RBS staff decline 'prize money' fearing CIAA wrath

KATHMANDU, Sept 30:

The employees of state-owned Rastriya Beema Sansthan (RBS) have declined prize money, equivalent to one month salary, fearing possible intervention by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).

They declined the incentive after the CIAA arrested top officials of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), including officiating managing director Suresh Kumar Agrawal, for distributing bonus by disobeying anti graft body´s direction, according to sources.

CIAA had issued a direction to RBS asking it to recover Rs 80 million doled out as prize money to its employees four years ago. Despite the direction, the RBS management was distributing prize money bowing to pressure from the employees unions.

The employees used to receive prize money along with Dashain allowance every year.

“I have received only the regular salary and Dashain allowance this year. I have not received the prize money,” an employee of the state-owned insurer said, seeking anonymity.

A cabinet decision, taken in 1994, allowed RBS to distribute prize money to the best-performing employees. However, the employees misinterpreted the decision and pressed the management pay one month additional salary as prize money to all the employees every year just before Dashain.

According to sources, employees were pressing the management to distribute prize money this year as well. However, they have not made such a demand following arrest of NOC top brass.

Nawaraj Mudhbhari, an employee union leader at RBS, denied receiving prize money. “We used to receive prize money as incentive about 7-8 years ago. It doesn´t exist now,” he added.

Though RBS should take approval of the Ministry of Finance to take major financial decisions, the RBS management had been distributing prize money without seeking the RBS board´s nod.

RBS´s accounts have not been audited for more than a decade. It has been paying salary of 23 months to its employees every year. Critics suspect massive financial anomalies in RBS as its accounts have not been audited for a long time.

At present, RBS has 160 employees.

Ram Bahadur Khadka, chief administrator of RBS, declined to comment on why the distribution of prize money has been stopped.

Source: Republica