Even the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has not been completed for 7 and a half years since the decision to establish the Ram Raja Prasad Singh Institute of Health Sciences in Rajbiraj, Saptari. The Council of Ministers meeting on 16 Paush 2075 had decided to establish the institute here.

Due to a land ownership dispute, on 22 Ashad 078, two and a half years after the decision, the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli laid the foundation stone for the building of the institute through 'virtual' means. Before that, on 12 Ashad 076, the office of the Infrastructure Preparation Development Committee was established to build the structure of the institute. Even after two people changed as the chairman of the committee and a third person came, the work up to the DPR has not been completed.

The then chairman of the committee, Dr. Rohit Pokharel, had signed an agreement with Digicon Engineering Consult Pvt. Ltd. on 20 Ashad 079 for the DPR. Later, he resigned from the post of chairman on 23 Ashad 079 after contesting the elections. Professor Dr. Parashuram Mishra was appointed to the post of chairman, which had been vacant for 16 months after Pokharel resigned, contrary to the formation order (2080) of the committee.

The age limit of 65 years was fixed in the formation order, but 67-year-old Dr. Mishra was appointed. After Mishra resigned due to the appointment dispute, Professor Dr. Pashupati Chaudhary was appointed as the chairman on 22 Chaitra 2080. However, no further work of the foundation has progressed since Dr. Chaudhary was appointed. The DPR work should have been completed within 36 months of the agreement. However, the Pvt. Ltd., which did not receive payment on time, did not complete and submit the DPR work. Later, as the deadline that expired on 14th Shrawan was not extended as per the formation order, the DPR has been stuck for 1 year and further work of the foundation has not been able to progress.

Chairman Dr. Chaudhary does not come to the committee office often. Dr. Chaudhary is an orthopedic and neurologist. He comes to the office only on Mondays and Thursdays, and even then he spends that time examining patients coming to Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital. While the hospital already has 3 doctors working as orthopedic and neurologists, namely Dr. Gyanendra Kumar Jha, Dr. Rupesh Kumar Yadav and one other. The board hanging in the committee's office located within the hospital itself has been removed while Dr. Chaudhary is busy examining patients, which has led to the work of the institution being stalled. 'It has not been long since I have been here. According to the information I have received, he (Dr. Chaudhary) has received additional responsibility from the ministry and examines the patients of the hospital,' said Dr. Birendra Kumar Mandal, the medical superintendent of the hospital, who is also the executive director of the committee.

However, the hospital administration does not have any document stating that Dr. Chaudhary has received additional responsibility from the ministry regarding the issue of seeing the patients of the hospital. Even after more than 2 years since Dr. Chaudhary was appointed as the chairman, the four-wheeler (car) purchased by the committee has not been brought in the name of the committee or the institution. He still drives the committee's car, Province 2-01-001 Cha 0644, with a private number plate.

Apart from Accounts Officer Tek Narayan Yadav, who has been given additional responsibility by the Treasury and Accounts Controller's Office, there are 4 employees working on contract there, including computer operator Neetukumari Das, a driver, an office assistant and a cook. Although they have been coming to the office, none of them have had their contract extended. They have not even received their salaries for more than 1 year. ‘I am just doing my job now,’ said computer operator Das, ‘We are coming to the office regularly, but we have not received our salary and allowances for a year.’

The target of completing the work of the institution, which will be built on 62 bighas of land in Biraul, Rajbiraj Municipality-10, at an estimated cost of Rs 11.98 billion, within 5 years. However, even in the 5 years since the foundation stone was laid, no work has been done except partially enclosing the land with wire mesh and conducting an environmental impact assessment. The land has now become a grazing ground for cattle.

When we tried to understand the matter, Chairman Dr. Chaudhary, who was busy examining patients on Thursday, refused to talk to us. Ram Udgar Yadav, a representative of Digicon Engineering Consult Pvt. Ltd., also complained that no one paid attention to him even when he ran from the committee office to the ministry for payment last year. ‘We have a contract worth Rs 50 million for two phases of work (design and supervision). But so far, we have received only Rs 3 million payment,’ he said. ‘While we are running around for the remaining amount, the deadline has now expired as per the formation order.’ Dr. Mandal, the executive director of the committee, said that due to lack of budget this year, the DPR could not be paid.

Although Rs 40 million was allocated for the infrastructure construction of the institute in the fiscal year 076/077 and Rs 110 million in 077/078, the amount was frozen after it took time to resolve the land dispute. After the foundation stone was laid for the institute, a total budget of Rs 97.5 million was received in the fiscal year 078/79. Out of which, only Rs 19.4 million was spent, while Rs 82.5 million was returned. Out of the expenditure, Rs 72.3 million was paid for the wire mesh fence of the land at the construction site of the institute.