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🇳🇵 Nepal /Energy & Infrastructure

Sudurpaschim has seen huge investment in sports infrastructure but has little to show for it

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Six individuals, including a rural municipality official, were convicted for misappropriating Rs1.46 million in funds meant for a local playground project in Bajhang, Nepal.
  • The court found that duplicate payments were made and work was either incomplete or substandard, despite the project receiving significant funding from federal sources.
  • Residents and local officials expressed that the verdict confirmed suspicions of corruption, suggesting such projects are often used to reward political supporters rather than develop sports infrastructure.

A landmark ruling by Nepal's Special Court has convicted six individuals, including the acting chief administrative officer of Bitthadchir Rural Municipality in Bajhang, for financial irregularities and corruption related to a local playground project.

The project was not selected through the normal planning process.

— Harish KhadayatDescribing the irregular selection process for the sports ground project.

The court found that approximately Rs1.46 million was misappropriated during the construction of a sports ground in Bitthad. The project, funded with Rs6.5 million from the federal Ministry of Youth and Sports and a parliamentary development fund in fiscal year 2019-20, saw authorities sign multiple agreements with the same users' committee using different cost estimates. Investigators discovered duplicate payments for ground-cutting work and evidence of additional payments for tasks that were never completed.

Former administrative officer Chakradev Bhatta, sub-engineer Ganesh Raj Upadhyaya, and account officer Harkadev Joshi were among those convicted, alongside officials from the project's users' committee. Each received a three-month prison sentence and a fine of Rs244,414. The court highlighted that authorities knowingly engaged in these corrupt practices, even when aware of the inappropriate nature of their actions.

It was brought through political connections reaching all the way to the then sports minister Jagat Bishwakarma.

— Harish KhadayatExplaining how the project was initiated.

For many locals, the verdict validated long-held suspicions. Harish Khadayat, ward chair of Bitthadchir-6, stated the site was unsuitable for a sports facility and the project was initiated through political connections rather than standard planning processes. He suggested that many such projects across the district are designed to benefit political allies and power brokers, implying that a thorough investigation could uncover numerous similar cases. The article notes that across Sudurpaschim Province, numerous sports infrastructure projects worth millions have failed to deliver usable facilities despite substantial funding over several years.

If someone investigates properly, dozens of similar cases will be found in this district alone.

— Harish KhadayatSuggesting widespread corruption in similar projects.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Kathmandu Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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