KATHMANDU, Dec 21: Stakeholders and experts have underlined the need for the government to intervene and revamp Sajha Prakashan, the state-owned publishing house which has been reeling under various problems for the past some years.

Established in 1913, Sajha Prakashan used to publish literary works to promote the Nepali language in the country and abroad, besides printing school textbooks. However, its fall started from 2007 when the government formed after the success of the April 2006 Movement (Janandolan II) snatched the school textbooks printing job from Sajha and gave it to the private sector.

“The printing and distribution of school textbooks was the major source of earning for Sajha,” said Hom Bhhattarai, a senior official at Sajha Prakashan. “Sajha’s fall began after the government allowed the private sector to print the textbooks for Grades 1 to 5 in 2007,” he added. 

According to Bhattarai, political intervention in the government-owned publishing house became more conspicuous after Mamata Jha was appointed the chairperson of Sajha Prakashan eight years ago. “After that, the ministers concerned started appointing officials at Sajha for making money, instead of reviving its declining glory,” he said.

As Sajha Prakashan had already lost one of its major income source, it gradually started facing financial problems. So much so that it couldn’t even pay salaries to its staffers and sought government help. Though Sajha has already received a total of Rs 320 million as loans from the government so far, it is yet to pay about Rs 40 million as royalties to various writers, and Rs 20 million to other publishing houses. Similarly, it needs about Rs 40 million to pay the provident fund amounts to its retired staffers, some Rs 173 million to pay salaries to retired officials and about Rs 20 million to pay other different bodies.

The current government is preparing to provide a grant of Rs 170 million to Sajha Prakashan for paying 128 retired officials who have launched a protest since July 17. 
Sajaha’s books have not been audited for the last six years. As a result, it lacks financial transparency. 

Over-staffing, too, has been a major problem at Sajha Prakashan. The present general manager (GM) of Sajha Prakashan, Dolindra Prasad Sharma, is blamed for making scores of unnecessary hiring, besides being accused of many other irregularities.

“Completely overhauling the Sajha management has become urgent,” said lawmaker Bijaya Subba, who is also a writer and a member of the Sajha Management Board. 

“Sajha has enough property but the government has failed to protect it from being misused,” he added, “The irregularities must also be probed.”

Prof Ramesh Bhattarai, a former GM of Sajha Prakashan, said that bad governance and mismanagement are two major problems at Sajha. 

“Most of Sajha’s problems have arisen from the lack of a clean and competent leadership,” said Bhattarai, “The government should pick a capable and honest person to lead Sajha if it wants to save it and bring it back on track.”

 
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