‘It is wrong to dismiss tourism board’

BIRATNAGAR: DEC. 26 – Following the court order, the Tourism Board of State 1 has started work. The board, which was dismissed from the state government’s cabinet meeting on Nov. 25, was reinstated after the court granted an interim order.

Following the order to allow the board to work in the old condition, a news conference was conducted at the office. The board was formed on October 10 by the government led by Bhim Acharya.

On November 25, less than two months after its formation, board members Devi Gautam and Umesh Ghimire filed a writ petition in the Biratnagar High Court. The state tourism board notified about the board by holding a press conference after the high court asked it to work in the status quo on Dec. 23.

The board’s vice-chairperson, Phadendra Adhikari, stated that the board was dismissed without starting work but was reinstated as per the court order. Bhabish Shrestha, a tourism entrepreneur, believes the government made a mistake by rejecting the management after the formation of the state tourism board.

He said that there was ample room for the state government to move ahead with the full order even though the court order had raised some hopes in the situation where it had disappointed the tourism entrepreneurs who had worked so hard to set up the office. After the formation, there is a lot of work to be done, Shrestha said.

Although the board has been formed, no executive officer has been appointed yet. He said that even though a budget of Rs 2.5 million was given for the operation of the office, it could not be spent. Devi Gautam, a member of the board, said that the members could be dismissed if they did not understand the situation.