A public hearing was organised in the far-flung Jajarkot last Sunday to expose work delay, irregularities and corruption prevailing in the government offices in the district for the first time. Public hearing is a handy tool in digging out administrative and other follies committed by individuals for personal gains. By providing a platform for the people to speak out against any transgression government officials might have knowingly committed, public hearings have helped transport the democratic spirit from the portals of power to the people. As expected, the Jajarkot hearing revealed a range of officials who were allegedly engaged in a host of malpractice. Allegations of mismanagement were reported in the areas of education, water resources, agriculture, animal husbandry and local development. Expression of dissatisfaction over six vital areas on first hearing might as well be taken as indicative of the existence of rampant irregularities in the district.

The Local Self-governance Act 1999 was promulgated primarily to advance the concept of decentralisation through self-governance. This was taken as a tool to fight poverty by trying to root out corruption at the local level. The donor agencies and government and non-governmental development bodies also looked forward to achieving good results through this piece of legislation, which delegated authority to the people. Development organisations like the UNICEF and the Dutch-funded DANIDA launched integrated decentralisation projects — the Participatory District Development Programme and Local-self Governance Programme — in 60 different districts. The results have been quite good and the project is about to be extended into the second phase. The Jajarkot hearing is also a result of years of work on the part of the officials and development agencies. The hearing proves that there are as many or more good people in the same basket where those of dubious conduct make mockery of the law. Nepal needs more of these good people.

Public hearings must be a model for the rest of the districts too. The fact, however, remains that those officials, whom the people think are taking the law into their hands must be investigated about their conduct and held responsible. Casting a blind eye to those booked by the public would only encourage the unscrupulous officials to perpetuate their follies. The officials concerned must expedite office work keeping in mind the implications of delaying the paper work. Any sane government in a functional democracy rightly executes its work well ahead of time. Nepal cannot stand out to be an exception. Thus, the public hearings must continue.