In past two fiscal years, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has disbursed a total of Rs 6.8 million in the name of medical and treatment expenditure

Himal Lamsal: Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal

In what can be dubbed as an illegitimate act, a total of 27 people’s representatives, including Deputy Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) received over Rs 5.15 million illegally in the last two years in the pretext of medical expenses. 

Interestingly, it has been found that most of the bills have been forged.

Among them include a ward chairman as well as an executive member who have been lucky enough to have received medical expenses twice.

If the details obtained on February 3, 2020, from the finance department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City is to be considered, a total of Rs 850,000 was disbursed to KMC staffers in the name of medical treatment in the last two years.

Likewise, a total of Rs 717,000 have been disbursed to common citizens associated with the people’s representatives and KMC staffers in one way or the other in the same pretext in the last two years.

Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya, however, does not deny having distributed money to the staffers, people’s representatives and the general people for treatment and medical purposes. Shakya argued the money disbursed has gone to the people according to the need, requirement and circumstances. 

“We have been providing medical or treatment expenses to the people’s representatives on the basis of the hospital bills,” Mayor Shakya said, however, dismissing reports of disbursing money to whoever comes seeking treatment expenditure.

The KMC provided a total of Rs 1.75 million to 11 people’s representatives under its jurisdiction in the fiscal year 2017/18. (See table). Likewise, five KMC staffers received a total of Rs 500,000 as health treatment expenditure. 

Similarly, three individuals (excluding people’s representatives) received Rs 95 thousand in the same fiscal year. While the people’s representatives have received the biggest slice of the cake in the name of medical expenditure from the KMC, employees have received the second-largest slice. General people received a negligible amount in comparison to the people’s representatives and the staffers. 

Several meetings of the KMC executive body have allocated a total of Rs 2.92 million as medical treatment expenses to nine people’s representatives from the beginning of the current fiscal year until January this year. However, the KMC did not provide any treatment expenses to its employees in the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, two KMC staffers received a total of Rs 112,000 this year.

In what can be termed as a blatant act of irresponsibility and a violation of the provinces’ Acts Related to Benefits for the Office Bearers and Members of the Local Level, a meeting of the KMC on March 19, 2018, decided to provide a total of Rs 1. 93 million as medical payments to four people’s representatives, including chairman of ward no 31 Narayan Prasad Bhandari.

Ward chair Bhandari received Rs 676,000 as the first installment for the treatment of his tumor in his intestine. Similarly, he received Rs 227,000 in the second installment. In total, Bhandari received a total of Rs 952,000 for his ‘treatment’. Says Bhandari, “KMC financed me Rs 952,000 for treatment in line with the medical bill. In fact, I spent over Rs 2 million for my treatment.”

The Office of the Auditor General has also raised concern over KMC’s distribution of such a huge amount of money in the name of treatment. The Office of the Auditor-General Report 2017/18 has pointed out the rampant distribution of funds as medical expenditure to its office bearers by violating the act formulated by the Province-3 government, currently Bagmati State.

In its report, the Office of the Auditor-General has stated that KMC’s decision to allocate treatment expenditure of Rs 1.75 million to the people’s representatives in the fiscal year 2017/18 contradicts with the working procedure and criteria. It has further stated that the KMC should formulate a policy mentioning the ceiling on treatment expenditure to each individual. Allocating Rs 676,000 to a people’s representative is against the criteria.

Former Acting Auditor General Sukdev Khatri Bhattarai terms the practice of distributing medical expenditure by the local levels by imitating the federal government as unjustifiable. “Distributing money in the name of medical expenditure by following the footsteps of the federal government cannot be legitimate,” says Bhattarai, adding, “The money has to be reimbursed from those who have received the amount illegitimately.”

Bhattarai describes the tendency of allocating financial support to the people’s representatives as a ‘contagious disease’. Consider what he has to say: “This tendency has to be stopped immediately or else it will be epidemic.”  

Treatment expenditure to Deputy Mayor

Forget about sitting people’s representatives, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City has distributed money to former people’s representatives and deputy mayors in the name of medical expenditure. 

