Poor management of govt vehicles draws flak from lawmakers

KATHMANDU, Oct 22:

Ministers, government officials and political big wigs ride government-owned cars but do not bother to take proper care of them, members of the Finance Committee of legislature-parliament said on Tuesday.

Members of the committee, who held discussion on management of old vehicles parked in the Singhadurbar premises, on Tuesday, said it is a matter of shame that such a petty issue was being discussed in the parliamentary meeting. "By putting development agenda in the back burner, we have to tell authorities concerned to auction off old cars and keep the premises of country´s administrative headquarters clean. It is a matter of great shame," Chandra Kanta Bhandari, a member of the committee, said.
Another member Kedar Prasad Sanjel said they were disappointed to find government officials utterly careless about their responsibility.

The issue came to fore when the Ministry of Urban Development started a clean-up campaign and clear the Singhadurbar premises by auctioning off old and neglected vehicles as preparation for the upcoming SAARC summit.

Arjun Karki, secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, said his ministry has already auctioned off 25 old vehicles. "Still there are around 100 such cars in the Singhadurbar premises. There are some more cars in the premises of the Prime Minister´s Office and the Parliament Secretariat," he added.

Karki lamented that officials were not taking proper care of vehicles
But government officials have their own story to tell. Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudel said government offices were not finding buyers for old cars. "Officials fear they will be booked on corruption charge if cars are sold at the price of scrap," Poudyal said.

Existing laws allow government offices to sold cars at the price of scrap only if they remain unused for at least 12 years.

Chief Secretary Poudyal also floated the idea of reinstating a government department, which used to manage vehicles for ministers and government officials, for better management of government vehicles. The department was dismantled after the political change of 1990.

However, former finance minister Surendra Pandey opposed the idea. "The government should allot cars only to ministers, secretaries and high-level executives. They should be given a car allowance packing that includes costs for drivers, fuel and maintenance. This will end the mismanagement of government vehicles," he added.

At present, ministries and government agencies purchase vehicles on their own. Similarly, there is no rule on who can use the government vehicles.

Prakash Jwala, chairman of the committee, said they would issue policy direction to the government on the management of government vehicles on Wednesday.

´Govt vehicles disappeared like MH 370´

Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development Arjun Karki told lawmakers on Tuesday that expensive government vehicles have disappeared like the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.

Speaking at a discussion on proper management of government vehicles at the parliamentary Finance Committee on Tuesday, Karki said the government has no idea where many vehicles costing more than Rs 10 million have gone. "There are examples of government officials renting out their vehicles to different government projects and using the project´s luxurious cars for their personal use. Such cars are never returned," he added. He, however, didn´t divulge specific details.

Karki told Republica that he would reveal details later on.

Former finance minister Surendra Pandey said most of the missing vehicles are owned by Kaligandaki Hydropower Project of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
Karki served as managing director of NEA for two terms. Poor management of govt vehicles draws flak from lawmakers

Source: Republica