While the 15-month-old Madhav Kumar Nepal-led government might not have accomplished much that it can really brag about, it certainly deserves credit for taking quite a few steps aimed at disciplining our lawmakers. This laudable refusal to reimburse the bills of the ministers comes just a few weeks after it dispatched letters to ministers clearly telling them that the OPMCOM will not entertain their reimbursement claims for domestic travels if they fail to provide foolproof evidences of where, when and why they made such trips.
The claim made by the ministers that they were working even during public holidays sounds quite weird to the ordinary ears because by now most of them have established a solid reputation for not doing their work even at times when they are supposed to be working. We are aware that to state that none of our ministers work is a sweeping generalization but this a perception that is by now deeply-rooted in the minds of Nepali citizens. And incidents and news such as this only further cements such a perception. And if they were indeed working during the Dashain holidays, there was not really a need to make reimbursement claims flouting established provisions. A little social service surely would not have done harm to the reputation of people who claim to have devoted their life to social service, would it?
When leaders who are supposed to set examples for common citizens to emulate display such brazen dishonesty, can we really complain about others? Discipline has to begin from the top. We hope that this government, and every government henceforth, would give continuity to such good practices of making our lawmakers and leaders as answerable and accountable as every other Nepali. Remember that even a small amount of money wisely used can make quite a difference in a country as small and impoverished as ours. Well-done OPMCOM!
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