It has been six months since the old Parliament Building (International Conference Center) in New Baneshwor was completely damaged due to vandalism and arson during the protest on 24 Bhadra. However, no concrete decision has been taken regarding its maintenance and reconstruction. It has been left abandoned. 

The Federal Parliament Secretariat has not renewed the rental agreement after the building was vandalized and arson. The building is being maintained and operated by the Special Structure Operation and Management Development Committee under the Ministry of Urban Development. Broken glass is everywhere in the building premises. The burnt structures have not been removed. Employees are afraid to enter the damaged building premises. The reason is, 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 brought to the premises of various ministries and the Road Department and piled up in the building premises. Seeing burnt four- and two-wheeled vehicles kept around, the building premises looks dilapidated to anyone. During this period, neither cleaning has been done, nor has it been confirmed that reconstruction will begin.  

This building is also a witness to many historical moments. On 5 Mangsir 2063, a comprehensive peace agreement was signed between the government and the then Maoists in the Lhotse Hall of this building. After the 2064 Constituent Assembly elections, the Federal Parliament Secretariat rented it and started holding parliament meetings on 14 Jestha 2065. On 14 Jestha of the same year, the elected members of parliament were sworn in and on 15 Jestha, the republic was declared. Since then, the House of Representatives and the National Assembly have been meeting in this building.

‘We can never forget this old parliament building, we will always remember it, the constitution was promulgated from there, the republic was declared, the peace agreement was ratified,’ said Ekram Giri, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, ‘There are reasons why the parliamentarians and employees will always remember the said parliament building, many historic works and decisions have been made from it.’

The Federal Parliament Secretariat has not renewed the rental agreement after the 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 committee is working from a small building next door. 

Since the International Conference Center was the only option for holding parliament meetings at that time, the meetings were held there for a long time, Spokesperson Giri said. ‘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 including internet.’

He said that there was no hall in the under-construction parliament building at Singha Durbar to hold the joint meeting. ‘There was an international conference center where meetings could be held with good management, a hall like that cannot be rented anywhere in Kathmandu,’ Giri said, ‘Now, if we want to hold the parliament meeting in the hall inside Singha Durbar, we will go there.’

After the Gen-G movement, there was no parliament and the government announced the date for the election, so no work was started immediately because it was felt that there was little need for the building.  He said that the contract was canceled with effect from that day after the protest on 24 Bhadra when the roof of the building collapsed and it was not possible to hold the parliament meeting after cleaning and installing a roof. 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 has reached Rs 170 million. There will be no rent to hold the meeting from the new building. ‘The rent was 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 at the initiative of the then King Birendra and Chinese Ambassador Li Dibiao. Construction began in 2045 and China handed it over to the Government of Nepal in 2050. ‘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 meetings, conferences, seminars, exhibitions and other programs.’

He further 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 Nuptse Hall. The total area of ​​the parliament building is 153 ropanis. The offices of the Investment Board and the National Commercial Bank are located within this building. 

Narayan Prasad Mainali, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Urban Development, said that due to the lack of a parliament after the Gen-G movement and the announcement of the date for the election, no work was started immediately as the need for the building was felt to be low. "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 is currently being done by the Urban Development and Building Construction Department, but the exact details of the damage have not yet been received."