KATHMANDU, Dec 6: The government appears intent on undermining the reform report prepared for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). Instead of implementing the recommendations, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) has taken a contradictory step—appointing its joint secretary, Mukesh Dangol, as CAAN’s Officiating Director General, sidelining the senior-most officials within the authority.
A high-level committee led by Anil Kumar Sinha had earlier submitted a detailed report identifying structural weaknesses in Nepal’s civil aviation sector and recommending solutions, including appointing CAAN leadership from within its own ranks. Ironically, Sinha now serves as the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs; Industry, Commerce and Supplies; and Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.
Despite receiving the report during his own tenure, no move has been made toward its implementation.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki has kept the MoCTCA under her direct supervision. Sinha—also a former Supreme Court justice—submitted the report to her in Kartik. Shortly afterwards, he joined the Karki-led Cabinet.
The ministry’s appointment of Dangol runs directly counter to the committee’s recommendation. On Friday, the MoCTCA handed him the additional duty of Director General. Although a technical employee by background, Dangol is currently stationed in the ministry’s administrative division. His appointment follows the CIAA’s corruption case against CAAN Director General Pradeep Adhikari at the Special Court, leading to his suspension.
Despite having five senior officials in CAAN’s 12th tier, the ministry appointed Dangol—equivalent to the 11th tier—to lead the organization. Among those senior to him are Pratap Babu Tiwari, Premnath Thakur, Debchandra Karna, Hansaraj Pandey, and Jagannath Nirola. Based on both hierarchy and the committee’s recommendations, Tiwari should have been next in line.
“By bypassing CAAN’s senior officials and bringing in a junior employee from the ministry, there has been direct interference,” a CAAN official said. According to the official, the move disregards Prime Minister Karki’s stated principle that appointments must follow seniority. The official also claimed that the Prime Minister was misled regarding the circumstances.
Several senior CAAN officials were excluded because they had faced past complaints at the CIAA or had previously undergone investigations. “Earlier too, Tiwari was sidelined, and Pradeep Adhikari was appointed under political pressure. The same injustice has been repeated. This decision has thrown senior staff into uncertainty,” a source said.
The Sinha-led committee—formed by a Cabinet decision on October 18, 2024—had clearly emphasized that CAAN’s leadership should come from within the organization. The committee included civil aviation management expert Rajendra Bahadur Singh, aviation safety expert Bheshraj Subedi, Captain Riwaj Pradhan, and MoCTCA joint secretary Ram Krishna Lamichhane as member-secretary.
“Top bureaucrats responsible for managing the aviation sector may not like this report. But since the Cabinet has accepted it and sent it to the ministry, we hope at least some of its recommendations will be implemented,” a committee member had said while submitting the report. “We submitted a factual, unbiased report as instructed. But truth is rarely pleasant.”
Following Dangol’s appointment, five 12th-tier CAAN employees are uncertain whether to even report to work. Assigning an 11th-tier-equivalent officer to lead them has placed them in an awkward and demoralizing position.
The episode also underscores that Sinha himself—who became a minister after submitting the report—has not taken the initiative to push for its implementation.
The committee’s report also includes broad recommendations for reforming Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC). It identifies corruption, political meddling, and ministerial interference as the biggest obstacles to managerial improvement. It notes that loans invested in the authority have become increasingly unproductive, urging urgent corrective measures.
The report highlights the government’s failure to improve NAC’s deteriorating financial condition despite full ownership. It warns that the continued inability to justify government-operated management has heightened risks.
It states that NAC’s financial condition is “severely alarming,” marked by capital erosion, financial decline, and persistent business challenges—yet without any restructuring of investment capital.
The report stresses that government investments must be tied to performance responsibilities. It also criticizes the Ministry of Finance—responsible for approving the corporation’s financial decisions—for neglecting the financial stability of a fully government-owned, profit-oriented institution.
“The government must evaluate and address NAC’s financial obligations,” the report states. “But despite the investment remaining negative for years, the failure to inject capital through the budget has weakened the very basis of government ownership.”
Even when constitutional bodies like the Office of the Auditor General identified pressing issues, no resources were mobilized to address them, the report notes, calling it “deeply regrettable.”