NSC Member Secretary Yuvaraj Lama
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The latest accusation comes amid reports that Lama organized the President's Running Shield in the eastern region, showing inflated figures of participation, when, in fact, schools have hardly re-opened following the devastating earthquake on April 25.
Minister Paudel told Republica that he had given instructions to the NSC on Monday not to conduct the school-level tournament until the first week of Ashad (mid-June) as the country is struggling to come to terms with the devastation caused by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
However, the sports governing body of Nepal disregarded the minister's directive and inaugurated the games on Tuesday in order to take advantage of the situation.
"They have shown participation of 10 schools when hardly one or two schools have shown up for the event," said Minister Paudel.
"The higher the participation, the higher the cost of tournament but the money would eventually go into their pockets," he added.
Lama confirmed that the event had already concluded in the eastern Region and far-western Region but it had nothing to do with the earthquake. "I don't know why the ministry has postponed the President's Running Shield," Lama told Republica on Thursday.
Minister Paudel of the UML drew an analogy with the antagonist roles Lama played in films before entering the sports sector as a nominated member secretary with the backing of UCPN (Maoists) four years ago.
"He played the role of villain in 27 films. None of them included a positive role. And now he tries to become a hero in the sports world. He will always remain a villain for his misdeeds," said the minister.
Minister Paudel also accused Lama of corruption, saying that the real intention behind Lama's ambitious plans of infrastructure development was to get kickbacks and commissions from contractors.
"There hasn't been any sporting activity recently but if you look at the records, Lama made official visits to Pokhara three times on the pretext of sports development. Why did he go there if not for commissions?" added the minister.
One compelling argument put forward by the minister was Lama's alleged involvement in corruption during the Sixth National Games in Dhangadhi and Mahendranagar in 2012, which was never probed by the authorities.
During the national games, the NSC had allocated Rs 800 as daily allowance to the players out of which Rs 500 was for food and Rs 300 for lodging. The players didn't get the allowances because the NSC had made a prior deal with all the hotels for services to the players and officials, says Minister Paudel.
NSC's corruption was clearly evident from the fact that it placed 7 to 13 players in a single room, which cost between Rs 300 to Rs 800.
According to figures provided by the NSC, 3,362 athletes had participated in the eight-day mega event held from February 26 to March 4, 2012 in Dhangadhi and Mahendranagar. There were also more or less the same number of coaches and officials, none of whom were paid the allowances because the rates were already fixed by the NSC with hotel owners.
A cabinet meeting on May 25, 2010 had decided to organize the Sixth National Games in the far-western Region in early 2012. The then Sports Minister Ganesh Nepali Tiwari had sought Rs 160 million for the games at that time but the actual cost is believed to have surpassed Rs 250 million spent during the fifth edition.
When Lama and Sports Minister Kamala Roka were informed about the mismanagement during the Sixth National Games, Lama gave a sarcastic smile and said they had found nothing wrong with the management of food and accommodation, which the players were complaining of, only to give more credence to what Shakespeare had said long ago - "That one may smile, and smile, and (still) be a villain."
