Dhangadi, June 20

Former ministers speaking at a public interaction in Dhangadi, Kailali,  today accused bureaucrats of being the biggest hurdle in achieving their targets during their tenure.

“People often blame ministers for this or that, but to tell you frankly, it’s not the ministers who have a say at the ministry; much depends on the bureaucrats,” former agriculture minister Gauri Shankar Chaudhary told the audience.

“It takes us the first few months to know the staff. But even after that, we can hardly get anything done due to lack of cooperation from the staff,” he added.

A CPN-Maiost Centre leader, Chaudhary was in power for about nine months during the outgoing Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government. “Though I was a minister for nine months, my two months were spent in learning the ways of the staff. I couldn’t do anything even in the remaining time as it was hard to get bureaucrats to do what I wanted,” he said, suggesting full-term government as a solution. “As they think ministers come and go, they don’t bother to obey us,” he added.

Former education state minister Mohansingh Rathaur shared a similar experience. “In our country, bureaucrats are allowed to engage in politics, which is the main reason why they are so wayward. In my observation, employees at the ministries, who are supporters of this or that party, keep development plans and policies on hold until someone of their party comes to the helm,” he observed.