Kathmandu, Oct 30: The National Private and Boarding Schools’ Association Nepal (N-PABSON) has been suspended by the Ministry of Home Affairs following a prolonged dispute between two rival groups running parallel organisational activities.
The suspension came on Friday, a day before the special constitutional convention that the Geeta Rana-led faction had planned to hold in Chitwan on October 31 and November 1.
The ministry said it suspended the organisation for repeatedly failing to comply with directives issued under Section 5 of the National Directive Act, 2018. It said the decision followed unsuccessful attempts to bring the rival factions together for discussions and persuade them to implement the directives. The ministry announced that N-PABSON would remain suspended until further notice.
The Rana faction, though, said it would go ahead with its planned programme. Former president Pandav Hamal said the gathering was being organised in accordance with the ministry’s own directives and would proceed as scheduled. He described it as the association’s annual general meeting.
The dispute dates back to N-PABSON’s seventh general convention, held in Nepalgunj on February 22 and 23, 2022. Pandav Hamal was elected president and Subas Neupane senior vice-president.
The Neupane faction claims the two leaders had reached an informal understanding to serve as president for 18 months each. But Hamal refused to step down after completing his 18-month tenure.
The Neupane faction then announced a separate executive committee, claiming that Hamal had failed to hand over leadership. This resulted in two parallel committees operating under the same organisation.
Both sides acknowledge running parallel activities since the seventh convention, but each claims to be the legitimate leadership.
Hamal said Neupane had formed a separate committee while his own term was still running. Neupane, meanwhile, accused the rival faction of conducting parallel activities in violation of organisational rules.
The dispute deepened during the eighth general convention in February 2025, when the two factions held separate conventions. Geeta Rana was elected president by one faction, while Neupane was elected president by the other.
Despite the ministry’s suspension order, the Rana faction maintains that its Chitwan programme will proceed. Hamal said the ministry’s notice did not carry any signature and would not stop the gathering.
The Neupane faction, meanwhile, has described the planned convention as contrary to organisational rules
N-PABSON had 1,147 representatives until its seventh convention. Following the split, those representatives have been divided between the two rival factions.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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