Govinda K.C.

Govinda K.C. (Nepali: गोविन्द के.सी.) is a Nepali orthopaedic surgeon and philanthropic activist.^[2] He is a professor of orthopaedics at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH),^[3] part of the Institute of Medicine, Nepal. He is known for his humanitarian work^[4] and for his activism in favor of the independent academic functioning of the government medical institutions of Nepal, notably the Institute of Medicine and Patan Academy of Health Sciences.^[5] His non-violent protests and fasts have successfully pressured the Nepali government and stakeholders to make change.^[6][7]

Govinda K.C.
गोविन्द के.सी.
Govinda K.C. in 2014
Born	Govinda K.C. 25 March 1957^[1] (age 66) Ramechhap, Janakpur Zone, Nepal
Other names	GKC, DrKC
Alma mater	Institute of Medicine, Nepal (H.A.) Rajshahi Medical College, Rajshahi, Bangladesh (M.B.B.S.) Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh (M.S.)
Occupations	Orthopedic Surgeon Social Activist
Years active	1974–2019 (retired due to age restriction)

Early life and schooling

He studied at the Institute of Medicine in Nepal to become a Health Assistant (H.A.), the equivalent of a Physician Assistant in the U.S. He was unaware that this was a step to becoming a doctor.^[6] Upon completing his H.A., he got Ministry of Education scholarship to study for an M.B.B.S. in Bangladesh at Rajshahi Medical College.^[6] After graduation, he worked at Bir Hospital. He then received an M.S. in Orthopedic surgery from Dhaka University in Bangladesh.^[6] Although he wanted to serve in a tertiary hospital and there was a shortage of orthopedic surgeons in Kathmandu, plans were made to transfer him to a rural hospital where there would be no facilities to practice orthopedics.^[6] He resigned from Bir Hospital and joined the Institute of Medicine as a volunteer in 1994.

Humanitarian work

K.C. has preferred to use his professorship salary to provide services in remote areas of Nepal and has travelled internationally in response to natural calamities.^[8] He has not taken funds from any non-governmental organizations (NGO) to provide these services. Apart from his work in the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal, he financed these Nepalese and international humanitarian services himself.^[9]

Nepal

TUTH offers K.C. a few weeks of vacation every year. He spends this time at the most rural clinics in Nepal, which are unreachable by public transportation. He often travels long distances by foot to reach the clinics. In these clinics, he trains health workers to identify orthopaedic emergencies, provide emergency treatment, and if necessary, provide timely referrals.^[10] He also organizes health camps in remote places. He gives medications to people and makes the necessary arrangements to give free medical treatment when they come for further treatment in Kathmandu. He has faced allegations of being a spy and an insurgent when he worked in health during the Maoists' insurgency. The rural districts of Nepal had an outbreak of cholera some years ago. Many doctors refused to go there, even if paid. K.C. travelled to the afflicted areas to provide humanitarian aid, carrying the medicine on his back.

International

K.C. has travelled extensively to assist victims of international natural disasters. In 2001, he spent three weeks in the Bhuj region in Gujarat, India, after the earthquake. In 2005, he served in Northwest Pakistan for around 20 days after a disastrous earthquake. After a cyclone in Myanmar in 2008, the government of Myanmar prevented foreign aid agencies from entering the country but admitted him for two weeks. In 2010, he went to Haiti in the wake of the disastrous earthquake and served there for three weeks. In 2011, he served flood victims in Pakistan for two weeks. In 2013, he went to the Philippines to treat people affected by a tsunami there.

