Save Lumbini Struggle Committee asks for utilizing income earned in Lumbini area for local development

BHAIRAHAWA, Feb 15:Lumbini Cultural Municipality has been urged to provide half of its income from offerings to the Mayadevi Temple in Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace.

The Save Lumbini Struggle Committee has said unequivocally that the local people have made invaluable contributions to the conservation and development of the Lumbini master plan. The committee stated that the proceeds from the Mayadevi Temple and other locations are not used for local development.

The Struggle Committee recently filed a 19-point memorandum to the Lumbini Development Trust, requesting that the constitution be amended so that the vice president, treasurer, member secretary, and two members of the development fund management committee are all local. Similarly, the memorandum states that the head of the Lumbini Cultural Municipality, the Federal MP for the Lumbini region, and members of the State Assembly should be ex-officio by law.

The Struggle Committee has asked that the form and structure of the Mayadevi Temple remain unchanged, and that any unlawful structures that violate the master plan be removed immediately. Similarly, the committee has requested that the Trust maintain the daily worship, sandhya aarti, and lamp lighting program inside the Mayadevi temple, as well as promptly set up a system in which there is no charge for temple darshan observation.

The Struggle Committee has required that the international conference hall be operational as soon as feasible, as well as the establishment of a school, a well-equipped hospital, and a garden on the trust's premises, as outlined in the trust's master plan.

The memorandum states that the Mayadevi Temple should be open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Since Pandit Ganga Prasad Pandey has been worshiping at the Mayadevi temple for decades, a spot should be reserved for his descendants. Locals should be given preference when hiring staff, and long-term employees should be made permanent.

Furthermore, the Struggle Committee has demanded managing identity cards for farmers whose land was acquired for the implementation of the LDT master plan, providing compensation for crop damage caused by wild boars, blue bulls, and other wild animals, immediately operating the electric buses and vans received from grant assistance from the Asian Development Bank targeting domestic and foreign visitors, conserving the Simal, Peepal, and Bar trees in the area.