King owns 40,000 ropanis of land: Ministry; govt asked to ban royal land transactions
The Ministry of Land Reforms and Management has revealed that King Gyanendra and his family own nearly 40 thousand ropanies of land around the country apart from ownerships in major hotels and business ventures.
Ministry secretary Prakash Mahara informed the Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representative (HoR) on Sunday that the ministry has so far confirmed royal ownership on 39,524 rapanies of land in 12 districts around the country.
Land reform offices in all 75 districts had been asked to send reports about the land ownership of the King and his family members but reports came from only 12 districts, he said. Further study on the estate owned by the King and his family was underway and that the latest figure publicised by the ministry does not include the land owned by the several industries and business ventures including a tea estate in Ilam, according to him.
The ministry’s record shows that the King and his family have stakes in major commercial ventures including two five star hotels in Kathmandu – Soaltee and Annapurna -, Surya Tobacco Company in Bara, Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd located in Parsa district and Himalayan Tea Garden in Ilam. The land owned by these business ventures has not been included in the ministry’s report.
After the members of HoR committee complained that the ministry’s report was not complete, land reforms minister Prabhu Narayan Choudhary, who was present at the meeting, said a detailed report would be presented before the committee after further study on the land belonging to the King and his family.
Meanwhile, the committee chaired by MP Prakash Jwala decided to order the government to stop the sale and distribution of the land owned by the King and the royal family. The committee also gave direction to the government to present a detailed report about the involvement of the royal family members in factories and other business ventures.
Minister Choudhary told the MPs that said the ministry was preparing to bring a proposal to the Council of Ministers to ban the sale and distribution of the land owned by the King and the royal family. nepalnews.com mk Aug 13 06
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