BY KIRAN CHAPAGAIN
KATHMANDU,, Aug 22 -
Government
officials who were on the lookout for a temporary residence for Vice
President Paramananda Jha, have given up the search after none of the
house owners they approached were ready to rent their house for Jha's
residence. Officials
said some house owners feared their property might be attacked if they
rented their house to Jha, who kicked up a controversy by taking oath
of office in Hindi language. Jha faced weeklong street protests across
the country for his use of Hindi language.
Similarly,
some others were unwilling as they "did not want their house to be
used" by a Hindi-speaking Vice President, government officials told the
Post on condition of anonymity.
Sources
further revealed to the Post that government officials had found a
house at Bishalnagar, Kathmandu and the house owner had initially
agreed to rent the house. However, he changed his mind after as he came
to know that the house was meant for the controversial judge-turned
vice president.
"In
this particular case, officials had even measured the rooms for
carpeting and furnishing, but the owner decided not to rent out his
house in the end" the official said.
As
it will take some months to prepare the official residences of the
President and Vice President, the cabinet, in the last week of July,
had decided to arrange temporary residences for them. Officials have
already found a residence for the President at Dhapasi and he has been
using the house since July 31.
Sources
at the Office of the Prime Minister said officials searching for a
house for the Vice President, have already informed the cabinet about
their inability to find a house. "Now a proposal has been sent to the
cabinet seeking approval to turn Jha's private house at Gaurighat into
a residence for the Vice President till the official residence at
Lainchaur is prepared," the sources said.
Officials
said they are soon going to start renovating the official residence of
chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority
(CIAA) at Lainchaur as the Vice-President's official residence. The
two-storied building has five bedrooms and a meeting room.
Rs 70,000 salary for prez
The
government has finalized the salary of President Dr Ram Baran Yadav
and Vice President Paramananda Jha. According to the decision, Yadav
gets Rs 70,000 per month while Jha is entitled to Rs 50,000. Similarly,
the
government has also decided to give two vehicles and 310 liters of fuel per month each to the President and Vice President.
