Ending The Sway Of Middlemen

 

Nepal's political development, including changes of all scales, always culminated in power-sharing among the major political forces and seeking support from the existing political and economic elite. They became so apathetic to the public issues that reports of all the review, reform and probe commissions were buried under massive political interest, and sometimes a collusion among the politicians, businesspersons and criminals didn't allow it to come out. 

Public expectations for basic services like obtaining a passport, driving licence and National Identity Card (NID), reaching other locations on time, and having good health and education services were never addressed. Political 'bhagbanda' became a culture, and a few individuals played musical chairs with the lucrative posts. To the great surprise of the public, the same individual could be an expert in energy, industry and even sports. For political leaders, there were no experts beyond their coteries. While most of the top government posts in public bodies were allotted at the discretion of the prime minister or minister, a few competitions made to appoint chiefs of public corporations were 'a farce'. The results used to be fixed, but the entire process would be followed to appoint their henchmen. 

A few years ago, the middlemen were ruling the application process for passports, labour permits, and driving licences. People paid up to Rs. 10,000 to get their passport application filled out by an agency. Neither the government nor the anti-graft bodies and activists raised the issue of data protection, although there were concerns about the technical efficiency and exorbitant fees charged by the middlemen. 

Missed opportunities 

The country missed multiple opportunities to set a basis for good governance with the adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The first was after the revolution of 1990. But the Nepali Congress' government was more focused on economic liberalisation. The second came with the culmination of the Maoists' armed war. The then Maoist-led 'revolutionary' government failed to meet the public expectations because, rather than implementing sweeping reforms in governance, administration and procedures, it opted for the way of 'consensual governance', which was safer and appeared as a solution to stay in power for a long time. It is equally important that it lacked the clear majority to implement its policy and programmes single-handedly. 

The third chance dawned with the almost two-thirds majority government formed in 2018 by the Nepal Communist Party – created with the unification of the CPN (UML) and the CPN (Maoist Centre). The government formed after the country was ushered into federalism created foundations for the new political structure and initiated long-term development projects. But good governance took the back seat. The prime minister and ministers pledged rapid and massive development both in terms of physical and social aspects. However, delivery remained poor against their promises. That was the period when youths were struggling to successfully submit their application for a passport. 

The fourth occasion for governance reform is now. The almost two-thirds majority government of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is also comparatively less meddled with by the power-brokers and national-scale middlemen. The government’s initial actions against potentially corrupt individuals and middlemen showed early signs of positive progress.

Faceless, paperless service

Good governance in public service, infrastructure development, delivery of health services, and quality of utility services is critical for the overall development of any society. For this, all the agencies dealing with the public, such as police, land, revenue, administration and local bodies, should assure prompt service at a reasonable fee. The first step towards this development is creating a faceless and paperless system for every service delivery. Critical public agencies should be fully equipped with information technology and skilled human resources. 

Likewise, for the activities like public procurement of goods and services, anti-graft bodies should enhance their surveillance. However, it is also equally important to have the right people in such bodies like the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the National Vigilance Centre (NVC), and the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO). The government has already expressed commitment that the structure of investigative and regulatory bodies and institutions will be reformed and strengthened. 

The RSP has pledged in its election manifesto that by 2031, public services will be shifted to online platforms, while a national database linking to the National ID cards will be created to streamline social security and policy implementation. By then, the compulsion to visit offices and meet employees to receive government services will be brought to an end. 

Indicator system 

In its national commitment made public on April 13, the government said service-providing agencies will be linked to a good governance indicator system, and a system will be developed for service recipients to evaluate offices. Likewise, while providing impartial, swift, and high-quality services, all types of corruption—including syndicates, irregularities, delays, and malpractice within the public service delivery system—will be controlled, pledged the government.

The government has indicated that it would move ahead in governance by incorporating the election agenda of the major political parties. The government said the assets of individuals holding public office after 1990 will be made transparent and investigated. This agenda has been propping up intermittently in national political discourse, and various political parties have pledged to implement this, but there is no progress so far. The RSP has said in its manifesto that it will begin the move to good governance with an investigation of the assets of the high-ranking officials who held the public posts since 1990. Illegally acquired assets will be confiscated and nationalised. 

Alongside the institutional strengthening of constitutional bodies, the definition of policy decisions made by the Council of Ministers will be clarified. Laws concerning the protection and encouragement of whistleblowers, as well as laws regarding conflicts of interest, will be formulated.  Judges of all courts will be appointed on the basis of meritocracy through a competitive system. 

Common tendencies like rent-seeking, policy capture, cartels and artificial shortages are to be controlled to ensure fair competition, entrepreneurship and a business-friendly environment. The election manifesto of the RSP said the government is set to introduce predictable tax policies (at least 10-year stability) and simplify procedures through paperless digital systems, improving investor confidence.

Similarly, the government is set to implement development projects in a target-oriented work style (mission mode). To ensure projects are completed qualitatively and on time, it will make arrangements not to transfer project heads and staff until the project is finished. 

However, the success of the government will rest on its capacity to generate and mobilise meagre resources that are insufficient even to meet the administrative operation cost. Although the government has initiated reforms in public bodies with the removal of the politically appointed officeholders, it is critical to overhaul the entire system that has long been inefficient and cumbersome to achieve the goals of good governance. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily's Friday Supplement on 7 May 2026.           

Asset Investigation Commission begins its work

 Kathmandu, Apr. 22

The government-formed Asset Investigation Commission, established with the objective of ending widespread corruption and impunity in the country, has formally commenced its work from Wednesday.

A Cabinet meeting on April 15 had constituted the five-member commission under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court Justice Rajendra Kumar Bhandari. The commission’s office has been set up at Keshar Mahal.

Bhandari, took the oath of office and secrecy on Wednesday before Acting Chief Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla. He subsequently administered the oath to other members - former Chief Judge of the Appellate Court Purushottam Parajuli, former High Court Judge Chandi Raj Dhakal, former Deputy Inspector General of Police Ganesh KC, and Chartered Accountant Prakash Lamsal.

