Kathmandu, February 13

The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has issued a directive to all ministries and offices located on the premises of Singha Durbar to manage vehicles and other goods that are not in operation and promote cleanliness and greenery.

The administrative headquarters of the country houses the OMPCM, 24 ministries, Secretariat of National Planning Commission, Parliamentary Secretariat and 23 other government offices. As per the directive, all ministries and offices situated on the Singha Durbar premises are either required to properly manage old and abandoned vehicles or auction them off.

As per the Financial Procedures Rules-2007, the office in-charge may auction off the vehicles and goods which are older than 12 years and not in running condition, or repairing expenditure of more than 25 per cent of the market price of the same goods has to be incurred to bring them into running condition, said an official.

The concerned ministry or department will have to form a five-member committee led by a gazetted first class officer designated by the concerned secretary or departmental head to make a valuation of such vehicles or furniture. If the concerned ministry or department considers the recommendation of the committee reasonable, it may approve the recommendation for auctioning off such property.

Despite the enactment of the laws to address these issues, the premises of the ministries and government offices have become a dumping site of old vehicles, furniture and other goods. Damaged and non-operational vehicles have become an eyesore in Singha Durbar, with visitors and service-seekers complaining that the junk needs to be disposed of without further delay.

It is giving a clear message of mismanagement on the part of the government to foreign dignitaries and guests who usually visit the administrative headquarters for signing bilateral agreements.

Even Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, while launching the cleanliness and greenery promotion campaign yesterday, had termed Singha Durbar ‘a scrap house’ given the mismanagement of old vehicles and furniture and directed the concerned ministries and offices to dispose of them and keep their premises clean. There are more than 200 abandoned cars, vans and jeeps on the Singha Durbar premises, not to mention the furniture.