KATHMANDU, Sept 18: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has decided to request Prime Minister Sushil Koirala to take needful action against Minister for Energy Radha Gyawali after finding her mala fide intentions while awarding a transmission line contract to the second lowest bidder.
CIAA said the decision will put additional financial burden of Rs 270 million on Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).
“NEA board should have asked the lowest bidder to clarify the issues before taking final procurement decisi”n,” said Krishna Hari Pushkar, spokesperson of CIAA, said, terming the decision as a serious policy corruption.
CIAA has also directed Ministry of Energy to take action against board members Laxman Prasad Agrawal and Manoj Kumar Mishra and seek clarifications from board member Suraj Lamichhane, NEA Managing Director Mukesh Raj Kafle, and members of bid evaluation committee NEA Project Chief Janardan Prasad Gautam, Joint Accounts Officer Indira Shrestha, Deputy Managers Ramesh Prasad Paudel and Rajan Dhungel, and Deputy Legal Officer Dhrubaraj Bhatta.
The constitutional anti-corruption watchdog has not recommended any action Energy Secretary Rajendra Kshatri and NEA board member Santosh Narayan Shrestha who had written note of dissent on the procurement minutes and informed CIAA about the anomalies.
Pushkar also informed that CIAA had directed the NEA Board to take appropriate decision in a fast track manner so that the transmission line project is not delayed.
Source : Republica
