When ration for police involves a 'gangster'

KATHMANDU, July 6: At a time when Nepal Police as usual has been lobbying for an increment in annual budget, citing reasons including meagre rations for its staffers, it hasn´t even considered nullifying the existing ration contract system that bleeds Nepal Police to the tune of Rs 300 million annually, nearly the amount that the APC scam involved.



The contract system has long proved a useless practice as more than 90 percent of the total cops don´t receive the allocated ration in kind but get it in cash with a 12 percent cut as the contractor´s commission. [break]



The yearly ration contracts for the 60,000-strong force are lately worth Rs 2.4 billion. The sheer size of the contract triggers a serious commission game, which, according to sources, claim at least 12 percent of the transaction amount.



"It looks like something as huge as the APC scam takes place every year since long in the form of ration contracts," said a senior police official who have been pressing to do away with the contract practice.



Since rations in kind are considered necessary to keep a portion of the force in readiness, voices for reviewing the system have been becoming stronger among the rank and file in recent times. A report prepared early this year by a study team formed by Nepal Police at the behest of Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had recommended to scrap the existing contract system and replace it with a new system of providing a ration allowance together with the salary.



The report also mentioned that almost 90 percent of police personnel are found to have received ration money through contractors instead of rations in kind. As per the financial regulations that Nepal Police follows, a cop posted anywhere in the country should obtain a rations package of 14 different items.



But this rule is followed only by less than 10,000 police personnel who are posted to 30 different units like companies, battalions and regional training centers and are accommodated in barracks. Even cops stationed in remote places are found to have taken the money.


The contract game



Nepal Police has the largest ration contract in the capital where around 14,000 cops are stationed under the police headquarter and Metropolitan Police Commissioner´s Office. And, the bonanza has continuously been won by one Kaji Sherpa for a few years. He also handles the ration contracts of Armed Police Force (APF) and Nepal Army.



Sherpa, officials claim, is a gangster-turned-businessman.



"Besides commission, the contract system also means a lot for the businessmen as they can mobilize a huge sum without doing anything," said sources.



There has been an equally interesting trend among businessmen of bidding for the rations contracts in the prices even lesser than that of the previous year. "The contract price does not matter when you are not supposed to distribute rations in kind," said officials.

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