“This issue has been raised in the party with seriousness and Kuswaha will be recalled in the next couple of days due to the controversy and other issues related to his performance in the government,” a senior TMDP leader told Republica on condition of anonymity.[break]
International donors have demanded action against Kuswaha as a condition for continuation of funding of billions of rupees for education programs in Nepal. In a meeting with the Finance Ministry on Monday, they formally said they would stop disbursement of the committed amount and not sign further agreements if convincing steps were not taken to address the rampant corruption in the Education Ministry, according to a Finance Ministry source.
The move followed reports that Kuswaha is being investigated by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over financial irregularities related to relief quota teachers. The source said the donors claimed they themselves have found that Kuswaha has sold relief quotas across the country charging anything from Rs 100,000 to Rs 300,000 for each quota teacher. Five months ago, the PAC had implicated Kuswaha in irregularities in the purchase of printing materials for the state-run Janak Sikshya Samagri Kendra Limited, the sole authority for printing textbooks for government schools.
If the donors suspend the funding it will geopardize the 200 billion-rupee six-year School Sector Reform Program (SSRP), which largely depends on international donors. The ambitious program starting from 2010 will overhaul the education system in the country. It also aims to attain the Second Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of achieving universal primary education by 2015.
Nine international donors contribute to the basket fund that will support the SSRP. The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Danish government have already signed agreements to fund SSRP while Finland, the European Union, AusAid (Australian Agency for International Development) and others have yet to sign.
Related story
Corruption control is a challenge: PM
