173 tola of gold is missing from Pashupatinath

Kathmandu: The Pashupatinath Area Development Fund, which has been entrusted with the management of the Pashupatinath area, including the Pashupatinath Temple, has been increasing its popularity. The fund, which has not been able to protect its assets, has been seen to be in a state of disarray.

The 58th annual report of the Auditor General's Office has also pointed out the fact that the Pashupati Area Development Fund has compromised in renting out its assets.

Non-transparent and irregular procurement has put a huge extra burden on the fund. It is seen that the fund has entered into an agreement to decorate the temple and buy a cremation machine. Apart from that, the trend from not collecting the rent to paying attention to the protection of the gold on the idols of the temple has exposed the misgovernance within the fund.

173 tons of gold missing from the statue

Gold has been found missing from the idols inside the Guhyashwari temple in the Pashupatinath area. In 2057 BS, 713 tolas of gold and 133.394 kg of silver placed in the idols of Ashta Dal and Bhairav ​​were found to have holes in the 'Molamba'.

At present, 173.5 tolas of gold have been 'lost' from the two idols, the fund said. According to the memorandum prepared by the fund, so much gold has been lost due to 'wear and tear due to flowers, color, and inviolability. Even though it was rusted, due to the negligence of the fund, gold worth Rs.

The fund did not even test the gold and silver it bought for repairs. A private company has been entrusted to repair the idols from gold and silver without any competition. Although it has been mentioned that the gold and silver sheets will be submitted to the fund during the maintenance and the results of the sheets will be confirmed and destroyed by the decision of the member secretary, it has not been implemented.

"Replacing the statues of Ashta Dal and Bhairav ​​should be completed in the coming days by ascertaining the damage caused by the rust, the fragments of the rust, the condition of the leaves," the office of the Auditor General said in a report.

Golmaal in buying a cremation machine

It has been found that the Pashupati Development Fund has taken an irregular route in purchasing cremation machines. The fund has twice called for bids to buy from the company of its choice.

Three companies had submitted bids in the tender called for the purchase of the machine on January 12, 2008. However, the tender was canceled on 30 April 2076 saying that the seventh amendment of the Public Procurement Rules, 2064 was not applicable.

The only company that participated in the second round of bidding on 17 September 2076. The fund had estimated the cost at Rs.

The fund had inadvertently prepared cost estimates for the purchase of cremation machines. The Public Procurement Regulations state that when preparing the cost estimate of goods, the public body should take into account the actual cost incurred while procuring goods of the same nature in the current or previous years, prevailing rates, and transportation cost.

The fund had prepared the cost estimate based on purchasing an electric cremation machine for Rs. The fund had approved the cost estimate by adding the price increase as per the wholesale price list published by Nepal Rastra Bank after 2065 BS.

The cost estimate approved based on the purchase price 12 years ago was not realistic. The fund did not show interest in finding prices in the international market, including price lists of manufacturing companies.

Neglected to raise the rent

The Pashupati Development Fund has been neglecting to raise the rent as per the agreement. A consultancy has not paid the rent of Rs. The consultant who had to pay the rent had gone to the court claiming compensation. The fund has not shown any interest in the court dismissing the compensation claim and collecting the arrears including fines. Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, executive director of the fund, told online news that he was looking for the consultancy operator but could not find him after the court order.

The fund had signed a lease agreement with Prannath Cafe at the gate of Tilganga Dharamsala in 2072 BS. However, a dispute arose when the cafe asked for the cost of the added structure to be deducted from the rent to be paid to the fund.

The rent has not been collected as per the terms of the agreement for the next five years. Due to the non-resolution of the dispute, the annual arrears have been increasing and the amount to be collected without penalty has reached 7 million 58 thousand by mid-July 2077 BS. The executive director of the fund Upadhyaya says that an agreement has been reached with the cafe.

Suspicion of collusion when renting

It seems that the Dharamshala of Tilganga has been rented. Without the approval of the Board of Directors of the Fund, Member Secretary Dr. Pradip Dhakal had approved the leasing procedure, 2075 BS, and published a notice to lease the hospice on January 12, 2075 BS. The bidding document said that the interested company should have spent Rs 30 million on charity, social work in the past years.

Out of the four proposals submitted for renting the hospice, the one who promised less was qualified and approved as per the procedure. Proposals were rejected because they had not submitted proof of spending Rs 30 million on the donation. In that year, an agreement was reached with Batas Group's 'Hotel Anand' on 15 Baishakh 30, 2076 for a rent of Rs.

The agreement stipulates that there will be an internal construction period of three months, after which the rent for each month must be paid within seven days and a penalty will be levied if it is not paid. The fund has been giving discounts when the company pays the rent on time.

Manipulating the contract

The Pashupati Area Development Fund has been negotiating the contract to misuse the budget. Article 10 of the Public Procurement Act, 2063 states that no special construction entrepreneur should be allowed to participate in the bidding documents.

