Gagan Thapa


Gagan Thapa is a Nepali politician and youth leader who served as the Minister of Health and Population of Nepal from 2016 to 2017. He is currently serving as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives, Nepal from Kathmandu since 2008, and is currently in its Parliamentary Committee on Education and Health. He is a Central Committee Member of the Nepal Congress Party.
Born and raised in Kathmandu, Thapa graduated from Siddhartha Vanasthali School in 1992, and finished his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from Tri Chandra College in 1998, and M.A Sociology from Tribhuvan University in 2003. He was heavily involved in student politics during the pro democracy movement and became the General Secretary of the Nepal Students Union from 2002 to 2004. Thapa was declared a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International in 2005, following his arrest on charges of treason. In 2008, he became a Member of the First Constitutional Assembly, and in 2010 became a Central Committee Member of the Nepal Congress Party. He won again in 2013 as a Member of the Second Constitutional Assembly following the failure of the first assembly to promulgate a constitution, serving as the Health Minister from 2016-2017 under the Congress-Maoist government. He won in 2017 for the 2nd time from the same constituency - Kathmandu 4.
Thapa is a popular young leader and is widely renowned for his oratory and eloquence. He is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. He has contributed to - and is also the subject of - many articles in publications including The New York Times, The Lancet, World Economic Forum, Harvard Politics, China Dialogue, Kathmandu Post, The Himalayan Times, and Nepali Times.

Early life and education

Gagan Kumar Thapa was born on 16 July 1976 in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Mahendra Kumar Thapa and Rameshwari Thapa. He spent most of his childhood inside the valley. His parents were originally from the Solukhumbu district. Thapa has two brothers - a doctor, and a lawyer. In 1992, he completed his SLC from Siddhartha Vanasthali School, one of Kathmandu's best-known schools, and finished his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from Tri Chandra College in 1998, where he was captain of the college's basketball team and a university senator. He completed his M.A Sociology from Tribhuvan University in 2003. His plans of acquiring a PhD in Political Economy were stalled due to his engagement in active politics.

Early political career

In 1990, at the age of 14, although describing himself as not politically-inclined then, Thapa burnt an effigy of the Panchayat era for the pro-democracy movement of 1990 against absolute monarchy and the end of the Panchayat System. He became more involved in student politics in the early 2000s after the dissolution of parliament by King Gyanendra in 2002. Thapa was the president of the Free Student Union of Tri Chandra College from 1998 to 2000. He was a Committee Member of the Nepal Students Union from 1998 to 2002, Vice President from 2000 to 2002, and its General Secretary from 2002 to 2004.
After the royal takeover and dissolution of Parliament, stifling of civic liberties, arrests of political leaders, and a declaration of emergency by King Gyanendra, Thapa took a vehement stand against the royal regime and called for the abolition of the 237-year-old monarchy and the establishment of a republic. He called for greater involvement of youth in the movement, and called on students to "take to the streets to launch a decisive movement for the restoration of democracy". He was jailed several times, including on charges of sedition in 2004. In April 2005, he was served with a 90-day detention order under the Public Security Act, being arrested by more than 20 plain-clothed policemen who had surrounded his house. Despite being released via habeas corpus, he was soon re-arrested. Thapa was declared a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International in May 2005, who was "detained purely for his peaceful and legitimate activities in support of democracy and human rights". Following a Special Court order in July 2005, Thapa was arrested from the Singha Durbar Ward Police Station where he had gone to meet his colleagues, and was subsequently interrogated by The Office of the Kathmandu District Government Attorney for his involvement in 'offense against the state' by chanting anti-monarchy slogans at a rally. Following immense international pressure, Thapa was released in August 2005.
The same month, Thapa announced his candidacy for the President of the Nepal Student Union, the student wing of the Nepal Congress Party. Thapa was excluded from the race by Nepal Congress Party President, Girija Prasad Koirala, on charges of being 'agents of the palace' alongside NC Central Member Narhari Acharya. During the 10th General Convention of the NSU in Pokhara, there were fights between the Koirala faction and the Thapa faction. Thapa accused the party leadership of preventing the closed-door session from being held to forestall adoption of a pro-republican agenda
During the 2006 democratic movement, Thapa urged youth to boycott the municipal polls being held. He objected saying that "the monarchy has always hindered the development of a nation", and that "even if the parties strike such a pact , we will reject it". He believed that "students should exert pressure on the government and the parliament to pave the way for a constituent assembly that will draft a new constitution." He also called for leaders of political parties to make public their personal property, suspecting them on the basis that the party leaders have the tradition of considering the King as God. Following the May 18 Act which stripped away many royal privileges, brought the Royal Nepal Army under civilian rule, and declared Nepal a secular state among other things, Thapa stated that "recent agitations were directed not only against the King, but against autocracy of all kinds", reaffirming the necessity of a constituent assembly election.
Regarding the formulation of the interim constitution, Thapa believed the people, and not the seven-party alliance and the Maoists, should be the ones to do it. He thoroughly insisted on the removal of monarchy from the new constitution, and explicitly stated that students and the NSU will go against the Nepal Congress if it goes against the mandate of the democratic movement and the people's wishes. During the 12th National Convention of the NSU in 2007, Thapa pulled out his candidacy for the post of President, claiming that "The NC leadership has remained biased against me and therefore I have declared that I would not contest".

