By Renuka Dhakal

Kathmandu, May 18: Ten persons, including actor Bhuwan KC, have applied for the vacant post of the chairman in the Film Development Board (FDB), Nepal, and their interview is scheduled for May 19, 20 and 21.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has announced the interview dates by disclosing the names of the applicants for the top post in the FDB. The post has remained vacant since the sudden demise of chairman Keshab Bhattarai on December 15 last year. Bhattarai died of cardiac arrest at the age of 52.
The candidates include filmmaker and FDB board member Dayaram Dahal, actor Bhuvan KC, film producer Arjun Kumar Dangol, former general manager of Cultural Institute Rajesh Thapa, artist Bhagwati Kumari Mainali, Dhyan Bahadur Subba, Parashuram Chaudhary, artist and hall director Sohit Manandhar and film directors Rajendra Kumar Upreti and Deepak Shrestha.
Arjun Kumar Dangol, Dayaram Dahal and Dipak Shrestha will face their interview at the ministry on May 19. Each candidate has to make a presentation of their action plan during the interview.
Likewise, Dhyan Bahadur Subba, Parashuram Chaudhary and Bhagawati Kumari Mainali will face the interview on May 20 while the interview date for actor Bhuwan KC, Rajendra Kumar Upreti, Rajesh Thapa and Sohit Manandhar is fixed for May 21.
Candidates are required to report by Sunday if they have any kind of difficulty to attend the interview due to the nationwide lockdown at pre-scheduled time and venue, the ministry said in its notice on Friday.
If the candidates didn’t notify the ministry by Sunday, they will not be allowed to appear the interview.
On April 28, the ministry had called for applications with some criteria such as the applicant should be aged between 30 and 65 years and they must be Nepali citizens.
In addition, the candidates should possess certificate of Bachelor’s degree in any discipline with 10 years of experience in the establishment, development, promotion and conservation of the film industry and someone who has spent 20 years in the film industry with the qualification of higher secondary education would also be eligible to apply for the post as per the notice of the Ministry.
After the death of Bhattarai, various policymaking works have been halted, said Chiranjibi Guragain of FDB.
The presence of the board chairperson is mandatory for policymaking decisions, which is why the board meeting could not be convened after Bhattarai’s death, he said.