A three-member working group formed to study the demands of the agitating doctors and make suggestions has started the work of preparing the draft.
According to the three-point agreement made by the doctors with the government on Tuesday night, a task force was formed and a report with recommendations was to be prepared within seven days, but the task force started its work only three days ago.
Shivram Pokharel, joint secretary of the supply management and consumer protection division of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply, and the head of the policy, planning and monitoring division of the Ministry of Health and Population Dr. Krishna Prasad Paudel and Hum Bahadur KC, Joint Secretary of Law Drafting Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
It has also been seen that the report will not be prepared within 7 days as agreed after the letter assigning responsibilities to the people in the task force arrived late.
"We will prepare a report with suggestions within a week from the date we get the responsibility," said coordinator Pokharel, "We will study and give a report on what the laws and constitution of Nepal say about the main demands of the doctors."
Doctors have been demanding for amendments in the existing legal and policy arrangements, including the Consumer Protection Act 2075.
According to Pokharel, how this matter is connected to the constitution and international practice, including compensation, will be presented in the report.
According to the three-point agreement reached by the doctors with the government on Tuesday night, the working group will prepare a report with suggestions within seven days and submit it to the negotiation team which includes Minister of Industry, Commerce and Supply Damodar Bhandari, Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Kumar Chaurasia, Minister of Health and Population Pradeep Paudel, and the Nepal Medical Association.
The doctors, acting in their favor, agreed that if there is a suggestion, within 11 days, the relevant ministry will take principled consent from the cabinet and proceed with the fast-track process for amending the law as soon as possible.
After the consumer court ruled that the treatment was 'medical negligence', the hospital and doctors ordered to pay compensation in three different cases, staged protests at the call of the union.
General Secretary of Nepal Physicians Association Dr. According to Sanjeev Tiwari, while the task force is working, the union is also collecting suggestions from legal experts and related experts.
"We will facilitate the work of the task force when necessary," said Tiwari, "at this time we are also discussing our demands with legal experts."
