KATHMANDU, June 23: Applications of 16 individuals have been approved for the position of Managing Director (MD) of Nepal Telecommunication Company Limited (Nepal Telecom).

The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MOCIT) has approved the applications of 16 candidates who met the minimum qualification among the 17 applicants.

Nepal Telecom had invited applications for the position of MD within 15 days on June 4. Most of the other employees of Telecom including acting MD Sangita Pahadi (Aryal) have registered their applications.

According to the MOCIT, the approved applicants are Rajesh Joshi, Anant Prakash Mallik, Dr Bimal Acharya, Prem Prasad Silwal, Chinta Mani Baral, Krishna Prasad Bhandari, Anil Kumar Jha, Dr Engineer Saligram Parajuli, and Laxman Maharjan. Similarly, the applications of Nagendra Kumar Das, Kedar Nath Koirala, Kamal Lamichhane, Ramesh Prasad Joshi, Engineer Salik Ram Subedi and Budhhi Prasad Acharya have also been approved.

Earlier, Sunil Paudel, who was the MD of the Telecom, was suspended after a corruption case was filed against him. On May 7, the Special Court sentenced him to 9 years imprisonment in a corruption case relating to the national payment gateway. At that time, he was an employee at the National Information Technology Center (NITC).