Finance Minister is liberal with state largesse

PRABHAKAR GHIMIRE KATHMANDU, Jan 30: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is supposed to control unnecessary expenditures and encourage austerity at government agencies.  Contrary to this crucial function, Minister for Finance Shankar Prasad Koirala has doled out state funds haphazardly for non-budgetary programs to please particular individuals and organizations. The MoF funds non-budgetary programs under the ´miscellaneous´ head. With Koirala providing opportunities for frequent foreign trips by individuals who have no need for such junkets and his uncontrolled and imprudent distribution of funds to different organizations and individuals, huge costs have been incurred by the state. Finance Minister Koirala Koirala has been arranging frequent foreign trips to his close aides--press advisor Sanket Koirala and personal secretary Sumin Dhakal--purportedly for participating in international programs. In a bid to maintain austerity, then finance secretary Rameshwor Khanal had taken initiatives to restrict foreign trips by the personal assistants of ministers. As a consequence, ministers generally do not take their personal assistants with them on foreign trips. “The finance minister seems not to be serious at all about his responsibility for controlling unnecessary spending. Instead, he is himself misusing state funds by leading jumbo teams to different countries, including his personal assistants,” said a senior official at MoF. Whether it is participating at the 9th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference held in Bali, Indonesia in December or visiting the USA to take part in the annual general meeting of the World Bank and IMF in October, he has continued to take his close associates along with him. The government had to foot a bill of Rs 2.9 million for an 18-member delegation to the Bali conference. The latest example of how Minister Koirala squanders state funds is his participation -- with aides Koirala and Dhakal-- in the 5th Meeting of SAARC Commerce Ministers held early this month in New Delhi. Koirala, who is liberal with foreign trips, is found to be equally liberal in doling out money to different individuals, organizations or groups. Due to pressure from Koirala, MoF officials have been compelled to issue funds meant for non-budgetary programs as financial support to different recipients, ranging from non-government organizations to various groups and individuals. Recently, Koirala directed MoF officials to provide Rs 3.3 million or a vehicle for a social organization run by Nepali Congress leader Uma Adhikari. The ministry also provided a vehicle to the National Cooperative Federation of Nepal for free. MoF recently decided to extend financial support of Rs 500,000 to a Tharu organization for holding a Maghi festival function in Kathmandu. His attempt to provide Rs 100,000 for a Magar student organization could not succeed due to resistance from MoF officials. The ministry also issued an additional Rs 5 million rupees for the treatment of Justice Ram Kumar Prasad Sah, who is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor at his residence in Kathmandu, without properly verifying the necessary documents. Sah has already received Rs 2.9 million to pay his medical bills. “Under pressure from Koirala, the ministry issued the huge amount to Sah without properly studying the medical documents,” added the source. Koirala, who is spiritually inclined, has instructed ministry officials to provide funds to various temples and shrines. Koirala pledged to provide financial assistance to Maulakalika temple at Gaidakot, Pathibhara temple in Taplejung and Binda Basini temple in Pokhara. He already come under controversy when media disclosed that he had provided Rs 30 million for an ashram run by Kamal Nayanacharya. Recently, MoF provide Rs 1.5 million to the GP Foundation at the request of Nepali Congress leader Sujata Koirala for organizing an international event. The state has been squandering tax-payer money on meaningless programs because of Minister Koirala´s imprudence, it is stated. His policy-level decisions have also placed an excessive financial burden on the state. In giving his consent to a proposal to add another 9,200 police personnel of different ranks, Koirala has dented the state coffers for decades to come. “Despite resistance from MoF officials, Koirala gave his consent to the Home Ministry to take the proposal to the cabinet to recruit the additional 9,200 police personal. This is going to burden the state for salary and pensions for decades,” said a high-level source at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM). Koirala made another policy mistake in giving his consent to open five regional offices for the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the constitutional anti-graft body. “It is one of many decisions to add offices and staff to the police, the judicial service, district attorney offices and other civil service entities, which are going to be a long-term economic burden for the government,” said the source.
Published on 2014-01-30 00:00:00