Collection of royalty by NMA invites controversy

KEDAR DAHAL

KATHMANDU, July 22

Collection of royalty from 33 mountain peaks by the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) in the past four decades has been dragged into controversy.

A writ petition has been filed at the Supreme Court demanding that the rights to collect royalty granted to the NMA be revoked. Sources claim that Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa also feels that the government should give permission for ascent of these peaks. Advocate Dipak Bikram Mishra had moved the Supreme Court on July 5 making the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), Tourism Ministry and bodies under it as defendants.

The NMA had been authorized to collect royalty for 18 peaks following a cabinet decision on January 18, 1978 and for another 15 on September 16, 2002. The petitioner argues that it is illegal to continue to authorize the NMA for that even after the Interim Constitution was brought in 2006. Director General at the Department of Tourism Tulsi Prasad Gautam said the controversy was triggered after a member of the International Relations and Labor Committee of the parliament stated that the NMA cannot collect government revenue. He revealed that there has been no decision about whether the NMA should continue to collect royalty or the government should do that even as the committee asked for more time stating that decision should be taken after discussions.

Voices against collection of royalty by the NMA—for promotion of the mountainous region, training and development of mountain tourism—have been raised citing Article 107 of the Interim Constitution. Arguments have earlier been made in the committee stating that a non-governmental organization cannot collect government revenue.

President of NMA Ang Tsering Sherpa claimed that every activity of NMA is done under the Tourism Ministry. “The NMA has been using the rights given by the government four decades ago and 13 years ago,” he argued. He claimed that the fee charged by NMA for ascent of these peaks is not royalty or revenue and rather service charge collected with the permission of government for promotion and development of mountain tourism. He added that the amount so collected has been spent only on programs approved by the ministry and under vigilance of government bodies. The NMA collects around Rs 50 million from the 33 peaks every year, according to him.

General Secretary of the NMA Thakur Raj Pandey claimed that the NMA should not pay revenue to the government for service fee collected for ascent of these 22 peaks all of which are lower than 6,500 meters in altitude and can be climbed from the base camp and returned back in a single day. The NMA, according to him, is being operated with the service fee the government authorized it to collect. The NMA argues that the rights is similar to that given to the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) to collect service charge, and other fees collected by National Nature Conservation Trust, Foreign Employment Association, and bodies under district development committees.

Six peaks taken back from NMA

Six peaks under the NMA had been taken back last year after the government provided free permission for trekking route to peaks up to 5,800 meters high. The NMA has been collecting royalty only for 27 peaks after that.