Kathmandu, June 2

Culture experts, historians, locals and trustees of different public guthis (trusts) have called for withdrawal of the Guthi Bill registered in the National Assembly, stating the new legislative document will turn Guthis into playground of political leaders, bureaucrats and influential people to recruit the people they desire.

Public Guthis also called Raj Guthis have been organising festivals and overseeing religious works in their localities. They are currently managed by locals, who are appointed as trustees.

But if the proposed Guthi Bill, registered in  the Parliament two weeks ago, is signed into law the proposed Guthi Authority will remove all the locals appointed as trustees.

“This will enable bureaucrats and influential people to recruit people, who have very little knowledge of local culture and traditions, to operate the guthis. This will uproot our culture and tradition,” said Kedar Bhakta Mathema, an educationist and culture expert, who is also the chairperson of Guthi Pucha, a non-profit guthi that works on cultural preservation.

Mathema was speaking at a programme organised by Guthi Pucha. Trustees of other guthis who attended the programme also said the bill aims to curtail the rights of locals over guthis and bring in inexperienced people to run the organisations, which, eventually, will lead to erosion of cultural and traditional values.

There are 2,335 public guthis in Nepal under Guthi Sansthan, the umbrella body which currently oversees all the guthis. The trustees of these guthis are locals who have been managing the trusts for centuries. These trustees receive financial support from Guthi Sansthan to operate temples, Satals, Pati, Pauwas (rest houses) and stone spouts; make daily offerings at temples; organise religious jatras and perform pujas.

The Guthi Sansthan currently owns 1.45 million ropani land (737.673 million square metres) across the country. It generates revenue by leasing vacant land to individuals and businesspersons. Guthi Sanstha has also built business complexes on its own. It generates revenue of around Rs 500 to Rs 520 million per year from its properties.

“Many are eyeing the revenue and the land of the Guthi at the moment. Once the government removes local trustees, it might give them opportunities to misuse the assets,” said Deepak Gyawali, a social activist and former minister of water resources and irrigation, who is also a member of Guthi Pucha.

The bill has also proposed to bring all private guthi under the proposed Guthi Authority. There are an estimated 2,600 private guthis in the country. Once the bill is passed, the private guthis cannot use their trusts as per their own regulation, but will have to work as per the rules of the authority.

The new bill has also proposed to pave the way for transfer of ownership of land under Guthi Sansthan to private individuals. Currently, individuals are allowed to build houses on land owned by Guthi Sansthan by paying certain fees. But ownership of such land cannot be transferred to individuals.

Under the proposed law, ownership of land under Guthi Sansthan can be transferred to individuals by filing applications. Land ownership certificates will then be provided by the Land Revenue Office, the bill states. “This will limit the income of the Guthi and the total land area of the guthi will drastically fall,” said Govinda Tandon, former member secretary of Pashupati Area Development Trust.

Lawmakers of Nepali Congress have also expressed reservations on some of the provisions of the bill and have registered amendment proposal in the Parliament. But their amendment proposal does not capture the concerns expressed by trustees of guthis.

Nepali Congress lawmakers, in their amendment proposal, have said the bill has not proposed to build the Guthi Authority in all provinces as per the spirit of federalism.

Guthi culture is believed to have started from the Licchavi era in 4th to 5th century AD. The Guthi Sansthan was officially opened in 1964 to bring all the smaller and larger guthis under its jurisdiction.