Most directors, including NAC Director General Amritman Shrestha, have said that they have not received any formal information from the government. Rai, who is outside Nepal, expressed surprise that his name and photo have not yet been removed from the NAC website.
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Confusion has arisen within the corporation as the resignation of Bikram Rai, who was appointed as the chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation for a 'short term' by the Gen-G government, has not been accepted for even a month.
Rai had submitted his resignation to Tourism Minister Anil Kumar Sinha on 13 Poush 2082 and made the announcement of 'leaving the corporation' public on social media Facebook. The most confusion has been seen in Nepal Airlines Corporation regarding whether Rai is the chairman of the corporation or not. Most directors, including Director General of the corporation, Amritman Shrestha, have said that they have not received official information from the government. Rai, who is outside Nepal, expressed surprise that his name and photo have not yet been removed from the corporation's
website. When contacted at the Prime Minister's Office on this matter, the answer was 'unavailable'. Rai was appointed as the chairman of the board of directors of Nepal Airlines Corporation on 27 Kartik 2082. The then Prime Minister Sushila Karki had appointed him as the chairman. Earlier, he was only a member of the corporation's board of directors. The then Tourism Minister Sudan Kirati had appointed Rai as a board member for three years. Earlier, the then Tourism Minister Prem Ale had appointed Vikram BC, nephew of CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Prakash Jwala, as a board member of the corporation for four years. But after BC left the post within a year, Rai, who was running a college in Manbhavan Lalitpur during Kirati's tenure, was appointed as a board member of the board for three years.
Rai said that he had submitted his resignation to Anil Kumar Sinha, who is also the Tourism Minister, a month ago (on 13th of May). But he has expressed dissatisfaction that his resignation has not been accepted yet.
'I have submitted my resignation to Anil Sinha and left. Even though my tenure is till Chaitra, I will not return to the corporation now,' Rai told Kantipur on Tuesday evening, 'It has been a month since I submitted my resignation, but it is not pleasant to hear that it has not been accepted yet.'
When we tried to get information from Tourism Minister Anil Kumar Sinha about whether Rai's resignation has been accepted or not, there was no response. Earlier, Minister of Communications Jagdish Kharel, who was also the government spokesperson, had refused to provide information on this matter even when the cabinet decision was made public. Earlier, Rai had mentioned in a statement made public on Facebook that the Prime Minister had entrusted him with the responsibility of the chairman for a month on Kartik 12.
He had said that the responsibility of the chairman continued as the issues related to the corporation's engine with the Israeli company had not been resolved even after the end of that term. According to him, after day and night efforts, an MOU (memorandum of understanding) was signed with the Israeli company and the work directed by the Prime Minister was completed. After that work was completed, he wrote that he submitted his resignation through the Ministry of Tourism with the consent and approval of the Prime Minister 'due to health problems'.
An advisor to the Prime Minister responded that he had no information on this matter. The engine of the corporation's narrowbody has been repaired in Israel for about 3 billion.
While the Commission on Abuse of Authority is investigating this matter, officials there said that the lack of clarity on the issue of accepting the resignation of the corporation's chairman has increased confusion in the corporation's leadership and daily decision-making process. The corporation, which operates two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft, has six board members including the chairman.
The corporation's board is currently acting. Since there is no general manager, board member Amritman Shrestha has been appointed as the general manager until further notice.
