In a bid to pile pressure on the government to save the life of Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging his 16th hunger strike for the past 20 days, doctors at the initiative of Nepal Medical Association on Monday started a relay hunger strike.

Nepal Medical Association, the umbrella organisation of medical and dental doctors in the country, on Friday had warned of resorting to strike after the ruling Nepal Communist Party pushed the amended National Medical Education Bill through Parliament against the demands of Dr KC and amid protest from Nepali Congress. 

Nepal Medical Association Chairman Mukti Ram Shrestha said that doctors have started the mass hunger strike at the Maharajgunj-based Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. 

Earlier on Sunday, the Nepal Medical Association, said that they would stage a relay hunger strike from 10am to 5 pm every day until the government addresses the demands of KC. 

The Nepal Medical Association launched the strike after the government failed to form a committee to seek ways to save the life of KC. The association had on January 24 issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the government to form the committee.

“The government should form a talks committee to address the demands of KC. We will continue our hunger strike until the demands of KC are addressed,” he said. 

Doctors outside the Kathmandu Valley have also started the hunger strike on the premises of district hospitals. 

KC began his 16th hunger strike from Ilam on January 9 in protest against a parliamentary committee’s move of amending some crucial provisions of the bill. He had been demanding that the government abide by a deal it had reached with him during his 15th hunger strike in July. 

The agreement stated that the government should address the concerns of KC and the bill should be passed in line with the recommendations made by a high-level commission formed under Kedar Bhakta Mathema, a former vice-chancellor of Tribhuvan University. 

KC has continued his hunger strike even after the amended bill was endorsed, calling on the National Assembly to send the bill back to the House of Representatives for amendments. 

Earlier on January 25, the federal House of Representatives endorsed the bill amid protest from the main opposition Nepali Congress. 

Later in the evening, the Nepali Congress organised a press meet and warned of launching protests from the Parliament and streets, saying that the government started the politics of negation. 

The bill has been tabled at the National Assembly today despite protest from the Nepali congress.