Karnali's 'hi-tech' nursery became a new excuse for corruption

According to documents and field observations obtained by

, most of the so-called hi-tech nurseries have been embezzled without investment. In the name of building some nurseries, other than land clearing and fencing, no other work has progressed. Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, Minister of Industry, Forestry and Environment Nandsingh Budha and Minister of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Vimala KC were present when the hi-tech nursery program was implemented in the financial year 2075/76. The Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment of Karnali Province allocated the highest budget to Dailekh for the establishment of hi-tech nursery. According to the ministry, a total of Rs 41.2 million was allocated for the operation of one hi-tech nursery in Dailekh's Narayan municipality-10, Thantikandh rural municipality-1 and Bhagwatimai rural municipality-3 in the year 2075/76. However, even after five years, these three nurseries could not come into operation.

The grass growing inside the nursery . Photo: Jyoti/Kantipur

The structure built at Santada of Bhagwatimai Rural Municipality-3 at a cost of 2 million for a nursery is now becoming a residence for some locals. The rest of the structure is also dilapidated. Although there was a budget agreement of 1 crore, the consumer committee started work with 2 million peschi. Kamal Regmi, chairman of the consumer committee, says that he has worked according to the budget he received, but he had to leave it as he did not receive additional funds. "The Division Forest Office replied that they could not give more funds because the province had not released the budget," Regmi said.

The consumer committee surrounded the field with 4.6 lakh peski for the construction of hi-tech nursery in Jiuni Dudhepani of Thantikandh rural municipality-1, dug about 500 meters of road and built a small two-room building for the staff. Now the windows and doors of the building are up and there are no fence materials. Ward president Chakra Vick accuses the then government of introducing this program to appease the workers. He says, "If that was not the case, the budget should have been allocated to complete the work, and someone should have taken responsibility for the existing structure." Mohan Vick, chairman of the consumer committee, says that due to lack of budget, more work could not be done. He was also told by the Division Forest Office that the budget did not come from the province.

Bhavani Hi-Tech Nursery in Jotada, Narayan Municipality-10 of Dailekh is also very attractive. The materials used in the construction, such as pipes and other materials, have now disappeared. 'Construction is insufficient,' said local resident Birendra Basnet, 'who took away the construction materials?' tells He says, "The goods also became very expensive due to Corona, but they did not give more budget."

Divisional Forest Officer of Dailekh Dharmaraj Upadhyay insists that since the state government did not send the budget, the consumer committees could not be given funds for the remaining work. "Until then, I was not in charge of the head, now I realized that even with the money spent, nothing more will be done except for the building and the field," he added, "If the ministry was interested in completing it according to the plan, this would not have happened."

at home in Surkhet

An agreement was signed between the state's Directorate of Agricultural Development and Adarsh ​​Rural Multi-Purpose Cooperative located in Virendranagar Municipality-9 Latikoili of Surkhet on 28th Baisakh 2077 for the construction of a hi-tech nursery. Although construction of hi-tech nursery was clearly mentioned in the contract, the directorate continued to pay even though the cooperative was working against the contract. The nursery, which was built for about 96 lakhs, is now in a dilapidated condition. The family of Vedkali Bhattarai of Jumla lives in a building built with grant funds for storing nursery materials. Vedkali said that she bought the house from Rajendra Budha, the president of the cooperative.

absconding with peski in Calikot

The consumer committee formed for the construction of hi-tech nursery in Khandachakra Municipality-6 Daha of Kalikot entered into an agreement with Chhatra Shahi and Karna Budha of Jumla on 11th June 2076 for the supply of construction materials. Shahi, who was connected to the committee through an old man's firm called Samael Agriculture Pvt. There was a rush to build a hi-tech nursery. Some items were also thrown at the construction site,' said Birkh Bahadur Vick, a local resident, 'again they picked up those items overnight, now there is no place.' But Vick has alleged that the Division Forest Office became involved even when the money was misused by submitting false information. Parv Nepali, Secretary of the Consumers' Committee, also says that Chhatra Bahadur ran away with the money. Although the Divisional Forest Office has written to the consumer committee to return the money, it has not filed a complaint against the absconders. Another hi-tech nursery started in Kalikot's Raskot Municipality-7 is also stalled. Chairman of the committee Kapur Mahtara said that on June 11, 2076, the cost of 90 lakhs was agreed upon and 17 lakhs 10 thousand rupees were collected. But it doesn't seem to work even after reaching five years.

