The argument between Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Gopalman Shrestha and State Minister Surendra Hamal regarding the transfer of civil servants has taught other corrupt ministers a few lessons in how to designate their people without internal fighting. Home Minister and Minister for Local Development Khum Bahadur Khadka has already started practising what he learnt.

Minister Khadka, known for appointing his own people in government organisations and offices, has added three more workers to the Decentralisation Implementation and Inspection Committee. The three Congress loyalists recruited are Dambar Bahadur Bhandari from Dang, Dr Balram Gautam from Rupandehi, and Dinanathprasad Chaurasiya from Parsa. Among them Bhandari is said to be Khum Bahadur's man, Dr Gautam was put forward by state minister in the Ministry for Local Development, Dooryodhan Singh Chaudhary, and Chaurasiya by assistant minister Ajaya Kumar Chaurasiya. Evidently, the new nominations were put forth after an agreement was reached between the minister, state minister, and the assistant minister. Bhandari has been taken in as the accounts specialist, Dr Gautam as the revenue specialist, and Chaurasiya as the administration specialist.

Clause 41 sub-clause 6 of the Self-Governance Act 2055 says that people appointed to the Decentralisation Implementation and Inspection Committee must have ten years of work experience in the same sector. But none of those appointed yesterday fulfil the criteria of the Act. Dr Gautam's qualification is that he is a former mayor of Bhairahawa, Bhandari is a school teacher and Chaurasiya's qualification is that he a relative of the assistant minister. How could these people be appointed when the Act prevents their nomination? Udayaraj Soti, Secretary of the Local Development Ministry, claims that the three fulfil the ten-year work experience requirement.

In between all of this, Minister Khum Bahadur Khadka is also to be investigated by the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority. A source at the Department of Roads says the CIAA has already gathered enough papers proving Khadka's role in the corruption in the construction of the Rapti river bridge sometime ago. Just last week, the CIAA interrogated director general of the NCCN Ramagya Chaturvedi, and former director general of the Roads Department Anand Khanal