Kathmandu. A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) held discussions with the accountable officers of the ministries on the issue of reduction of arrears. In the meeting, the representatives of the ministries presented the details of the status of arrears and progress of their respective ministries.
Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Mukunda Prasad Niraula, informed the meeting that the Ministry has arrears amounting to Rs 4.58 billion. According to him, Rs 1.98 billion is arrears to the ministries and Rs 2.60 billion to committees, fund and academies. According to him, 8.52 per cent arrears have been settled, including 61.43 per cent of the ministries and 38.77 per cent of the subordinate bodies.
“The total arrears of this ministry stands at Rs 4.58 billion. Out of this, Rs 1.98 billion is allocated to the divisional offices of the ministries, Rs 2.60 billion to the committee fund and academies, of which 61.43 per cent is from the ministries and 38.77 per cent for the bodies under the ministry. ’
According to Secretary Niraula, the highest arrears are in the Pashupati Development Area Trust. Stating that arrears amounting to around Rs 733.9 million have been found in the Pashupati Development Trust, he clarified that the compensation amount received from the government was spent in the construction of Jalhari of Pashupatinath. “The highest arrears are the Pashupati Development Area Trust. The huge arrears are Rs 733.9 million in the Pashupati Development Fund, which is Rs 1 billion. The compensation money went from the Government of Nepal and it was spent on the construction of Pashupatinath Jalhari. ’
Secretary at the Ministry of Education and Sports, Chudamani Poudel, said that the Ministry has arrears of around Rs 17.40 billion. According to him, around Rs 30 billion has been found to be arrears towards the university alone. Secretary Poudel said that although the Ministry has taken initiatives to reduce the arrears of the autonomous institutions, the expected improvement has not been achieved. He suggested the committee to hold separate discussions with universities and autonomous institutions.
“The arrears of the Ministry of Education and Sports are around Rs 17.4 billion,” he said. In particular, there is an arrears of about Rs 30 billion on the part of the university. My request is that the committee, especially the autonomous institutions, should be discussed in the committee once in a while. The ministry has not been able to reduce the arrears even after taking a lot of initiatives. Similarly, Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Food Hygiene, Dr. According to Dr Bikash Devkota, the total arrears of the then Ministry of Health and Population stood at Rs 23.45 billion. He said that about 4.5 percent arrears have been settled so far and the arrears will come down to Rs 22.7 billion after that.
“The Ministry of Health and Food Hygiene does not know about the arrears related to food hygiene,” he said. I want to talk about the arrears of the former Ministry of Health and Population. Our total arrears are Rs 23.45 billion. Out of this, we have now settled about 4.5 percent arrears. The figure will be Rs 22.70 billion. We have prepared for more than 13 percent of this. By doing this, about 18 to 19 percent of the arrears will be settled. It has been targeted to increase it to 60 percent in the current fiscal year. In previous years, it was less than 50 percent. ’
According to him, the ministry is preparing to check more than 13 percent arrears. According to him, 18 to 19 percent arrears are expected to be settled after this process.
Dr. According to Devkota, the government has set a target to reduce arrears by 60 percent in the current fiscal year, but in the past years, less than 50 percent of arrears have been settled.
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