KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 7
The Central Monitoring and Evaluation Committee led by Chief Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi has decided to initiate the process of disposing worn-out and dysfunctional vehicles and other equipment in Singha Durbar through auction.
The 63rd meeting of the CMEC, held on November 23 decided to this effect, said a source at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The CMEC decided to manage vehicles that are not in operation and to promote cleanliness and greenery in the administrative headquarters of the country. Singha Durbar premises house the OMP- CM, 24 ministries, Secretariat of National Planning Commission, parliamentary secretariat and 23 other government offices.
As per the Financial Procedures Rules-2007, the concerned office in-charge may auction off the vehicles and goods that are older than 12 years and not in operational condition, or whose repair expenditure is more than 25 per cent of the market price of the same goods.
Contrary to the legal provision, the authorities concerned rarely auction goods, but choose to dump them on the office premises without technical examination of the machinery even when they can be repaired. This is often done to enjoy new vehicles and logistics misusing state funds.
Government authorities have the tendency to purchase new vehicles with every transfer and abandon the existing four-wheelers, furniture and other office logistics calling them 'dysfunctional, non-operational and old' without fulfilling legal procedures. This has resulted in huge loss of state funds collected from people's tax money.
Despite the enactment of law to address these issues, the premises of the ministries and government offices have become a dumping site for 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 message of mismanagement to foreign dignitaries and guests who usually visit the administrative headquarters to sign bilateral agreements. There are more than 300 dysfunctional cars, vans and jeeps on the premises of Singha Durbar, not to mention furniture.
In August 2020, the Supreme Court had issued an order to the Government of Nepal to submit a report with a proposal and action plan on the management of dysfunctional vehicles and materials dumped on the premises of government offices.
In response to a writ petition, a division bench of justices Anil Kumar Singh and Hari Prasad Phuyal had also directed the government to form a committee to dispose junk vehicles and other goods.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
