How correct was KC on reconstruction, corruption ranking and foreign employment?

Sujit Mainali / May 31, 2016

Repair work underway at the Bauddhanath Stupa, which was damaged by the earthquake. Photo: Sujit Mainali

Member of Parliament and Central Committee Member of the Nepali Congress (NC) Arjun Narsingh KC in his article titled “Policy and Program: Parcel of Illusion” published in Naya Patrika daily on May 13 made the following statements while criticizing the performance of the incumbent government:

1. Of the Rs 410 billion reconstruction assistance pledged by the international community, agreement was signed for only Rs 125 billion. Foreign donors have already provided Rs 65 billion.
2. The recent “Corruption index” published by the Transparency International has ranked Nepal two notches down from last year.
3. Statistics show 50,000 youths leave the country every month for employment abroad.

South Asia Check has examined whether this statements are fact-based or not:

First Statement: Of the Rs 410 billion reconstruction assistance pledged by the international community, agreement was signed for only Rs 125 billion. Foreign donors have already provided Rs 65 billion.

According to the Post Disaster Recovery Framework published by the National Reconstruction Authority, foreign donors have pledged assistance worth Rs 410 billion. But contrary to KC’s claim that agreement has been signed for Rs 125 billion aid, the Post Disaster Recovery Framework says agreements have been signed for only Rs 120 billion.

“Since the publication of the Post Disaster Recovery Framework, agreements for Rs 180 billion have been signed with various donors including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank,” deputy spokesman of the Nepal Reconstruction Authority, Dr Bhisma Kumar Bhusal told South Asia Check.

Therefore, KC’s first statement is nearly correct.

Second Statement: The recent “Corruption index” published by the Transparency International has ranked Nepal two notches down from last year.

When we studied the “Corruption Perception Index (CPI)-2015” prepared by Transparency International, we found Nepal had indeed slipped two notches down as claimed by KC.

But it should be noted that KP Oli took over as prime minister only in October of 2015 from Nepali Congress’ Sushil Koirala. So the figure cited by KC was correct, but the timeframe was wrong.

Third Statement: Statistics show 50,000 youths leave the country every month for employment abroad.

According to the report “Labor Migration for Employment” prepared by the Nepal Government, in 2013/14, 521,878 labor permits (43,490 per month) were issued to the Nepali migrant workers for foreign employment.

Thus, this statement of KC is also almost correct.

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