A meeting of the municipality held on July 26, 2019, had decided to allocate Rs 450,000 to former ward chairperson Badri Prasad Kharel as a medical expenditure. Kharel was elected as ward chairperson to ward number 10 in 1992 and 1997 local elections.

“We served the people for quite a long time. If other people can receive money, why can’t we?” he queried. Kharel confessed to having received Rs 450,000 from the KMC for the treatment of his heart.

Deputy Mayor Hari Prabha Khadgi’s name, too, has been figured out in the list of those receiving medical expenditure. A meeting of the KMC executive body on Mangsir 3, 2076 had decided to allocate Rs 1,63,900 to Khadgi as a medical expenditure. “I received the amount as mentioned in the hospital bill,” she confesses.

The KMC, meanwhile, seems to have been discriminatory while distributing treatment expenditure between people’s representatives and the general public. An executive meeting of the KMC on November 19, 2019, had decided to allocate Rs one million to the chairperson of ward number 10 Ram Kumar KC as a medical expenditure. Likewise, the KMC decided to allocate Rs 10 thousand only to Aasika Ranjit, a common woman below the poverty line, as treatment expenditure.

Take for instance. Subhash GC of Kotdevi Narefaat of KMC ward-32 has been under treatment for the last three years due to brain hemorrhage. So far, over Rs 6 million have been spent in his treatment. GC’s family had registered an application at the Secretariat of Mayor Bidya Sunder Shakya’s seeking treatment expenditure.

Ward-32 had also requested in writing to Mayor Shakya to provide medical expenditure for GC. However, the KMC, accustomed to distributing money to people’s representatives according to the bill, allocated Rs one hundred thousand only for GC’s treatment. Says Ram Kumar KC, chair of ward-10, “Media should not misinterpret the medical expenditure received by people’s representatives as if they are taking bribes. They receive money for treatment purposes.”

In CIAA’s views

Even the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has termed the tendency of the distribution of money in the name of medical expenditure as illegitimate. Issuing a 61-point directive in the name of local levels on December 1, 2019, the CIAA has instructed the local governments to formulate a policy and criteria while distributing expenditure and facilities. The anti-graft body has also instructed the local governments to refrain from arbitrarily distributing money in the name of medical allowance to the people’s representatives.

Metropolitan representatives utilizing medical checkup expenses over 100,000 rupees.

It has further stated that the local levels do not have the right to receive medical expenditure. Says local governance expert Dr. Khim Lal Devkota, “Office bearers and members of local levels cannot receive salary and facilities on their own. If they do so, it will be a breach of the constitutional provision as the provincial governments have mentioned that members and office bearers of the municipalities and rural municipalities can receive money by formulating a law.” Devkota says receiving salaries, allowances, and facilities on their own is a breach of the law.

The Province No 3 Council of Ministers, however, had taken a decision passing a bill on the salary and facilities of the local level people’s representatives contradicting the provision of the Constitution of Nepal 2015.

The constitution mentions that elected representatives cannot receive salary or perks for carrying out their duties. According to Article 220 (8) of the Constitution, the conduct of the District Assembly, the facilities of Members of the District Coordination Committee and other issues relating to the District Assembly shall be as provided for in province law. 

Likewise, Article 227 of the constitution states that matters relating to the conduct of business of a rural municipal assembly or municipality assembly, formation of committees, rules of procedure of meetings, facilities receivable by members of the rural municipality and municipal assembly and employees or officers of the rural municipality bodies and municipality shall be as provided for in province law.

The constitutional bench comprising Supreme Court Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher JB Rana had earlier repealed the laws the provincial governments had enacted that allowed elected representatives from taking salaries, remuneration and other facilities on their own. With this decision, people’s representatives have not received their salaries and allowances since last December.

Earlier, office bearers and members of the local levels were benefitting with the salaries besides allowances on different topics.

According to Bal Krishna Niraula, spokesperson of Internal Affairs and Law Ministry, Bagmati Province, after the decision of the constitutional bench, the provincial government has been preparing the draft of the law concerning the salary, allowance, perks and facilities of the local levels’ office bearers and elected representatives. “Office bearers and members cannot receive any facilities until and unless the law is formulated. Anyone found to be receiving allowance or facilities will be brought under legal parameters that would compel them to reimburse the amount,” he adds.