After former CIAA chief Lokman Singh Karki was unseated by the Supreme Court verdict declaring him unfit for the post, the corruption watchdog commission was running without a chief. Likewise, the Office of the Auditor’s General was also looking forward to a new AG after the former AG Bhanu Acharya resigned from his post a few months ago. The government has finally filled these two constitutional positions - Deep Basnyat as CIAA chief and Tanka M. Sharma as the new AG (“New CIAA chief, AG sworn in”, THT, May 23, Page 3). The role of CIAA chief in our country seems to be crucial and challenging.

However, the political interference and threats continue to make the chief unable to fully exercise his authority letting big fish swim around freely. There were some cases of political leaders in the past spending time behind the bars charged with corruption. However, we have not heard in recent times about the CIAA putting any corrupt people behind the bars. There is rampant institutionalised corruption in the country. Common people have to pay even for seeking government services. Likewise, the role of AG is vital in terms of making the government and its ministries, departments and their local level organizations aware of budget spending irregularities by carrying out periodic internal audits. Billions of rupees have been misappropriated by the government organizations in the last several years as cited in the AG’s annual report recently submitted to the President. There is no proper follow-up and controlling mechanism from the concerned officials and organizations to recover dues from concerned people and organizations; as a result, the volume of accumulated amounts continues to swell every year.

Rai Biren Bangdel, Maharajgunj

Production

This has reference to the article by Prahlad Giri “Productive sector lending” (THT, May 18, Page 8). I agree with the

author’s opinion when he talks about productive sector lending and its other aspects. In Nepal, the monsoon is coming soon. During this season, farmers remain busy in planting paddy. However, the weathermen have forecast that this year’s monsoon will arrive late. Over 90 percent farmers depend on monsoon rains to plant paddy, the main cereal crop on which almost all people consume it daily. So, the role of paddy and its production is vital in Nepal’s economy, employment and food supply.

Depending on the monsoons for paddy plantation has resulted in fluctuations in rice production and its productivity. In order to mitigate this challenge the government should give top priority to developing irrigation facilities in the plain region, which is the food basket of the country. During this current fiscal, the national economy grew at about 6.2 percent thanks to the fair monsoon. The agriculture sector cannot be modernized unless the government makes heavy investment on irrigation canals.

Saroj Wagle, Bara