The commission, mandated to operate in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1969 (2026 BS), has already had its Terms of Reference approved. With a tenure of one year, it will collect and conduct detailed investigations into the assets held within Nepal and abroad in the names of current, retired, or former public office holders and their family members.

As per the provision, the commission must submit a report to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers immediately upon completing an investigation of any individual, and the government is required to implement it within 45 days.

The commission has pledged to function in a fully independent, impartial, and professional manner, free from any external pressure or influence.

It will accept complaints through written, verbal, electronic means, social media, or any other medium.

While the commission may seek expert advice from various sectors as necessary during its work, strict provisions prohibit the engagement of experts with conflicts of interest, it said in a statement.

The formation of the commission aligns with the government’s anti-corruption commitment outlined in point 43 of the 100-point Governance Reform Agenda approved by the Cabinet on  March 26.

Currently, the OPMCM is screening 32 personnel required for the commission.

According to the commission, to ensure transparency, staff deployed to it will also be required to publicly disclose their asset details within one week of assuming their duties.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 April 2026.         

CIAA files corruption case against 55 individuals

 Kathmandu, Dec. 7

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has filed cases against 55 persons, including five former Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation ministers, including late Posta Bahadur Bogati and former Finance minister Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat, for misusing the funds of Pokhara Regional International Airport.

Based on the complaint filed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the anti-graft body alleged that the ministers, secretaries, construction company colluded to increase the contract construction cost to US$244.04 million against the cost fixed at US$169.69 million. The CIAA said that there was an unnatural increment in the project cost by US$74.34 million (Rs. 8.36 billion as per 112.55 exchange rate of Nepali Rupee on 10 August 2018).

Former ministers Ram Kumar Shrestha, Bhim Prasad Acharya, Deepak Chandra Amatya are indicted by the CIAA. Since former Minister Bogati has already passed away, his wife, Rammaya Bogati, has been made the defendant.

Former Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) Sushil Ghimire, Suresh Man Shrestha, Suman Prasad Sharma, Bhesh Raj Sharma, Deputy Secretary Ranjan Krishna Aryal, Mohal Krishna Sapkota and Lok Bahadur Khatri, and former board members of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) Committee Man Rup Shahi, Jyoti Adhikari, Manoj Karki, Furba Chiring Sherpa, Suresh Acharya, Madan Kharel, Mukti Narayan Paudel, and Surya Prasad Acharya are also involved.

Similarly, former Director Generals of the CAAN Civil Aviation Authority, Tri Ratna Manandhar, Ratish Chandra Lal Suman, former Deputy Director General Suman Kumar Shrestha, and Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism Hari Bahadur Khadka have also been indicted.

In relation to irregularities at the airport, the sub-committee under the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives concluded in April this year that corruption had occurred at the project developed with Chinese support. China has also been saying that the project was included in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The house panel had directed the CIAA to conduct an investigation. According to the sub-committee formed by the PAC, irregularities were estimated at around Rs. 10 billion.

 

‘China CAMC acted in bad faith’

Cases are also filed against the construction company China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd.

“Ignoring the public procurement regulations, the contractor company CAMC Engineering acted in bad faith, without reasonable justification inflated the cost estimate unnaturally. This was done to unlawfully benefit itself and other involved defendants,” the CIAA said in a statement.

It also said that it has been observed that China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd. communicated with public servants in bad faith to achieve this inflated cost.

According to it, immediately after the approval of the cost estimate, the China CAMC Engineering unlawfully submitted a proposal to increase the project cost to US$287 million, which was done in bad faith. “This indicates that the company was attempting from the very beginning of the construction procurement process to secure the contract at an inflated price by any means necessary,” read the statement.

On 21 March 2012, a Pre-Bid Meeting was held at the CAAN with representatives from China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd. During the meeting, no questions were raised about the approved cost estimate, but later, defendants unlawfully manipulated the tender evaluation process to secure an inflated contract.

Likewise, in response to a letter from the MoCTCA , the Ministry of Finance advised that technical decisions regarding the airport design, approval, and cost limits should be made in accordance with the law. Despite this, the Tourism Ministry proceeded with a proposal to the Cabinet, showing bad faith in the contracting process for Pokhara Regional International Airport.

 

Cabinet used as a shield

Even though the Cabinet's decision on 20 February 2013 clarified that the matter should not be repeatedly presented, concerned government officials continued to push the proposal through the Cabinet, likely aiming to protect themselves from legal consequences and misuse of authority, demonstrating a clear intent to act in bad faith, according to the CIAA.

According to it, the decision of the CAAN’s Board on 29 October 2013, to send the revised cost estimate for government approval, was unlawful. By involving China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd. in the procurement process and approving nominal consultation, the defendants' illegal collusion and intent to further their personal interests obstructed proper procurement procedures.

Despite knowing that it violated the Cabinet's decision of 11 September 2013, the MoCTCA, alongside the CAAN, manipulated the procurement process, bypassing legal protocols and intentionally acting in bad faith to advance the project unlawfully.

The CIAA concluded that despite receiving clear guidance from the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, the CAAN, through illegal collusion with various officials, continued the procurement process, seeking to cover up wrongdoing and avoid accountability, contrary to Nepal's procurement laws.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 December 2025.

PMO subsidiaries asked to work effectively to check irregularities

Kathmandu, Aug. 25

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has directed the concerned government agencies to work effectively in controlling smuggling, corruption and misuse of state assets.

The agencies included the Department of Revenue Investigation, Department of Money Laundering Investigation, Public Procurement Monitoring Office, National Vigilance Centre, National Investigation Department, and Nepal Trust and other offices.

Speaking at the annual review and ministerial level development problem solving committee meeting held on Sunday at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Prime Minister Oli recalled the incidents of smuggling up to 33 kg of gold from the Tribhuvan International Airport and mentioned that the state had lost a lot of revenue due to the lack of responsibility of the relevant agencies.

