In a welcome move, the parliamentary Committee on Finance and Labor Relations has sought details of government expenditure incurred by officials on foreign trips in the past two Nepali fiscal years. The committee took the step keeping in view the rising trend of government officials going on official trips abroad.
In the recent times, the government has been regularly at the receiving end for the excesses of some of its ministers while traveling outside the country. Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala, during most of her recent weeklong stay in Singapore when she accompanied her father and Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala for his medical treatment, was in constant media spotlight for driving around in a hired limousine and putting up in one of the city’s most expensive hotels. Her predecessor Upendra Yadav fared no better. He was often criticized for being outside of Nepal during most of his nine-month-long tenure.
The Nepali delegation to the recently-concluded Climate Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, too was criticized for the very same reasons. Some ministers to the delegation were charged of taking along their entire family to the summit while the about 100-member delegation was itself criticized for being too fat for a country as small as Nepal.
The ire directed at politicians and bureaucrats for squandering taxpayers’ money during such tours is not without reasons. Nepali ministers and public officials often take such trips as an opportunity to explore a new place rather than using it for presenting the country’s official stand or returning home with learnings that could be implemented back home. Many a times, Nepali ministers take part in programs and conferences that are meant for junior officials or experts or have no relevance back home.
Once the parliamentary committee finishes its work, it must make the findings public. That will not only expose the wrongdoers but will discourage public officials from traveling abroad on meaningless tours in the future or indulging in excesses with money from the state coffers
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