Govt books arrears of Rs 41.37bn

KATHMANDU:

Various government bodies failed to maintain fiscal discipline last fiscal year as well, as their arrears went up by 18 per cent in the year.

Different government agencies booked arrears of Rs 41.37 billion in the fiscal 2012-13, as against Rs 35.07 billion in the same period the previous fiscal, a latest study shows, indicating a gross misuse of taxpayers’ money.

The biggest chunk of arrears was accumulated by ministries, followed by universities and various government bodies like committees, councils, boards and hospitals, shows the latest statistics provided by the Arrears Settlement Evaluation and Monitoring Committee formed under chief secretary Leela Mani Paudyal.

In fiscal 2012-13, various ministries had collected arrears of Rs 45.31 billion of which Rs 20.95 billion, or 46.21 per cent, was settled, leaving a due amount at Rs 24.36 billion.

Of all the ministries, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development booked the largest chunk of arrears of Rs 9.38 billion of which Rs 4.30 billion, or 45.79 per cent, was settled. The Education Ministry was listed as the second largest accumulator of arrears in the last fiscal, with the amount topping Rs 8.47 billion, of which Rs 4.02 billion, or 47.49 per cent, was recovered.

Next in the list was the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, which piled up arrears of Rs 5.39 billion, of which Rs 1.96 billion, or 36.36 per cent, was settled.

Many of these ministries accumulated high volume of arrears due to extension of huge advance payments to contractors. Other reasons are the practice of spending money unlawfully or without submitting proper documents and failure to receive compensation from foreign aid agencies for expenses made in the past.

“But above all, carelessness and indifferent attitude towards proper account management are the main reasons for failure to settle arrears,” member secretary of the arrears settlement evaluation and monitoring committee Dayanath Sharma said.

One such institution that grossly failed to maintain fiscal discipline was Tribhuvan University, which accumulated Rs 8.62 billion of arrears but was able to settle only Rs 180.06 million, or 1.86 per cent, of it. The arrears accumulated by the state-owned university was around 98 per cent of total arrears piled up by universities that is receiving government support, shows the study.

Similarly, various government bodies like committees, councils, boards and hospitals amassed arrears of Rs 10.68 billion last fiscal, of which Rs 2.24 billion, or around 21 per cent, was settled.

Government bodies are accumulating billions of rupees in arrears every year despite clear provisions in the Financial Procedures Act that calls for settlement of such amounts within 35 days of getting official reminder.

Source: THT