DEV KUMAR SUNUWAR
KATHMANDU, Oct 19 - Delay in action against encroachment of land owned by Guthi Sansthan across the country, has led to serious threat of extinction of century-old cultures and rituals.
Officials at Guthi Sansthan charge that government apathy towards the Sansthan is the major reason for encroachment. They say the government has never provided support to the Sansthan with timely action against encroachers.
"We have made a number of efforts on our own and requested the government to help us get the encroached land back," said Achchutananda Pokharel, Chief of branch office of Guthi Sansthan at Tripureswore, adding, "But our requests have had no impact."
For instance, on January 1, 1982, Guthi Sansthan provided 10 ropani land to Nepal Eye Hospital at Tripureswore in Kathmandu. The agreement stated that the hospital would provide Rs. 2,500 as monthly compensation. But the hospital hasn't yet paid a single paisa to the Sansthan.
In another instance of the Sansthan getting shortchanged, locals of Tripureswore, about a decade later, submitted a proposal to the Sansthan stating they would build a garden in the area and preserve temples around it. The Sansthan accepted the proposal. But the locals constructed a building, which has now become a youth club.
According to Guthi Sansthan statistics, it owns some 1.6 million ropani land in 68 districts. In the three districts of the Valley alone, it owns 80,000 ropani land.
"Our records show that land worth billions of rupees, which the Sansthan owns have been encroached by various institutions and individuals in Kathmandu valley alone," said Saroj Thapaliya, a focal person at Guthi Sansthan.
He charges that institutions and individuals who have encroached the Sansthan's land are playing the game of politics. "Even those who sign an agreement never stand by it," he said.
Thapaliya says the Guthi Sansthan Act of 1964 clearly states that land-tillers' ownership is automatically nullified if anyone does not fulfill the agreement signed with the Sansthan within a year.
However, the organizations, which took the Guthi's land in the past, are now claiming their tillers' right to it.
"Since we have been using the land for over 40-years, we are not in a position to give it back to the Sansthan now," said a senior official at Nepal Eye Hospital, which has taken some 10 ropani land of the Sansthan. He said the government should transfer the land to the hospital honouring tillers' right.
"According per our record, the Guthi is supposed to earn more than 250 million rupees annually as compensation from land provided to various institutions and individuals," said Thapaliya, adding, "But we have to struggle hard to collect even Rs. 80 million."
He said the government used to provide 4 million rupees annually to the Sansthan as administration costs. But this has stopped from 1993. "The major chunk of our earnings these days goes for meeting administrative costs. Therefore, it's difficult for us to carry out renovation work on dilapidated cultural sites," he said.
The history of Guthi dates back to earlier than the Lichhavi Dynasty that ruled more than a thousand years ago in Nepal. The government established Guthi Sansthan in 1964 as a non-profit public corporation to take care of the land which belongs to temples and other cultural heritages. The Guthi used to organise social festivities as part of its programme to preserve ancient rituals, besides carrying out renovation work of temples and heritage sites.
Now, officials at the Sansthan say they can help preserve invaluable cultural sites only if it gets the 'encroached' land back and its compensations regularly.
Posted on: 2008-10-19 21:35:18 (Server Time)
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