Govt sacks two NEA board members, Ghising may be next

Kathmandu, 4 Aug: The ongoing tussle between Prime Minister K P Oli and Nepal Electricity Authority Executive Director Kulman Ghising has resulted in unceremonious dismissal of two members of the Board-Bhakta Bahadur Pun and Kapil Acharya.

Energy Minister Dipak Khadka, himself an investor in the hydro projects, sacked the two members under instructions from Prime Minister Oli and appointed Devendra Karki, former secretary and Mahendra Gurung, former joint secretary in the Energy Ministry as part of the understanding between the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist, the two biggest partners in the coalition government.

The two board members sacked today had been appointed by the previous government led by Prachanda and supported by the Nepali Congress. Both had disapproved Prime Minister Oli’s move to reconnect the dedicated and Trunk lines to industries which together owe around 8 billion rupees tax to the government. They had insisted for an instruction in writing from the Prime Minister for reconnecting the lines to defaulters.

This is also seen as a message to Ghising to quit or else he would meet the same fate as that of two board members. It is believed that the two board members are contemplating moving the court challenging their premature dismissal.