The old Parliament Building (International Conference Center) in New Baneshwor was completely damaged during the protest on Bhadra 24. No work has been done on the building since then.

Broken glass is strewn all over the building premises. The burnt structures have not been removed. Employees are afraid to enter the damaged building premises. The reason is that it is not known when the structures that have become dilapidated/dangerous due to arson and vandalism will collapse and cause an accident.

Burnt vehicles have been piled up in the premises of various ministries and the Road Department in the building premises. Seeing burnt four and two-wheeled vehicles lying around makes the building premises look dilapidated to anyone.

Even after 6 months of the damage to the building, neither has it been cleaned nor has it been decided to start its reconstruction. After the 2064 Constituent Assembly elections, the Federal Parliament Secretariat rented it and started holding parliament meetings on 14 Jestha 2065. The elected MPs were sworn in on 14 Jestha and the republic was declared with the first parliament meeting on 15 Jestha. Since then, the House of Representatives and the National Assembly have been holding meetings in the building.

Since there is no possibility of repairing and putting it into operation immediately, preparations are underway to hold meetings in the new parliament building under construction in Singha Durbar. The Federal Parliament Secretariat has not renewed the rental agreement after the International Conference Center building was vandalized and set on fire. The building has been maintained and operated by the Special Structure Operation and Management Development Committee under the Ministry of Urban Development. The office of the committee is being run from a small building on the side of the old, damaged building.

Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Federal Parliament Secretariat Ekram Giri said that since the International Conference Center was the only option for holding parliament meetings at that time, meetings were held there for a long time. ‘From a security perspective, the compound was large, it was easy to manage security,’ he said, ‘comparatively, the technology aspect was good, later the secretariat added facilities such as internet.’

He said that the parking was good and the flower garden added more attraction. ‘From an international perspective, the Parliament building was good, it was close to Tribhuvan International Airport,’ he said, ‘It was in a place that could be reached from all directions, the Parliament, the employees could come directly to the Parliament building.’ He said that now, as many buildings have been built in Sindarbar, there is less open space.

But that was not the problem at the International Conference Center. He said that there was no hall in the Parliament building under construction in Singha Durbar to hold joint meetings. ‘There was an international conference center where meetings could be held with good management, but you can’t find a hall like that anywhere in Kathmandu if you have to rent it,’ he said, ‘Now, the parliament meeting will be held in the hall inside Singha Durbar, and that’s where we will go.’ The next parliament meeting will be held in the hall inside Sindarbar.

For that, the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction is working to make the multipurpose hall available for holding parliament meetings for the time being. ‘We can never forget this old parliament building, we will always remember it, the constitution was promulgated from there, the republic was declared, and the peace agreement was ratified,’ he said, ‘There are reasons why the parliamentarians and employees will always remember the said parliament building, many historic works and decisions were made in it.’

He said that the contract was canceled with effect from 24 Bhadra after the 24 Bhadra demonstration, when the roof of the building collapsed and it was not possible to clean and re-roof the building and hold the parliament meeting.

The Parliament Secretariat had been renewing the agreement every fiscal year. Initially, the Secretariat paid Rs 70 million annually as per the agreement. Recently, the annual rent had reached Rs 170 million. There will be no rent to hold meetings from the new building.

‘The rent has been increasing every year,’ he said, ‘and the Law Commission and the Investment Board also contributed some of it.’ The rent is deposited in the fund of the Special Infrastructure Operation and Management Development Committee under the Ministry of Urban Development.

Dipendra Bikram Singh, Senior Program Coordinator of the Special Infrastructure Operation and Management Development Committee, said that its construction was taken forward on the initiative of the then King Birendra and Chinese Ambassador Li Dibiao. Construction began in 2045 and was handed over to the Government of Nepal by China in 2050. He said that it was built with a grant from the Chinese government. ‘At that time, it was built for 1.15 billion rupees, all the construction was done by China and handed over,’ he said, ‘It was built with the aim of holding large gatherings, conferences, seminars, exhibitions and other programs.’

At that time, King Birendra had requested the government there to build a large building. Due to the lack of such a building, it would not have been possible to hold the SAARC conference in Nepal. ‘The building was built on the initiative of the then King Birendra after requesting the Chinese government,’ he said, ‘After that, the SAARC summit was held here.’ He said that at that time, all kinds of chairs were bought and kept for the SAARC heads of state and ministers to sit in. ‘A very special, exclusive room was built and chairs and carpets were placed accordingly, where there were 8 halls, small and large,’ he said, ‘The largest was the Sagarmatha Hall, which had a capacity of 526 people, and later it was increased to 601 MPs by adding chairs.’ The balcony above where the House of Representatives meeting was held has a capacity of 478 people.

The National Assembly hall has a capacity of 250 people. It was named Nupse Hall. Similarly, although Lhotse was a multi-purpose hall, there were no fixed seats assigned there. ‘It could be made suitable for seating according to the need, it had an open space, later after the Federal Parliament Secretariat rented it, it started using it for meetings of various political parties and committees,’ he said, ‘There were also other small halls, where the Speaker, Prime Minister, Deputy Speaker, and the leader of the opposition party were accommodated in five rooms.’ There were also Gauri and Shankar Halls with a capacity of one hundred people.

Shankar was the hall where the Speaker and the chief whips of various parties met and discussed before the Business Advisory Committee and the meeting began. Gauri Hall housed the Business Affairs Branch of the National Assembly. ‘The opposition party leader, deputy speaker and the vice-chairman of the National Assembly were accommodated in Gandaki Hall,’ he said. ‘There was an exhibition hall on the top floor of the building. Earlier, various organizations rented it for exhibition purposes. After the Parliament Secretariat took it over, the hall was used as a place for the security guards to change their clothes during the MP meeting.’

Its total area is 153 ropanis. The offices of the Investment Board and the National Bank of Nepal are located within this building. Initially, it was named Birendra International Conference Center, but later it was converted into an International Conference Center.

After the Gen-G movement, there was no need for the building and the government announced the date for the election, and no work was started immediately, said Narayan Prasad Mainali, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Urban Development. ‘There was also a dilemma about how to work, whether to do it with its own funds or by asking the government,’ he said, ‘The damage assessment work is currently being done by the Urban Development and Building Construction Department, but the exact details of the damage have not yet been received.’

He said that a further decision will be made on this after the details of the damage are confirmed. It has been 3 months since the details were collected. The ministry said that it will take some time to complete it. ‘Many structures inside the building are still in need of work, the middle roof has collapsed, nothing has happened to the walls surrounding the building,’ he said, ‘It seems that the roof will be built now, after the details of the damage are received, how much budget will be required, the reconstruction work will proceed.’ He said that no decision has been made on whether to make it the same as before or what to do. ‘The new government will probably take some decision on this,’ he said, ‘Currently, the vehicles damaged in the arson have been taken to the building premises. Its management has not been done.'

The concerned ministry has been given the responsibility of initiating the process of deducting the amount of the damaged vehicles and then auctioning them in the city after the decision on this process is made. 'Only a few ministries have initiated the auction process, it is in the process of coming from other ministries,' he said.

Urban Development Minister Kumar Ingnam said that the reconstruction of the damaged old parliament building is not a priority for the government at the moment. 'The burnt building has not been given priority immediately because it will incur a huge financial cost and a new parliament building is being constructed,' he said. 'It does not seem like it will be able to function again with only minor repairs.' He said that since there is no immediate need, the technical evaluation of the building and assessment of the damage are still in the process.