Valley
Sajha chair Sharma sacked
The Ministry of Education on Sunday sacked Dolendra Sharma as chairman and managing Director of Sajha Publication.The Ministry of Education on Sunday sacked Dolendra Sharma as chairman and managing Director of Sajha Publication.
A meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education Gopalman Shrestha took the decision to this effect, said a senior ministry official.
The ministry had sought clarification from Sharma twice in the wake of media reports about scandals surrounding irregularities at the publication on his watch.
“As Sharma could not furnish a satisfactory reply, the ministry has decided to relieve him of his duties effective from today [Sunday],” the ministry decision reads.
Appointed three years ago by the then education minister Chitra Lekha Yadav, his tenure had been extended once by outgoing minister Dhani Ram Poudel.
A probe panel led by Under Secretary Ganesh Dhakal had found that he had awarded tenders without inviting tenders for paper procurement, printing books at other printing outlets despite Sajha’s having its own press up and running, appointing people close to him, among others.
Based on these allegations, the meeting led by DPM Shrestha decided to remove him, said the decision. The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is also independently probing into those allegations against him.
As per the recommendation of Dhakal panel, the ministry had sought clarification from Sharma.
He had first submitted a 100-page clarification but the ministry found it unsatisfactory and sought another one.
He was eventually sacked after the second clarification too failed to convince the ministry.