KATHMANDU, AUGUST 16
The National Vigilance Centre has recommended that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority initiate action against 9,590 government employees who failed to submit their property details in the fiscal 2021-22.
It accounts for 1.32 per cent of the total employees (728,747) who were obliged to abide by the existing law.
If a person does not submit the statement of property details within the prescribed time-frame, he/she will be liable to a fine of Rs 5,000 and the concerned body or official may launch investigation into the property in his/her and his/her family members' names. The NVC has introduced online system to ascertain the submission of property details of public post holders in accordance with the existing law.
As per the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2002, any person who joins public office is required to submit the updated statement of property in his/ her or his/her family members' name along with sources of income to the body prescribed by the government within 60 days from the date of joining such office and thereafter within 60 days from the date of completion of each fiscal year.
The concerned body may extend the deadline for submission of such details by a maximum of 30 days. The concerned offices will be required to submit property details of their employees to the NVC in sealed envelopes separately. It is compulsory to mention the name, surname, post, service/ group, level, office and mobile number of each employee in the envelope.
If property details of any employeeis not submitted even within the extended period, the NVC refers the names and personal details of such employees to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority for legal action. Any employee who fails to submit the statement of property details even within the extended time limit shall be subject to a fine of Rs 5,000 and an investigation into his/her assets.
According to the NVC, 719,157 out of 728,747 employees had submitted their property details. The civil servants from all three levels of government are required to submit their property details to the NVC through the Department of Civil Personnel Records. Nepali Army personnel are required to furnish the details to Army Record Office, police personnel to Police Record Management Department, school teachers to School Teacher Record Office and other persons holding public office to the concerned agencies.
The NVC said it had written to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority to initiate legal action against the erring employees.
A version of this article appears in the print on August 17, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
