Case 1
The Chinese government provided 1.3 million liters of petrol as a grant to Nepal to help it cope with the acute fuel crisis resulting from the trade blockade imposed by India. But Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) sent 12 tankers to Kerung to bring the much needed fuel only three weeks after the Chinese offer. On top of that, Nepali customs officials at Rasuwagadhi prevented the tankers from entering Nepal, citing the inability of NOC to pay the customs charges. The tankers were held up for over 24 hours.
Case 2
Immediately after the devastating earthquake in April, donor agencies sent essential medicines worth over one billion rupees. But the medicines have been languishing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) customs for the last seven months even as patients across the country remain deprived of proper treatment in lack of drugs. Senior doctors have said that scores of people have already died as a result. Some major hospitals have been deferring scheduled surgeries owing to the acute shortage of essential medicines and other supplies necessary for surgical operations.
These are some representative instances of how the workings of the bureaucracy have remained totally untouched by the public's plight.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has blamed the customs at TIA for not releasing the essential drugs unless the ministry can pay the customs duty. The medicines were provided for free by various international donors to help the earthquake victims.
Officials at MoHP accused TIA customs and officials concerned at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of stopping the essential drugs for months though thsousands of patients would have benefited if these drugs had been released to the market.
"We have written several times to MoF but they are not ready to release the drugs," an official at MoHP told Republica, requesting anonymity. He said even Minister for Health and Population Ramjanam Chaudhary requested the finance minister to release the drugs, but to no avail.
He said MoHP has requested MoF to release the medicines, keeping detailed records of the drugs for now so that patients across the country can get some relief from the crisis. "The customs issue can be settled later on the basis of these records when the situation is back to normal. But officials at the finance ministry and the airport customs didn't listen," added the official.
However, officials at MoF hold MoHP officials responsible instead. "We have just demanded one percent of the tax as that is necessary for record-keeping purposes. We have also assured MoHP that MoF will refund the amount from the state treasury afterwards if need be," said MoF spokesman Ramsharan Pudasaini He said the customs office had released medicines and other essentials worth billions at the time of the earthquake.
"We are always ready to facilitate the release of drugs from the customs and are also ready to refund the one percent tax aftewards. But officials at the health ministry aren't ready to fulfill this minimum responsibility," said Pudasaini.
Suppliers asked to bring life-saving drugs via air
Meanwhile, over 450 trucks carrying medicines and raw materials for drugs manufacture are still being held up the border despite the Madhesi Morcha's assurances about allowing the passage of medical cargo. The Madhesi Morcha, which has been protesting against the new constitution for over three months vowed on Thursday not to disrupt medical cargo entering the country. However, a truck carrying life-saving medicines was torched by Morcha stalwarts on Friday and they have also been vandalizing ambulances.
Department of Drug Administration (DDA) said that it has asked drugs suppliers to bring life-saving medicines by air. Officials at DDA said that the suppliers have also agreed to bring in the medicines by air. "They will bring the life-saving medicines within the next two days," said Baburam Khakurel, director general (DG) at DDA. He further informed that DDA has provided a list of essential drugs to the organization of Non-Residential Nepalis (NRN), which has offered to help the government.
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