According to the 58th Annual Report of the Office of the Auditor General, the contract was signed for the construction of a drain on the Gaushala-Bhubaneswari 400-meter Darshan Marg and for printing stones on the belt and walls.

In the bidding documents, the bidders were required to have done 1,600 square meters of stone printing work, 600 cubic meters of stone wall work, 483 running meters of stone gravel work, and 560 running meters of stone printing work in the belt.

Of the three companies participating in the bidding, only two had little experience and only one bidder's technical proposal was approved. The fund estimated the cost at Rs 92.19 million and the contract was awarded at Rs 92.12 million.

"As the work of printing stones on roads, belts and walls is not a complex technical work, it seems that the construction businessmen who have constructed roads, buildings, compound walls, etc. can do the work easily," he said. It does not seem necessary to have special qualifications and conditions for such work, 'the accountant general said in the report.

The Accountant General is of the view that action should be taken against the fund which has the condition of qualification and experience in line with the experience of a single construction businessman.

The same thing happened with the electrical decoration of the Pashupati premises. Approving a budget of Rs. 60 million, an Electrical Engineer has been appointed as a consultant to design, estimate and monitor the cost. Three companies participated in the call for the contract by preparing a cost estimate of 59.23 million.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had assigned an engineer at the request of the fund to evaluate the bids. Private sector engineers were appointed as experts without involving him in the bidding process. After that, on March 26, 2076, all three companies were disqualified and the contract was canceled.

After that, by amending the eligibility and conditions of the company, only one of the companies that were earlier declared ineligible participated in another bid called on 17 April 2077 and was declared eligible. The company won the contract at 59.139 million (0.16 percent less than the estimated cost).

Interest in direct purchase

The Pashupati Development Fund has been giving priority to direct procurement. As per the Public Procurement Regulations, 2064 BS, procurement of more than Rs 2 million should be done through bidding.

In the fiscal year 2076/07, the fund has spent Rs. On the last day of the fiscal year, on July 12, 2077, only Rs.

The fund has deposited more than Rs 3 billion in various commercial banks. The balance is not deposited in the bank which pays more interest by publishing the information openly. It has lost potential interest income.

There is no gift shop and flower shop on the Pashupati premises. In 2075 BS, a building with 62 shop cables for Rs. 578.90 million is not in use. By constructing the building in a suitable place, gift and flower shops have been allowed to operate in an unorganized manner elsewhere.

There are more than 164 gift and flower shops in the Pashupati area. The Pashupati Area Development Fund had published a notice on March 26, 2076 BS saying that only 121 florists would be allowed to operate shops in the new building. By publishing another notice on July 7, 2077, he had said that he would be able to participate in the round even if he deposited five thousand rupees.

But later, all the three traders who did not pay the arrears of 1925,000 were made to participate in the round. The new building is yet to be commissioned.

Playing on world heritage

The Pashupati Area Development Fund Act, 2044 BS has made arrangements for tree planting, forest, garden, and other arrangements in the Pashupati area by the Board of Directors of the Fund.

However, the fund has agreed to allow Kripaluji Maharaj's follower organization 'Radha Madhav Samiti' to place a stone inscription called 'Kripalu Udyan' to build, develop and manage the forest area in the northeast of the Vankali temple, including grasslands, ponds, and ponds. The executive committee of the fund has not disclosed the duration of the agreement in its decision dated June 20, 2071 BS.

The design of the park has not been approved by the fund. The garden is ready. UNESCO and the Department of Archeology have not even taken permission to operate the park in the Pashupati area, which is on the World Heritage List.

The Board of Directors has not decided to allow Kripaluji Maharaj's 'Radha Madhav Samiti' to run the park. Protests by heritage conservation engineers over the use of concrete in the park were ignored.

Many ropanis of land in Kaudi

There are many disputes regarding restoration in the Pashupati area. The fund has the right to determine the rent of physical infrastructure in the Pashupati area. However, the council has been making repeated decisions on renting land and other structures without formulating procedures.

The fund is getting a penny from those who are using a large area of ​​land. In the annual program of 2076/07, the agreement reached with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal and Tilganga Eye Hospital was said to increase the land rent by making it timely.

The Tribhuvan Airport Office has taken 1,161 ropanis of land at an annual rent of Rs 10 million for 99 years and the Tilganga Eye Hospital has taken five ropanis of land at an annual rent of Rs 200,000 for 49 years. These bodies do not pay the prescribed rent on time.

The rent of nine ropanis and nine annas of land in Gaushala, Kathmandu, owned by the fund is very low. As per the decision of the Board of Directors of 2060 BS, the fund had entered into an agreement with the Marwadi Service Committee to pay Rs 51,000 annually without mentioning the period.

Regarding the agreement, the Public Accounts Committee had directed the fund to run the hospice within six months. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority had also signed another agreement and sent a letter to the fund on April 29, 2008, to 'correct the malpractice'.

In the annual program of the fund for the fiscal year 076/77, the Marwari Service Committee stated that the fund has been used for commercial purposes by constructing physical infrastructure without the approval of the fund.