Update (13:47 NST, October 5, 2026)
New information indicates a discrepancy in the government’s stated salary for an eighth-level medical officer, which forms the basis for intern doctors’ allowance demands. While the government previously set the salary at Rs 58,971.77, the starting salary scale for an eighth-level medical officer in Nepal ranges from Rs 45,764 to Rs 48,737, according to recent data. The minimum salary for medical officers working in private hospitals is Rs 42,000.
Dr Dilli Harijan, who began a second hunger strike on Monday, stated that intern and residential doctors are often required to work continuously for up to 36 hours. He warned that such prolonged shifts could negatively impact doctors’ health, performance, and the quality of patient care.
Dilli Harijan, coordinator of the MBBS/BDS Intern Subsistence Allowance Movement, began a second hunger strike on Monday at the Medical Education Commission (MEC) in Bhaktapur. The strike comes as a protest against the non-implementation of a five-point agreement reached with the government and the unresolved demands of intern doctors, including those from National Medical College in Birgunj, Madhesh Province.Harijan’s renewed protest underscores the ongoing struggle by medical interns for fair remuneration and improved working conditions across Nepal. The previous agreement, signed on August 7, 2026, has not been honored, prompting the interns to escalate their agitation.A central demand of the striking doctors is the provision of a uniform subsistence allowance equivalent to 50 percent of the initial salary scale for an eighth-level officer in the health service. The Nepal government set the salary for an eighth-level health service officer at Rs 58,971.77, effective July 16, 2026. Based on this, intern doctors are demanding a monthly allowance of approximately Rs 29,485. They insist that this decision must be implemented equally across all government and private medical teaching institutions.The interns are also calling for an immediate full meeting of the Medical Education Commission (MEC), Nepal’s regulatory body for medical education, to make the necessary decisions regarding the subsistence allowance. Prime Minister Balen Shah chairs the MEC, and the interns emphasize that the MEC’s effective functioning is crucial for addressing these issues.Beyond financial compensation, the protesting doctors are demanding clear guidelines for the working hours and mandatory rest periods for both intern and residential doctors. They seek to ensure that working hours, rest, and duty management are explicitly defined and uniformly applied in all government and private medical colleges and teaching hospitals, in accordance with the Labor Act and prevailing regulations.The ongoing issues at National Medical College in Birgunj, Madhesh Province, have significantly contributed to the renewed protest. Residential doctors at the college have been staging a long-running agitation with a seven-point list of demands. Instead of resolving these issues, the college administration reportedly instructed the residential doctors to vacate the hospital and hostel premises.Consequently, 52 residential doctors from National Medical College arrived in Kathmandu on October 2, 2026, with 40 of them reaching the MEC office in Sanothimi, Bhaktapur. The college administration has also requested the Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine (TU IOM), which oversees medical education under the university, to recall the residential doctors, citing unresolved disputes and disruption of services.The specific demands of the Birgunj residential doctors include the withdrawal of a lawsuit filed against seven first-year doctors and the revocation of disciplinary action against three residential doctors from the Obstetrics and Gynecology department, along with the immediate release of their withheld salaries. To address their concerns, these residential doctors have submitted demand letters to the Dean of the TU IOM, the Medical Education Commission, and the Nepal Medical Association.The interns’ demands extend to the full implementation of MEC decisions regarding tuition fees and hostel charges. They advocate for regular monitoring and necessary action against teaching institutions that charge more than the prescribed fees or fail to comply with the commission’s decisions and directives.Furthermore, the protesting doctors have called for the formation of a task force to study the impact of the “barrier system” implemented in the second year of MBBS and BDS studies under Tribhuvan University. They demand that a task force comprising representatives from the university, the MEC, and other stakeholders should study the problem and provide implementable recommendations for necessary improvements. The detailed background and specific impact of this “barrier system” are not yet fully known.The problems at National Medical College in Birgunj and the nationwide hunger strike by intern doctors have prompted questions about the effectiveness of the Medical Education Commission, which is chaired by Prime Minister Balen Shah. Critics argue that the regulatory body’s failure to play an effective role has led to a situation where students and doctors in medical colleges across the country, including Madhesh Province, are repeatedly forced to resort to protests. The incident in Birgunj adds to existing concerns about the shortage of doctors and the quality of services in hospitals in Madhesh Province.Harijan has stated that the protest will continue until their demands are met. They are urging the Medical Education Commission to convene a full meeting immediately to decide on the subsistence allowance. However, the detailed contents of the five-point agreement reached on August 7, 2026, are not fully available. There is currently no information available regarding the health status of Dilli Harijan, nor has the government or the Medical Education Commission issued an official response to this second hunger strike.
