KATHMANDU, Aug 29: At a time when the country is in an extreme economic crisis, the construction of seven lavish buildings by the federal government in Kathmandu as liaison offices for province chiefs and Chief Ministers (CMs) has drawn criticisms from experts. They say spending on such buildings is unnecessary and unproductive. These buildings were designed to provide comfortable accommodations for CMs and province chiefs during their visits to Kathmandu. While some provinces have one-and-a-half-story buildings, others are resorting to renting accommodations for the officials. There are two blocks each in the recently completed amenity buildings. There are more than a dozen rooms in one block of the three-and-a-half-story palace, including a prayer room and a yoga room.

Experts have expressed serious objection to the construction of extravagant structures for province chiefs and CMs in Kathmandu. Former vice chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr Gobinda Pokharel said that this move towards centralization weakens federalism. “The economic situation of the country is very poor. The government has reached a situation where it has to borrow and repay the debt. But the government has done a very unproductive job by constructing a grand building for the province chiefs and CMs in Kathmandu,'' he said. He stated, "Now place all municipality liaison offices in the district headquarters and the municipality’s office in the center." “Now, this voice will surely resonate strongly with the public,” he added. 

Manish Suman, an MP of Madhesh Province and spokesperson for Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) also said that there is no need to build such a building for the CMs and province chiefs in Kathmandu. “There are one-and-a-half storey buildings for the CMs and Province chiefs in the provinces, but in Kathmandu, the government has built a luxurious building, which is not necessary," he said.

He suggested that a strong and magnificent structure should be built in the province to institutionalize and strengthen federalism. "Federalism is not strengthened by the big buildings made for the provinces at the center," he added. In Madhesh Province, two small buildings of one and a half stories have been built inside the Janakpur Cigarette factory (currently named as Madhesh building) for the residence of the province chiefs and the CMs. According to experts, it would be appropriate if simple buildings were built in Kathmandu with a maximum of four rooms for the province chiefs and CMs. Stating that it is natural for a developed country to build such buildings, former member of the National Assembly Radhe Shyam Adhikari said, "In a country with a weak economic situation like ours, we should think about whether it is necessary to build a large building in Kathmandu as a liaison office for the province chiefs and the CMs."

The government has spent four years building a liaison office for the province chiefs and CMs in Bhaisepati. The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone of the Liaison Office building of the province chiefs and CMs on September 26, 2016. As much as Rs 850 million was spent to build the liaison office of the province chiefs and the CMs. As much as Rs 120 million was spent on painting and interior decoration of the building. The government called the province chiefs and CMs of all the seven provinces to Kathmandu and handed over the keys of each building on Sunday with great fanfare. Machakaji Maharjan, the chief of the special building project, said on Monday that the provincial heads and CMs have started to reside in the new building.

The building work was done in two phases. The interior decoration work is being done by New Technical and the building construction work is done by KC Construction-Samanantar Group. The interior decoration work is yet to be completed. When the contract was signed with KC Parallel Company, it was agreed that the building could be constructed within two years. Chief Maharjan said that the construction of the building had to be extended by another two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Those buildings are built on 27 ropani 12 anas land. The government will no longer have to rent apartments in Kathmandu for the province chiefs and CMs. Earlier, the government had rented 14 buildings in Lalitpur's DownTown Apartments for the province chiefs and the CMs. The Federal Secretariat Construction and Management Office was paying Rs 51,000 monthly as rent for each building. According to the federal Secretariat Construction and Management Office, as of June/July, this rental arrangement has ceased.

 
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