied as the zeal to serve the poor was always in his mind.

He is known as “Dr Ba” in Jhapa and surrounding districts. Dr Uprety had a clinic in the northern part of Jhapa, where he provided free health service to poor people. He also used to provide medicines for free to poor people.

In recent years, Dr Uprety was living with his son Sanjeev after having some health problems.

Dr Uprety was also a politician, and has a long history of struggle for the democratic movement in Nepal. He had to serve jail term several times.

He was appointed a member of the National Assembly for six years after the fall of the Panchayat regime in 1990.

President of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed his condolence over the passing of Dr Uprety. “Nepali Congress has lost a man with integrity, and the society has lost a social worker,” a statement released by Nepali Congress has quoted Deuba as saying.

“Dr Uprety, who played an active role in democratic movement, served hundreds of thousands patients,” Nepali Congress said in the statement.

Dr Uprety, who started working as a health professional from 2018 BS, served in Dhangadhi and Bhojpur, before opening the clinic at his home in Jhapa.

“Dr Uprety only had a MBBS degree, but his medical experience was amazing. He could treat every disease. He was the only hospital in the rural part of Jhapa,” litterateur Krishna Dharabasi wrote on Facebook.

Dr Uprety is the father of renowned litterateur, academic, and activist Sanjeev Uprety.

 
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