20/07/2026
https://shilapatra.com/detail/190715
Pritam Singh: The Man Prachanda Praised, Who Brought the Trucking Industry from Kashmir to Kathmandu
By Birat Anupam
When we arrived at his residence in Thapathali on Sunday morning, Sardar Pritam Singh was seated in his living room. Wearing a white shirt, a white beard, and the traditional Sikh turban, he projected quiet dignity. On the table before him stood a statue of the Buddha—a fitting symbol, as he had been among the first entrepreneurs to establish long-distance transport services from Butwal, in the Buddha’s birthplace region of Lumbini, to Kathmandu.
Above where he sat hung a photograph of him presenting a kirpan (ceremonial Sikh sword) to King Birendra. Having arrived in Nepal in 1958, Singh has lived through the reigns of King Mahendra, King Birendra, and King Gyanendra, witnessing Nepal’s changing political eras firsthand.
During the interview, he spoke in a blend of Nepali, Hindi, and English. Whenever he struggled to explain something, his daughter, Kiran Deep Sandhu, author of Roads to the Valley, helped translate and clarify. Kiran frequently travels between Malaysia and Nepal. Fellow transport entrepreneur Harpar Singh, fluent in Nepali, also helped facilitate the conversation.
Initially, the discussion focused on Singh’s remarkable journey—from Kashmir to Nepal, his training as a pilot, and how he established Nepal’s pioneering trucking business. But the most intriguing part of the interview emerged toward the end.
When asked about the widely discussed claim that he had gone to India to help Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” become Prime Minister, Singh smiled.
“Prachanda said that, but I never went to India for that purpose. What actually happened was that discussions with Madhesi political parties about supporting Prachanda’s bid for Prime Minister took place at my home.”
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His Relationship with Prachanda
Singh spoke candidly about his relationship with Prachanda.
“During the Maoist insurgency, just hearing Prachanda’s name frightened everyone—including me.”
He recalled that during the insurgency, bombs exploded at Modern Indian School, which he had established in 1978.
“I called the police the same night, but they only arrived the following morning. Such was the fear of Prachanda. Thousands of soldiers and police officers had been killed, so everyone was afraid.”
Singh had founded the school not because he aspired to enter education, but out of necessity. The Kendriya Vidyalaya, operated by the Indian Embassy, could no longer accommodate all Indian children living in Nepal, creating the need for another school.
His personal connection with Prachanda came later through Pampha Bhusal. During one meeting, Prachanda told him:
“I spent four years underground in Punjab. Many Sikhs like you helped me. My son, Prakash, even learned to speak and write Punjabi because he studied there.”
The relationship deepened further when Prachanda’s eldest daughter, Gyanu KC, was diagnosed with cancer. While receiving treatment in Delhi, she stayed with the Singh family near India Gate, who supported her throughout her stay.
Reflecting on her passing, Singh became emotional.
“Even though Prachanda did everything he could, he couldn’t save his daughter.”
Gyanu KC passed away on 26 March 2014 (13 Chaitra 2070 BS).
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From Pilot to Transport Pioneer
Pritam Singh was originally trained as a pilot. On 21 April 1954, he earned his flying licence from the Delhi Flying Club.
However, his mother worried constantly about the dangers of aviation and discouraged him from pursuing that career.
Meanwhile, the family-owned transport business in Jammu—Public Motor Services (PMS)—began facing severe difficulties during the India-Pakistan conflict and the instability in Kashmir.
The company owned:
* 20 freight trucks
* 4 oil tankers
* 4 buses
As conflict intensified, Singh travelled across India looking for safer business opportunities, visiting cities such as Mumbai, Nagpur, and areas of present-day Chhattisgarh.
His conclusion was simple:
Everywhere he looked, transport services were already well established and competition was intense. Starting another transport company there would bring little benefit.
So he looked beyond India.
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A Wedding That Changed His Life
In 1958, Singh attended a wedding in Barabanki, near Lucknow, on behalf of his elder brother, who was studying law in London.
There he met Gurbaksh Singh, managing director of a paper mill in Punjab.
Gurbaksh suggested that if Singh wanted to build a transport business, Nepal offered enormous potential.
