KATHMANDU, Sept 5: While the assembly halls built by spending millions of rupees are standing unused, 13 more assembly halls have been added only in the month of July/August by spending huge sums of money.
Most of the old meeting halls have fallen into despair, which were built for political reasons rather than out of necessity. The government spends a huge amount of money every year just for the operation of such assembly halls. As the assembly halls that have been built become useless, the financial burden is falling on the state. The government has constructed 13 assembly halls in the last fiscal year. According to the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), construction has been completed by the end of the fiscal year 2022/23 and 13 assembly halls have been put into operation.
According to the DUDBC, the construction of Butwal International Assembly Hall at a cost of nearly Rs 2 billion, Bidur Assembly Hall at Nuwakot at a cost of Rs 227.2 million, Surkhet Assembly Hall at a cost of Rs 267.1 million, Dhangadhi Assembly Hall at a cost of Rs 322.5 million and Chapakot Assembly Hall in Syangja at a cost of Rs 413.9 million has been completed. Similarly, by mid-July, the work of Arghakhanchi Assembly Hall for Rs 401.2 million, Ghorahi Hall of Dang for Rs 252.8 million, Doti Assembly Hall for Rs 145.6 million, Damak Assembly Hall for Rs 352.5 million, Maulapur Memorial Assembly Hall in Rautahat district for Rs 304.9 million has been completed. Similarly, by the end of this year’s mid-July, the construction work of Mehalkuna Assembly Hall and Syangja Putalibazar in Surkhet has been completed.
Meeting halls and viewing towers built with billions of rupees...
According to the DUDBC, in the current fiscal year, 15 more assembly halls are under construction and 14 new ones are going to be constructed. Assembly halls are being constructed in Sunsari's Laukahi, Triyuga, Kalikasthan, Ratnanagar, Sauraha Bazar, Gorkha, Nepalgunj, Damauli, Gorkha, Baitadi and Rukumkot. Similarly, in the current year, Resunga Sabha Halls in Dolakha and Gulmi are under construction. According to the design and construction branch of the building department, among the 14 new assembly halls that are going to be constructed in the current year, only Okhaldhunga and Amargadhi are new programs. The new assembly halls which are under the old plan but will be built only in the current year are in Taplejung, Tansen, Rasuwa, Dhankuta and other districts.
Even though assembly halls have been built across the country, the procedures to operate the constructed assembly halls have not yet been approved. Due to the lack of procedures, the assembly halls have not been put to good use. Even the existing structures are suffering losses of millions worth rupees per month.
Urban Development Minister Sita Gurung admitted that the old assembly halls that were built before were left unused due to the lack of a procedure for the operation and management of those assembly halls. We have formed a five-member committee for addressing the issue. After the procedure is approved, studies are being conducted on handing over the responsibility of the assembly halls with a seating capacity of 500 and more than 1,000 to the federal government and auditoriums with a seating capacity of less than 500 to the local government.
Likewise, Urban Development Secretary Rabindranath Shrestha said that preparations are being made to give the responsibility of managing the auditoriums across the country to the International Convention Center in New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, and said, "After this, the International Convention Center will contract the private sector to operate and manage other auditoriums. It has been seen that this method is the most suitable one.” Dilip Bhandari, the joint secretary of the ministry, is the coordinator of the draft team to formulate the operation and management procedure of the assembly halls.
In response to the question whether such a large number of meeting halls are necessary across the country, former Urban Development Secretary Ramesh Singh said, "Now the construction of assembly halls has already been completed, so the existing structures should be used appropriately to show their relevance." However, a senior official from the ministry said, "Using the budget allocated for physical infrastructure to construct assembly halls without study and homework is a misuse of funds." According to the official, the minister appears to be prioritizing assembly hall construction over other infrastructure projects, and laid foundation stone to make it look like he has done some work in his field of work, which is easier than building other structures.
Due to the lack of procedures regarding the operation of the assembly hall, it remains uncertain whether the federal government will operate the constructed assembly halls or hand them over to the local level, or whether the central government will operate the assembly halls with a certain seating capacity, or whether the assembly halls with a certain seating capacity will be taken over by the local level, etc. A plan was made to build a meeting hall with Rs 500 million provided to Lamahi Municipality under Intensive Urban Development Project last year.
In July/August 2022, former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal laid the foundation stone for Gaur Assembly Hall in Gaur. After laying the foundation stone, the construction of the assembly hall began with the funds allocated from the Intensive Urban Development Project for Gaur Municipality. The money allocated for urban development and physical infrastructure in the municipality is being used for the construction of the meeting hall instead of essential projects like building ponds, lakes, bus parks, and roads.