Medical activism

K.C. has been a prominent campaigner for medical sector reform in Nepal in response to public allegations of both corruption and undue political pressure to give medical college affiliation to facilities with inadequate infrastructure.^[11][12][13] His ongoing advocacy over several years has included several lengthy personal hunger strikes, which have received extensive media coverage and successfully pressured authorities to make changes.^{[14][15][16][17]}

In January 2014, K.C. launched another hunger strike^[7] campaigning against the political appointment of a new dean of the IoM, which did not reflect seniority, as well as several other grievances.^{[18][19][20][21][22]} Supporting this cause, the Medical Association of Nepal shut down all hospitals except for emergency services across the country.^{[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]} The Nepal Medical Association called for mass resignation of doctors across the country, with almost a hundred doctors and professors resigning^{[30][31][32][33][34][35]} and announcing free medical camps in public places.^[36] These collective actions appeared to have been successful, so K.C. broke his fast.^{[37][38][39][40]}

Fifth, sixth, and eighth fast-unto-death

 

K.C. on the 13th day of his eighth hunger strike at Institute of Medicine, Maharajganj

In 2015, K.C. announced a fifth hunger strike after the Nepalese government retracted from its agreement with him and his movement^[41][42] to regulate the opening of new medical colleges based on a report presented by a team of specialists led by Kedar Bhakta Mathema.^[43] Chitralekha Yadav, Minister for Education, was accused of having made key amendments to the law to make way for the new Devdaha and Birat Medical colleges to be granted affiliation, beginning the dispute. Law-makers led by CPN UML leader Rajendra Pandey staged protests in the Constituent Assembly demanding the affiliation to be granted before the report would be presented to the government. They also presented a document with the signatures of 146 lawmakers, mostly from the CPN UML, threatening to topple the government if affiliation was not granted. These lawmakers had stated that their investments would go in vain if they were not allowed to run a medical college.^[44] Several independent observers stated that none of the proposed medical colleges had enough manpower and that most of them did not have adequate infrastructure or patient flow.^[45][46]

When his demands were not met, the K.C. protested peacefully with another hunger strike. His movement received widespread support from social sector activists, medical professionals and students, and artists including Nepathya and "Maha". However, there was a delay in receiving support from Nepal Medical Council and Nepal Medical Association. The Nepali prime minister, Koirala, was confronted with K.C.'s degrading health, to which he replied, "So what?",^[47][48] further incensing the movement.

The government of Nepal responded with a committee composed of the Minister for Education Chitralekha Yadav, the Minister for Health Khagaraj Adhikari, and the Chief Secretary Lilamani Paudel. The professor refused to hold talks with the ministers as there were concerns about loopholes in the law and the government forcing its way through existing rules to grant the new medical colleges affiliation.^[49][50] Meanwhile, the medical community^[51] and various leaders and celebrities^[52] expressed support for the protest movement.^[53] Nepal Medical Association urged all medical services to be halted except for emergency services. K.C. maintained that he was against the strike. Meanwhile, the professor's health deteriorated further.^[54] When the government of Nepal succumbed to mounting pressure and agreed to most of K.C.'s agenda, he broke his fast and the Nepal Medical Association and other supporters of the movement retracted the proposed protest measures.

K.C. sat on his sixth fast unto death from 24 August 2015 to 6 September as the Nepali government, heavily influenced by politicians and merchants, tried to deregulate medical colleges by undermining the Mathema report. The fast again ended with 11 commitments from the government to keep regulations.

K.C. began his eighth fast against the CIAA for the reform of medical education on 10 July 2016.

Eleventh hunger strike

K.C. began his eleventh fast unto death from 24 July 2017 with a seven-point demand for medical education reform. He demanded that Kedar Bhakta Mathema lead the committee's recommendation in the forthcoming Medical Education Bill.^[55]

Fourteenth hunger strike

On 8 January 2018, following the decision of the Supreme Court to reinstate Shashi Sharma as Dean of the Institute of Medicine,^[56] K.C. called a press conference to condemn the move and began his 14th hunger strike. K.C. accused the court of "selling justice" and began his hunger strike to demand the resignation of Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli.^[57] He alleged that the Chief Justice was "a corrupt individual having links with the mafia".^[58] Since 2014, Parajuli has ruled in favor of private medical colleges and against the Nepal Medical Council, the regulatory body governing medical education in the country, with rulings favoring seven for-profit medical colleges in the country.^[59]

