KATHMANDU: It was a noteworthy day for the

employees of National Vigilance Centre (NVC) today for they were able to get an opportunity to interact with their boss after eight years of the establishment of their office.

They were happy to find their “boss” — none other than Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal — today in the office and listen to his directives to perform their duties effectively. In return, they expressed their grievances and problems such as lack of human resources, sufficient infrastructure, less pay and perks, among others, to the visiting PM. According to the staffers, none of the successive prime ministers bothered about its day-to-day operation although it was established with a provision that the office would run under the direct control and supervision of the PM.

PM Nepal patiently listened to their grievances and expressed his commitment to fulfill their demands. The NVC office was established to control the corruption, create awareness and inspect the mismanagement of government offices in 2001. “But without the leader, we are somehow like the crow in the fog,” the staffers lamented.

So much so, they even urged the PM to dissolve the office outright if the government would pay no heed for its proper management.

Speaking to them, PM Nepal

said that most of the government agencies shared similar status and mismanagement. “This office should be in the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers but unfortunately it’s outside the Singha Durbar, which has also created the distance and communication,” he said.

According to the PM, most of

the government agencies lack

long-term policies and vision, let alone programmes.

“Along with this office, I’ve directed the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works to make necessary buildings inside the Singha Durbar within three years to transfer all the ministries inside,” he revealed.

The prime minister further added irregularities and corruption were rampant at the government offices and there was no proper mechanism to monitor such malpractices. “I’m planning to establish a monitoring body to look into such corruption prevalent in the government offices,” the PM said.