"Such activities are not allowed anymore, smuggling should not be possible. Be determined to fulfill whatever responsibility you have. If there is a problem in determining the scope of work, bring it to me. Save the country from ruins and give hope and confidence to people," he said.

According to the PMO, PM Oli said to the chiefs of the agencies under the Office that if their agencies cannot establish effective justification for their operation, there was no need to setup one just to employ some people.

He clarified that those agencies were brought under the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers so that they could work more effectively.

Emphasizing that good governance should be developed and democratic values ​​and norms should be implemented so that the youth could get jobs or have an environment to work with dignity, Prime Minister Oli urged them to be bold and determined in the journey to achieve the goals of development and prosperity. Any dillydallying won’t be tolerated anymore, said the PM.

Chief Secretary, Leeladevi Gadtaula, said that 63 per cent of the milestones set for the PMO in the last Fiscal Year 2023/24 could be met but the capital expenditure remained pathetic at just 48.89 per cent.

"So, we should identify the shortcomings and work effectively in the coming days," she said.

Prime Minister's Economic and Development Adviser Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Prof. Dr. Shivraj Adhikari, and secretaries were present in the meeting.

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 August 2024.        

NRNA regrets its decision to buy Lalita Niwas land for its global secretariate

Kathmandu, Feb. 18

The Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) has expressed regrets over the confusion and controversy on its decision to invest in buying land at the Lalita Niwas and constructing its global secretariat there.

"We regret that such a big and sensitive investment decision of the NRNA could not be free from confusion and controversy. The association is committed to resolving the confusion and inconvenience caused to all donors and members," it said in a statement on Sunday.

The NRNA had spent about Rs. 290 million in purchasing the land, existing buildings and construction of the secretariat. The funds were the social investment from all the members, well-wishers, national coordinating councils and central officials from all over the world.

The NRNA had purchased 3 ropanis (48 aanas) of land about eight years ago at the rate of Rs. 2.65 million per aana along with a building from Shovakanta Dhakal, Ramkumar Subedi, Sandip Dhakal, Uma Kumari Dhakal and Madhavi Subedi.

It informed that the payment was made in a cheque via bank.

In its recent decision, the Special Court had given its verdict to nationalise about 284 ropanis of land including the NRNA's office building in Lalita Niwas.

Since the NRNA purchased the land as per the Cabinet decision and got a discount in land registration, we were clear about the legality of the land, it said while expressing sorrow at the news that the land had been confiscated.

Likewise, the Association said that it would appeal against the decision of the Special Court and its effect to the Supreme Court for final resolution.

Until the Supreme Court issues its verdict, the right of use and ownership of the land shall remain with the NRNA, it claimed.

"During the construction of the current central secretariat building built with the Association's investment, approval was obtained from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and the construction of the building was completed by the decision of the Supreme Court," it said.

According to the NRNA, if the Supreme Court decides otherwise, it has the right to file a case in District Court Kathmandu against the sellers of the land to claim compensation. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 19 February 2024.        

Nepal’s corruption index improves slightly

 Kathmandu, Jan. 30

Nepal has slightly improved its position in the global Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023 with a two-step jump from 110^th among 180 countries in 2022 to 108^th position in 2023.

According to the latest report of the Transparency International's CPI 2023 report launched globally on Tuesday, Nepal has remained in the group of high corruption perception with just 35 score in 100. Its score has gone up to 35 this year from 34 last year. In 2013, the country had 31 total score and was in 116^th position among 177 countries worldwide.

This shows that Nepal couldn't achieve much success in curbing corruption and is in the groups of countries that have high corruption rate, said the TI Nepal. Nepal is in the club of two-thirds of countries that achieved less than 50. The average score of Asia and the Pacific is 45.

In south Asia, Bhutan tops the list and remains at 26^th position. India is in 93^rd, Maldives 93^rd, Sri Lanka 115^th, Pakistan 133^rd, Bangladesh 149^th and Afghanistan is at 162^nd. Nepal's northern Neighbour, China, is at 76^th position with 42 marks.

Despite the progress made in criminalising corruption and establishing specialised anti-corruption institutions around the world, only 28 of the 180 countries measured by the CPI have improved their corruption levels, and 34 countries have worsened.

According to the report, for the sixth year in a row, Denmark heads the ranking, with a score of 90. Finland and New Zealand follow closely with scores of 87 and 85, respectively. Norway (84), Singapore (83), Sweden (82), Switzerland (82), the Netherlands (79), Germany (78) and Luxembourg (78) complete the top 10 this year.

Meanwhile, countries experiencing conflict or with highly restricted freedoms and weak democratic institutions tend to score worst. This year, Somalia (11), Venezuela (13), Syria (13) and South Sudan (13) are at the bottom of the index. Yemen (16), Nicaragua (17), North Korea (17), Haiti (17), Equatorial Guinea (17), Turkmenistan (18) and Libya (18) are the next lowest performers.

Countries with strong rule of law and well-functioning democratic institutions often sit at the top of the index. Democratic countries tend to greatly outperform authoritarian regimes when controlling corruption – full democracies have a CPI average of 73, flawed democracies have one of 48 and non-democratic regimes just 32.

However, the top 25 countries in the index make up just over 10 per cent of all people. "Corruption therefore remains a challenge that directly or indirectly harms most people," said the TI.

The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public-sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It relies on 13 independent data sources and uses a scale of zero to 100, where zero is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

The TI has maintained that the fight for justice and the fight against corruption go hand in hand: where the justice system is unable to uphold the rule of law, corruption thrives. At the same time, where corruption is the norm, access to justice is often hindered for the most vulnerable, and justice institutions may be captured by political, economic or special interest groups.

According to it, there has been a global decline in justice and the rule of law since 2016. The rise of authoritarianism in some countries contributes to this trend, and even in democratic contexts, the mechanisms that keep governments in check have weakened.

"Governments across the political spectrum have undermined justice systems, restricted civic freedoms and relied on non-democratic strategies to address recent challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic," read the report. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 31 January 2024.     

