Miscellaneous
Cabinet ratifies foreign visit rule for officials
The Cabinet has endorsed the Foreign Visit Management Directive for government officials including ministers, aimed at controlling “unnecessary” foreign trips by those holding public office.The Cabinet has endorsed the Foreign Visit Management Directive for government officials including ministers, aimed at controlling “unnecessary” foreign trips by those holding public office.
Officials at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday said the directive, which was prepared as an integrated legal document regulating foreign trips by officials, seeks to curb “purposeless” visits.
“Any government official willing to visit abroad should fulfill certain objectives for the nation,” said Hari Panthi, a joint-secretary at the PMO. “They will have to submit reports specifying lessons learnt and how Nepal can benefit from their experiences abroad.”
The 55th annual report of the Office of the Auditor General showed that various ministries are spending lavishly from the state coffers in the name of foreign visits without studying the benefits.
The directive seeks to control the practice of domestic and international non-government organisations sponsoring trips of public officials including senior employees.
“The new provision is more restrictive than the existing one in relation to the NGOs/INGOs funding the trips,” said a PMO official without specifying the details.
The existing directives on foreign trips by VVIPs and VIPs bar officials including those of special to first classes from visiting abroad on the money of I/NGOs except those associated with the United Nations.