| saunak |
Posted
on 30-Oct-03 07:29 AM
How loyal are you?
"How loyal is a person to Nepal if he has already shown his readiness to leave the motherland and acquire another countrys citizenship?" Balaram KC, an advocate questioned. "Application for the Diversity Visa (DV) means readiness to be another countrys citizen, so amendment either in the Citizenship Act or Civil Service Act is imperative to address such issues," argued KC. (KTM POST)
(Kamkuro ekatira kumlo boki thimitira bhaneko yo nabhaera ke huna sakchha?)
Lure of lucre makes civil servants straddle both worlds
By YUVRAJ ACHARYA AND KIRAN BHANDARI
KATHMANDU, Oct 25 - Despite acquiring permanent residential visas in the developed countries, hundreds of senior Nepali bureaucrats ranging from acting secretary to section officers have been occupying their positions, thereby creating problems to the government.
Senior bureaucrats in Nepal apply for foreign "citizenship" obtain permanent residential visa and spend years in a foreign country under the cover of long-term leaves.
"There is no clear legal provision on this issue," said Madhav Poudel, Joint Secretary at the Ministry at the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
The issue of green card holder government officers came to the fore after Sharada Prasad Parajuli, a senior police officer, was found holding a US green card few months ago.
Acting Secretary of Law Reforms Commission Diwakar Panta owns a green card while Under Secretary at the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare Kiran Sharma has flown to USA a month ago on the same status.
Ram Chandra Man Singh, Arjun Prasad Shreshtha and Bhesha Raj Kafle, joint secretaries at the ministries of finance, water resources and land reforms respectively are a few of the senior bureaucrats staying outside the country as permanent residents.
A section officer at the National Planning Commission Surendra Shrestha and another section officer at the Cabinet Secretariat Keshav Sharma are currently in the US on permanent resident status.
Most of the officers claim they did not apply for permanent residency, but that they travelled and are staying abroad with family members who received the residential visas.
Acting Secretary Panta said he acquired the green card after his daughter received one, while Joint Secretary Shrestha said it was his wife who got the permanent residency in the USA, not him.
Tribhuvan Shreshtha of the Finance Ministry, Bhuvan Poudel of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Umakanta Parajuli of the Ministry of General Administration, Binod Bhoukaji of the Prime Ministers Office and Laxman Sharma of the Health Ministry are also outside the country as permanent residents. Tirtha Raj Gyawali, Secretary at the Ministry of General Administration, said the Ministry has no data about the number of employees staying outside permanently.
"If such cases come to our knowledge, we will immediately introduce policies to deal with it," said Gyawali. The government employees are supposed to get permission before they leave for abroad, thus it is surprising that the ministry has no such information.
Accepts Eknarayan Aryal, Director at Nijamati Kitab Khana, the record-keeping office of the civil servants reveals that there are no any records available on the number and purpose of the employees staying abroad in permanent residency visas.
"How loyal is a person to Nepal if he has already shown his readiness to leave the motherland and acquire another countrys citizenship?" Balaram KC, an advocate questioned. "Application for the Diversity Visa (DV) means readiness to be another countrys citizen, so amendment either in the Citizenship Act or Civil Service Act is imperative to address such issues," argued KC.
|
