All seven are legal‚ says Labour Minister

Dispute on legal status of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) approved medical centres seems to go on for long because of contradictory claims and legal battle in the apex court.

The government has recognised seven GCC medical centres, while Nepal Health Professional Federation — an umbrella of 179 medical centres engaged in medical check up of overseas job aspirants — does not agree with the government’s decree. “All the seven medical centres are legal,” Minister for Labour and Transport Management Mohmood Istiyak Rai said, adding that Ministry of Health and Population has written to his ministry mentioning that they are registered according to law.

“Ministry of Health and Population has registered the medical centres against the law and Labour Ministry is in dark about it,” said president of the federation Khadag Bahadur Shrestha. According to him, Ministry of Health and Population registered the organisations on August 1 at the climax of the dispute.

Current dispute started in early May when GCC appointed the medical centres on April 30 on the recommendation of the technical team. The federation has been against the GCC monopoly on appointing medical centres in Nepal since 2009.

According to the law, medical centre aimed at providing medical certificates to overseas job aspirants has to be registered in Company Registrar’s Office and authorised by the District Public Health Office later. “We have fulfilled all the criteria,” said medical centres that have been questioned by the federation. Commenting on the Ministry’s public notice published last month, Shrestha said that the ministry is legalising those medical centres to put Supreme Court and Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) in delusion.

The federation has appealed to the court and anti-graft body on July 13.

According to Foreign Employment Regulation, medical centres registered for check up of overseas job aspirants would have to be certified by a technical committee. “Those medical centres are certified by the committee,” Shrestha claimed, adding that process of legalisation of GCC approved medical centres, however, is against the law.

Published on: 16 August 2011 | The Himalayan Times