KATHMANDU, Jan 28: Minister for Youth and Sports Teju Lal Chaudhary’s decision to appoint Ranjana Pradhan, the principal of Nightingale International Secondary School, which he owns, as a board member of the National Sports Council (NSC), on Monday has drawn widespread criticism.
Nightingale School is located in Kupondole, Lalitpur, with the investment of Sports Minister Chaudhary. He is the chairperson while Pradhan is the principal of the school.
Pradhan, who has been working in the education sector for a long time, has been paradoxically brought into the NSC board as a sports expert. Minister Chaudhary himself is the chairman of NSC’s board.
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Minister Chaudhary photographed sharing a stage with Ranjana Pradhan
According to a cabinet level decision, along with Pradhan, Bidur Dhungana has also been appointed as a member of the NSC board. Earlier, Minister Chaudhary had appointed Kamal Bhattarai, who is close to the Nepali Congress and has been working in the travel and tours sector, as a board member.
Minister Chaudhary defended his decision to appoint Pradhan as the NSC member citing her previous experience and displayed capacity in the sports sector.
“Those who accuse me of nepotism can keep yapping about it, but the truth is that Pradhan has served under various capacity at multiple sports organizations,” he told Republica, “She has been a member of the Nepal Olympic Committee, member of the organizing committee of the South Asian Games (SAG) 2019 and central committee member of Nepal School Sports Federation (NSSF).”
However, it is important to note that Pradhan was not elected to the position in NSSF, rather nominated by Minister Chaudhary himself merely ten days ago. It has been speculated that her nomination to the NSSF was made to pave the way for her nomination at the NSC. In addition, she only served in the organizing committee of SAG 2019 in the capacity of a dance director for students presenting a welcome dance for the participants.
The executive committee of the NSC consists of seven members. Minister Chaudhary has given responsibility to Pradhan in the executive committee, which is considered important for daily operations. NSC’s member-secretary, Tanka Lal Ghising, will serve as the coordinator in the executive committee.
Ghising told Republica that the controversy surrounding Pradhan’s appointment is rooted in the clash between public expectation and the legal provision for appointment of NSC members. “The concerned laws vest the power in the sports minister to nominate the members of the NSC,” he said, “So, why are we expecting apolitical appointments to the position like in the civil service?”
Since most of the appointments to the NSC are political in nature, NSC members are connected to political parties. Ghising himself is said to be close to the CPN (Maoist Center) chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Member Bhanu Bahadur Chand is said to be close to the Nepali Congress while member Dhurba Acharya is said to be close to CPN-UML chairman KP Oli.
