Madhesh Government Pursues a Regressive Path
The Madhesh Province government has decided to assign responsibilities to junior staff members while sidelining senior employees. The Chief District Officer (CDO) of Infrastructure Development Office, Mahottari, Kartikesh Jha, was transferred after distributing letters transparently to consumer committees. Instead of controlling corruption, the government appears to be enabling employees to serve their own interests by adopting a regressive approach. 17 Baisakh, Janakpurdham. Following the Janjyotish movement on 23rd and 24th Bhadra, governance became a national concern. Balendra Shah has been moving forward with a commitment to establish good governance by correcting past mistakes and curbing corruption. Despite the ongoing national debate on good governance, the Madhesh government continues down the path of past errors.
The coalition government in Madhesh Province, led by Chief Minister Krishna Prasad Yadav of the Nepali Congress, remains on a backward trajectory. Practices such as excluding senior officials who follow the law and delegating responsibilities to juniors to serve vested interests are still prevalent in provincial offices. In Madhesh Province, priority continues to be given to consumer committees over contracts, with letters being distributed to consumer committees for direct benefits. Recent government decisions and incidents within subordinate bodies confirm this trend.
On 9 Baisakh, the cabinet meeting decided to marginalize senior staff and assign duties to junior officials. The federal administration service’s Undersecretary Birendra Kumar Mishra was transferred to the Madhesh Province Janalokpal Commission. This office has become a place to sideline employees. Established four years ago to control corruption and promote good governance, the commission has only officials and staff without any substantial achievements.
Mishra was sidelined as Secretary, while junior Undersecretary Chiranjivi Gautam was given the Secretary role at the Public Service Commission. According to an employee from the Chief Minister’s Office, Mishra was transferred to the Janalokpal Commission after failing to act favorably toward the commission chairperson. The Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Transport, Yuvraj Adhikari, has been moved to the Chief Minister’s Office, with Ranjit Yadav appointed as acting Secretary in his place.
On 22 Chaitra, the Infrastructure Development Office in Mahottari sent letters to all 15 local governments and their ward offices to form 258 consumer committees for projects worth up to NPR 25 million, following legal procedures. These letters were published transparently on the office’s website. Previously, letters for consumer committees were distributed at the discretion of ministers, MPs, and their leaders and cadres. To regulate this, Kartikesh Jha introduced a transparent distribution policy. However, after his transparent step, the Madhesh government transferred him on 25 Chaitra without support.
These events demonstrate that instead of eliminating old faults and corruption, the Madhesh government seems committed to perpetuating them. According to an employee of the Chief Minister’s Office, despite the need for reform, the government is wasting the remaining time pursuing its own interests. “The federal government is committed to good governance, but the Madhesh government is moving in the opposite direction. Otherwise, why would such decisions be made?” the employee questioned.