KATHMANDU, June 20: Doctors at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) have halted extended care services from Monday demanding merit-based recruitment in the vacant posts at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and action against IOM officials implicated in several irregularities.
Six top positions at IOM have remained vacant for the past eight months.
With the doctors halting extended care services hundreds of patients had to return from the hospital without treatment.
The agitating doctors, who have announced a series of protest program, have threatened to halt all services, except emergency, from June 25 if their demands are not met.
Meanwhile, senior professor at TUTH Dr Govinda KC has also announced fast unto death if their demands are not met by June 25. Classes have also been disrupted at IOM from Monday.
“Halting services was not our choice. We are struggling for our rights for the past four months but our voices have fallen on deaf ears,” said Professor Dinesh Bikram Pokharel, chairman of University Teachers´ Association, at Maharajgunj Campus.
Dr KC had started a fast unto death on May 14 before ending it in the evening after TU wrote a letter that asked a search committee to select three merit-based candidates.
The search committee, that was given three-week mandate, wrote to Vice-chancellor (VC) of Tribhuvan University (TU) Hira Bahadur Maharjan on June 1 seeking term extension after being unable to complete its work. But VC Maharjan has yet to extend the committee´s deadline.
Dr KC and other doctors have also been demanding action against the IOM officials implicated in several irregularities by the Jayaram Giri-led committee formed after the 17-day TUTH strike in March 2010.
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