Kathmandu, June 20

General Secretary of the Pashupati Area Development Trust Pradip Dhakal said in a meeting of the Parliamentary National Concern and Coordination Committee that Pashupatinath temple was yet to receive an ownership certificate.

Responding to Dhakal’s statement, NCCC Chairperson Dil Kumari Rawal said that preparation was under way to issue a certificate for the temple.

The PADT has been working on a master plan for the development of the temple area. The committee directed the PADT to obtain a certificate for the temple and implement its master plan. PADT members lamented that they didn’t get enough support from the government on administrative and security arrangements of the historic temple. Chairperson Rawal said NCCC had directed the home ministry to arrange security for the temple and that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation had been asked to help in administrative aspects of PADT. The panel also directed PADT to conduct an investigation into its property.