Legislative career

Constituent Assembly member, 2008-2013

Following general election in April 2008, Gagan Thapa was elected under party-list proportional representation from the Nepal Congress Party as a member of the First Constituent Assembly of Nepal that would be tasked with the formulation of a new Constitution. He served in the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principle of the Constituent Assembly and the Natural Resources and Means Committee of the Legislative Parliament. Thapa alleged in 2008 that a majority of CA members don't hire personal assistants, and instead register the names of their relatives and take the money, which leads to them being inefficient. Thapa was the only CA member who has set up an office in Baneswor and looked for interns interested in parliamentary affairs and politics.
Regarding NC's reluctance to forge an electoral alliance with the Maoists at the time, and on issues of military integration of eligible combatants into the national army, Thapa stated that the main problem between his party and the Maoists was the crisis of confidence and that the Maoists should be flexible to settle differences between the two parties. However, he also believed that situations could worsen if the CPN-Maoists were removed from power. Thapa became a Central Working Committee Member of the Nepali Congress Party during its 12th National Convention, bagging the highest vote of all candidates contesting the 25 CWC seats allocated for open competition.

Member of Legislature Parliament, 2013-2017

Thapa was elected as a Member of Parliament of the Second Constituent Assembly following election in November 2013, following the failure of the first CA. Thapa won from Kathmandu-4 with 22,336 votes against candidates Nirmal Kuikel of CPN and Nanda Kishor Pun of the UCPN Maoists. He was also chairman of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. He urged for the formation of a commission to settle issues of provincial boundaries with the mandate to demarcate provincial boundaries quickly, adding that the new constitution should be promulgated without finalizing the boundaries of proposed provinces. Thapa also pushed the government to address the Madhes agitation by addressing the demands of Madhes, further blaming the government for promoting black marketing in the face of the 2015 Nepal Blockade and the Terai unrest, right after the 2015 Earthquake. He condemned the blockade imposed by India, terming it "an inhuman move". In December 2013, Thapa endorsed the campaign "No Thanks, I Carry My Own Bag".

Livable Kathmandu Campaign

Thapa started the Livable Kathmandu Campaign, which was an effort towards the sustainable development of the Kathmandu Valley. He started a series of "Livable Kathmandu Forum" moderated by himself, where he talked about the importance of sustainable development of basic infrastructural facilities in light of the 20-year Strategic Development Master Plan of the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority. The document "Livable Kathmandu", a sustainable urban development policy proposal, was "submitted to the Prime Minister to be developed as a Kathmandu development policy document, which could also serve as a policy guideline for Nepal’s other urban and urbanizing centers."

Bid for general secretary

In March 2016, Thapa unsuccessfully contested for the post of the Nepali Congress Party's general secretary, competing against Arjun Narsingh KC, and Shashank Koirala. He was the only candidate who represented the youth among the 10 aspirants of office bearer positions in the country's oldest and largest political party.

