Shaming the ministers

The Prime Minister´s Office (PMO) has made public the unproductive and irrelevant domestic trips made by various government ministers and the reimbursement claims submitted by them. The PMO has published details of such trips, including the names of the ministers and their reimbursement claims, on its website www.opmcm.com. Understandably, the PMO´s intention is to publicly shame the ministers for recklessly spending taxpayer money on futile trips. But a shaming process works only if the ministers have set some ethical standards for themselves. Alas! Most of our ministers and politicians seem to have lost all sense of moral compunction. Otherwise, why would they flout directives issued by the PMO and undertake ludicrous trips to the districts and to their constituencies, with the taxpayer footing the bill? We laud the PMO´s refusal to reimburse the ministers for such trips.



Some examples of trips posted on the website show how irresponsibly our ministers have been squandering from  state coffers. For instance, Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala claimed reimbursement for expenses made during a trip to attend the inauguration of a Shiva temple in Morang on July 24. And she failed to furnish details of trips made to Ilam, Jhapa and Pokhara in August and October. She has already spent Rs 236,748 on such trips. Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar has claimed reimbursement for his visits to Dhanusa and Rautahat on November 2, but he has failed to show evidence of the trips, as required by the directives. Gachchhadar spent about Rs 500,000 over the period for his trips. But this is not just about Koirala or Gachchhadar-- almost all the ministers have misused public office and taxpayer money.



If the ministers themselves do not obey the prime minister and actively flout PMO directives, how can we think of institutionalizing probity in public life? When ministers are involved in such gross misuse of office, with what authority will they punish corruption and power abuse among civil servants? These are troubling questions that the prime minister, as leader of the council of ministers, must seek an answer to.



The prime minister cannot just do the complaining. The other day, at a function attended by almost all government secretaries, the prime minister chided them for inefficiency, red-tape and pervasive corruption. He complained, expressed his frustration and even yelled at some secretaries. Mr prime minister, as the highest authority in the country, your job is not just to complain and lament the sorry state of things; it is your responsibility to take prompt and stern action to change that. Of late, we haven´t seen the prime minister put some bite into his plaints though the barks have been aplenty.

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