Dr Govinda KC ended his 25th hunger strike on Saturday, November 7, 2026 (Kartik 21, 2083), after signing a six-point agreement at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.
Education and Sports Minister Sashmit Pokharel signed for the government. The witnesses were Prof. Dr Jagadish Agrawal, health adviser to the Prime Minister, MP Pukar Bam and Dr Badri Rizal, president of the Nepal Medical Association.
Pokharel said the government would carry out the agreement and called it KC’s last hunger strike. The agreement is a set of promises: investigations, a legal change, a monitoring group and new colleges.
Why the strike began
KC, an orthopaedic surgeon, began fasting on October 29 at Narayansthan in Ilam.
He said medical education decisions were being made without meeting standards and that earlier promises had not been kept. The immediate disputes concerned Shahid Dasharath Chand University of Health Sciences in Geta, Kailali, and extra MBBS seats at the Nepal Army Institute of Health Sciences, known as Army Medical College. He also alleged conflicts of interest among Medical Education Commission officials and in university appointments.
The government said Geta’s programmes had been approved after it met the requirements, with a 300-bed teaching hospital running. KC said it lacked enough facilities and teachers.
His health worsened. He was admitted to Ilam Hospital on October 31 and flown to Kathmandu on November 2, when doctors found blood glucose of about 35 mg/dL, an irregular heartbeat and rising acetone in his urine.
On November 3 he refused to stop. The government formed a four-member negotiating committee on November 4, and talks ended in the agreement. The strike lasted about nine days.
Here's the 6 point explanation in detail.
Point 1: Investigation into seats and approvals
Geta University gets permission to run academic programmes, including MBBS, with its seats set in line with the Medical Education Commission’s decision of Ashoj 30, 2083.
Separately, a five-member committee coordinated by Prof. Dr Ramesh Prasad Acharya will examine whether the increase in MBBS seats at Army Medical College met the prescribed standards. It reports to the government.
After the government implements the committee’s recommendations, the matching of students who passed the common entrance examination goes ahead. If approvals or seat increases are found to have broken standards, or involved a conflict of interest, the officials and others involved from the commission, universities and medical colleges face disciplinary or legal action.
Point 2: Changing the Geta University law
The government will amend the Shahid Dasharath Chand University of Health Sciences Act, 2082, on the qualifications and appointment procedures of university officials.
It aims to issue an ordinance through the Council of Ministers within two weeks. New officials are to be appointed immediately afterwards, following KC’s suggestions.
An ordinance is a temporary law issued by the President on the Cabinet’s advice under Article 114 when Parliament is not sitting, and it must go before Parliament later. Two weeks is a target for advancing the process, not a finished amendment.
Point 3: The July agreement
All remaining points of the agreement signed on Shrawan 11, 2083 (July 27, 2026), at the end of the 24th hunger strike, are to be implemented fully and in their original wording.
That deal had seven points. They included running Geta as a full university with at least a 300-bed teaching hospital and the staff to run MBBS and other programmes, and setting seats by the National Medical Education Act, 2075 and its standards, with no increases at private institutions and none blocked at public ones. They also covered keeping scholarships, studying non-profit medical education under Section 47 of that Act, better health services in border areas, investigations into corruption and the violence of September 2025, and a task force to review implementation.
KC’s repeated complaint has been that earlier deals were not carried out.
Point 4: A monitoring task force
A six-member task force will watch the implementation.
Shailendra Jha, chief adviser at the Education Ministry, and one joint secretary represent the government. Vijay Babu Shivakoti and Dr Amrit Jaisi represent KC. MP Pukar Bam and Dr Badri Rizal are the other two members. It must meet at least once a month. The text does not require published reports or set penalties for missed commitments.
Point 5: New public medical colleges
The government will work actively on budget and infrastructure for government medical colleges or health science academies in Dadeldhura, Ilam and Udayapur.
It will move ahead immediately with establishing and running a medical college in Bardibas.Each needs land, buildings, a teaching hospital, staff, equipment, funding and approval. The aim is to spread training and care beyond big cities, since many patients now travel to Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Dharan, Bharatpur or India for specialist treatment.
Point 6: The strike ends
KC will end all his satyagraha programmes on Kartik 21, 2083. That ends the protest.
What to watch
The first tests are whether the five-member committee is formed and reports, whether the ordinance is issued by about November 21, and whether the task force meets monthly.
After that, the questions are what budget the four colleges get and which July commitments remain open.
Background
KC first went on hunger strike in July 2012. His campaigns have asked for better, less commercial and more affordable medical education, open seat allocation, less political interference in medical bodies, public colleges outside Kathmandu and the carrying out of agreements the government signs.
