KATHMANDU, July 5: More evidence has been found regarding the government’s ‘plan’ to lease out 15 ropanis of land belonging to Nepal Academy of Music and Drama (NAMUDA) to a private commercial company for 30 years.

A strong proof of this ‘plan’ is the application submitted by Imu Properties Pvt Ltd to the head of the Academy. Sharmila Tamang, the managing director of the private company, submitted the application to the academy on May 28, requesting the latter to provide land for the purpose of building a multi-purpose complex.

Ever since NAMUDA received the letter, its Member Secretary Kushma Mahara and others have been continuously mounting pressure on Chancellor Nisha Sharma Pokharel to provide the land to Imu Properties Pvt Ltd. Not only that, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati also expressed the idea that this land should be used for commercial purposes as it is at a prime location, during NAMUDA’s anniversary program, in the presence of Chancellor Sharma and others.

Chancellor Sharma mentioned that continuous efforts are being made to give the land to a private company by offering her an attractive 10 percent commission. After the publication of news related to this matter in Republica, Minister Kirati and officials of the Academy have refuted the claims.

Minister Kirati's press coordinator Rajan Rai sent a letter to Republica on Tuesday, asking for publishing a rebuttal. In the letter, Rai has in turn asked several questions. The letter reads, "The news report claims that final preparations are being made to award a contract to the private sector; then what is the name of that private sector? Creating news against Tourism Minister Sudhan Kirati and other officials of the ministry without any factual evidence substantiating the claim of final preparations to award the contract undermines press freedom, the right to information, and attacks democracy itself.”

The application from Imu Properties Pvt Ltd answers the questions raised by the press coordinator of the minister, Rai. It is written in the letter, "The aim is to build multi-purpose business infrastructure on the land of the Academy at Sano Gaucharan with the company's own investment and to provide the infrastructure to various service organizations for the convenience of the general public."

It also says, "We will provide an auditorium and a theater hall after the construction of the multi-purpose commercial complex. It will be operated for a period of 30 years, and after that, based on necessity, the arrangement may be given continuity or the ownership of the infrastructure may be transferred to the academy."

Will the minister and the officials concerned investigate the entities under their authority after such news is published? Or will they release statements discrediting the news even when it is reported correctly? If Minister Kirati was not clearly informed about such a matter by the Academy, it should be a subject of investigation. But there are internal sources who have heard that there is constant dispute among the officers of the Academy.

Even the chancellor of NAMUDA, Sharma, has written a status on Facebook expressing her ignorance about the news.

However, one of the lines written by her is worth considering, "I also condemn the gangs that are willing to grab the land by creating confusion among the public about things that did not happen and were not said." 

In the rebuttal sent by Minister Kirati's press coordinator Rai, it is written, “It is baseless that Minister Sudan Kirati and the officials of the Academy mounted pressure on Chancellor Nisha Sharma Pokharel by preparing to grab 15 ropanis of land owned by NAMUDA.”

There are many examples of public land being taken in the name of private companies using various tactics. It seems that there is a planned preparation to grab the land that is registered in the name of NAMUDA. They are trying to cover up the truth by trying to refute even the news that came after the process of giving land started.

In the application of Imu Properties Pvt Ltd, it is clearly written, “I request to provide a certain area of the land owned by the Academy to this Imu Properties Pvt Ltd Company, which aims to build and operate a multi-purpose commercial infrastructure with various facilities.”

The member-secretary of NAMUDA, Kushma Mahara, also wrote in a letter sent to Republica regarding the refutation of the news, “We inform you that the things mentioned in the news are misleading, fabricated and false, and that the dehumanization of Minister Sudan Kirati and the officials of the NAMUDA would cause harm to the Academy.”

 
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