KATHMANDU, Feb 8: Minister for Youth and Sports Teju Lal Chaudhary blamed the Finance Ministry for delaying the approval of guidelines and financial procedures, which has stalled the process of organizing the 10th National Sports Competition.
Speaking at a meeting of the Education, Health, and Information Technology Committee in Singha Durbar on Friday, he emphasized that administrative challenges and the need to comply with laws and regulations have obstructed the timely organization of the competition.He said, "I urged the Finance Minister multiple times to advance the approval process for the guidelines and financial procedures. However, officials kept responding that certain administrative requirements were not met. It seems completing administrative work takes up to a year."
National Sports Council's (NSC) member-secretary, Tanka Lal Ghising, stated that he repeatedly sent proposals to the then Youth and Sports Minister in March, April, and May last year, suggesting board meetings to determine the necessary budget for the competition preparations.
However, he noted that the meetings could not be held as proposed. "The meetings couldn't be held as per my proposal. Therefore, we focused on preparing for the Olympics and Paralympics. After 15 months since the 117th board meeting of NSC, we were finally able to hold another meeting. As a result, the competition preparation was delayed," he said.
The Board meeting held on December 6, 2024 decided to amend and submit the Guidelines for organizing the 10th National Sports Competition, 2079 BS. Additionally, it completed the distribution of the budget for the relevant tasks according to the expenditure standards. The Ministry of Youth and Sports has sent these two matters to the Ministry of Finance for approval. Once approved, Ghising stated that the competition preparations will proceed.
He reminded, "According to the Financial Procedures & Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2076, the Ministry of Finance must approve any expenses incurred by anybody. Without its approval, organizing the national sports event cannot proceed."
Maoist Center MP Rekha Sharma expressed concern, stating that, given the ministry and minister’s continued inaction, it seems the 10th National Sports Competition will not take place after April 5, 2025. She stressed that the ministry must work diligently to ensure the event is organized on time.
Minister Chaudhary also addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding the Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC). He explained that the issue arose because the current president, Jeevan Ram Shrestha, failed to function according to the law. The controversy began when elections were held after amending the constitution against the court’s order, and 10 out of 27 federations boycotted the election. Minister Chaudhary also revealed that sports federations have a practice of not holding elections for five to ten years.