Later that evening, the Supreme Court ordered K.C's arrest for contempt of court. He was arrested by the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police from TU Teaching hospital, where the hunger strike was being staged, and taken to the Singha Durbar Police Circle.^[60] Nepal Medical Association (NMA) demanded the release of Dr. K.C. and condemned the incident. NMA stated that Dr. K.C. had brought positive changes to the medical sector through his hunger strikes.^[61] On 9 January 2018, K.C. was presented before the Supreme Court, and a hearing was scheduled for 10 January. K.C. remained in custody until the hearing. In his statement at the court, K.C. stated that "Parajuli had lobbied and secured a job for his nephew at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) as the commission's legal counselor despite the SC decision in favor of the former CIAA chief commissioner Lokman Singh Karki."^[62]

On 10 January 2018, he was released on a general date without bail by the Supreme Court. The Court ordered that the controversy of Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli's citizenship and the case of Dr. Shashi Sharma would be reopened.^[63] Dr. K.C.'s lawyer Surendra Bhandari stated on K.C.'s behalf that K.C. had accused the Chief Justice Parajuli of his corrupt actions. Similarly, K.C. upon his release, stated:

I am not scared of dying and I am not scared of contempt of court punishment. My fight is against Gopal Parajuli, not other judges. If I have erred it was not a deliberate mistake, please forgive me.^[64]

Fifteenth hunger strike

Dr. K.C. initiated his 15th fast-unto-death in Jumla on June 30, 2018, to protest against alterations made to the Medical Education Ordinance Replacement Bill among other issues made by the government led by K. P. Oli.^[65][66]

Personal life

Govinda is unmarried and lived within the hospital quarters until he retired from IoM. His family includes his mother and two brothers. When asked by Vijay Kumar Pandey in a television interview to list his three priorities in his life, he listed service to his patients and his students – and no third priority.^[67] Recently, he has been living with an unspecified relative in Kathmandu.

