Pashupati trust blasts priests Himalayan News Service, Kathmandu, December 24, Millions of rupees are collected at the Pashupati Nath temple through offerings made by devotees every year. But not even a single penny is spent for the maintainance and development of the Pashupati area. The temple's income solely belongs to the priests and caretaker (Bhatta and Bhandare) even though Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has been demanding at least "25 per cent" of the total income for Pashupati area development. "Earlier we had asked for 40 per cent of total income for our development projects but the amount was reduced to 25 per cent after Bhatta and Bhandare disagreed," said Basanta Kumar Chaudhary, member secretary of the trust. Instead of accepting the trust's proposal, the priests and caretakers filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court staking cent per cent claim to the income. It is not that there is no law to regulate the temple's income. The Regulation on Trusts has provision that says the temple's income should be deposited in the trust's account. But the same has never been implemented. "The Bhatta and Bhandare are not cooperating at all," charged the officials of the trust at a press meet today. Chaudhary said that nothing can be done until the priests and caretaker of the temple do not take our proposal positively. A devotee can offer Rs 500 to Rs 1.1 million for 'special puja'. However, no rule binds the priests while spending the amount. "A devotee can directly contact a priest, leaving no way for cross-checking by the trust," he added. Moreover, the priests hardly disclose the yearly income. The priests had donated Rs 384,000 to the trust for development purposes last year. "We don't know what per cent of the income was given," said Chaudhary. The priests should have taken heed to our request since Pashupati Nath is worshipped by a billion Hindus the world over, he added. The trust is working according to a ten-year-master-plan which the government had approved in 1999. According to this, haphazard public buildings in the Pashupati area have been dismantled and the owners compensated. "We have also planned to construct a road linking Ring Road and the South Gate of the temple", the officials said. Ref: http://nepalresearch.org/ht_excerpts/2002_12/kp_2002_1225.htm Note: Corruption in Temples, Hospitals, Social Organizations and Schools are beyond fix. It indicates that Nepal has unlimited or too much corruption where law and order, good cultures, ethics, reponsibility, patriotism are dead in nepali ruling race of Nepal.