Health minister, 2016-17

On 26 August 2016, Thapa was sworn into office as the Minister for Health by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. He began office with a vow to address Dr. Govinda KC's demands on health reformation, and focusing on three main issues along with constitution implementation - tabling medical sector laws, building infrastructure, and resource collection.
During his tenure, Thapa informed that the ministry would depute a medical doctor each to primary health care centers across the country, so that people would not need to take the trouble of traveling to the district headquarters and big cities for treatment of easily curable diseases. Although laws had previously stipulated all Primary Health Care Centers to be headed by a medical doctor, only 23 out of 205 PHCCs were overseen by medical doctors at that time. He also pledged to ensure smooth supply of medicines to all parts of the country, access to inexpensive medicine, to improve district hospitals for quality services, to give priority and improve the welfare of the autistic population. Under his tenure, Thapa prioritized to decentralize the health services, renovate health facilities, improve health sector and manage the human resource for quality service. Likewise, the government had also made surgery of gout heart disease, treatment for newborn, and dialysis service for kidney patient free of cost. Another important achievement of the Health Ministry was the Supreme Court's verdict on surrogacy which allows couples with infertility to use the services. Earlier, the government did not give it a legal status. The Health Ministry limited treatment expenses of VIPs up to Rs 1.5 million, open the Army Hospital for the general public, open all government hospitals from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm and directive to set up information center at all hospitals. Thapa also campaigned for organ donation, and pledged financial and technical governmental support to hospitals providing organ transplant services.

Tobacco regulation

Thapa pushed for implementation of 90 per cent coverage area of pictorial health warning on packets of tobacco products. further making a license mandatory to sell tobacco products from March 2017 in a bid to reduce intake, control and regulate the use of cigarette and tobacco products. Under this, shopkeepers would not be allowed to sell tobacco products to people below 18 years of age.

Pharmacy guideline

Thapa enforced the Pharmacy Guideline introduced by the Department of Drug Administration in 2011, and subsequently, the Ministry directed the hospitals under its aegis to run own pharmacies, and started closing down unregistered pharmacies. Thapa further delegated Rs. 311.5 million to regional health directorates and Rs 1.8-8 million to district hospitals to buy medicines directly, bypassing an otherwise cumbersome procedure.

Human organ transplantation regulation

In December, keeping to his vows of starting liver transplantation in the country within six months of appointment as health minister, Thapa ordained the Human Organ Transplantation Regulation, which paved the way for liver transplantation in Nepal. The new law allowed the receiving of eight organs - kidneys, lungs, heart, liver, pancreas, small intestine, corneas and skin from a brain dead person.

National HIV Strategic Plan

In December 2016, Thapa launched the National HIV Strategic Plan 2016-2021: Nepal HIVision 2020, which commits to a fast-track approach that will accelerate action by focusing strategic investments in HIV programmes for and with key populations in priority geographical areas. The NHSP works to ensure everyone's access to services for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, and end AIDS epidemic in Nepal by 2030

My Year 2074: Healthy Myself, Healthy Nation

On 13 April 2017, he announced a new health campaign "Healthy Myself, Healthy Nation" where "every citizen would be encouraged to make five commitments – to abstain from tobacco and alcohol, to do regular exercise, to have regular nutritious diet, to do regular health check-up, to be aware about health of self and family – for a healthy lifestyle." Thapa emphasized that "primary focus will be on schools where students are encouraged to exercise and eat fresh foods instead of junk foods."

Healthcare Technologies and Medical Supplies Directive

The Ministry of Health issued the directive to streamline the management of purchase and distribution of medical technologies and equipment, and to check widespread irregularities in the pricing of medical equipment. Under the directive, the Minimum Retail Price of health technologies and equipment would be fixed.

National Health Insurance Act

Under the Act, a family of five is entitled to Rs. 50,000 per year for medical attention after paying a premium of Rs. 2,500 per year, with subsidy on the premium for the poor, disabled and elderly and a family identified as impoverished, poor and marginalized will get 100%, 75% and 50% discounts respectively. The Act also makes health insurance mandatory, and has a budget for a health safety net. Under the Act, the government also covers some of the cost for impoverished patients requiring treatment for heart or kidney diseases cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Sickle cell anaemia, head and spinal injury. The scheme is known as Bipanna Nagarik Kosh, and patients need an official letter attesting to their weak economic status. The new policy has also introduced a payer-provider split, and the insurer will manage reimbursement both to private and public facilities. Unlike in the past, the head of the Insurance Board will be nominated by the cabinet and will be independent from the Ministry of Health. In the journal Health Affairs, Thapa says "Nepal will have to innovate on delivery of longitudinal care across the lifetimes of citizens in both homes and communities … leveraging our rich history of community-based, preventive care delivery."