His reasoning was:
1. Nepal had only recently emerged from Rana rule and was opening itself to the outside world.
2. The 1950 India-Nepal Treaty granted citizens of both countries equal rights to travel, live and conduct business.
3. Nepal was beginning to develop roads and airports, creating tremendous new opportunities.
Inspired, Pritam Singh and his friend Tara Singh travelled directly from Lucknow to Nepal.
Their journey took them:
* Lucknow
* Gorakhpur
* Raxaul
* Amlekhgunj (by rail)
* Kathmandu
To reach Kathmandu they had only two choices:
* walk through the hills, or
* ride behind a GMC truck.
They chose the truck.
Although they reached Kathmandu after two days, they found the terrain difficult and the local attitude toward foreigners somewhat unfriendly. Disappointed, they returned to Jammu.
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His Father Encouraged Him to Try Again
Singh’s father urged him not to give up.
When they returned to Nepal together, an extraordinary coincidence changed everything.
Walking through New Road, Singh met another Sikh—Captain Trilochan Singh Daulat, pilot to King Mahendra.
To their surprise, they had studied flying together years earlier.
Their reunion opened doors that would eventually transform Nepal’s transport industry.
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Bringing the First Trucks to Nepal
On 23 January 1959, Singh began the journey that would change Nepal’s transport sector forever.
Three trucks, driven by:
* Pritam Singh
* Ishwar Singh
* Asha Singh
set out from Jammu toward Kathmandu.
Singh himself was only 24 years old.
The journey was anything but easy.
At Patna, there was no bridge across the Ganges.
After much persuasion, local boatmen agreed to tie three boats together, lay wooden planks across them, and transport the fully loaded trucks across the river.
Singh recalled:
“The boatmen simply couldn’t believe trucks could be carried this way. When it worked, they were astonished.”
The next obstacle came near Muzaffarpur, where another river had no bridge—and no boats.
Remembering a photograph his brother had shown him of trucks running on railway tracks in Germany, Singh improvised.
Steel railway wheels were temporarily attached to the truck wheels, allowing the trucks to travel along the railway tracks until they crossed the river.
After reaching Raxaul, customs duties of Rs. 4,500 per truck were paid before entering Nepal through Birgunj.
There, Singh met R.C. Sharma, who guided them along the newly opened Tribhuvan Rajpath toward Kathmandu.
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A Dangerous Mountain Journey
Although the drivers were experienced in Kashmir’s mountains, Nepal’s roads proved even more demanding.
The highway had originally been designed for military jeeps—only about 4 metres wide—yet the trucks were much larger and each carried three tonnes of cargo.
The road climbed from 945 metres at Mahesh Khola to 2,488 metres at Sim Bhanjyang, with roughly 8,700 sharp bends between Hetauda and Naubise.
After 16 exhausting days, the convoy finally reached Kathmandu.
It marked the beginning of Nepal’s modern trucking industry.
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Nepal Public Motor Service
In February 1959, Singh officially registered his company.
While the family business in Jammu was called Public Motor Services, the Nepal company became Nepal Public Motor Service.
Singh proudly recalls that his driving licence number was 5200, a number he still remembers by heart.
From the 1960s until the 1990s, the company dominated Nepal’s road transport sector.
The business transported:
* food supplies
* petroleum
* passengers
* commercial goods
The drivers were almost entirely Sikh, while Nepalis generally worked as assistants.
Singh says proudly:
“We were the first to operate vehicles on many of Nepal’s roads. At that time, there was virtually no competition.”
Around the early 2000s, the company gradually withdrew from commercial transport.
Today, however, Singh’s buses still transport students of the Modern Indian School.
Reflecting on his legacy, he says:
“My company no longer exists, but because of it, many others became successful transport entrepreneurs.”
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The article portrays Pritam Singh not only as a pioneering transport entrepreneur but also as someone whose personal relationships intersected with key moments in Nepal’s political and social history. His determination, ingenuity, and willingness to take extraordinary risks helped lay the foundation for Nepal’s modern road transport industry.
सन् १९६० को दशकदेखि सन् १९९० को दशकसम्म सिंहको कम्पनीले एकछत्र राज गरेको थियो । चालक सबै शिख हुन्थे । नेपाली त खला.....
