Ghale elected president of NRNA

KATHMANDU, OCT 21 -

Shesh Ghale from Australia has been elected the president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association ( NRNA ).

The sixth general assembly of the NRNA in the Capital elected Ghale as the new NRNA president..

Ghale had a tight competition with his rival Tenzi Sherpa from South Korea. Ghale garnered 510 votes while Sherpa bagged 280 votes.

Similarly, Bhawan Bhatta has been elected Vice-Chairman, Kumar Pant as General Secretary, Ranju Pant as secretary and Badri KC has been elected as the treasurer from Ghale's panel.

Bhatta garnered 348 votes, Pant 395 votes, Thapa 272 votes and KC garnered 472 votes.

Ghale is reported to have received the support of all three candidates--UK-based Hitman Gurung, Germany-based Ram Pratap Thapa and UAE-based Rameshwor-- who withdrew from the race for the top post.

This is the first time that the NRNA top post is being decided by the vote.

Meanwhile, Ganga Rai has been elected the coordinator for Asia, Rabindra Prasad Shrestha as the Vice-Coordinator, Arjun Shrestha as the coordinator for Europe, Chandra Roka as the coordinator for mid-east and Hikmat Thapa as the coordinator for Africa.

A total of 1,302 voters elected a 22-member new NRNA executive body for two years.

Established in October 2003, the umbrella organisation of Nepali diaspora only received its legal status in Nepal on Sunday after its registration in the Foreign Ministry.

The registration had been possible after the sixth NRNA general assembly on Saturday made amendment to its statue by re-defining the NRN in line with the government definition. As the NRNA ’s earlier statue had defined individuals spending 183 days abroad (except Saarc countries) as an NRN in contrast to the government’s definition.

According to the NRN Act 2008, any Nepali who spends more than two years in countries beyond Saarc region is an NRN.

Meanwhile, President Ram Baran Yadav is all set to inaugurate the NRN World Conference Monday morning.

Source: The Kathmandu Post