Nonagenarian poet Madhav Prasad Ghimire, who has been ill for the past several months, has been admitted to the Grande International Hospital in Kathmandu, according to his family. Ghimire who has had issues with his kidneys and lungs in the past has been admitted into the “High Care” ward at the Tokha-based hospital.

According to the hospital administration, Ghimire, 99, is in stable condition, though he is taking time to recuperate from internal bleeding. While family sources have said that doctors involved in the poet’s treatment have advised him to be flown abroad for further treatment.

The news of Ghimire’s ill health comes at a time when preparations have been initiated to celebrate his birth centenary. Earlier this week, Marsyangdi Bangmaya Pratisthan, a Lamjung-based literary foundation, had unveiled its plans to felicitate Ghimire, who turns 100 on September 23.

Mukunda Pathik, the chairperson of the foundation, shared that the Pratisthan plans to publish a brief biography of the poet, while also hosting poetry competitions in schools across Lamjung, Ghimire’s home district.

In the plans unveiled by the Pratisthan, Ghimire is slated to be flown to his birth village Pustun for a cultural programme and felicitation. The organisation also aims to unveil life-size statues of the Rastrakavi in Besisahar, Lamjung and Kathmandu, alongside petitioning for a mountain in the district to be renamed after the poet.