Oli opposes idea of bringing private sector under CIAA’s investigation

Kathmandu, Apr. 23

Former Prime Minister and chairman of the CPN-UML, KP Sharma Oli, has said that if there were an arrangement in which the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) looks into the issues of the private businesses, one more regulator for the private sector would be added which would discourage the private sector.

Talking to a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), led by its President, Chandra Prasad Dhakal, the other day, Oli said that he was not aware of the bill until it was passed by the National Assembly.

The delegation had called on the former PM on Saturday evening.

The bill regarding the amendment of the CIAA Act, which was sent to the House of Representatives from the National Assembly, includes provisions to put the private sector inside the radar of the anti-graft body.

Dhakal drew attention of former PM Oli to the fact that the private sector, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of the economy and employment, will be discouraged and the investment environment woulkd deteriorate if this provision was passed.

"According to Article 239 of the Constitution, the CIAA cannot look into the private sector. The FNCCI has already drawn the attention of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal“ Prachanda“ and Deputy Prime Minister and Defense and Law Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka," the business body said in a statement on Sunday.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Prachanda had promised to remove the system as the Authority could not look into the private sector.

On this subject, in a programme held at the office of the Congress parliamentary party on Thursday, the parliamentarians were of the opinion that the economy should not be put at risk by bringing the private sector under the authority's jurisdiction.

Similarly, in the meeting with former Prime Minister Oli, FNCCI President Dhakal drew the former’s attention to the need to adopt immediate policy measures to reduce the interest rate in the case of non-disbursement of loans despite the availability of liquidity in the banking system.

In addition, Dhakal emphasised that restructuring and rescheduling of loans are also necessary when the market is not functioning.

"The ability to pay the interest on the loan is decreasing. Bad loan ratio of banks has also reached around 4 per cent. Since the bad loan is likely to increase in mid-June, restructuring and rescheduling of loans is necessary," Dhakal said.

Former Prime Minister Oli said that he and his party were always ready to address the problems of the private sector and create a safe working environment. He also informed that he was in favour of solving the problems of the financial sector and increasing credit flow.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 April 2023.

DRI files cases against accused of Baluwatar land scam

Kathmandu, Jan. 4

The Department of Revenue Investigation (DRI) has filed a case against the accused of the Lalita Niwas land scam at the Patan High Court, Lalitpur, on Tuesday.

The case is filed against Shova Kanta Dhakal, Saroj Dhakal, Uma Kumari Dhakal, Santu Shrestha and Rajeswor Shrestha. The Dhakals and Santu are the proprietors of the Ansan International Pvt. Ltd while Rajeshwor is an auditor.

The DRI has accused them of faking the Value Added Tax, presenting fake financial statement and other reports to evade taxes.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the DRI put the tax misappropriation at Rs. 422 million in VAT, Rs. 684 million in income tax and Rs. 97.4 million in dividend.

The DRI has sought to retrieve Rs. 1.2 billion from the accused and to fine them Rs. 1.2 billion, bringing the total fine and punishment to Rs. 2.4 billion.

The accused have created fake documents and financial reports to evade taxes, said the DRI. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 5 January 2022. 

Most irregularities occur in federal affairs, education, land

Kathmandu, Nov. 15

Federal affairs, education and land administration have been the sectors with highest irregularities for the last several years.

Consecutive reports of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for the last several years have shown that these three sectors were at the top of the corruption log.

Of the total 22,625 complaints, including 8,200 transferred from previous year, registered at the CIAA last year, 32.72 per cent involved federal affairs, followed by 15.61 per cent in education and 9.09 per cent in land administration.

The Annual Report of FY 2020/21 was submitted to President Bidya Devi Bhandari by CIAA Chief Commissioner Prem Kumar Rai on Monday.

In the previous FY 2019/20, the CIAA had received total 25,152 complaints, of which 30.07 are related to federal affairs, 16.36 to education and 8.29 per cent to land administration.

Similarly, in the FY 2018/19, about 24,085 complaints were received by the authority. And the corruption index was the same with 26.87 per cent related to federal affairs, 16.95 per cent to education and 8.34 to land administration.

Other areas plagued by corruption are forest and environment, health, physical infrastructure and transport, home administration and water resources.

In the last fiscal, cases related to forest and environment registered at the CIAA made up 5.01 per cent of the total cases, health 3.93 per cent, physical infrastructure and transport 3.76 per cent, home administration 3.47 per cent and water resources 3.09.

According to the report, the anti-graft body had decided to file114 charge sheets at the Special Court last year. They include 70 cases of bribery, 20 of damage of public property, 12 of illegal benefits and three each of illegal income, forged educational certificates and other issues.

Similarly, in those cases, about Rs. 1.89 billion misappropriated amount is to be raised from the accused.

The CIAA has clared 14,532 complaints last year which make up 64.32 per cent of the total registred cases. Remaining 8,093 cases are transferred to the current fiscal.

It has made several recommendations to lessen the irregularities in verious sectors of administration and development.

 While the country's development is severely affected by the poor pulbic procurement practices, the anti-corruption body has recommened to ensure the resources, site clearance and environemnt impact assessment of the projects before calling for the bids.

It also suggested to make the officials of the respective agencies fully responsible for and accountable to the contract agreement and management, and control the wrong practices to limit competition in procurement process.

Likewise, it has suggested to manage the construction works implemented by the users committee by formulating a work procedure to form users committee and mobilise them.

"If any loss or damage incurred in a project due to the malice of consultants, they should be held responsible for the losses. There should be quality assurance plan for every project," read the report.

Accepting the report, President Bhandari said that all top government officials must exhibit high morale in their dealings. "Only punishing the corrupt people is not enough, there should be efforts to end corruption in all its forms. One and all should contribute in ending corruption and irregularities," she said. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 16 November 2021. 

Auditor General’s report: Rs. 104bn arrears in public offices

Kathmandu, Aug. 20

Public offices in Nepal have about Rs. 104 billion arrears by the end of the last Fiscal Year 2020/21, according to the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).

