Karima Begum, Minister of State for Agriculture and Co-operatives, has publicly slapped the Chief District Officer (CDO) of Parsa district, who had come to the airport to receive her. Not only did she slap CDO Durga Prasad Bhandari but when media asked the minister for her account of the incident she proudly said that she dragged the CDO by the collar and slapped him on the face five times. This is uncivilized, inhuman and deplorable to say the very least. Karima, you have disgraced yourself and the public position that you hold-- SHAME ON YOU. The reason for the face-slapping is even more outrageous. She accused the CDO of not receiving her phone call "properly" and not controlling crime in the district. But the real reason behind her anger, according to officials, is that she thought the CDO sent an "old vehicle" to take her from Simara Airport. Begum should be reprimanded by the prime minister for her gross misconduct, and her party, the Madhesi People´s Right Forum (Democratic), should recall her from the government.
But then this is not the first time that civil servants have been mistreated in such unbecoming fashion. In July 2006, then Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Matrika Yadav humiliated the Local Development Officer (LDO) of Lalitpur, Dandu Raj Ghimire, locking him up in an office toilet for hours after summoning him to the ministry. Similarly, Young Communist League cadres thrashed Dolakha CDO Uddhav Bahadur Thapa and set fire to office buildings in August 2007. In both these cases civil servant unions had demanded action against the culprits and categorically asked for a public apology from Yadav. But neither did any apology come nor was action taken against any of them. Impunity for such inhuman conduct is unthinkable in a civilized society.
Coming back to the Karima Begum case, the fact that CDOs are always expected to receive and see off a minister or a high-profile politician visiting the district is itself a big problem. Bear in mind that there are 44 ministers in the government and more so-called high-profile politicians who show up in the districts every now and then on private visits and to attend party functions. And every time they go to a district, they expect the CDO and high-level security officials to receive them at the airport, escort them to the hotel-- sometimes even book the hotel room and clear the bills. This is an unnecessary waste of resources. We understand the security needs of some ministers and politicians. But to arrange for their security doesn´t mean the top officials in the district should line up at the airport every time a political bigwig comes visiting. The cabinet should immediately pass directives discouraging civil servants from engaging in such profligate and unnecessary rituals.