Govt employees in Madesh Province found marking attendance two days in advance, staying home without approved leave

KATHMANDU, June 7: In Madhesh Province, it has been found that more than half of the government employees are absent from their offices without having their leave approved. Some employees mark their attendance a day or two in advance and then stay home.

The National Vigilance Center (NVC) formed a team led by Investigation Officer Buddhi Khanal to conduct surprise inspections from May 6 to May 17. The team conducted inspections in various offices in Chitwan and Sindhuli of Bagmati Province, as well as Parsa, Bara, Rautahat, and Dhanusha of Madhesh Province. During the inspections, the NVC team visited 29 government offices in those two provinces.

Following the surprise inspections, the NVC prepared a report. The report concluded that 401 employees were found absent during office hours without having their leave approved. "This means that in the offices we inspected, more than half of the employees were absent without approved leave," said Khanal. "Particularly in various offices of Madhesh Province, we observed extreme irregularities. Some employees were even found to have marked their attendance a day or two in advance and then stayed home."

Out of 36 employees, 32 absent

During the surprise inspection, the NVC team arrived at the Land Survey Office in Chitwan on May 17 at 2:12 PM. At that time, it was found that out of the 36 employees working at the Land Survey Office in Chitwan, 32 were absent. Additionally, four employees were found to be present in the office without wearing the designated uniform.

Subash Bhandari, the chief of the Land Survey Office in Chitwan, denied this claim by the NVC team. "If such a large number of employees were absent, the service delivery would have come to a complete halt. We were providing services that day," he said. When the inspection team arrived at the Road Division Office in Chitwan, they found that 17 employees, including the head, Ramesh Paudel, were not present during office hours. They had also not gotten their leave approved.

Similarly, on that date, when the inspection team arrived at the Ichchha Kamana Rural Municipality office in Chitwan, they found that 40 employees had not come to the office without having their leave approved.

At that time, the Chief Administrative Officer Chandraman Basnet himself was absent from the office without having his leave approved. Even though he didn't come to the office, his signature was found on the attendance sheet. Moreover, it was found that a majority of the employees from the upper level were also absent from the office during office hours.

The Chief Secretary of Madhesh Province, Loknath Poudel, had written in his attendance record that he was taking leave to work from home. However, it was found that he had actually gone to his home in Jhapa on that day. Additionally, in the leave approval form, he had mentioned that he would be going to Rautahat, but he did not specify the details of his visit to Jhapa. Despite indicating Rautahat in the attendance record, he had actually gone to Jhapa. This discrepancy was later discovered by the NVC team.

Similarly, none of the secretaries of any ministry and heads of other offices were present during office hours. However, according to the investigation officer Khanal, the Secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure of Madhesh Province, Saroj Kumar Goit, was present in the office but he had not marked ‘present’ in the attendance sheet. According to the investigation, some heads of offices and accountants were found to be carrying files, registers, and important documents in their bags to hide them.

Investigation Officer Khanal mentioned, “Questions may arise regarding the validity of decisions and signatures made on the days when employees were absent during office hours.'" He further added, "In some offices, even the heads were found to be absent, but their attendance was marked in the attendance register."

Attendance entered replacing NVC’s red mark

The NVC team reached the Ministry of Health and Population of Madhesh Province on May 7. At that time, the Health Secretary Dr Pramod Kumar Yadav was absent during office hours.

The NVC team had encircled Yadav's absence with a red mark in the attendance register that day. This caught Yadav's attention, prompting him to visit the office. However, he crossed out the red mark placed by the NVC team and replaced it with his attendance entry. The NVC team has confirmed this information.

During the visit of the NVC team to Gadhimai Municipality in Bara, a total of 37 employees, including the administrative chief and chief administrative officer, were found absent during office hours. When the team arrived, all the rooms of the office were deserted.