Rules on anvil to rid CDO of ministerial woes

KATHMANDU, Nov 11: Chief district officers have long been lamenting it but may be they never feared that matters would take such a nasty turn. [break]

State minister slaps CDO

CDOs of many districts had continually been complaining that attending to ministers visiting in their respective districts left their whole schedule in limbo and also left them hard-pressed resource-wise. The Home Ministry, accordingly, started working a couple of weeks ago on new regulations to free CDOs from the chore of fussing over visiting ministers.

However, the slapping of CDO Durga Prasad Bhandari in Parsa Tuesday by Minister of State for Agriculture and Cooperative Karima Begum over a trivial matter has changed the scenario and officials said they would speed up the groundwork for the new regulations.

"Nobody can work anywhere if he is going to be demoralized in this way," said an under-secretary.

The ministry will soon be forwarding a proposal to the cabinet for a decision that would rid the CDOs of all responsibility for hospitality to ministers and high-ranking government officials. Though there is no law compelling CDOs in this regard, the Home Ministry has been directing the District Administration Offices (DAO) to manage security, logistics and accommodation for VIPs as a general practice.

Officials said they are working out two options to replace the existing system-- entrusting hospitality to the line agencies of the concerned ministry or setting up a new mechanism with a courtesy officer in every district.

"What a CDO would then be concerned with is security only which he takes charge of all the time," said an official at the Peace and Security Department. Given approval of the new regulations, the DAO will only be responsible for hospitality for the president, the prime minister and the home minister.

According to an official, CDOs in districts like Morang, Parsa, Bhairahawa, Kaski and Banke, which have airports and connectivity to other districts, seem to waste most of their time running after ministers. DAOs are also said to have suffered a fund crunch to manage hospitality for high-profile guests. "A DAO hardly gets Rs 30,000 for hospitality," he said. "CDOs have to seek ´other sources´ even to manage fuel for the vehicles provided."

Similarly, CDOs are loaded with recommendations granted to party cadres every time a minister arrives. "They not only have to listen to the ministers but also to their cronies," an official recalling his experience said.