‘Our MPs cannot afford to buy a Maruti car, let alone a Pajero,’ National Assembly member Bidur Prasad Poudel had commented in Asad 2053, ‘We should not try to hide the hard truth.’

MP Poudel made this statement after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s Council of Ministers decided in Magh 2052 that MPs would get customs exemption when purchasing vehicles. After MPs started buying Prado and Pajero in droves based on the government decision, National Assembly member Poudel made this statement sarcastically.

MPs, ministers and high-level employees, who were obsessed with power and authority, ignored Poudel’s satire. Not only did they take away their luxury cars, but they were also taking double benefits without giving up their government cars. Since there was no mention anywhere whether the MPs would get a government vehicle after buying a private vehicle, government resources were being continuously exploited on that basis.

The MPs had demanded vehicle facilities in the parliament saying why we should not get the facilities that the members of the national panchayat had taken now. In the latter half of the panchayat, in 2044, the facility of bringing vehicles at customs duty exemption was given to the Rapans. After 2046, the interim Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai had reduced this facility. But during the Deuba-led government, MPs from multiple parties had also demanded the same facility. Since the coalition government had to be maintained, the then Prime Minister Deuba had fulfilled whatever the MPs said.

Using the facilities provided by the government, MPs, Supreme Court and Appellate Court judges, Planning Commission officials, heads of the Constitutional Commission, secretaries in ministries and government bodies had brought vehicles at customs duty exemption. But they were also driving government vehicles by parking their cars at home and renting them out to others for a monthly fee. By the first week of Falgun 2053, 246 vehicles had been imported based on the decision of the Council of Ministers. Foreign exchange facilities were also provided when these vehicles were imported.

The state had suffered a loss of crores due to currency exchange and customs exemption facilities. But high-level officials had not returned government vehicles even after buying them at customs exemption. Many MPs even bought cars at customs exemption in their own names, but the person who drove them was different. Only the name of the buyer of the car was that of the MP, and the wealthy people who invested and drove were others. Some MPs had given the vehicle to the person who invested in the purchase of the car to drive. Some used to rent the car and charge a monthly fee for driving it.

The Public Accounts Committee under the House of Representatives, concluding that there was extreme misuse of state resources by high-level officials, had directed the traffic police to return government vehicles to those who purchased them with concessionary vehicles. The committee had warned of action if the government vehicles were not returned within seven days.

The Central Services Department had provided all the information about the vehicle to the committee. The department had requested the Accounts Committee to help find a suitable solution to return the vehicles. But the chairman and some members of the Accounts Committee were also criticized for using government vehicles. MP Krishnagopal Shrestha had said that the chairman and members of the Accounts Committee should show morality by leaving the vehicle they were driving.

Whatever is written in the law, they said that MPs, ministers and leaders should not drive government vehicles on moral grounds. At that time, the Finance Ministry had decided to provide 80 liters of oil per month, 1,500 rupees for maintenance expenses and 5 liters of Mobil to those who drive concessionary vehicles. It was also decided to provide a driver as much as possible, but not necessarily bear the driver's expenses. The Ministry of Finance had made a restrictive provision that high-ranking officials who bought a luxury car would not be able to drive or sell government vehicles for five years. Since there was no mention of whether ministers and MPs had to return government vehicles, it seemed that they did not return the vehicles on that basis.

Information on returning beds to ministers

An example of how ministers keep an eye on state property, from panchayats to democratic systems, could be guessed from a directive given to the government by the Public Accounts Committee. After having to issue a notice to return government goods that were picked up from the ministerial quarters in Pulchowk and taken home, a debate began that shamed our Prime Minister and ministers.

The Accounts Committee had directed the government's Central Services Department to issue a notice for the return of the items, including quarter beds, drawers, chairs, bicycles, carpets, cigarette cases (asters), tables, TVs, and stoves, after the ministers from the Panchayat period had taken them home even after they had finished their posts. Such items had been taken home by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Panchayat, Marichman Singh Shrestha, as well as ministers from the multi-party Congress and UML. The former ministers had not complied despite repeated letters from the Services Department to return the items. The Accounts Committee had directed the government to take appropriate action if the items were not returned by 2053 Baisakh.

The list of those to be taken back included the names of 13 central members, including two central vice-chairmen of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party who became ministers in the Panchayat. The items were purchased from 2038 to 046. Marichman was seen taking 24 types of goods including double bed, ashtray, woolen carpet, heater, sofa, table, steel drawer, rack. Ministers in the Panchayat, including Prakash Bahadur Singh, Hem Bahadur Malla, Chanda Shah, Hari Bahadur Basnet, Nar Bahadur Budhathoki, Buddhiman Tamang, Fattesingh Tharu, and others, had taken government goods from the ministerial quarters. Jogmehar had also taken a bicycle.

During the UML government, the list of government goods taken home by Prem Singh Dhami, former minister Salim Mia Ansari, Congress minister Shivraj Joshi, and others was with the Services Department. The goods taken home included almost all furniture and household goods.

This behavior of the ministers was widely criticized at the time. Kantipur Daily published a news story on Falgun 6, 2006, titled '246 vehicles entered the customs facility, government vehicles still not returned', which illustrated examples of how ministers, MPs and high-ranking employees can misuse government resources if given the opportunity.