KATHMANDU: Laxman Paudel (Andrew) has been elected President of the Educational Consultancy Association of Nepal (ECAN), while Bhawanath Humagain has been elected General Secretary. Paudel secured 341 votes to win the presidency in the election held on Monday at Alice Receptions in Kathmandu.
The election was held to choose new leadership for ECAN, the umbrella organization of education consultancy entrepreneurs providing guidance to students aspiring to study abroad. The presidential race was primarily between then First Vice President Laxman Paudel (Andrew) and General Secretary candidate Deepak Raj Bhushal.
For the post of General Secretary, two candidates were in the race. Bhawanath Humagain contested from the Bhushal panel, while Navaraj KC Khatri, Managing Director of GIEC, represented the Paudel panel. Humagain emerged victorious.
Similarly, Viklpa Raj Pokharel, Basudev Dahal, and Gita Sivakoti were elected as Vice Presidents. Suraj Silwal and Ashik Karki won the posts of Secretary from among four candidates. From the Paudel panel, Bhupal KC and LB Tamang had also contested for secretary.
Sadhana Pudasaini was elected Treasurer, defeating Uma Khadka from the Bhushal panel. For the post of Joint Treasurer, Govinda Khanal (Bhushal panel) and Bhim Bahadur Thapa (Paudel panel) were in the race. In the members’ category, Ashok Kumar Hathi, Anant Raj Ghimire, Bibek Basnet, Damodar Sharma Nyaupane, Sanjeev Pandey, Uddav Ban, Kamal Prasad Timilsina, Basanta Pandey, Dinesh Paudel, and Shiva Prasad Aryal were elected.
The election was conducted during ECAN’s 20th Annual General Meeting and Convention to fill 18 elected posts, for which 34 candidates contested. The election followed the completion of the two-year term of the executive committee led by outgoing President Shesh Raj Bhattarai. Two panels were formed to contest the election.
Paudel was the consensus presidential candidate representing entrepreneurs close to the Nepali Congress, while Bhushal was backed by entrepreneurs affiliated with the Nepal Communist Party. Although the Progressive Educational Consultancy Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal (PECAN), affiliated with the CPN-UML, did not field a presidential candidate, it supported candidates from the Bhushal panel for vice president, secretary, and three member positions.
ECAN has a 21-member executive committee, with a provision to nominate two additional members. Of more than 700 affiliated entrepreneurs, around 600 cast their votes in the election. ECAN currently has eight branches across the country.
