KATHMANDU, Aug 9: Chief Minister of Province 3 Dormani Paudel has said the capital of the province shouldn't be in Kathmandu.

He said it can be fixed in any other districts of the province such as Nuwakot or Ramechhap except for Kathmandu, which is also the capital city of the country.

Paudel argued that he was against Kathmandu as the provincial capital city as he had been consistently lobbying for the last 20 years for devolving powers outside Kathmandu. “I am against fixing Kathmandu as provincial capital because it would again be under the shadow of Singha Durbar [the seat of the central secretariat],” he told journalists on Thursday. Temporary capital of the Province 3 is now fixed in Hetauda but the provincial assembly has failed to name the province and fix the permanent capital as lawmakers are divided over the place. “Though I am from Hetauda, I am not for insisting on giving continuity for the same. It can be in any other district but not anywhere near Singhadurbar.”

He argued that the provincial capital should be fixed in a place that would help develop the new area.

He claimed that the provincial assembly would resolve the dispute and fix the name and capital of Province 3 at one go soon.

The constitutional provision has it that the name and capital of a province should be endorsed by two-thirds of the concerned provincial assembly.

 
• province_3
 
• capital
 
• kathmandu