KATHMANDU: A heated exchange broke out between Nepali Congress Chief Whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker and former Education Minister Sumana Shrestha during a meeting of the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee of the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The confrontation occurred during a discussion on the School Education Bill at Singha Durbar, where Committee Chair Amar Bahadur Thapa (Unified Socialist) had given Shrestha the floor to speak.
As Shrestha began her remarks, Ghimire interrupted her midway, leading to a verbal dispute. Rejecting his interruption, Shrestha criticized the removal of key provisions earlier recommended by a subcommittee.
“The subcommittee had made important recommendations—why were they removed? Why was the bill, scheduled to pass on August 1, suddenly halted? It’s now clear that this bill wasn’t stopped for students’ sake,” she said, addressing the chair.
As Shrestha continued, Ghimire attempted to cut her off, prompting her to respond defiantly: “If this is going to be a back-and-forth, then let’s go all in, Chairperson!”
An agitated Ghimire then retorted, “Did I stop you? What did I say? What are you implying? Is this how you speak—saying anything in front of the cameras?”
Shrestha fired back, “Did I mention your name?”
Despite this, Ghimire continued to interject during her allotted speaking time, questioning her statements and accusing her of performing for the cameras.
As the exchange escalated, Minister of Education Raghuj Pant physically intervened by holding Ghimire’s hand and urging him to calm down. Committee Chair Thapa then worked to restore order and continued the meeting.
During the session, Chair Thapa presented the latest proposal drafted by the committee’s consultative subcommittee. Among the key recommendations were: A three-tiered promotion system for teachers, reduction of performance evaluation points for teacher promotion to 80, a provision stating that teachers who are also members of the Teachers’ Federation will have their membership suspended automatically while serving as school principals, Federation membership will not provide any additional benefits or exemptions from professional responsibilities, and private schools will be required to provide full scholarships as per existing education laws.
The bill was initially slated for passage on July 6 following an agreement with the Teachers’ Federation. However, due to differing proposals on federation demands, Minister Pant had requested more time. Although the committee granted five additional days and rescheduled the vote for August 1, the bill remains stalled in the parliamentary committee.
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