10th Strike

DEMANDS

1. Appoint dean at IOM on the basis of seniority. Dismiss TU Vice Chancellor Tirtha Raj Khaniya from the post for his involvement in irregularities in appointment of officials.
2. Just like last year, instruct the universities to fix the MBBS fee at Rs 3.5 million for the Kathmandu Valley and Rs 3.8 million outside the Valley, and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) fee at Rs 2 million.
3. Give full autonomy to the IOM. Until that happens, give maximum autonomy in the economic, administrative and educational sectors in line with the past agreement.
4. No affiliation to new medical colleges until a medical education act is in place.
5. The new medical education act to be passed from parliament should be in line with the recommendations of the Mathema taskforce and agreements reached with Dr KC. Government-run medical institutions should allocate all seats under full scholarship while reserving a few seats for students from remote areas, students from government schools and students from marginalized communities)
6. Conclude the process to impeach CIAA chief Lokman Singh Karki and make him accountable. Immediately initiate investigation against CIAA commissioner Rajnarayan Pathak for his involvement in irregularities in the medical education sector.
7. Immediate action should be taken against IOM’s officials found guilty by the committee led by Jayaram Giri. A judicial commission be formed again to investigate into the irregularities in the medical education sector including the irregularities in the examinations at various universities and wrongdoings of the office bearers of the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences.
8. Immediately implement the past agreement which states that legal arrangements would be made to ensure that the search committee to be formed for appointing office bearers at the universities is led by independent experts and not by the education minister.
9. Immediately implement the previous agreement to establishing at least one government medical college each in all provinces.

AGREEMENTS

1. New dean was already appointed at IOM
2. With regard to the demand for changes to the law in order to make appointments at universities and academies through their senates to ensure academic integrity, a high-level committee headed by the chairman of the University Grants Commission will be formed within 15 days. The committee will prepare a draft to address the demand and present it to the vice-chancellor of the university within three months.
3. According to the decision taken by cabinet on September 17, 2015, in 2016/2017 the fees for MBBS would be Rs 3.85 million inside the Kathmandu Valley and Rs 4.2 million outside the Kathmandu Valley, and the fee for BDS would be 1.932 million. Except otherwise decided by a yet to be formed Medical Education Commission, the abovementioned fees will be valid for the academic year 2017/2018 also. From academic year 2017/2018 onward, the students who enrol for the bachelor’s or higher degree courses in medical education as per the central merit list, will pay the first instalment of their fee directly in the bank account of the university or the academy concerned.
4. In line with the agreement signed between the government and the IOM on February 15, 2014, the pro-chancellor of the Tribhuvan University to re-instruct the university to implement the agreement.
5. Until the passage of the Medical Education Bill-2073, new letter of intent will not be issued and the existing letters of permit will not be renewed, affiliation will not be granted to new medical colleges and medical colleges will not be allowed to expand their programs. After the passage of the bill into law, these issues will be dealt with as per the law.
6. Since the National Medical Education Bill-2073 has already been presented in parliament, necessary amendments will be made by the parliament itself.
7. While scholarships are being provided to students from poor financial backgrounds from remote areas and from government schools under the Scholarships Act 2021, additional measures will be taken to ensure that such students get the scholarships. For now, arrangements will be made to allocate 50 percent seats at public educational institutions under free scholarship, and this will be gradually increased to 100 percent.
8. The issue of impeachment [of CIAA chief] lies under the jurisdiction of parliament.
9. The actions recommended by the panel led by former education secretary Jayaram Giri after investigation into irregularities at the IOM fall under the jurisdiction of the CIAA and the government had already written to the CIAA for action. The government will again write to the CIAA for action.
10. According to the policy of one province one government-run medical college, the following is the current status of the medical colleges. To increase the capacity of these institutions and to run new programs, a clear action plan will be prepared and implemented.

10^th Hunger Strike November 13, 2016- December 4, 2016