KATHMANDU, June 7: The businessmen who are operating cafes and shops that sell puja items (ritual items), and those using the parking lots on the premises of the Pashupatinath temple are reluctant to pay the rent to the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT). According to the Auditor General's report, those who are doing business in the Pashupatinath temple area are not paying the due amount to the trust.
Experts say that this problem is due to the incompetence and negligence of officials of PADT. Govinda Tandon, former member-secretary of PADT, says that the businessmen are reluctant to pay the rent due to the weakness of the office bearers of the trust.
Due to the failure of the businessmen to pay the rent for the use of land and shutters in the Pashupatinath area, the amount is yet to be collected for a long time. According to the Auditor General's report, the Pashupati Area Development Trust has not prepared any policy and guidelines for accounting.
Rs 10 million yet to be raised from shops that sell puja items
Most of the 148 florist shops operating on the temple premises have not paid the rent since 2017.
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According to PADT, even though the rent is only Rs 500 per month, they have refused to pay it. According to the executive director of the trust, Ghanshyam Khatiwada, about Rs 10 million is yet to be collected despite repeated requests.
It has been found that the businessmen who have been operating shops that sell ritual items, cafes and those using the parking lots etc in the Pashupatinath temple complex have failed to pay the rent to the Pashupati Area Development Trust despite repeated requests.
According to PADT, the shopkeepers and businessmen should obtain permission to trade in worship materials within the Pashupatinath area and the trust should monitor it. Currently, 24 souvenir shops and 148 flower shops are operating on the land of the trust. It is mentioned in the 60th report of the Auditor General that Rs 12.2 million is yet to be collected from the flower shops.
Khatiwada said that after the Auditor General's report was made public, he tried to collect the rent from the flower shops. "Despite our repeated efforts, about Rs 10 million is yet to be collected," he said. It is mentioned in the report of the Auditor General that since there is no updated written contract with the trust, it is not possible to claim the rent according to the legal process. According to an employee of the trust, most of the flower shops have been refusing to pay the rent. The PADT officials claim that the local leaders have advised them not to pay the rent.
Rs 6.5 million to be collected from café
According to the executive director of the trust, Khatiwada, about Rs 6.5 million , is yet to be collected from the cafes operating within the Pashupati temple premises. Khatiwada said that the amount could not be raised due to the earthquake of 2015, Covid-19 pandemic and procedural delays. According to him, the cafe owners have requested the PADT officials to provide some relief due to the loss during the earthquake and Covid-19 pandemic. The officials of the trust say that no decision has been taken in this regard so far.
Rs 2.5 million to be raised from parking area
Tatva Investments has signed an agreement with the PADT to pay Rs 3,60,000 a year for handling the parking lot of the Pashupatinath temple. Although the company signed the agreement, it is yet to pay the amount. Khatiwada says that the company is yet to pay about Rs 2.5 million in dues.
Only a fraction of expected revenue generated from land
Pashupatinath temple has 18,342 ropanis of land under its ownership. It includes temples, forests, Kailash Chaur garden, Guhyeshwari temple area, forests, and roads. As per an official of PADT, an estimation suggests that an annual collection of up to Rs 10 million can be expected from land administration and land tax on the unused land, excluding forests, temples, and roads.
Trust receives zero income for Aarti
Since 2010, an organization named Shree Pashupatinath Bagmati Ganga Sandhya Aarti has been performing evening prayers (Sandhya Aarti) before the Pashupatinath temple. The trust has provided one room in Gujarati Baja Sattal and one room in Ram Mandir area to the office bearers of the organization free of cost. According to the Auditor General's report, although the organization collects donations from devotees for performing evening aarti and other assistance, it does not provide any amount to the PADT. The Office of the Auditor General has suggested that income generation from the evening prayers should also be increased.
