Junu Shrestha Breaks Silence Over Health Insurance Board Removal

Junu Shrestha

Recently, various controversies and questions have been raised regarding my reappointment to the Health Insurance Board. Initially, I felt that the media was not the place for such clarifications, but rather official bodies. Therefore, I remained silent. However, when my competence, background, and independent existence began to be attacked, I felt I had to speak out.

Perhaps these issues have been raised due to a lack of knowledge about my background. Therefore, I want to clarify who I am, what my capabilities are, and what happened on the board.

I hold a Bachelor in Optometry from Tribhuvan University's Teaching Hospital, where I was a gold medalist. Afterward, I worked in hospitals and clinics. I then completed a Master's in Public Health, where I was also a gold medalist.

Subsequently, I worked in maternal and child health, reproductive health, and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, I received the prestigious UK government Chevening Scholarship to study Health Policy, Planning, and Financing at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

During my studies, I evaluated Thailand's health system and conducted COVID-related research with Oxford University. Both of my Master's theses are related to Nepal's health insurance. For the past 5 years, I have been working at an eye health and blindness prevention organization in London. I also serve as a steering committee member for the World Health Organization's Civil Society Commission.

Given my educational qualifications and experience, I was appointed as a member of the Health Insurance Board in Mangsir 2080. It was my dream to implement what I had learned into Nepal's health insurance system.

From the early days of my appointment, there was a lot of politics. I was a young woman, and at the time, I was also pregnant. I had to endure a lot. I wanted to speak to the media, but my upbringing, which teaches respect for elders, held me back.

In late Bhadra 2081, I went to London for personal and professional work. From Ashoj, I could not physically attend board meetings. However, I did not leave the meetings without notice. I informed them fully and joined the first three meetings virtually to provide my opinions and suggestions. In the fourth meeting, I was muted due to technical issues. For every meeting thereafter, I informed them of my absence via email. Later, the ministry stopped replying to my emails.

It has been just 100 days since I returned from London. Immediately upon arriving in Nepal, I informed the Ministry of Health that I wished to continue on the board. Even when I was physically absent from board meetings, I did not stop working for Nepal. I continued to send my suggestions to the ministry regarding Nepal's domestic health financing resolution for the World Health Assembly.

However, ironically, I was neither informed about my removal from the Health Insurance Board nor was I sent a suspension letter. Until a few days ago, my name was still listed as a member on the board's website. Later, I was called to a board meeting. I thought I was being called for my continuation, but I had been removed from the post without any explanation.

'Is it being established that women always come forward only under someone else's shadow? Why does our society not accept that a woman can study and achieve things on her own?'

A serious question has arisen in my mind: Was I removed because of my husband's political ups and downs or his dismissal?

A woman who has won a gold medal through her own hard work, received a prestigious international scholarship, and is working at an international level after studying at foreign universities—does she not have her own independent existence? Why is it always established that women only come forward through someone else's shadow or access?

Recently, a friend messaged me saying, 'We are in a society that beats the daughter to scare the daughter-in-law. Here, society cannot digest a woman moving forward by studying and working hard on her own.' Her words touched my heart. Truly, being removed like this without being asked, without being given a chance for clarification, has made me very sad.

There is a lot of talk about 'good governance' these days. If removing a qualified woman by linking her to her husband, without any legal process or explanation, is 'good governance,' then I think we all need to re-read what good governance means.

Who will drive good governance in this country now? I want to leave this question to the state administrators and the entire society.

(Video clarification given on social media by Junu Shrestha after her husband, Labor Minister Deepak Kumar Sah, was dismissed. She is also a member of the Health Insurance Board.)