Tribhuvan University Executive Council on Wednesday sacked Dean of the Institute of Medicine (IoM) Dr Shashi Sharma.

The decision comes a day after Chairman of Interim Election Council Khil Raj Regmi directed the TU to withhold Dr Sharma’s appointment within 24 hours, referring to widespread protests.

Appointed as the IoM Dean on January 8, a controversial Dr Sharma was sacked from the post in the wake of widespread protests nationwide sparked by the hunger-strike of Prof. Dr Govinda KC, a senior orthopedic surgeon at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Dr KC, who started his fast-unto-death on January 11 has also been demanding that the former IoM Dean Dr Prakash Sayami be reinstated.

Dr Sayami is learnt to have resigned last December owing to ‘unwanted pressures’ to grant affiliation to proposed medical colleges that lacked basic infrastructural facilities.

Earlier on Sunday, Minister of Education and Co-Chancellor of the Tribhuvan University (TU) had asked the concerned bodies to review Dr Sharma’s appointment. However, TU had bluntly rejected the idea of reviewing the appointment as Dr Sharma was appointed through a legal procedure.

In a bid to pressurise the government and concerned authorities to address Dr KC’s demands, faculty doctors, medical students at TUTH and Nepal Medical Association (NMA) had launched intense protests nationwide. NMA has even directed all hospitals across the country to halt all medical services except emergency. After Supreme Court on Monday issued a stay order demanding that the health facilities be resumed, NMA had directed the hospitals to provide regular OPD services from emergency wards.

In a bid to intensify the pressures, over 200 doctors, three assistant deans of IoM and TUTH Executive Director Bhagwan Koirala resigned en masse on Tuesday. Organising a press meet at the TUTH today, NMA called all doctors across the country to resign en masse on Thursday, if government failed to remove Dr Sharma as the Dean of IoM.

source: the himalayan times,22 jan 2014