King Gyanendra possess 34,000 Ropanis of land

Kathmandu, Aug 5: Nepal King Gyanendra and the royal family members own over 34,000 ropanis of land as immovable property across the country, according to a report presented to the Parliament.

Land Revenue offices found over 30,000 Ropanis of land in the name of King Gyanendra across the country, Ministry of Land Reform and Management said in a report presented to the Natural Resources committee of the parliament.

Other members of the royal family have an additional 4,000 ropanis, according to a preliminary report presented to a parliamentary committee by the Minister for Land Reform and Management, Prabhu Narayan Chaudhary.

King Gyanendra possesses eight big chunks of land in different parts of the country and Queen Komal has 71 Ropanis in Bhaktapur and about 51.7 Ropanis in Kathmandu.

King Gyanendra owns Nagarjun jungle (15,101 ropanis), Gorkha Durbar (452 ropanis), 143 ropanis in Bhaktapur, Chabhil Nikunja (338 ropanis), the Narayanihiti Royal Palace (8,940 ropanis) and a house built on a 23,000 sq m area.

Besides, the King has 5,009 ropanis of land in Kathmandu, 34 ropanis at Latikoili in Surkhet district and a bangalo built on about 2 bighas of land.

Other plots of land belong to the family members of the King, the report said.

''Many records of lands registered in the name of the King and the palace are messy as no one could inquire about royal property in the past,'' The Kathmandu Post quoted Mr Chaudhary as saying.

It is said that committee was not satisfied with the report furnished by the ministry saying the property details of the King is incomplete.

The committee has directed the Government to furnish complete details of the King's property at its next meeting on August 14.

''The committee has directed the Government to furnish details on tea gardens owned by the king and the queen and other lands jointly owned by them,'' said Chairman of the Committee Prakash Jwala.

The committee has also sought the facts on reports about the selling of Narayanhiti Royal Palace, the media said quoting the committee member as saying.

According to the reports, the Government has paid the royal family a huge sum for the palace, and provided it to the King as his official residence.

King Gyanendra is the richest man of the Himalayan nation.

The King and the royal family members were exempted from tax and had great monopoly in business before the restoration of democracy through popular movement in April this year.

After the parliament proclamation in May, the King and the royal family members have to pay tax in their personal property.

UNI

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