The privilege of being elected to public office would ideally entail offering oneself to the service of one's compatriots. The power associated with the position should, in practice, enable the person to work towards the common good. But more often than not, we often witness an air of arrogance, abuse of authority and self-centeredness to the whole approach of public service by those that often claim to be servants of the people. It has become the quickest mechanism for people in public office to fulfil their dreams and ambitions of a good life. They leave no stone unturned in availing privileges at the expense of the public purse.

We seem to be plagued by a similar problem in Nepal. Whether it is the federal, provincial or local government, there are no expenses spared when it comes to allocating money to be spent on provisions for the comfort of those in public office. It is mind-boggling to think that a country that relies on foreign aid for development purposes could allocate money for extravagant perks and benefits. And in addition, no proactive steps are taken by any government that assumes the mantle of power to come up with concrete measures to follow up on the austerity plans they propose, for there seems to be a tacit agreement to collude with one another for mutual benefit.

Just last year, the KP Sharma Oli government introduced the Standards for Austerity in Public Expenditure-2020 to reduce expenditure related to vehicle procurement, fuel usage, meetings and frivolous trips. Instead of implementing the procedures to make tangible savings in those areas, the current government, in a bid to outdo previous efforts, has come up with a new set of standards by making partial amendments to the existing one. These futile declarations seem to be nothing short of populist measures which are carefully designed to deceive the public into believing that concrete steps are being taken to act responsibly. But the truth of the matter that every official is aware of is that unless there are laws to curb such measures, one can get away with just about anything.

Although almost every Auditor General's Report repeatedly publishes a statement detailing the status of unresolved accounts. But the public perception is that unresolved accounts equate to mostly ingenuine expenditure that the officials may have incurred for their personal needs. Such is the image cultivated primarily due to the violation of trust by those seeking to represent the people's needs. In one such instance, the 56th Auditor General's Report showed that in the fiscal year 2017-18, the government spent Rs6.61 billion on vehicle procurement despite issuing austerity guidelines.

It is common to see politicians in the West casually going about their business using public transport. Whether it is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson riding a bicycle or Swedish ministers and Members of Parliament who commute in buses and trains like the citizens they represent, such images highlight the integrity of the leadership not misappropriating public funds. For how can officials genuinely gauge the plight of the populace if they are not in touch with the ground reality? The next time you see an official in their fancy SUVs with lights flashing, remember that the urgency shown in their movements has so far failed to reflect on the speediness with which they need to undertake the work that remains to be done.