The 58^th annual report of the OAG submitted to President Bidya Devi Bhandari by Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma on Friday reported that the country had to recover Rs. 26.4 billion arrears in the last fiscal but only Rs. 6.1 billion was recovered.

According to the report,  Rs. 9.7 billion in FY 2017/18, Rs. 7.4 billion in FY 2018/19 and Rs. 6.1 billion in FY 2019/20 was recovered after the Auditor General indicated the arrears in its annual reports.

However, the amount of recovered arrears is continuously going down. According to the 57^th Report in 2020 Rs. 7.4 billion was recovered in that year while the amount was Rs. 9.7 billion in 2019. The OAG reports indicate less revenue collection, idle deposits at the treasury, higher payments and expenditures beyond the legal parameters as arrears.

In the last three years, arrears of the federal and provincial offices were gradually decreasing while they are continuously going up in local levels and other organisations and committees.

The size of arrears in the federal government offices has gone down to 2.86 per cent in 2021 from 5.29 per cent in 2019. The amount has also gone down significantly from Rs. 106.3 billion to Rs. 44.3 billion in the past three years.

Likewise, arrears in the provincial offices has decreased to 2.74 per cent from 7.25 per cent, however, in terms of the actual amount it has gone up significantly – from Rs. 19 million in 2019 to Rs. 6.5 billion in 2021.

In terms of local bodies, the size of arrears was 4.22 per cent three years ago which went up to 5 per cent in 2021. But in terms of amount, it increased to Rs. 40.8 billion from Rs. 24.1 billion.

The worst performers in terms of transparency are the other organisations and committees established by the federal and provincial governments. They have about 7.74 per cent of arrears which was Rs. 12.6 billion in the last fiscal.

The OAG has audited a total of 5462 institutions and agencies under various levels of government of which federal ministries and agencies have the lowest arrears in terms of per cent (2.86 per cent) but highest in terms of amount Rs. 44.3 billion. While the provinces have the lowest amount of arrears with Rs. 6.5 billion which makes just 2.74 per cent of the total budget.

The audited amount was Rs. 1555.8 billion of federal agencies, Rs. 237.4 billion of provincial agencies, Rs. 815.9 billion of local bodies. Likewise, Rs. 163.5 billion of 584 committees and other organisations, and Rs. 2555 billion of 81 organised institutions was also audited.

The OAG has commented that the public accountability was poor in terms of budget and project implementation, revenue administration, public property mangement, fiscal federalism execution and public service dissemination.

According to it, the budget of the subnational bodies is dependant on federal grant and most of their prorammes were unproductive and distributory, and administrative costs were high.

It also noted that the government agencies do not have standards and criteria for the facilities of the public office holders and the employees were facility-centred.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 August 2021. 

Nepotism, poor preparedness plague pride projects

Kathmandu, July 23

Administrators and private sector have blamed nepotism and poor preparedness for the pathetic performance of the national pride projects.

Despite giving top priority in budget, policy and procedures, about 85 per cent of the projects are facing cost and time overrun.

Every programme, including recently completed Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP) and Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) as well as the final-stage project Gautam Buddha International Airport, have poor progress track record, with some of the pride projects running in their 33^rd year since inception.  

Melamchi was about to complete in 19 years in 2021 against its initial projection of five years while Babai Irrigation is running in the 33^rd year, Sikta Irrigation Project in the 15^th year and Postal Highway in the 14^th year. Worse, West Seti and Budhigandaki hydroelectricity projects have failed to take off even 24 years and a decade after their incubation respectively.

"Despite large investments, the projects continue to exhibit poor result. Although some projects are said to have made good progress in recent years, they have already missed multiple deadlines and caused extra burden to the state coffers," Revenue Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Ram Sharan Pudasaini said in a virtual interaction organised by Management Association of Nepal (MAN) on Friday.

The large projects have also been the victim of mismanagement. Bheri-Babai Diversion Project completed its tunnel with the modern boring machine but when the channel was ready, intake, head works and distribution channels were not built.

According to Pusadaini, the UTHP will run at full capacity soon but there are doubts whether the generated power will be fully utilised. Work at MWSP is still in progress, and Mid-Hill Highway has become the victim of multiple changes in its alignment. "Every powerful local person or leader wants to take the pride project through their courtyard," he said.

There is no cost-benefit analysis of any national pride projects. Take an example of UTHP. Its original cost was estimated at Rs. 36 billion. That figure has now risen to Rs. 80 billion.

Pudasaini said that while a project has been mired in cost and time overruns, project manager has not been subjected to punitive actions but rather are promoted.  

The status of expenditure at the pride projects in the last fiscal year 2020/21 is about 58.8 per cent of the total budget. "It’s the inefficiency of the project managers and concerned agencies, and contractors," he said.

Likewise, he stated that most of the projects are underfunded and that they are launched without managing resource or financial closure. Pudasaini also suggested sun-set laws to facilitate timely execution of pride projects through a special mechanism.

Former Secretary of the government Gopi Nath Mainali said that too many organisations -- like board, authority, department and company -- in project management have marred the development.

"There should be a dedicated government agency to look after the pride projects. There is no tendency to appoint project managers in line with their qualifications and capacities. Nepotism has caused a great loss to the country," he said.

According to him, there are unnecessarily high number of monitoring and inspection agencies which have not made positive impact on the project development.

He suggested making the programme managers responsible for the results of the project.

Similarly, former Secretary Shankar Adhikari said that unusual demands from the local/affected people, multiple changes in procurement master plan, low bidding, less competitive consultants are the reasons behind the poor progress in the pride projects.

He stated that selection of project managers and other staff on the basis of nepotism, favouritism and political interest, ownership deficit in the part of stakeholders and signing contract agreement before completing the preparatory works have damaging consequences on the pride projects.

President of Federation of Nepalese Contractors' Associations (FCAN) Rabi Singh said that a pride project should be a game changer, inspire people and bring about tangible change in the society and economy.

He said that capacity of the development ministries as well as the contractors is poor and should be enhanced at the earliest.

