The Committee on Labor and Economic Relations has also asked the finance ministry to provide documents on all foreign support received so far by the MoFSC, including cash and kind.[break]
The instructions were issued following controversy over the decision to provide a sum of Rs 1.27 billion to an NGO called Rupantaran Nepal from budget allocated for multi-stakeholder forestry program.
Three donor agencies - Britain´s Department for International Development (DfID), Switzerland´s Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Finland´s Finnish International Development Agency (FINNIDA) - have pledged a sum of $61.8 million (Rs 4.94 billion) for the four-year multi-stakeholder forestry program. An agreement to this effect was signed in January and the program was supposed to continue till Jan 2016.
Since the program also allows donor agencies to put the money directly into the project without going through the government channel, committees formed to drive the program had taken a decision to provide Rs 1.27 billion directly to Rupantaran Nepal.
Rupantaran Nepal, on its website, has said it is formed by a group of development professionals and social activists from the then Livelihoods & Forestry Program, a bilateral aid program of DfID and the government, and Nepal Swiss Community Forestry Project. Many lawmakers present at Sunday´s meeting were annoyed with this fact as they charged donor agencies of promoting nepotism by extending funds to an NGO formed by former employees of agencies leading donor.
But since the money has not yet been disbursed, forest secretary Nabin Kumar Ghimire requested the unhappy ones to file a complaint within April 5.
Finance secretary Krishna Hari Banskota told the meeting that many donors have been funneling funds directly to projects, rather than channeling through the government, which goes “against the spirit of Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness”.
The meeting of donor countries held in Paris in 2005 had acknowledged that aid process was too strongly led by donor priorities and administered through donor channels.
Following this, the international community had pledged to help government of developing countries formulate and implement their own national development plans as per their national priorities.
“Yet donor agencies at times press to put aids directly into projects citing Nepal does not have enough technical experts, especially in sectors like agriculture, forestry and banking,” Banskota said.
Dr Narayan Khadka, a parliamentarian of Nepali Congress, asked the lawmakers not to level charges on donor agencies without gathering proper evidence as it could affect the flow of aid into the country, which, he said, was key for pursuing development activities.
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