Even though the 35-day deadline given to return the encroached land of Tribhuvan University (TU) has expired, no body has returned the land. TU had issued a notice on April 4 to 17 bodies involved in land encroachment to return the land within 35 days.

However, Raj Bahadur Rai, head of the TU General Administration Division, informed that no body has returned the land. “We wrote letters to 17 bodies. Out of them, 9 bodies have replied,” he said, “3 of them have informed that they have initiated the process to vacate the land. The Nepal Professors’ Association and TU Professors’ and Employees’ Association have issued notices to return the leased land, the division informed.

The land given to the professors’ and employees’ organizations by the TU Executive Council was leased to operate a petrol pump, hotel, and nursery. After the university asked them to return the land, those organizations wrote to return the leased land. “They had given a 35-day notice to return the land. The division has received information about it,' Rai said.

TU's letter to Lab School and other institutions to return encroached land

Acting Vice-Chancellor Sushil Bahadur Bajracharya said that the process of returning encroached land is in progress. 'We are studying the data on land taken by the government and private sectors. There has been talk of returning the land taken by the professors and employees' organizations,' he said, 'We have given priority to returning all the encroached land.'

The report mentions that the TU Professors' Association has rented 8 ropanis, the Nepal Professors' Association has rented 6 ropanis and 12 aanas, and the Employees' Association has rented 5 ropanis of land. Employees' Association President Chhatra Karki said that a letter has been sent to the General Administration Division with information about returning the land. "We have also informed the lessee to vacate the land rented by the professors and employees' association," he said. "The university will probably take up the remaining process." According to the division, BP Koirala Memorial Pantheon, Laboratory School, Ayurveda Research Center, Radhaswamy Satsang Vyas Nepal, Global IME Bank and Netrajyoti Sangh have written to Tribhuvan University stating that they cannot return the land. The division stated that the Laboratory School, which has been using 108 ropanis of Tribhuvan University's land for free, has sent a letter to Tribhuvan University stating that it is ready to take the land on rent. The letter also states that it is ready to operate the school under the management of Tribhuvan University since 2,300 students and 200 teachers and employees are in the school. 

Similarly, the division stated that BP Koirala Memorial Pantheon has sent a letter to Tribhuvan University stating that it is impossible to vacate the land. Radhaswamy Satsang, on the other hand, has requested the university to provide free land. The division has stated that other organizations have not been contacted.

TU's 35-day notice to return encroached land

TU had written to Nepal Cricket Association, Agriculture and Horticulture Center, Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited, Nepal Bank Limited, Blood Transfusion Center, Kirtipur Municipality, Nepal Electricity Authority and Kabindra JV to return encroached land. Nepal Cricket Association had built the TU cricket ground with the help of the government by renting TU land. Although the agreement expired in mid-April, Minister for Education and Sports Sasmit Pokharel has signed a new agreement. TU professors and students have suggested that the playground and the university should enter into an agreement so that there is no pollution to each other. Professors and students have been complaining that the academic environment of the university is affected when games are held on the ground. In the public notice published on April 4, it was asked to immediately vacate and return the buildings, land and immovable property. It is stated that if the encroached land and buildings are not returned within the specified time, they will be vacated with the necessary support of the government. The 35-day deadline to return the land expired on Friday.

The report of the TU Land and Immovable Property Investigation Committee in 2081 has pointed out that 21 organizations have been encroaching on about 1,000 ropanis of land in the university's central office premises in Kirtipur alone. The report recommends that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, the Central Investigation Bureau of the Police (CIB), and the District Administration Office take back the land and take action against those involved in the encroachment.