KATHMANDU, March 7: The Council of Ministers has sought another round of clarification from the managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Kulman Ghising, a household name in Nepal for his role in bringing an end to loadshedding in the country.
Ghising is also credited for transforming the loss-making public utility into a profitable institution.
The Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers sent a letter to Ghising, seeking clarification on why his appointment as the MD of the NEA should not be revoked by the Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation.
The letter cites four points of clarification sought by the ministry: failure to submit the performance agreement on time, unauthorized signing of Nepal-India electricity exchange agreements, non-compliance with ministry directives, and negligence in fulfilling executive duties. The letter states that Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting took the decision to seek clarification from Ghising.
The letter stated, “Why should we not terminate your appointment when you have failed to submit a progress report of the NEA for fiscal year 2023/24 as per the clause 9.5 of the performance agreement signed by the ministry and you (Ghising), and clause 10.3 of the agreement explicitly provides the ministry the right to terminate your contract when you fail to submit the progress report?”
Secondly, the government has objected to Ghising’s signing of the bilateral agreement by participating in the Nepal-India Electricity Exchange Committee without any authority vested in him to do so.
Ghising had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Electricity Authority of India for bilateral power exchange for the fiscal year 2024/25 and 2025/26 without taking the consent of the Government of Nepal in the 15th meeting held on March 11, 2024 and the 16th meeting held on February 12, 2025.
The government has questioned why it should not remove Ghising from the post for violating Clause 2 (b) of The Nepal Treaty Act, 2047 BS and Clause 2 (g) of the Directive for Concluding the Treaty, 2077 BS.
Thirdly, the letter states that as per the decision of the Council of Ministers on November 10, the government's directive regarding fixing and charging the outstanding amount of electricity consumed by the customers using electricity through dedicated feeder and transmission line (including time of day meter) has not been implemented. The government has claimed that Ghising disobeyed the directives received from the ministry.
Fourthly, the government has asked why Ghising should not be removed from the post for not fulfilling the duties required to be performed by the managing director of NEA as per the Nepal Electricity Authority Act, 2049 BS.
Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Deepak Khadka said the government has decided to give Ghising three days' time to present the clarifications.
Earlier on February 4, the Ministry of Energy had asked Ghising twice to explain why he should not be removed from the post. However, Ghising dismissed the clarification and sent a letter to the ministry stating that the ministry does not have the authority to remove him.
Following Ghising's reply, Minister Khadka proposed to the Council of Ministers to seek yet another clarification from Ghising. The ministry then sought another clarification on February 25, citing the reason that it was not satisfied with the earlier reply.
Ghising, who has five months left for his term to end, was appointed for a second term by the previous government on August 9, 2021, and has become the target of the incumbent government in the second half of his tenure. He has become a thorn in the side of Minister Khadka and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli for his refusal to settle the tariff dispute with defaulting industries for using dedicated feeders and trunk lines.