Ministers' domestic trips limited to two days

KATHMANDU, Feb 17: Following excessive travel by ministers at state expense, the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM) has drastically reduced the number of days for their domestic trips.

From now on, ministers can only make two-day trips within the country while earlier there was no such limit. [break]

“We have limited ministers´ domestic travel to stop reckless expenditure,” a high ranking official at OPMCM said, adding, "The fresh directive will restrict ministers from participating in party activities on the pretext of ´urgent´ trips´".

The source added that they have uncovered some facts about ministers attending party activities at state expense.

The government´s fresh instruction to ministers comes at a time when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is showing serious concern over the expenditures incurred by them.

“The incumbent cabinet ministers are found to have spent Rs 15 million on domestic trips within seven months starting in July 2009,” the source said.

“This expenditure is much greater than expected,” the source said. He added, “Thus a decision had to be taken to reduce the number of days in their trips.”

Govt won´t foot expenditures for more than two days

Ministers can include only two aides

OPMCM has reissued its directives to tighten ministers´ domestic trips. The office had issued a 12-point directive on domestic trips to all ministers last month.

Adding two points to the directives, OPMCM dispatched an official letter to the ministers asking them not to make longer than two-day trips.

The office has also warned all ministers that it won´t accept any travel expense bills if they are found to have made trips longer than two days.

“The office will not reimburse bills that exceed the amounts incurred for more than two days of travel,” reads the letter dispatched to ministers.

The office has also fixed a limit to the number of people accompanying ministers on such trips. Earlier, a single minister could take up to five aides, and in reality they took as many as dozen people along. OPMCM has now directed the ministers not to include more than two people in their trips.

As per the directive, all ministers are required to seek prior consent from the prime minister to travel even for two days.

According to OPMCM officials, bills submitted by ministers to the Finance Section at OPMCM were not transparent and often had been tampered with.

Through the directive, OPMCM has already warned ministers not to produce bills tampered with correction fluid.

As per the instruction, ministers including state and assistant ministers will have to specify to the prime minister the number of people in a given trip, its purpose and the intended place of visit, prior to their departure. Ministers will also have to produce the bills of expense for the prime minister´s approval.

As per the directive, others accompanying the ministers are required to submit separate bills at the Finance Section of OPMCM. Ministers are also required to inform the Ministry of Home Affairs two days before departure about trip durations and destinations.