Khatiwada appointed governor; govt to give MRP contract to India

KATHMANDU, March 19: Ending a months-long row between two major coalition partners, the government on Friday appointed Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada as the new governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).

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A cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister´s Office at Singha Durbar took a decision to this effect. [break]

The appointment comes after a series of negotiations between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML over the sharing of vacant positions at various constitutional bodies including the position of governor.

A meeting of top leaders of the NC and UML held at the Prime Minister´s Office in the afternoon had settled the sharing deal. Ministers representing the NC including Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala took part in the meeting.

According to a NC minister present at the meeting, they also agreed to make appointments to the National Planning Commission (NPC) and the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF) as per the recommendation of the NC in return for the UML appointing its nominee as NRB governor. Friday´s cabinet meeting failed to appoint an NC nominee to the NPC as the Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic) also staked its claim to the post, according to sources.

According to Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel who is also the government´s spokesman, Friday´s meeting appointed NC nominee Bidyadhar Mallik, a former finance secretary, as chief of the PAF. Mallik is currently serving as financial advisor at the President´s Office.

Newly-appointed governor Dr Khatiwada was appointed vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission in June, 2009.

He was recommended for the post of governor in 2005 also along with Dr Bimal Prasad Koirala and former governor Bijaya Nath Bhattarai. However, the cabinet chaired by then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba chose Bhattarai for the post.

Born in August 1956, Dr Khatiwada obtained his Ph.D. from the Delhi School of Economics on monetary economics in 1993. Khatiwada spent a significant part of his career at Nepal Rastra Bank, which he had joined as an assistance research officer in 1983. He retired as executive director in 2008.

Dr Khatiwada also served as a member of the National Planning Commission for about two years, starting from October 2002. He served with the United Nations Development Program as its Economic Advisor for Asia Pacific Region between January 2008 and May 2009.

Govt to give MRP contract to India

The cabinet meeting also gave its approval to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to negotiate with the Indian government for printing Machine Readable Passports (MRP) in such a way that the government would be able to issue the MRPs starting April 1, 2010.

The decision comes against the directive of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to award the MRP project contract through competitive bidding. Even ministers taking part in the meeting had protested the proposal brought by Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala.

Talking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, government spokesman Pokharel said the government, bearing in mind the fast-approaching ICAO deadline, decided to let MoFA to award the MRP contract to an Indian firm.

According to a minister present at the meeting, Home Minister Bhim Rawal had objected to the proposal by Foreign Minister Koirala, arguing that government could negotiate with ICAO to extend deadline for issuing MRP. He had also argued that it would be wrong to go against the directive of parliamentary PAC since the price proposed by India was not cheaper than other interested international firms.

However, Minister Koirala had insisted on her proposal saying that it would be a matter of shame to the government if failed to meet the deadline of April 1. She argued that PAC directives would not bar awarding contract to Indian firm as there is also provision in law to make government to government deal on issues of these kind.

A meeting of the PAC had directed MoFA to revive the aborted international bidding process for the MRP project. On December 15 last year, the ministry had canceled the bidding process, citing technical reasons, though four international security printers had been short-listed for the contract.

Nepal, as a member of the ICAO, a UN agency, is required to introduce MRPs by April 1. Non-machine readable passports can be issued only till March 31 and these will be acceptable only till November 24, 2015.

Government spokesperson Pokharel said MoFA will negotiate with the Indian authorities without undermining the PAC directive.