The Provincial Assembly of Madesh has passed an investigative report concluding that two ministries of the Madesh government engaged in financial irregularities. The report, presented by a special parliamentary investigation committee, was unanimously approved during the assembly session on Wednesday.
Speaker Ramchandra Mandal stated, “The remaining procedures will now proceed. We will formally hand over the approved report to the government, and it will then be up to the government to take further action.”
The investigation committee was formed a year ago, led by Upendra Mahato and comprising 11 members, to look into irregularities within the Ministries of Finance and Tourism for the fiscal year 2079/80. Complaints had arisen about the improper reallocation of special and conditional grants by these ministries.
The report highlighted severe budgetary irregularities within the Finance and Tourism Ministries. Notably, over NPR 420 million was reallocated based on the personal letterhead of Sunita Yadav, the former Minister for Industry, Tourism, and Forests. This amount was primarily spent on constructing temples, community buildings, entrance gates, and compound walls. The funds were sent to the Land and Watershed Management Offices in Siraha, Lahan, and Rautahat.
The Finance Ministry was found to have distributed conditional grants contrary to established procedures. According to the Provincial Conditional Grant Procedure, 2078, projects and programs under NPR 5 million should not be allocated to sub-metropolitan and metropolitan cities. However, the Finance Ministry violated this rule by allocating conditional grants to several municipalities.
For instance, NPR 2.5 million was allocated to Birgunj Metropolitan City-15 for road and drainage construction from Jagarnath Sonar’s house to Abulais’s house. Similarly, NPR 2.5 million was allocated for PCC paving in Ward No. 4 of Janakpur Sub-metropolitan City. Another NPR 2.5 million was allocated for an unfinished community building in Jeetpur Simara Sub-metropolitan City. The Finance Ministry also allocated multiple NPR 2.5 million projects to Birgunj, Janakpur, Kalaiya, and Jeetpur Simara.
The report further indicated mismanagement of special grants. As per the Special Grant Procedure 2078, grants should not be provided for projects and programs costing less than NPR 2.5 million. Despite this, the Finance Ministry allocated several small-scale projects under this heading. For example, Birgunj Metropolitan City received two grants of NPR 1 million each and additional grants of NPR 2 million, NPR 1.7 million, and NPR 1.3 million. Similarly, Karjanha Municipality received two grants of NPR 1 million each and another grant of NPR 0.5 million, while Rajbiraj Municipality and Suvarna Rural Municipality received multiple grants.
The reallocations were made towards the end of the fiscal year based on letters from various ministries, and the report also indicated that there were discrepancies in the initial budget allocations. Funds allocated under miscellaneous headings were diverted for emergency expenditures.
Former Finance Minister Sanjay Kumar Yadav denied any wrongdoing, asserting that the budget was not misused. He described the investigation committee’s report as fabricated and driven by personal vendettas, claiming that the committee chairperson was his political rival.
Similarly, former Tourism Minister Sunita Yadav dismissed the report as misleading and motivated by the committee chairperson’s agenda. She stated that neither she nor her secretary had engaged in any misconduct and challenged anyone to provide evidence of her wrongdoing.
The passing of this report marks a significant step towards addressing financial irregularities within the Madesh government, and the subsequent actions taken by the government will be closely watched.
