Cadre, kin solicit ministers for Dashain dole

KATHMANDU, Sept 23: If you are someone who is close to government ministers, this is a time to make some money. With the Dashain festival now here, Singha Durbar, the central government secretariat of Nepal, is crowded with people, mainly political party cadres and near and dear ones of the ministers. And they are all flocking to Singha Durbar not to get any official work done, but to make a quick buck for celebrating Dashain. [break]



And the ministers are freely doling out the money from state coffers to their near ones.



The Ministries of Physical Planning and Works, Local Development, Law and Justice, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Home, Labor and Transport Management and General Administration, among others, remained crowded throughout the day Tuesday with people seeking money from the ministers.



Most of them were seeking financial assistance to go home to their respective districts and celebrate Dashain with their families.



“Financial help? Oh! Don´t talk about that. As I am from the remote zone of Karnali, so many people have approached me for monetary assistance,” said Law and Justice Minister Prem Bahadur Singh, adding, “I already have a long list of such supplicants and the number is growing.”



However, Singh has his own difficulties. His ministry is not rich enough to distribute money freely to all the assistance seekers.



The Physical Planning Ministry was perhaps the busiest ministry at Singha Durbar on Tuesday. “The ministry was busy from morning to dusk. Around 300 people came here seeking financial help on Tuesday,” said a ministry official, requesting anonymity.



And a sizable crowd of party cadres and personal relatives were knocking at the door of Deputy Prime Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar. “He has already met so many assistance seekers and is tired of them,” said an aide of the minister.



Some of the noted student leaders were also among those rushing to the ministries for handouts. “They come and ask directly for Dashain money.



“Yes, cadres as well as near and dear ones are coming to me for money,” said Local Development Minister Purna Kumar Sherma.



The ministries run by the Tarai-based parties were perhaps the most crowded at Singha Durbar on Tuesday. Similar was the situation at the finance section of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is yet to be learnt how much money has been distributed as of Tuesday, but one of the officials said the practice of distributing money is growing every year.

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