Billions of govt property being wasted in ministries

Bishnu Prasad Aryal
Kathmandu, November 3

The outer looks and design of the Ministry of Local Development (MoLD), which was crafted in the period of Ranas, look grand and beautiful. On the contrary, the premises are full of unused vehicles, damaged furniture, utensils and stationeries everywhere.

In similar way, rows of unused vehicles, heap of furniture, computers and other utensils are common phenomena in all of the government ministries. More than a billion of rupees is being rotten on the premises of the Ministries of the Government of Nepal, according to high level source at the MoLD.

“However, the concerned authorities are aloof from utilising them properly,” said Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, spokesperson for the MoLD. “Such property worth at least Rs one billion has been wasted grossly in all the ministries due to the negligence,” he added.

There are more than two dozens of ministries and many dozens of departments under those ministries. None of the ministries is seriously handling the government properties, said Thapaliya. “The properties should be inspected in each six months and prepared the details every year by categorising with maintainable and no maintainable property. However, it is yet to be practiced.”

According to the law and bylaws, those properties such as vehicles, computers, furniture and utensils should be auctioned annually by meeting rules. “Law has been implemented nowhere well in our country,” Thapaliya worried. “It’s the responsibility of secretaries and department heads to maintain the system. But we could not have done yet because of the various obstacles,” he conceded.

Thapaliya also admitted that the MoLD has failed to utilise its materials worth at least Rs two million. “The pipes and other materials worth millions of rupees have been dumped in the District Development Committees, foreign aided projects while many seized vehicles have been garaged at the custom offices in the border areas,” he said. More than a dozen vehicles including Land Cruiser and Toyota brands are dumped at the MoLD premises.

Lekhnath Paudel, spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said the process of auction was very lengthy and problematic issue. “There is also lack of responsibility and priority to utilise the property,” he said, adding that bulk of vehicles and materials are wasted in the ministry and its departments.

A senior official at the Ministry of Home Affairs, where hundreds of vehicles including confiscated ones are being damaged, said that they have started auctioning such vehicles. “We don’t have actual records of all the vehicles and objects accumulated in the ministry and its departments,” he said anonymously.