Dr. Govinda KC has recently articulated his dissent regarding the resolution made during the 19th full-house meeting of the Medical Education Commission, in conjunction with the Nepal Medical Association and the Karyadal, to augment both the number of seats and the costs for MBBS/BDS programs in Nepal.
Dr. KC is presently volunteering to help the people affected by the tragic earthquake in Myanmar. He has threatened to launch another Satyagraha if the present administration imposes this new ruling and persists in rescinding earlier agreements with him.
Background of Dr. Govinda KC
Born in the Kalikot district of Nepal, Dr. KC is an orthopaedic surgeon and professor. He has been leading the movement for equitable health education reform in Nepal for years.
Over the course of 13 years, his 20 hunger strikes, including a major fast in 2024 that landed him in the hospital with serious health concerns, challenged successive governments to confront systemic corruption, geographic gaps in healthcare access, and profit-driven privatisation of medical universities.
His campaigning directly influenced the establishment of Nepal’s Medical Education Commission (MEC) in 2018, which was tasked with standardising criteria for admission processes and implementing the Mathema Commission’s recommendations.
While legislative success was insufficient, Dr. KC’s efforts have reshaped public debate, revealed political-medical cooperation, and established foundational policies and legislation such as the 2023 Medical Education Act, which prioritises rural infrastructure and fee ceilings.
Medical Career and Witness to Systemic Failure
Dr. KC has spent more than 40 years at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital(TUTH), where he got the chance to witness catastrophic disparities in Nepal’s healthcare system. As a lecturer, he discovered that about 78% of Nepal’s medical colleges were concentrated in Kathmandu Valley, while areas such as Karnali lacked institutions.
This geographic bias compounded corruption: private colleges charged a lot more than NPR 4 million (USD 30,000) for admission, filtering enrollment to urban elites. Meanwhile, public hospitals like TUTH faced faculty shortages, with 65% of specialists concentrated in urban centres by 2015.
Dr. KC’s 2012 whistleblowing report revealed kickback schemes between politicians and college operators. For example, 14 lawmakers owned shares in medical institutions, violating the “one college per province” rule.
This collusion enabled substandard colleges, 32% lacking adequate faculty or infrastructure per 2023 MEC audits, to proliferate. His advocacy began with internal university committees but escalated to public protests when administrative channels failed.
Hunger Strikes: Weaponising the Body for Reform
Dr. KC’s first hunger strike in 2012 lasted 11 days, securing a government agreement to halt new college licenses until reforms. However, his tactics intensified as commitments were breached:
Each strike followed a pattern: targeting symbolic locations (remote districts, sacred sites), leveraging media attention, and escalating health crises to compel negotiations. By 2025, his cumulative fasting days exceeded 300, resulting in renal impairment, cardiac arrhythmias, and a 22% weight loss during the 2024 episode.
Policy Impact: From Protest to Institutional Change
Dr. KC’s movements achieved tangible, if incomplete, legislative milestones:
Established in 2018 under the National Medical Education Act, MEC centralised entrance exams and accreditation. Before MEC, 19 separate entities conducted exams, enabling manipulation. By 2023, MEC standardised MBBS admissions across 32 colleges, reserving 45% of seats for marginalised groups.
However, political appointments persist, most notably, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s controversial 2023 chairmanship and recent decision in 2025 by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli to increase the cost and seats of MBBS/BDS.
The 2015 Mathema Report, a blueprint for reform, proposed:
Dr. KC’s 2017-2018 strikes forced the adoption of these measures. By 2024, provinces 1, 2, and Lumbini had new government colleges, but Karnali and Sudurpaschim lagged. Fee caps reduced costs by 28%, though enforcement remains patchy.
This MEC framework institutionalised Dr. KC’s ethos:
Contested Legacy: Progress Amid Persistent Challenges
While Dr. KC shifted policy paradigms, structural barriers endure:
Medical college owners, including 12 sitting MPs, have blocked reform through litigation and legislative stalling. The Private Medical Colleges Association sued against fee caps in 2023, delaying enforcement for 18 months.
Only 40% of 2018-2024 agreements are fully implemented. For example, IOM autonomy was granted in 2020 but reversed in 2022 after faculty opposed administration changes.
Surveys show 68% support Dr. KC’s methods, but younger activists critique hunger strikes as unsustainable. The 2024 hospitalisation sparked debates on self-sacrifice versus collective action.
Nepal require a unified protest by all healthcare workers for the modifications to the Nepal Medical Education Act and the Nepal Health Service Act. However, due to personal benefits and favours from the relevant authorities, it is almost impossible to unify all Nepalese doctors for such constructive improvements.
Philosophy of Selfless Service
Dr. KC’s ethos blends Gandhian civil disobedience with Buddhist compassion. He refuses all awards (including a proposed 2023 national honour), donates his salary to rural clinics, and adheres to a monastic lifestyle-owning neither property nor a mobile phone. His 2019 memoir Satyagraha frames the struggle as a moral duty: “When systems enslave the poor, a doctor’s oath demands dissent”.
Conclusion: Unfinished Revolutions
As Nepal’s Medical Education Commission grapples with politicisation and resource gaps, Dr. KC’s 2024 fast underscores the fragility of reform. Yet his impact is indelible: student rural service bonds increased from 12% to 38% since 2018, and public college enrollment grew by 22%.
The battle now shifts to consolidating these gains while addressing new challenges- digital divides in telehealth education, brain drain, and climate-health curricula.
In this enduring struggle, Dr. KC’s legacy resides not just in policies but in proving that moral conviction can move mountains of vested interests. Public sentiments should adhere to Dr. KC’s role to improve healthcare and medical education in Nepal. The Nepali health sector should not fall into the hands of medical mafias.
