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Kathmandu,Wednesday February 16, 2000 Fagun 04, 2056.
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PAC seeks helicopter use details
from Home Ministry
By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, Feb 15 - In the process of investigating
the use of state funds for chartering helicopters by the Home Ministry for the police
force, the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the ministry to
present all documents related to the matter within the next two days.
According to PAC, the ministry has been asked to
present details on the process used to charter helicopters, payments made, criteria of
selections and agreement with the private helicopter companies.
The documents supplied by the ministry so far
revealed that in the past six months of the current fiscal year (1999/2000), the ministry
has already spent Rs. 81.9 million chartering helicopters while during the last fiscal
year (1998/99) Rs. 180 million was spent for the same purpose.
The Nepal Police under the ministry has used the
helicopters to ferry personnel to Maoist insurgency hit areas, transporting food and
supplies, rush injured policemen to the nearest hospitals and on observation missions.
PAC had asked for the details about two weeks ago,
but the ministry had failed to comply. Now PAC has directed the ministry to submit all the
details by the next two days.
Though the funds are allocated and spent from the
budget of the Home Ministry, it is the Nepal Police that spends the money to fly these
mission over the insurgency areas.
PAC had expressed concern that with the amount
spent in just one year, the Nepal Police like the Royal Nepal Army, could have bought
their own helicopter to be used for their missions.
A helicopter costs about Rs. 90 million, nearly
half the amount spent annually. Committee members said that even if the operation costs
are included, it would be worth purchasing to be used not just for missions over Maoist
areas but also in times of natural calamities, emergencies and elections.
PAC began to probe into the matter while checking
into allegations that the ministry is misusing funds allocated for Maoist areas to finance
political activists of the ruling parties instead of being used for the benefit and relief
of the real victims.
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