The projects are also facing challenge in managing construction materials in time, about 90 per cent crusher industries are running illegally and developers are forced to pay high price for the material.

Deependra Bahadur Kshetry, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission and Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank, suggested removing many of the pride projects from the category and run them as normal projects instead.

Former Director General of the Department of Agriculture Bharat Upadhyay said that leadership is not selected on the basis of the competency, rather on political background of the candidate. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 July 2021. 

PAC sub-committee suggests punishing forest officials for abuse of authority

Kathmandu, Sept. 24

A subcommittee formed under the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Federal Parliament has suggested taking stern action against at least six senior forest officials from the states and districts for abusing authority and misusing forest resources.

It has requested the PAC to direct the government to conduct further investigation into the issue and punish the responsible authorities who supported in preparing fake decisions and documents that contributed to deforestation and ecological accidents.

The subcommittee formed to study the 'Scientific Forest Management Programme' and led by Pradip Yadav and represented by Prem Bahadur Ale and Mina Subba has submitted the report to the house panel last month.

According to the report, State Forest Director of the Sudurpaschim Hemraj Bista, and Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) in Pahalmanpur Krishna Dutta Bhatta, DFOs in Dhangadhi Ram Chandra Kandel, in Kanchanpur Ajaya Bikram Manandhar, in Taulihawa Ishwari Prasad Poudel, in Nawalpur Bijaya Raj Subedi, in Kamalamai Narayan Shrestha, and in Marin Pushpa Raj Bartaula were found directly misappropriating the forest resources.

Many of these officials have colluded with the sawmills and woods traders in felling down the trees during the forest monitoring and authenticated the illegal cutting of the trees.

"They have knowingly approved the fake documents prepared by the community forests, users' groups general meetings, members of the forest users' group and forest officials. This is an activity against the Environment Protection Act, 2010 and Forest Act, 2019. This is the embezzlement of the national resources," read the report.

According to the report, Bhatta of Divisional Forest Office, Pahalmanpur and Kandel of DFO Dhangadhi of Kailali were living a high-standard life beyond their actual capacity with the illegal money they earned in collusion with the sawmills and wood traders. Kandel had issued orders to chop down the trees ignoring the continuous requests from the forest users' group to halt the act.

Likewise, Subedi of DFO in Nawalpur district had abused his authority by creating unusually wide forest road and fireline in the forest areas. Subedi, Shrestha of Kamalamai of Sindhuli and Bartaula of Marin of Sindhuli also ordered to cut the trees in the ecologically vulnerable Chure region.

The subcommittee has also found that the Ministry of Forest and Environment, states' Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment, provincial forest directorate, forest offices and forest users groups were not submitting the appropriate documents rather than they were hiding or damaging them, providing fake and fabricated data. Many districts never submitted the asked documents and data to the sub-committee.

"The PAC should direct the MoFE to create a reliable and integrated information management system to address such maladies," recommended the subcommittee.

Instead of providing the technical support to the community and collaborative forests as per the laws and bylaws, the forest offices have been found unusually providing hundreds of thousands of rupees to the consultants while the consultants prepared the reports without making a single trip to the field. Most of the work procedures and action plans prepared by such consultants were fake and misfit.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 25 September 2020.

Anti-Farud training for MCA staff concludes

Kathmandu, Jan. 17

An Anti-Fraud and Corruption training was organised in Kathmandu from 15-17 January to equip Millennium Challenge Account Nepal (MCA-Nepal) staff with the knowledge and skills to prevent, detect and remediate the risk of fraud and corruption in the execution of the US Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact.

MCC Compact is a USD 630 million programme that aims at developing large Nepal-India cross-border transmission lines and rehabilitate strategic roads. The programme is financed by the United States and Nepal with $500 million and $130 million respectively.

US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry had inaugurated the programme where he highlighted the progress Nepal has made in the control of corruption and recalled this as one of the indicators that helped the country qualify for the Compact.

He also expressed his belief that the projects under the US grant would be delivered in an environment free from corruption and fraud.

Shree Krishna Nepal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, reiterated the commitment of the government towards good governance, and emphasized the importance of a corruption free working environment to foster economic growth in the country.

Richard Messick, Senior Anti-Fraud and Corruption Advisor to the MCC, and Christopher P. Williams, Senior Director for Anti-Fraud and Corruption at the MC were the resource persons in the three-day comprehensive training.

Khadga Bahadur Bisht, the Executive Director at MCA-Nepal and Troy E. Kofroth, the Resident Country Director at MCC, were also present in the training.

The Nepal Compact will be implemented in line with Nepal's anti-corruption and fraud related regulations, and additionally, MCA-Nepal will also follow MCC’s Policy on Preventing, Detecting and Remediating Fraud and Corruption in MCC Operations.

The policy prohibits any fraud and corruption, which include acts of coercion, collusion, corruption, fraud, and obstruction of investigation into allegations of fraudulent or corrupt practices, in the solicitation and use of MCC funds.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 January 2020. 

Don’t help fraudulent companies to flourish, FM asks auditors

Kathmandu, Dec. 22

Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada on Sunday said that the auditors should be more aware while performing audit of companies and organisations as the IT-based financial frauds and corruption activities had been increasing recently.

"There are fraudulent companies that are developed through fake documents and have fake financial reports and balance sheets. Auditors must not help such companies to flourish," he said while addressing an interaction on 'Professional integrity for combating corruption and fraud' organised by Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN).

He said that there were fake companies and the auditors are preparing sham balance sheets and financial reports of such firms. "Auditors must not play roles in approving the fraudulent activities of such institutions," said Dr. Khatiwada.

He urged the auditors to keep them updated about the latest financial technology and instruments to support in combating economic crimes.  He also said that every professional ranging from chartered accountant to lawyers must try to uphold the professional integrity and follow the professional code of conduct.

"The government is spearheaded to maintain good governance and transparency with zero-tolerance to corruption. We are enacting many laws for the same," said the Finance Minister.

Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Nabin Kumar Ghimire stated that no auditor should work with an intent to cover financial crime and misappropriation.

Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal said that while fighting with corruption, it was necessary that every professional was performing within the professional values and norms.

According to him, tax evasion, financial misappropriation and decentralisation of corruption were the major challenges of the present day.

"The global trend show that the private sector is focused in cheating and the public sector is trying to hide corruption," he said. He urged the concerned agencies and professionals like auditors to be cautions as the issue of money laundering was being raised at the international level.

Chairman of ICAN Krishna Prasad Acharya said that the public had felt that there was erosion of integrity in different profession and business. "We want to promote good practice and help the government in curbing corruption," he said.

Spokesperson of CIAA Pradip Koirala said that investigating agencies had less confidence that the audit reports of companies were fair and true. He expressed concerns over the increasing trend of corruption at the local bodies.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 23 December 2019. 

Govt active in curbing corruption: PM

Kathmandu, July 30

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Sunday that the government was active in curbing corruption. 

“It is not that corruption has increased now, but it has been so due to the arrest of increasing number of the corrupt officials,” he said while talking with a delegation led by former Deputy Prime Minister Chitra Bahadur KC, chair of Rastriya Janamorcha.

He said that the government wouldn’t spare any corrupt individual and would not favour any high officials due to their high posts. 

PM Oli reiterated that the government wouldn’t spare anyone who had encroached the public land and all invaded land and occupied by land-mafia would be brought to the government’s ownership through legal remedies. 

“The investigation on Lalita Niwas land was initiated by the present government but some people are making hue and cry as if the land was encroached by the government itself,” he said. “What did the previous governments do regarding the land scam? It is a pity that the same leaders are blaming us,” he added. 

The KC-led delegation had met the PM to demand the establishment of an Area Administration Office in Galkot of Baglung district. 

Accepting the memorandum from the leader, PM Oli said that he was positive about developing the office in Galkot since the government had the policy to provide hassle free and fast service to all people. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 31 July 2019. 

CIAA files corruption case against its former chief Pathak

Kathmandu, Mar. 26:

The Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) on Tuesday filed a case against its former commissioner Raj Narayan Pathak and former Director of Nepal Engineering College in Changunarayan, Bhaktapur Lambodar Neupane claiming a fine equal to Rs. 7.8 million each.

The anti-graft body said that Pathak had accepted bribe equal to that amount from Neupane to settling a dispute over ownership of the college.

The CIAA has decided to carry out a separate investigation into a matter regarding bribe money of about Rs. 1.5 million by Pathak's brother Shubha Narayan Pathak to facilitate in obtaining affiliation for a new college.

Meanwhile, the CIAA has caught Senior Livestock Development Officer Dr. Ram Gulam Yadav and Veterinary Technician Jageshwor Chaudhari red-handed from Bisahara of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City following a compliant that they were asking bribes from the customers of the Rhizobium and Grass Seed Laboratory of Dhanusha district.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 27 March 2019. 

No mechanism in place to ensure quality work of infrastructure projects

Kathmandu, Jan. 30:

The country that has more than thousand sick infrastructure projects does not have an institutional mechanism to check and ensure the quality of development work.

Unlike the practice in other countries, the government agencies responsible for the infrastructure development either do not have a capable engineering department or lack proper mechanism and human resources.

"Some agencies have deliberately weakened their engineering department so that the corruption can go unabated," said a public procurement expert in the condition of anonymity.

According to him, the standard monitoring system has almost collapsed in most of the government institutions, including the Public Procurement Monitoring Office (PPMO) that has the responsibility to ensure good governance in the public entity's procurement system.

In a report published recently, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) concluded that at least 1,032 infrastructure development projects – such as roads, hydroelectricity, irrigation, water supply, urban structures, airports and local infrastructure – have been chronic and experiencing time and cost overrun.

Experts say that most of the contracts are awarded in a hurry without proper feasibility study and implementation action plan.

"The development projects are planned and executed on an ad hoc basis while some of them are the tool to fulfill the vested interest of certain politician or a minister. There have been instances that after awarding the contract, it was known that certain construction material were not available," said the procurement expert.

Spokesperson at Nepal Electricity Authority Prabal Adhikari is also of the view that the projects go on the floor without sufficient study and preparation.

"Most of the infrastructure projects are facing problem due to the inability to address the social and environmental issues in the beginning. Social issues like land acquisition and environment impact assessment (EIA) should be concluded before awarding the contract since most of the projects are facing glitches in these two aspects," he said.

Adhikari said that the provision in the Public Procurement Act to award the tender to the lowest bidders did not ensure quality in development works.

The lowest bidders take the payment of the initial 20 per cent of the contract amount and never start the work.

The CIAA study concluded that the contractors had siphoned off about Rs. 24 billion as 20 per cent initial mobilisation cost. Of the 1,848 tender agreements amounting to Rs. 118 billion were not completed in their pre-set time period while about 56 per cent contracts were extended and have remained as sick projects.

NEA Spokesperson Adhikari claimed that the electricity monopoly has monitoring mechanisms at its headquarters and consultants are also mobilised to monitor the quality of the construction in the fields.

A Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) source said that the implementing agencies like the Department of Roads (DoR) need a system overhaul.

The DoR is implementing 906 projects and 242 of them are sick, said the anti-graft body. Similarly, the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction has 442 chronic projects and the Department of Water Resources and Irrigation has 235 incomplete projects.

"There are no effective monitoring mechanisms at the implementing agencies. Quality control tools are rarely used," said the MoPIT.

According to the rules, if a contractor stops working for more than 30 consecutive days and does not follow the action plan approved by the managing agency, it will be a ‘fundamental breach of the contract’ and the work should be expedited when there is poor progress.

But very few contractors have been punished for delaying the projects.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 31 January 2019. 

Contractors siphoned off Rs. 24b from sick projects

Kathmandu, Jan. 29:

At least 1,032 infrastructure development projects managed by different eight government agencies are experiencing time overrun but their term extension has not been made.

According to a study of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), about 1,848 tender agreements amounting Rs. 118 billion were not completed in their announced time-frame while about 55.8 per cent contracts weren’t extended.

