More than seven and a half years after the government decided to establish the Ram Raja Prasad Singh Academy of Health Sciences in Rajbiraj, the project has yet to complete even its Detailed Project Report (DPR).

The Cabinet, on December 31, 2018, decided to establish the academy in Saptari. Owing to a dispute over land ownership, the foundation stone for the project was laid two-and-a-half years later, on July 6, 2021, by then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli through a virtual ceremony.

Before that, on June 27, 2019, the government had set up the Infrastructure Preparation Development Committee office to oversee the construction of the academy. Since then, three people have served as chair of the committee, but none has managed to complete even the DPR.

The committee's then chair, Dr Rohit Pokharel, signed an agreement with Digicon Engineering Consult Pvt Ltd on July 4, 2022, to prepare the DPR. Pokharel resigned on October 9, 2022, after deciding to contest parliamentary elections.

The chairperson's post remained vacant for 16 months. On February 8, 2024, Professor Dr Parshuram Mishra was appointed despite the appointment violating the committee's Formation Order, 2023, which sets the maximum age for the position at 65. Mishra, who was 67 at the time, later resigned after his appointment became controversial. Professor Dr Pashupati Chaudhary was appointed chair on April 4, 2024.

Despite serving for more than two years, Chaudhary has not moved the project forward.

Under the contract, the DPR was supposed to be completed within 36 months. However, Digicon Engineering Consult did not submit the report after failing to receive payments on time. The committee’s legal tenure expired on July 30, 2025, and has not been renewed, leaving the DPR stalled for nearly a year and preventing any further progress on the academy.

Committee officials said Chaudhary rarely visits the committee office. An orthopaedic and spine specialist, he generally comes only on Mondays and Thursdays, spending his time treating patients at Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital instead of working on the academy project.

The hospital already has three orthopaedic specialists, including Dr Gyanendra Kumar Jha and Dr Rupesh Kumar Yadav. Even the signboard outside the committee office, located inside the hospital premises, has been removed while the chair continues seeing patients.

“I have not been here for very long. As far as I know, Dr Chaudhary was assigned additional responsibilities by the ministry to examine patients at the hospital,” said Dr Birendra Kumar Mandal, the committee's executive director and medical superintendent of the hospital.

However, hospital officials said they have no document from the Ministry of Health and Population authorising Chaudhary to treat patients as an additional responsibility.

More than two years after his appointment, even the four-wheeled vehicle purchased by the committee has not been officially registered in the committee's or the academy's name. Chaudhary continues using the vehicle, bearing registration number Province 2-01-001 Cha 0644, with a private licence plate.

Apart from accounts officer Tek Narayan Yadav, who has been assigned by the Financial Comptroller General Office, the committee employs four contract staff: a computer operator, a driver, an office assistant and a cook.

Their contract terms expired more than a year ago and have not been renewed. None has received a salary or allowances for over a year.

“We are still reporting to work every day, but we have not been paid for more than a year,” said computer operator Neetu Kumari Das.

The academy is planned on 62 bighas (41 hectares) of land in Biroul, ward 10 of Rajbiraj Municipality, at an estimated cost of Rs11.98 billion. The project was supposed to be completed within five years.

However, five years after the foundation stone was laid, only a partial barbed-wire fence has been erected around the site and an Environmental Impact Assessment has been completed. No other physical work has begun, and the land has turned into a grazing ground for cattle.

Chaudhary, who was busy seeing patients on Thursday, declined to comment when approached about the delays.

Ramudgar Yadav, a representative of Digicon Engineering Consult, said the company had repeatedly approached both the committee and the ministry for payment last year but received no response.

“Our contract, worth nearly Rs47.5 million, covers two phases, design and supervision. So far, we have received only Rs3 million,” he said. “While we were running from one office to another seeking the remaining payment, the committee's legal tenure expired.”

Executive Director Mandal said the committee had been unable to pay for the DPR this fiscal year because no budget had been allocated.

The government allocated Rs400 million for infrastructure development in the 2019-20 fiscal year and another Rs110 million in 2020-21. Both allocations lapsed because resolving the land dispute took longer than expected.

After the foundation stone was laid, the project received Rs97.5 million in the 2021-22 fiscal year. Of that amount, only Rs19.49 million was spent, while Rs82.51 million was returned to the state treasury.

The largest expenditure, Rs7.2 million, was used to pay for fencing the project site. Another Rs709,000 was spent on the Environmental Impact Assessment, while Rs1.967 million went towards a risk assessment study.

In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the committee spent Rs5 million on salaries, allowances, daily travel expenses, fuel and office supplies.

The committee has refused to disclose the budgets allocated or expenditures made in subsequent fiscal years. According to employees, almost all spending since then has gone towards allowances, daily travel expenses, fuel and office supplies, with no meaningful progress on the academy itself.