Koshi Province Public Accounts Committee Directs Chief Minister's Office to Reduce Consultant Spending

Biratnagar. Koshi Province's Public Accounts Committee has directed the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers' Office not to spend excessively in the name of consultants without utilizing the employee mechanism. A meeting of the committee held at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat on Friday instructed that the Chief Minister's Office, which has been spending crores of rupees on consultancy services for various policy-making and studies, should discourage such activities in the future.

A clause-by-clause discussion was held on the seventh annual report of the Auditor General in the meeting. During the discussion, MPs questioned Secretary Narayan Prasad Risal of the Chief Minister's Office and Executive Director Dr. Saroj Koirala of the Koshi Province Investment Authority about consultancy services, low budget expenditure, and employee management.

At the beginning of the meeting, Secretary Risal responded to the absence of responsible officials from the Chief Minister's Office in the previous two meetings. He apologized for not being able to attend due to busyness and health problems. He said, 'I could not attend the meeting on Jestha 27th due to preparation for policy and programs, and in the last meeting, I was on an inspection of offices in the hilly districts. Another secretary also had health problems. An employee cannot be absent when summoned by a parliamentary committee; this will not happen in the future.'

During the discussion, the budget expenditure status of the Chief Minister's Office appeared very weak. According to the Auditor General's report, only 53.70 percent of the total budget was spent in the fiscal year 2080/81, with 55.36 percent spent on current expenditure and only 38.72 percent on capital expenditure.

MP Bhupendra Rai asked the reason for the low budget expenditure. In response, Secretary Risal argued that the budget allocated for salaries and allowances could not be spent due to a lack of employees according to the approved staffing. Risal said, 'Although our sanctioned posts are over 4,100, about 700 positions are still vacant. This is the main reason why only 60 percent of the budget for salaries and allowances has been spent. Also, expenditure appeared low because major budget-allocated programs like provincial capital management and investment conferences could not be completed in that year.'

The most contentious issue of the meeting became 'purchase of consultancy services'. MPs raised serious questions about the Chief Minister's Office spending 2 crore 44 lakh 89 thousand rupees through consultants in just one year. The committee questioned the hiring of external experts for tasks such as lawmaking, poverty alleviation strategy, and tourism development policy.

MP Indira Thapa asked, 'The Chief Minister's Office has a secretary and an expert team for legal matters, there is a Ministry of Tourism, and a Ministry of Physical Infrastructure. But why are consultants needed for small tasks? Why is the work of nurturing consultants being done by not giving work to employees?'

Secretary Risal claimed that consultants were hired for some technical issues and for tasks requiring a 'third party view'. He said, 'We take such consultancy services under PLGSP and Provincial Support Programs. In some cases, external experts are necessary for technical studies that cannot be done by internal staff alone.'

However, MP Kishorchandra Dulal disagreed. He said, 'The Chief Minister's Office is the guardian of all ministries. If the guardian itself runs on consultants, what will other ministries learn? This is like a father and son drinking together. If the father drinks, the son cannot say he won't drink. The Chief Minister's Office must stop this anomaly.'

MPs expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the Chief Minister's Office had appointed consultants to train members of the Provincial Assembly in some cases. They said it was shameful that consultants were needed to write a simple report when the Chief Minister's Office itself had 4 secretaries and a large employee mechanism.

Koshi Province Investment Authority Chief Saroj Koirala provided information about the status of investment conferences and other projects. He complained that although the process for various plans was moving forward, there was a lack of resources. Koirala said, 'We don't have technical manpower. We don't even have vehicles to go to project sites. We have problems with field visits due to the lack of a single four-wheel-drive vehicle.'

Koirala stated that the reports submitted by the consultants had already been presented to the Chief Minister's Office and the Investment Board and sought assurance of their implementation. After the discussion, the Accounts Committee clearly directed the Chief Minister's Office to fully utilize the employee mechanism and reduce consultancy services.

In the meeting, MPs warned that it was not good for the same irregularities and discrepancies to be repeated in the Auditor General's report. MP Bhupendra Rai said, 'The Chief Minister's Office itself must lead good governance. Let the report show reduced spending on consultancy services and active internal employees when we come next time.'