Himal Press 
POKHARA: Punya Prasad (Saroj) Sitoula has been elected president of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE).
Sitoula defeated his rival Harisharan KC by a wide margin in a voting held during the FNNTE’s 7th National Convention held in Pokhara on Wednesday. According to the election committee, Sitoula secured 1,030 votes out of 1,560 cast, while KC received 464 votes.
Transport entrepreneurs close to major political parties had supported Sitoula, while KC contested as an independent candidate.
Similarly, Sanukaji Prajapati, Ain Kumar Shahi, and Kedar Poudel have been elected as senior vice presidents, and
Chandra Ojha, Dambar Raj Pant, Atmaram Thapa, Kanchha Ram Theeng, Kanchha Ram Bal, Jit Bahadur Bharati, and Ram Prasad Subedi as vice presidents.
Yadav Lal Shresth was elected as vice president (cargo), Dekanath Gautam as general Secretary; Devin Shrestha, Bhanubhakta Baral, and Purushottam Sinkhada as deputy general secretaries; and Umesh KC, Chet Prasad Gautam, and Tanka Prasad Basyal as secretaries.
Likewise, Rajendra Acharya and Shobhakhar Poudel were elected treasurer and joint treasurer, respectively.
Samiksha Gurung, Arjun Shrestha, Gopal Karki, Deepak Bohora, Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, Prakash Tiwari, Krishna Prasad Subedi, Ganesh Raj Pandey, Padam Raj Sapkota, Ganesh Bahadur Gurung, Hari Bhakta Shrestha, Tekendra Rai, Bhupendra Khadka, and Hemraj Dahal have been elected as central committee members.
A total of 1,663 representatives from 387 transport committees across the country participated in the voting.
Newly elected president Sitoula said his top priority would be to make the transport sector technology-friendly. He announced plans to promote online ticketing, the installation of GPS in vehicles, and the adoption of cashless payment systems.
