Kathmandu, June 12: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives has called for policy-level and legal reforms to address the growing problem of government arrears across multiple agencies.
At today’s PAC meeting, Committee Chairperson Bharat Bahadur Khadka said the committee had gathered information on the status of arrears from various government bodies and would hold in-depth discussions to take remedial action. “We will engage in in-depth discussions on the arrears issues raised by the concerned agencies and take remedial action to reduce them,” he said.
According to the 63rd Report of the Office of the Auditor General of Nepal, total government arrears have exceeded Rs 755.17 billion.
Nepal Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdyal informed the committee that the army had set a target to clear 60 percent of its outstanding arrears in the current fiscal year, but only 11 percent has been settled so far. He noted that the NA’s arrears exceed Rs 5.3 billion accumulated across various headings and sectors, with technical issues hampering clearance under the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhesh Expressway project.
Ministry Secretary Rajendra Prasad Mishra said 40.28 percent of the former Ministry of Agriculture’s pending amount of Rs 6.35 billion had been cleared, while only 16 percent of the former Ministry of Forest’s arrears of Rs 5.6 million had been settled.
Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
An undersecretary at the ministry said its current arrears stand at around Rs 26 million, down from zero last year, and committed to clearing the full amount within the current fiscal year.
Secretary Dr Rojnath Pandey disclosed arrears of Rs 24.06 million, attributing the pending amount largely to unsettled claims related to MPs’ medical expenses from the previous and current fiscal years.
Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said arrears across agencies under the ministry total Rs 308 million, with a target to settle 43 percent by the end of the current fiscal year. Registrar Bhadrakali Pokhrel informed the committee that an action plan has been put in place to clear outstanding arrears under the Supreme Court.
Secretary Dr Deepak Kafle said 22 percent of the ministry’s Rs 990 million in arrears has been cleared and that senior management meetings are being held regularly to monitor progress. Secretary Pramila Bajracharya said arrears inherited from the former Ministry of Science and Technology amount to approximately Rs 179.3 million.
Secretary Laxmi Kumari Basnet said only 5.64 percent of the ministry’s Rs 30.29 billion in arrears across various headings has been cleared to date. Secretary Kedarnath Sharma said the ministry aims to clear approximately 30 percent of its arrears by the end of the current fiscal year. #nepal
