Health workers, including doctors working in government service, have been elected as UML general convention delegates. The National Health Workers Federation affiliated with UML has elected 7 representatives to the 11th general convention of UML to be held in the last week of Mangsir. According to federation sources, 4 of them are working in government service.

Dr. Santosh Sharma Poudel, a tenth-level doctor at the National Trauma Center, is the president of the federation. Sources have said that he has been elected as the UML general convention representative. He is also the former executive director of Bir Hospital. Similarly, Amrita Baral, a health worker working at the Provincial Health Training Center Bagmati Province, has been elected as the general convention representative. She is the vice-president of the UML fraternal organization Health Workers Federation and the wife of former UML MP Mahesh Bartaula. 

Aheb Bhimraj Singh, who works in the secretariat of Speaker Devraj Ghimire, has also been elected as the general convention representative. Singh is the general secretary of the federation. According to the Ministry of Health, he is an employee assigned to the parliament secretariat. Chandrakala Sharma Ghimire, a member of the Nepal Nursing Council (Council), has been elected as the general convention representative. She was elected from the UML panel in the Nepal Nursing Association. The council is a government-owned structure.

There was an election competition between 23 people in the federation for the UML general convention representative. Seven of them were elected and four of them are working in government service. Two representatives are retired government employees. A complaint has been filed with the Ministry of Health demanding their dismissal from service after a health worker working in government service was elected as a general convention representative.

Section 14 of the Political Parties Act, 2073 states that a current professor, teacher or employee of a self-governing organization owned or controlled by the Government of Nepal, provincial government or local level cannot be a party member. The Nepal Health Services Act, 2053 also prohibits employees from engaging in political activities. Section 55 of the act states, ‘Employees shall not participate in politics by making statements or speeches to promote in favor or against a political organization or party.’

In the complaint filed with the Ministry of Health, 11 doctors and health workers working in government service are involved in the UML-affiliated health worker federation, demanding their dismissal from service. It is stated that the president, vice president, general secretary, secretary, and provincial in-charges of the federation are in government service. Section 74 of the Health Service Act states that employees can be removed or dismissed from service if they participate in politics.

The complaint has demanded dismissal in accordance with the same section. ‘Since many government employees are actively participating in the upcoming general convention of UML, I have submitted a request to immediately dismiss/have them dismissed from service,’ the complaint filed in the name of Ekbhakta Nepali states, ‘Health service employees involved in the mass organization of UML should be removed from service.’

Health Ministry spokesperson Dr. Prakash Budhathoki said that the Administration Division will verify the complaint and take action. ‘The act has clear provisions regarding involvement in politics. If a complaint is received with evidence, the administration will take action. Federation President Dr. Poudel claimed that he sent the names of those working at the health helpdesk to the UML general convention but did not send a general convention representative.

‘The party had asked for help. There has been talk of volunteering to help by setting up a help desk at the general convention. Those in government service cannot be general convention representatives. The names of those who volunteered have been sent. We are the representatives. We cannot. The complaint is false,' he said. 

Singh, who is the general secretary of the federation, claimed that there has been no decision to send general convention representatives to those in government service. 'A decision on whether to send general convention representatives to those in government service is yet to be made. Whoever filed the complaint has done it in a hurry,' he said. He said that the federation was established under the Labor Act for trade union rights. 'There are government employees and outside members in the federation,' he said. Although Singh claimed that a decision has yet to be made, the source provided details to Kantipur that he had informed that 7 UML general convention representatives had been selected in the federation's 'WhatsApp group'.

In August 2080, the Election Commission initiated action against 4 associate professors of Tribhuvan and Sanskrit Universities who were active in political parties. The Commission had investigated 3 associate professors who were elected as Congress general convention representatives and central members of the JSP. During the investigation at that time, they were found to be active in the party and were recommended for action. The Election Commission had written to the relevant political parties, universities and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. However, no action was taken even after the process was initiated.

The statutes of major political parties including the Congress and UML provide for the selection of general convention representatives from professional associations/organizations including teachers, professors, employees and others. "The Election Commission has given legitimacy to the party's statute, which was made to include teachers, professors, and employees as party members," said a professor at TU. "They have pretended to take action only when complaints are filed, and have ignored other teachers, employees, and professors who are members."