Pathivara conservation body to submit property details to local govt

By Prem Adhikari,Pashupatinagar, Apr. 22: The Pathivara Conservation Committee, formed to manage the Bahini Pathivara Temple of Kattidanda, has decided to submit the details of its assets to the Rong Rural Municipality under the supervision of all stakeholders.

The conservation committee's chairman Daulat Kumar Rai met with the local political parties and decided to hold a general assembly within a month and submit the details of the cash and non-cash assets in its possession to the local government. 

The decision came after the District Administration Office (DAO) of Ilam instructed the committee to hold an assembly and inform the rural municipality about its property.

The committee announced the decision in a statement that featured the signatures of Hari Budhathoki, Rong Rural Municipality president of Nepali Congress; Khadga Ale Magar, chairman of CPN (UML) in the rural municipality; Ganesh Kumar Rai, representative of CPN (Maoist Centre); Rajendra Acharya, representative of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party; Keshav Raj Luitel, district member of the Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal, and Brihaspati Khatiwada, provincial committee member of CPN (Unified Socialist), and also pledged to follow the rules and regulations mandated by the government.

Talking to The Rising Nepal, Budhathoki, who is also a member of the committee, informed that now, they would submit the required details to the rural municipality in presence of all the 154 committee members as well as other concerned bodies. He also said that the general assembly would decide whether to keep the committee in existence or dissolve it.

The Pathivara Conservation Committee was registered with the DAO in 1998. However, it has not been renewed since 2017. Budhathoki claimed that this was because of legal hurdles. At present, the committee has Rs. 2.5 million in its bank account.

This lack of renewal prompted the rural municipality to form a new Pathivara Conservation, Management and Development Committee two months ago and bring the temple under its jurisdiction. The local level stated that the temple has earned Rs. 4 million since the new committee's formation. 

Mani Kumar Syangbo, chairman of Rong Rural Municipality, said that the local government had appointed an internal auditor to audit the accounts of the old committee when the full details are submitted. "Our auditor will audit all of the old committee's accounts maintained after January 2022. The period before that will be examined by the DAO," he said.

The old committee is accused of corruption and misappropriation of the temple's earnings.

Meanwhile, Shrawan Kumar Pokharel, chief district officer of Ilam, said that even if the old committee was dissolved, the DAO would continue investigating whether it was involved in any embezzlement.