Lamkichuha Hospital in Kailali's Lamkichuha Municipality has been caught in the middle of an 'ego war' between the provincial government and the local level over the process of upgrading and handing over the hospital.

While the provincial government is taking the decision to upgrade the hospital to a provincial hospital and is moving ahead with the management work, Lamkichuha Municipality Mayor Sushila Shahi is continuously obstructing the provincial process. Mayor Shahi on Monday sent back Dr. Kamlesh Prasad Yadav and Accounts Officer Ganesh Bista, who were deputed by the provincial government, to the hospital without allowing them to work. Shahi sent back those who reached the hospital, saying that the hospital had not been transferred to the province.

The root of the controversy began with the provincial government's decision to convert a 15-bed basic hospital into a 50-bed provincial hospital. The provincial government had brought a plan to upgrade Dodhara Chandani Hospital, Gokuleshwor Hospital, Bhajani Hospital, Jogbuda and Lamkichuha Hospital in the 2080/81 policy and program.

            _{Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah}

Earlier, on 2081 Poush 4, the municipality had written to the provincial government requesting to upgrade it to a provincial hospital. In Falgun of the same year, the provincial government had requested the federal government to operate the 15-bed Lamkichuha Hospital under the province. Accordingly, the federal government had granted permission to the province in 2082 Jestha. Based on those procedures, when the provincial government's Ministry of Social Development wrote to Lamkichuha Municipality in 2082 Poush for an agreement, an official from the Ministry of Social Development said that Mayor Shahi refused and a dispute arose.

Meanwhile, despite the controversy raised by Mayor Shahi, the provincial government had taken the decision to form a management committee and create posts and moved forward with the process of upgrading. In the process, the provincial government had also decided to approve 146 new posts. Meanwhile, the provincial government has already formed a Lamkichuha Hospital Management Committee under the chairmanship of Ram Bahadur Bista. But the mayor is also obstructing the committee. The development board currently chaired by the mayor remains intact.

There is a provision that local levels can operate hospitals with up to 15 beds. Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah had taken the initiative to upgrade the local hospital in the Lamki area, which is also his constituency, to the provincial level. But even though both are Nepali Congress leaders, Lamkichuha Hospital has been affected by the differences that have been going on between Mayor Shahi and the Chief Minister for the past one and a half years.

Some believe that the main root of the hospital dispute is the formation of a management committee. The provincial government has formed a committee to its liking and the municipality is competing to find its own ownership, which is why the hospital is now in the hands of two governments.

This issue, which should be resolved through dialogue between the provincial and local governments, has now reached the Supreme Court. On March 24, the municipality had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking an interim order regarding the Lamkichuha Hospital dispute.

The Supreme Court had refused to grant an interim order while hearing the writ petition on April 14. With this decision of the Supreme Court, the way has been opened for the operation of the provincial hospital. However, the hospital dispute has flared up again after the mayor obstructed the employees sent by the provincial government.