 But the contractors have siphoned off about Rs. 24 billion as 20 per cent mobilisation cost.

“The contractors have got the payment of the initial 20 per cent of the contract amount but there has been zero or nominal progress in most of the projects which means the term of the advanced payment guarantee has been finished,” read the report.

People and the country are experiencing huge losses due to the incomplete infrastructure projects as the chances of infrastructure’s contribution to the society, economy and country have been killed.

According to the rules, if a contractor stops working for more than 30 consecutive days and does not follow the action plan approved by the managing agency, it would be a ‘fundamental breach of the contract’ and work should be expedited when there is poor progress.

“But the responsible agencies have turned blind eyes to the mismanagement and delay at the project. As the contracts had been tendered out without proper procurement plan, many of them are left in lurch,” said the CIAA.

There had been term extension for eight times in a project, which exhibits the negligence on the part of the government agencies and the officials in preparing the tender document, deciding the contract period and terms of reference.

Nepal Electricity Authority has extended the term of a project twice the time of its defined period while a project which was supposed to be completed in two years six months couldn’t be completed in seven years and six months.

All the rules of contract – time, quality and cost control and finishing– have been breached.

The study has also found that there was a trend of finding scapegoat and excuses when there was a poor performance in the project.

The Department of Roads (DoR) under the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has 906 incomplete projects under its jurisdiction, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC) under the Ministry of Urban Development has 442 projects and Department of Water Resources and Irrigation (DoWRI) under the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has 235 incomplete projects.

Similarly, the DoR, DUDBC and DoWRI have 623, 171 and 94 projects respectively without term extension as well.

Other agencies having large number of sick projects are the Department of Local Infrastructure under the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, NEA under the MoWRI, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Nepal Telecommunication Company under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (MoWSS) under the Ministry of Water Supply.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 30 January 2019. 

Accusation and denial in wide-body jet purchase

I'm not guilty: Adhikari

Kathmandu, Jan. 7

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Rabindra Adhikari has denied all accusations of financial misappropriation labelled on him by the sub-committee formed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament in the purchase of the two wide-body aircraft for the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) last year.

"I am not involved in the procurement process of the wide-body Airbus 330-200. I had only tried to ensure that the aircraft were delivered to the NAC on time, and operate commercial flights using those planes," he said at a press conference organised to give his say on the wide-body purchase scam.

He appealed to the anti-graft bodies to conduct a transparent investigation into the matter and bring out the truth and punish the guilty.

Minister Adhikari also assured his full cooperation in the investigation process carried out by the examination commission formed by the government and other responsible bodies.

Replying to the accusations made by the House panel, he said, "I take the parliamentary committees in high regard. But at the same time, development should not be affected in the name of investigation."

He made his saypublic five days after the PAC subcommittee concluded that about Rs. 4.355 billion was misappropriated while obtaining the jets, and recommended taking stern actions against the incumbent Tourism Minister.

The subcommittee report had suggested holding  two former tourism ministers  Jitendra Dev and Jiban Bahadur Shahi morally responsible while demanded maximum punishment to Managing Director of NAC Sugat Ratna Kansakar, chairmen of Board of Directors Prem Kumar Rai, Shankar Adhikari and Krishna Prasad Devkota and all officials who were involved in the procurement process.

"NAC is an autonomous organisation and is run by the Board of Directors and executive head. Therefore, the minister has no role in the organisational process of the company other than the policy leadership," Minister Adhikari said.

"When I held the rein of the ministry, the Sales-Purchase Agreement (SPA) between the NAC and AAR Consortium was already concluded and the payment schedule was also approved. So, I had no legal grounds to change the schedule or stall the payment," he added.

He said that although the Auditor General's last year's report had questioned the intention behind the procurement process, he had no excuse to stop the payment since the Supreme Court had directed to complete the payment process.

According to Adhikari, if he had not sent the last payment of the aircraft price, Rs. 9 billion which was already paid, could be at risk, and there could have been a situation whereby the country would have neither the plane nor the money.

Punish ministers and officials: PAC

Kathmandu, Jan. 7

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament on Monday directed the government and Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to hold the former and sitting tourism ministers—Jiban Bahadur Shahi, Jitendra Dev and Rabindra Adhikari–morally responsible in the procurement of the wide-body jets and punish them as per the law.

Although the subcommittee formed to look into the issue had recommended holding the former two ministers morally responsible and taking actions against the incumbent Minister Adhikari, the House panel now has demanded similar actions against them.

"So far as the involvement of the ministers in the procurement is concerned, the secretary of the Ministry is the chairman of the NAC Board of Directors and has the responsibility of clearing the arrears. Therefore, the greater responsibility for cautions was of the secretary, the ministers did not exhibit enough attention to the aircraft procurement process which was against the Public Procurement Act 2006," said the PAC.

The PAC had directed the government and the CIAA to suspend Secretary of the Tourism Ministry Krishna Prasad Devkota and Managing Director of the NAC Sugat Ratna Kansakar and initiate a process to exert maximum punishment to them as they incurred a huge loss to the country.

"Even though the report of the AG had mentioned that the aircraft procurement process was not according to the law, Secretary Devkota has continued the process of buying an old aircraft and made the payment of the later instalments instead of examining the procurement activities," read the PAC decision.

Similarly, the committee said that Kansakar played the main role in purchasing the old aircraft with ill-intention. "He has abused his authority. Therefore, he should be suspended and punished as per the law."

The PAC has demanded similar actions against the erstwhile tourism secretary and NAC Board Chairman Shankar Prasad Adhikari.

It also held the NAC Board members responsible in abusing their authority and demanded severe actions against them.

The House panel also directed the government and the CIAA to investigate into the involvement of the members of various sub-committees formed while procuring the aircraft.

However, the PAC gave a clean chit to former Tourism Secretary and NAC Board Chairman Prem Kumar Rai saying that he was not holding the post while formulating the Request For Proposal (RFP) to procure the aircraft.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 8 January 2019.