Kathmandu, March 11
The government on Thursday appointed Umesh Prasad Thani as the managing director of the country’s petroleum distribution monopoly, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
The decision, however, turned controversial as it has been accused of amending the rule about the appointment to favour Thani as he was a cadre of the ruling Nepali Congress party.
Critics including consumer rights activists have said the government added engineering as one of the fields in which the candidates shall have experience.
Likewise, the previous rule had it that the applicant should have experience of five years in a managerial position in the oil distribution sector. However, the amended rule has it that any candidate with experience in a managerial position in any sector would be fit for the NOC top position.
Bishnu Prasad Timilsina, the general secretary of the Forum for Consumers’ Rights Nepal, says the appointment is also against a Supreme Court verdict issued on September 9, 2021. In response to a lawsuit filed by the forum, the court had told the government to make the provision of 10-year experience in the concerned sector compulsory to appoint any official or expert in any public utility.
