Rising arrears cause for concern: Speaker Ghimire

Kathmandu, June 29: Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire said that increasing arrears in the public offices was a cause for concern.     

At the 66th anniversary function of the Office of the Auditor General here today, Speaker Ghimire asserted that the responsible authorities in the public agencies should take seriously the issue of increasing arrears.     

Calling for promptness to clear arrears, Ghimire urged the concerned authorities to implement the recommendations furnished in the report of the Office of the Auditor General, thereby reducing the arrears and maintaining financial discipline and accountability.     

He commented that the account committee's performance at local level was not satisfactory. He emphasized that the concerned authority and accounting heads at public offices should realize their responsibilities to prevent arrears from occurring at the first place and secondly, to expedite clearance of arrears persisting as of now.     

The Speaker also requested the Office of Auditor General to fulfill its responsibilities as stipulated in the constitution of our country.     

According to the 61st report of the Office of the Auditor General based on the audit of all three-tier governments for the fiscal year 2022/23, over Rs 1.183 trillion remains to be cleared till date.     

Similarly, Rishikesh Pokharel, President of the Public Account Committee under the federal parliament, viewed that the Office of Attorney General, which had been playing an important role in maintaining fiscal discipline and good-governance should proceed with its functions more effectively.     

He argued that we could achieve effective results by considering change in our working style. Pokharel advocated for the autonomy of the Office of Auditor General in accordance with the federal set-up.     

He rued that deliberation on the report of the Office of the Auditor General could not be held in the parliamentary committees for long. At present, according to him, deliberation was underway on the 60th report in the Public Account Committee meeting.     

He demanded punishment for those employees in the public offices who perpetuate arrears.     

Likewise, Auditor General Toyam Raya pledged to make audit system more refined and effective.     

According to him, the parliamentary committees and parliaments could play significant role in addressing the problems point out by his office's report. The auditing was carried out in compliance with the law and considering factors such as regularity, frugality, competence, effectiveness and relevance among others, he shared. (RSS)