KATHMANDU, July 3: Preparations have been made to grab the 15 ropanis of land that came to the ownership of Nepal Academy of Music and Drama (NAMUDA) from Bal Mandir. According to sources, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati and the officials of the Academy have mounted pressure on NAMUDA Chancellor Nisha Sharma Pokharel for the same purpose.
According to sources at the ministry, final preparations have been made as per Minister Kirati’s wish to build a new building for commercial purposes on that land and rent it out to the private sector. This land is in Naxal, a busy area in Kathmandu. It is said that Minister Kirati is preparing to lease 15 ropanis of land at a much lower price than the market price. According to the source, Pokharel, the chancellor of NAMUDA, has expressed dissatisfaction over the proposal of Minister Kirati and officials of the Ministry of Tourism. Pokharel is afraid that she may have to be involved in a dispute in the future if the land is handed to the private sector, like in the case of Lalita Niwas.
Halt the plan to lease out NAMUD land
“Pokharel has not agreed to the proposal to give 15 ropanis of land to the private sector. Chancellor Pokharel and her staff are in favor of building an assembly building on that land by themselves with the help of an international agency, which will generate regular income for the academy," the source said. But Academy Secretary Kushma Mehra and Head of Audio Visual Department Chetan Sapkota and others want to construct the building and rent it out to the company of their choice as per Minister Kirati's plan. Continuous efforts are being made for that. Sources claim that the team trying to grab the 15 ropanis of land has made an attractive offer of 10 percent commissions to Chancellor Pokharel. Chancellor Pokharel informed about this proposal in the presence of Minister Kirati, Secretary Suresh Adhikari and others. She said that she did not want commissions; rather she would like to build the building herself. But Minister Kirati has been saying from the beginning that this land should be rented out for commercial use.
When this land was brought under the name of NAMUDA, there was a lot of confusion. There was also a lawsuit to prevent it from being brought under the name of the Academy. About Rs 5.5 million was also spent to register the land in the name of the Academy. Minister Kirati, who came for the Foundation's anniversary on April 23, after seeing this land, expressed his opinion that it should be used commercially. After that, the officials who were appointed under Kirati's influence increased the pressure saying that the land should be given to the private sector as the minister said.
Sources say that the attempt to grab the land under the joint name of Nepal Children's Organization and Nepal Academy of Fine Arts is still going on. When asked about this, Chancellor Sharma refused to comment, saying she knew nothing about it.
On the other hand, Rajan Sameep, press coordinator of the tourism minister, claimed that such land has not been leased yet. "We have not even tried to give it on lease, we are not ready to give it either," he said. Instead, a committee was formed to search for 30 ropanis of land, Sameep said. Similarly, he also claimed that although the land under Nepal Trust is under his ministry, the land of Bal Mandir in Naxal is not under the ministry.