See also

• Kedar Narsingh KC
• Health in Nepal
• Nepal Medical Council

References

1. "Govinda KC- More Than a Doctor for Nepalese & A Helping Hand for the World – NepaliSansar". 26 July 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
2. Sangrula, B (24 April 2010). "Surgeon selfless". Archives.myrepublica.com. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
3. "Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital official website". Retrieved 5 February 2014.
4. Devkota, S (6 July 2012). "The healing touch: A doctor's selfless professional and personal effort has helped maintain the conscience of a humanitarian profession". Nepali Times. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
5. Rana, Trishna (17–23 January 2014). "Making a complete mess". Nepali Times.
6. Swasthya khabar patrika. "विकृतिविरूद्ध योद्धा डा. केसीको जिवनी= Life of Dr. KC: the warrior against irregularities". Swasthya Khabar Patrika.
7. Lone hunger striker spurs Nepal to action Nature 506, 279 (20 February 2014) doi:10.1038/506279a
8. "Surgeon Selfless". Myrepublica.
9. Kumar, Vijay. "Dishanirdesh with Prof. Govinda K.C." Kantipur Television.
10. Gurung, Raju. Social Studies and Creative Art Book 5. Swarnim Publications.
11. "CIAA appoints officials". The Himalayan Times.
12. Dhakal, Prem. "IoM loses clean image".
13. Poudel, Arjun. "IoM officials oppose plans to grant affiliations to more medical colleges". Republica.
14. Gautam, Manish. "Baskota appointed TUTH Dean amid protests". kantipur.
15. "Not again!". republica.
16. "No time to lose". My Republica, English Daily. 19 January 2014.
17. "Dr KC to resume fast unto death from Monday". 12 August 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
18. Gautam, Manish. "Dr. Shashi Sharma is the new IoM Dean". kantipur.
19. Gautam, Manish. "Bias seen in NMC monitoring". kantipur.
20. "Dr KC on fast-unto-death against appointment of new dean at IoM". Myrepublica.
21. "Doctor KC's health deteriorates further". The Kathmandu Post.
22. Kumar, Vijay. "Dr. KC ra Dr. Sharmako naamma=In the name of Dr. KC and Dr. Sharma". kantipur.
23. "40 doctors rounded up from capital". The Kathmandu Post.
24. "Chairman Regmi orders prompt address of TUTH problems". ekantipur.
25. "Education minister asks TU VC to review Dean appointment". ekantipur.
26. . Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
27. . Archived from the original on 12 January 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
28. "SC orders resumption of medical service, NMA says protests to continue". republica.
29. "Dr KC adamant in demands' says won't end hunger strike". The Himalayan Times.
30. . Karobar Newspaper. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
31. India, Zee news. "Dozens of doctors resign in Nepal asking for medical reforms". Zee news India.
32. "Teaching Hospital doctors resign en masse". Nepalnews. Archived from the original on 24 February 2014.
33. Mishra, Rabindra. "BBC Nepali Service, Nepal Sandharva with Dr. Govinda KC".
34. Gautam, Manish. "Regmi fails to end Dr KC's fast". The Kathmandu Post.
35. "TU sacks IoM dean Sharma". The Kathmandu Post.
36. "NMA asks doctors to resign en masse". My Republica.
37. "Dr Govinda KC breaks his fast-unto-death". The Himalayan Times.
38. "Dr. KC breaks 14-day long fast". Republica.
39. "Dr KC breaks his strike". 24/7 Samachar.
40. "YouTube". www.youtube.com.
41. "Nepathya to perform in Phidim of Panchthar district". APCA House. The Himalayan Times. 22 March 2015.
42. "Dr KC on hunger strike for fifth time". Kantipur Publications. The Kathmandu Post. 23 March 2015.
43. "Show some spine". Kantipur Publications. The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
44. "Jiwan Kshetry vs Bansidhar Mishra". BBC. BBC. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
45. Kshetry, Jiwan. "केयु र मेडिकल काउन्सिलका पदाधिकारी राजीनामा देऊ!". setopati. setopati. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
46. Dhakal, Amit. "प्रधानमन्त्रीजी, पढ्नुहोस् मेडिकल कलेजहरूको हालत!". setopati. setopati. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
47. "dr. Kc mare ma ke garau ta?". setopati. setopati. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
48. "The accountability of Sushil Koirala". Kantipur Publications. Kantipur publications. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
49. "वार्ता गर्न नमानेपछि फर्किए मन्त्रीहरू सरकार पेलेर जान खोज्दैछ : डा. केसी". Kantipur publications. kantipur.
50. . Nepal mountain News. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
51. "Medical bodies throw weight behind Govinda KC". Kanitpur Publications. The Kathmandu Post. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
52. Gurung, Amrit. "Nepathya". twitter. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
53. "Solidarity for Professor Govinda KC". facebook support page. facebook. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
54. "Dr Govinda KC's health turns worse". Kantipur Publications. The Kathmandu Post. 30 March 2015.
55. "Hold decisive talks with Dr KC, NMA tells govt". The Himalayan Times. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
56. "SC reinstates sacked IOM dean Dr Sharma". My Republica. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
57. "Contempt of Court". Setopati. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
58. "Supreme Court orders Nepal Police to present Dr KC before court". The Kathmandu Post. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
59. "Suspicious former CJs didn't give cases related to medical sector to Parajuli". Setopati. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
60. "Dr Govinda KC arrested". My Republica. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
61. "Nepal Medical Association demands immediate release of Dr. K.C." The Kathmandu Post. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
62. "Probe against CJ Parajuli should be conducted, says Dr KC in his court statement". The Kathmandu Post. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
63. "Dr. Govinda K.C. released without bail". The Kathmandu Post. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
64. "SC releases Dr. Govinda K.C. on general date". The Himalayan Times. 10 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
65. "Govt registers National Medical Education Bill". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
66. Dahal, Ashok. "Medical education bill with disputed provisions back in parliament". My Republica. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
67. "YouTube". www.youtube.com.

External links

• Who is Dr. Govinda K.C.? | Epomedicine