According to Mahatara, no more work could be done than land acquisition for 17 lakhs. After that, even the forest office was not interested. We did work equal to the amount we got,'' said Mahtara, who is also the ward president of Raskot Municipality-7. Mahesh Kumai, Head of Division Forest Office, Kalikot, alleges that the consumer committee has not worked even after taking the agreed amount. "If the work had been done, the amount should have been paid according to the agreement," he said, "Both consumer committees have not released the pesqui amount." Now the period specified for the plan has expired and the budget that cannot be spent has been frozen. According to the final audit of August 30, 2076, the Office of the Auditor General has written to the office to recover the amount paid as an unreasonable amount, but the recovery has not been done.

embezzlement from the office head in Dolpa

Budha, the then chief asset of Krishi Gyan Kendra Dolpa, has embezzled funds by using Mrs. Sonkali Budha's firm for the construction of OB Hi-Tech Nursery in Thulieveri Municipality-8. In the year 2075, he received a grant of Rs 3750,000 from the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives for construction of nursery and cold storage. For that, OB fruits, nurseries and cold stores registered in the name of Sonkali, wife of Budha, the head of the office, were used.

Both the nursery and the cold store are not functioning now, says Birkh Budha, a local farmer. "Even if the grant money is used a little, it is not productive," he adds, "the head of the office collected the grant himself using his wife's firm." He is the one who works, my children also work. What should we do if the nursery does not run?'

Sharad Lama, the then Acting Head of District Agricultural Development Office, Dolpa, also misused the budget of hi-tech nursery by using his wife's firm. It is found in the details of the office that he received a grant of Rs. However, the nursery is not operational now. Lama, the head of the government subsidy office, says that the nursery has also been closed after the plants stopped being sold.

In the year 2075/76, Thuliveri Municipality-3 of Dolpa was said to have spent 3750,000 to build the infrastructure of Life Agriculture, Fruits and Nursery, but now there is no structure. Dal Bahadur Thakulla, chairman of the consumer committee, says that the 1.8 million rupees taken from Pesky could not be used for more than land maintenance. They say, 'That too has been buried by the landslide and made useless.'

Nandsingh Budha, the then state MP from Dolpa, was the minister of industry, tourism, forest and environment in the Karnali state government from 2074 to 2078. During his tenure, an allocation of 24 million was made under the title of hi-tech nursery in Dolpa. However, the construction work of the nursery was never started and left unfinished. In Dolpa, the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives also allocated 30 million 14 million for the construction of 4 hi-tech nurseries. Work has not been done on those projects either.

What is hi-tech nursery?

is a high-tech nursery producing quality plants for forest and agricultural crops, hi-tech nursery. An air-conditioned and automated nursery is equipped with a UV blocking greenhouse. Arrangements like agrinets for temperature control and insect nets are provided to protect against insect infestation. In such a nursery, which is equipped with modern technology of irrigation system, necessary nutrition for plant growth, off-season vegetable plants as well as fruits and other plants can be produced in a short time and in large quantities. During the time of the then Chief Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi, this program was introduced with the slogan 'One Constituency, One Hi-Tech Nursery'. Agriculture expert Suryanath Yogi, who is currently the vice-chairman of the State Planning Commission, says that this program, which was brought to Hachuwa by ignoring the feasibility study and local needs, has done nothing but waste the state's funds. According to Yogi, there has been bullying in the pesky funds of the hi-tech nursery program. The then Chief Minister Shahi, Industry, Tourism Forestry and Environment Minister Nandasin Budha and Agriculture Minister Vimala KC were in office for three and a half years. He says that once the budget is allocated, the lack of monitoring and evaluation of that work and the non-performance of the subordinate agencies will raise questions on the leadership.

