Authorities told to submit implementation status report
Jun 25, 2020 under National 834
Kathmandu, June 24
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has issued a circular to all local levels, directing them to submit their reports on implementation of the 61-point recommendation made by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.
According to the MoFAGA, the local levels will be required to submit their implementation status report to the line ministry by July 2 in a specified format.
On December 1, it had circulated the CIAA recommendations to the local levels regarding involvement of elected representatives and employees of municipalities and rural municipalities in irregularities and corruption while delivering public service and carrying out infrastructure development activities.
An official at the Information and Technology Section of MoFAGA said the report on implementation of CIAA recommendations were solicited as per the June 17 letter of the anti-graft body. The CIAA has directed MoFAGA to solicit report from each of the 753 local levels and submit them accordingly.
In the wake of increasing number of complaints filed by people about irregularities and corruption taking place in the local levels, the CIAA conducted a study and made the 61-point recommendation to them for compliance with the Public Procurement Act while carrying out development activities.
According the study report, local levels have been involved in numerous irregularities in collusion with local user committees and their officials. They were found violating basic criteria of the law and had been disbursing funds to contractors and other stakeholders in a haphazard and non-transparent manner.
According to the CIAA, user committees are being provided payment by local authorities in advance even without completing any work. On the basis of the report, the anti-graft body had also directed the local levels to immediately terminate the contracts of projects where there were irregularities and start a new bidding process as soon as possible.
The report also stated that the local levels were using heavy equipment for minor work which could be completed with local human resources.
Earlier, the findings of a study showed that corruption was rampant in the local levels where office-bearers and employees rarely provide services without bribe money. According to the ‘Study on Corruption in Local Levels’, the amount of bribe money to be offered or given to the concerned official depended on the nature of service needed. Service-seekers are often asked for bribe for issuance of recommendation letter and registration of personal events.
Most of the money accumulated by local level office-bearers come from development works. They indulge in corruption from formulation to implementation of plans and programmes.
Most of the respondents interviewed during the study said that chiefs of local levels, engineers/overseers and chief administrative officers were responsible for increase in corruption.
They embezzle funds in collusion with one another to serve their personal interest.
The tendency of formulating politically motivated laws and policies instead of considering people’s larger benefit had institutionalised policy corruption.
A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
