Nepali fuel tankers were recently held up in Bihar allegedly for not having paid their road tax to the state government. Apparently these fuel tankers were on a routine trip from east Nepal to pick up fuel from Barauni, as per the agreement between the two countries, with due written permission from the Indian Embassy in Nepal. Even after repeated negotiations by Nepal Oil Corporation with the government of Bihar and after payment of the newly stipulated heavy road tax, some tankers were still withheld. What flusters me is under what authority the NOC negotiated with the Indian state government for the release of the tankers. This matter should have gone through proper protocol channels: through the HMG Foreign Ministry and the Indian Embassy. If it is true that the oil tankers had proper authorisation from the Indian Embassy then the sole responsibility for the facilitation of the release of the tankers as well as the clearing up of the misunderstanding rested on the Indian Embassy. This would have been an excellent opportunity for the embassy to extend help towards the government and the people of Nepal. Yet the matter was allowed to drag on. It may be admissible that a state government may have different rules than the central government but at that time, Bihar was under direct president rule.

Andy Joshy,
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