Budget division was not consulted: Khanal

Apart from getting tired of greed and selfishness among people in power, the recent series of exercises to formulate a supplementary budget bypassing the established machinery at the Ministry of Finance hurt me the most, ultimately forcing me to resign, said Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal in an interview.
Excerpts.

Why did you resign abruptly?

I was not in a mood to continue in my job due to various internal problems that I had been facing for long. The resignation was not a sudden decision. I was tired of dealing with greedy and selfish individuals who used to visit me to fulfill their personal interests rather than with programs beneficial to the larger population. As I had been fighting such selfish attempts ever since I was posted to the Finance Ministry eight years ago, I thought it was better to break away than bow down.

What were your differences with Finance Minister Adhikari?

Let me make it clear that I had no serious issue with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari as reported in the media. Yes, I had differences with him regarding some principals concerning expenditure as I was in favor of expenditures that help capital assets rather than distributive expenditures. More than that, I came to know that a supplementary budget was being prepared at the official residence of Deputy PM and Finance Minister Adhikary and the private residences of influential individuals without even consulting the Budget Division of the ministry. I took up the issue with Adhikari. But, unfortunately he took my professional advice as non-cooperation in bringing the supplementary budget. I took it as a clear indication that the leadership had lost confidence in me and I decided to quit.

Was there any pressure from the Finance Minister to resign? What were the weaknesses of the supplementary budget?

That´s absolutely not true. He had not exerted any pressure to the extent of my having to tender my resignation. As I said, the deputy prime minister and finance minister was in favor of a distributive budget aimed at pleasing the recipients. I had a different opinion and I argued that such a budget won´t be feasible for a country like Nepal. I said that such a budget cannot ensure capital formation, which I think Nepal needs most to achieve sustainable development and create employment. But not only did he discard my suggestions, he termed them as obstacles in bringing out a budget they wanted.

Did you have any differences with Minister Adhikary over the Unity scam and taking action against fake VAT bill racketeers?

No one had exerted any sort of pressure to take a decision supporting the revival of the infamous Unity scheme. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Adhikari never put any pressure on me that could be taken as an attempt or intention to support Unity International. Similarly, the Inland Revenue Department has been investigating the fake VAT bill scandal as per existing legal provisions. I have to be frank that there was no pressure on me to manipulate ongoing investigations. In fact, Adhikari has already spoken publicly of the commitment to take tough action against the wrongdoers.

If you were not trusted at the Ministry of Finance, you could have chosen to go to other ministries, instead of tendering your resignation. Why didn´t you do that?

I have already served in the bureaucracy for about 31 years. I was also aware that wherever I went, I would have to face the same crowd of greedy and selfish people. I have also become convinced that the bureaucracy was not the only means of severing the people and the country. So, I didn´t think of other alternatives to quitting.

What sort of impression do you think will people have towards government service following your resignation?

I think I have been able to be an example that there are some people in the bureaucracy who cannot be forced to bow to the interests of greedy people. I believe it has also resulted in possible synergy with existing bureaucrats to fight with full strength against those who aim to fulfill self-interests at the cost of the nation as a whole. I am confident that those who want to serve the people and the nation by defeating the culprits will be attracted towards the civil service even after my resignation.

What are you future plans?

I will spend the rest of my life as an ordinary Nepali citizen. I have no big dreams and programs. But I aim to be engaged in activities to serve society and people. It will be a great success in my life if I could bring smiles to the faces of 100 people in future.

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