Nepali politicians have for too long promoted and protected contractors who should be in jail for delaying major infrastructure works. Sharda Prasad Adhikari is the perfect example of Nepal’s rotten political protectionism. Co-chair of ruling Nepal Communist Party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, lives in Adhikari’s house in Khumaltar. Adhikari’s company Shailung-Aravali Infrapower JV secured a 15-kilometer Bhatkepati-Nagarkot road project some five years ago. The company bagged the contract by bidding 40 percent below the cost estimated by the government, and the project should have been completed in two years. Adhikari should be in jail for massive delays in the project, but he is being rewarded with ever more lucrative contracts. NCP Co-chair Dahal is one of many politicians who do the bidding for contractors and enjoy the kickback from them.

KATHMANDU, Sept 14: Shailung Construction, which has been securing major construction contracts through unusually low bids has been able to avoid government blacklist even as most of the projects it has won are left incomplete for years.