National
Cabinet to receive Integrity Policy within a week: PMO
The Chief Secretary will present the National Integrity Policy- 2018 to the Cabinet for approval within one week, an official at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Thursday.The Chief Secretary will present the National Integrity Policy- 2018 to the Cabinet for approval within one week, an official at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Thursday.
“Chief Secretary Lok Darshan Regmi will present the integrity policy to the Cabinet within a week,” said Kundan Aryal, press advisor to the Prime Minister.
A month ago, the final draft arrived Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikary’s office after adding all stakeholders’ suggestions.
“We made revisions in the policy after receiving feedback from the stakeholders including the NGO/INGOs,” said Binod Upadhyay of Integrity Promotion and Corruption Monitoring Section of the PMO. He refused to divulge the revisions made in the final draft.
Following reports in the media on the proposed policy, NGO Federation and Association of International NGOs of Nepal (AIN) registered their objections to the government on various provisions of the policy.
The Prime Minister’s Office held meeting with the stakeholders on May 4. Representatives of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI), Cooperatives Development Board, Authentic trade union, civil society, contractors, professors and teachers attended the meeting. NGO Federation Nepal submitted a document of suggestions to the government after the discussions.
Stakeholders are wary of the contents of the policy that empowers legal and structural bodies to regulate and monitor NGOs.
INGOs would need prior approval for their annual programmes and budget from the finance ministry. INGOs should not send their reports to the country where their headquarters are without permission of Nepal government, reads the policy.
Many NGOs object to the provision of cancelling the registration of an organisation if it fails to renew within three months.
NGO Federation Chairman Gopal Lamsal said the federation has urged the government to come up with necessary laws instead of drafting the policy.
The Federation objects the policy claiming it lacks provisions for civil servants while covering most of the other sectors and the language of the policy resembles law.
“The provision of the policy to scrap the organisation if it fails to renew registration within three months should be brought in the laws instead as the government offices takes months for the process alone,” Lamsal said.
Secretary responsible for the policy at the Prime Minister’s Office Adhikary has informed stakeholders that he would consult with them after the final draft is ready.
The policy drafted last year stresses strong vigilance over non-government and private sectors.
Former secretaries Mohan Banjade and Sharada Prasad Trital had drafted the 23-page paper suggesting policies for political parties, NGOs, INGOs, the diplomatic community, constitutional bodies, professors and teachers, the private sector and cooperatives.