Member of Parliament, 2017

Thapa was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2017 Nepalese Legislative Election in December 2017 from Kathmandu-4 for the second time consecutively. He is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Health. Since assuming office and being a Central Committee Member, Thapa has called for a change in the Nepali Congress's leadership through a special party convention. Thapa also lead the party's central publicity and communication committee for the federal and provincial elections.
While campaigning during the election, Thapa along with 10 others was injured when an IED exploded at Chapali Heights in Kathmandu. Thapa suffered minor injuries to his head and back in the explosion. There was a lot of outrage, both from Nepali Congress leaders as well leaders of opposition and other parties, directed at the government following the government's inability to figure out the perpetrators, given that Thapa's party was in majority control of the government at the time.
Following from his pledge to transform the party during his bid for General Secretary in 2016, Thapa presented a 51-page report in the ongoing meeting of the Central Working Committee on behalf of youth leaders demanding an early general convention by amending the party statute through the Congress Maha Samiti. Following months of discussions and debates of rival camps of the party, the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee unanimously endorsed the draft statute with provisions that will ‘strengthen internal democracy, make the party more inclusive and address factionalism’.
In light of the government's inability to find the guilty in the Nirmala Rape and Murder Case, Thapa sought the resignation of the Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa He also called for civil-disobedience of the Odd Even Rule imposed by the government during the Asia Pacific Summit being held in 2018. He was also against the Information Technology Bill on grounds of it "curtailing the fundamental rights of people to freedom of expression and opinion, and was hence against the spirit of the constitution."

Speeches and popularity

Thapa is highly notable for being a 'firebrand', outspoken, and for his oration. He is widely deemed to be one of the most promising political leaders of Nepal currently, and as someone who "tirelessly fought for progressive principles such as republicanism, federalism, and inclusive democracy.' Thapa also has the third-highest social media following of a public figure in the country, after Baburam Bhattarai and Rabindra Mishra.

Controversies

PACT Grant

In November 2017, while campaigning for the position of Member of Parliament from Kathmandu-4, Thapa was accused of taking grant for his Sunekhani Integrated Agriculture Centre from the Project for Agriculture Commercialization and Trade Nepal project. However, on November 20, PACT clarified that the SIAC run by Thapa, has not taken any grant from the PACT.
The statement reads, “The application registered by the centre at the PACT on December 14, 2015 has clarified that Chairperson of the Centre, Thapa had rejected the grant citing that there might be interest conflict while receiving the grant at the time when he was the President of the parliamentary Committee.” However, South Asia Check found the claim inappropriate.

Honours and awards

In 2008, Thapa married Anjana KC, the daughter of Arjun Narsingh KC, a well-known leader, and fellow Central Committee Member of the Nepal Congress Party. They have two children, Gia Thapa and Gargi Thapa.

Entrepreneurship

Thapa believes that Nepali politicians should not have to depend on their work as policy makers to make a living. Aside from contributing as policymaker on issues related to domestic entrepreneurship, Thapa has been involved in entrepreneurial ventures himself, starting a media management company, a DJ school, a livestock farm, and a meat shop at various times in his life.

Philanthropy

Gagan Thapa, and his wife Anjani Thapa, established the foundation fund for the Intensive Care Unit of Patan Hospital. Thapa donated his salary of the first month as Health Minister to the oncology fund set up in Kanti Children's Hospital to provide monetary aid to poorest children suffering from cancer. He has contributed to the Keta Keti School and helped lead the Nepal Education First campaign, in partnership with Room to Read, which led to the building of a school in Madi, Chitwan. He was also the earliest advisor and promoter of the highly successful education program Teach for Nepal, of which he remains on their Leadership Council.

Party reformation

Thapa has long expressed his desire for party reformation and has worked to that end for more than a decade, calling for the replacement of the general and active membership in 2015 He has called for a change the working style of political leadership in light of leaders inability to reach the aspiration of the new generation of Nepalis, and called for the Nepal Congress to "lead the implementation of the new constitution" in 2016. He has also repeatedly called for more involvement of the youth in leadership positions and expressed his belief in the party as the "only defender of the country, able to move the country ahead by taking all the communities of the hills, mountains and the Tarai into confidence." Thapa, along with other youth leaders, launched the "Nepali Congress Rejuvenation Campaign" in February 2018. In 2009, Thapa had accused senior leaders like Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Girija Prasad Koirala of trying to run the Nepal Congress Party like a private company. In 2018, Thapa further remarked that Congress President Deuba shouldn't be the parliamentary party leader as well, as the responsibilities of a parliamentary party leader would be hard to achieve if "one person has two important posts".

Publications