Kedar Baral, secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment, said that the state government did not continue the hi-tech nursery program after receiving widespread complaints about irregularities. He said, "We have not continued now, while the authority is investigating, we have not conducted a separate investigation."

Simta 'Case Study'

In 2075/76, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment allocated one crore for the construction of hi-tech nursery in Simta Rural Municipality-5, Surkhet. However, the nursery has not yet been put into operation. Built structures have turned into ruins. For the construction of hi-tech nursery, as directed by the Hi-Tech Nursery Establishment and Operation Procedures, 2075, the three-phase power line connection, public barren land, access to transportation, etc., were not complied with. Jagat Mahtara, chairman of the consumer committee, says, 'Initially, we asked to choose a location with a three-phase line, but what do we think after not keeping it in the technical estimate?' He accuses them of demanding Rs 6 lakh from the consumer committee saying that the employees should be reconciled. The Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission filed a case in the Special Court on February 23, 2080, on the charge of corruption by preparing fake documents and taking payments against the rules, together with the employees of the Division One Office and the Consumer Committee.

The authority charged Govinda Prasad Dahal, the then head of the Division Forest Office, Tek Bahadur Rawal, the assistant forest officer, and Laxmikumari Thapa Chhetri, the accountant, in collusion with the consumers' committee by making fake reports and paying the money. was made.

However, from the on-site and technical report of the Authority Abuse Investigation Commission, it appears that the high-tech nursery has been built as per the contract, and the Agricultural Farming Nursery Management Operating Procedure was issued on Chait 2, 2078, showing that the issue of who will take responsibility for the work done before that has not been revealed. acquitted the opposition.

Advocate Durga Sapkota alleges that the authority is weak in acquitting the opposition in the case. "Akhtiar could not do enough investigation," he says, "If the investigation and prosecution had been done properly, there would have been no reason to lose." There is a tendency in the authority to dilute the investigation by falling under someone's suggestion. The then Minister of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Vimala KC also admits that the work in the hi-tech nursery is not as expected. She said, "Seeing that vegetable and fruit plants are being imported from outside, the program has been implemented with the aim of making Karnali self-sufficient. But our expertise did not reach the problem.' Pokharel Hittek, who has been residents of the Sampati village, says that the state of the state is widely misused in the name of Nursery. He says, "We do not know what a prosecution by authority would be cleansed. However, noise eyes, historical nursery, is clear that money is over not to work there. Why doesn't anyone in such distress of Calicot, which has been disabled in Kalikot in Koligath-3, was filed against the then head of Calicot, in Kalikot, in Kalikot. However, the court has also been cleaned in this issue. Now the villagers have built the nursery, made by spending 66 million rupees. It was responsible for the construction of the nursery, the SIMNath agricultural organization. The Treasurer Shadraj Minister Mahendra Bahadur Shahi was employed at the secretariat of Mahendra Bahadur Shahi. & NBSP; Rajandrath Municipality-3, who has been held by the Nursery Municipality-3, says that the Nursery Municipality-3 has now been stunned by his own Sinal Shahi Shahi Shahi Shahi, chairman of the Cooperatives. 'Localization asks us, but while making this structure, no one does not participate,' said Yogi. Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative Mantra, Agricultural and Cooperative Political Projects in the Parallest Government of the previous government, Baran, the grant is prevented. 'Only after the monitoring of the grant distributed in the ten exponstation distributed in the tenup districts, "he said. & Nbsp; Singhi Planning Sunsarius of the Province fails for the construction of consumer support and organizations of the concerned work is not rehearsable work, disabled consumer committees and organizations of the related work on the concerned work.

(Search Journalism Center)