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The fake Bhutanese refugee scam has rocked the country. Police have arrested 15 individuals so far, including a former deputy prime minister, a former home minister, and a sitting government secretary, for their alleged involvement in a racket that swindled tens of millions of rupees from hundreds of Nepali people by promising them resettlement in the US as Bhutanese refugees. The police plan to charge-sheet them under organized crime, while many are demanding that they be charged with treason. The racket was involved in forging the name list of Bhutanese refugees awaiting resettlement prepared by a task force formed by the Home Ministry.

Here is a simple guide to understanding the scandal that has disgraced Nepal’s government institutions, politicians and bureaucrats. 

The beginning of Bhutanese refugee problem 

The Bhutanese refugee crisis began in the early 1990s when tens of thousands of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people (Lhotshampas) were driven away by the Bhutanese government from their homeland. Discriminatory policies and human rights violations targeting the Lhotshampas were the main cause of their displacement. Between 1990 and 1993, more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees walked through India and entered Nepal in search of asylum.

According to government records, a total of 116,357 Bhutanese refugees were registered in Nepal. To accommodate the refugees, temporary camps were set up in Beldangi, Goldhap, Khudunabari, Timai of Jhapa, and Pahtari in Morang. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of refugees was 113,428 as per the count conducted in 2006. This number increased by 1,099 in 2008, 1,800 in 2012, and 30 between 2015 and 2018, bringing the total number of refugees to 116,357.

Overview of Bhutanese Refugee camp in Beldangi II camp | Photo: Bhutaneserefugee.com

​​​​​​​Failed repatriation talks

Soon after the Bhutanese refugee crisis, Nepal and Bhutan set up a foreign minister level talks team to repatriate Lhotshampas. But there was no breakthrough. After the 15th Miniterail Joint Committee meeting held in 2003, there has not been any talks between the two countries.

In 2007, the United States, along with several other countries, initiated the third-country resettlement program to provide permanent homes for the displaced Bhutanese residing in Nepal. As a result, tens of thousands of refugees were resettled in various countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and several European nations. Between 2006 and 2019, 113,307 refugees were resettled in these countries. According to the UNHCR record, 96,170 of them were resettled in the US, 7,070 in Australia, 6,839 in Canada, 1,096 in New Zealand, 875 in Denmark, 570 in Norway, 358 in the United Kingdom, and 329 in the Netherlands.

According to the UNHCR, 3,050 refugees are still in the camps. However, the government puts the number of refugees in camps at 6,577. Among them, 817 are not in camps and are not even coming to avail themselves of the facilities provided to refugees. In 2019, then foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali had initiated the talks to settle the remaining refugees but there was not any progress. Since the beginning, Bhutan has dismissed any possibility of taking back its citizens from Nepal. 

Bhutanese refugee Devi Maya Thapa (second left) sits on a bench with her family at a refugee camp in Nepal. She is the 100,000th Bhutanese refugee to be resettled | Photo: UNHCR

Management of remaining refugees 

On 13 June 2019, the government of Nepal formed a task force under Joint Secretary Balkrishna Panthi to study whether the remaining refugees could be repatriated to Bhutan or resettled in foreign countries. One of the mandates of the task force was to collect applications from those refugees who were yet to be registered. The task force presented three suggestions for managing the remaining refugees in the camps: repatriation to Bhutan, resettlement in third countries, or integration in Nepal.

Although countries that previously welcomed Bhutanese refugees for resettlement and UN agencies are advocating for local integration, the task force states that it would not be an appropriate solution, given Nepal’s geopolitics and economic situation. The task force suggested that the government stop collecting applications for refugees, manage the refugees in the camps, dismantle the camps, and close the chapter on Bhutanese refugees for good. The UNHCR had already closed the third-country resettlement plan in 2016.

Both Nepal government and UN were mum on how to settle refugees who were denied to go for the third country. 

The scam 

Police believe that Keshav Dulal, who served as a personal secretary to Nepali Congress leader Sujata Koirala for a long time and was aware of the resettlement process of Bhutanese refugees, was the mastermind behind the scam. Dulal took the help of one Sanu Bhandari to put the plan into action. 

The duo managed to obtain the report of the Panthi-led task force, which the ministry had yet to make public, and allegedly added the names of hundreds of Nepali people to the list of refugees awaiting resettlement or registration. It is said they had collected Rs 1m to Rs5m from over 800 Nepali individuals who dreamt of settling in the US as Bhutanese refugees. The racket is also found to have collected biometrics from the people and issued them refugee identification cards. Police investigations have also revealed that the racket members used to drive around in Home Ministry’s vehicles to convince the people that the entire process was authorized by the government.

So far, Nepal Police has arrested 15 people in connection with the investigation.  They include former Deputy Prime Minister and Member of the House of Representatives Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, Secretary at the Office of the Vice-president Tek Narayan Pandey, former member of the House of Representatives Ang Tawa Sherpa, former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s security advisor Indrajit Rai, Khand’s personal secretary Narendra KC, Keshav Dulal, Sanu Bhandari, Sagar Rai, Sandesh Sharma, Tanka Kumar Gurung, Sandeep Rayamajhi, Ram Sharan KC, Govinda Chaudhary, and Chairperson of Nepal Haj Committee Shamsher Miya. 

Arrest warrants have also been issued against Pratik Thapa, son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, and Niraj Rai, son of Indrajit Rai. But both of them are reportedly on the run.  

Besides being a politician, Pranaya SJB Rana is an academic as well as a practitioner of conflict resolution and peace. He served Nepali Army for seven years. He has around two decades of experience working in practical research and evaluation, organizational assessment and efficacy, social services, road safety, traffic management and public health backgrounds. He also holds a PhD in International Conflict Management from Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA.

Pratik Ghimire of ApEx sat down with Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader Rana to talk about RSP’s political stances and his thoughts on youths and politics. Excerpts:

Why did RSP leave the government?

As soon as we won 20 seats in the lower house of the federal parliament, some people wanted us to be in opposition as they suggested that the existing parties have no good people and the RSP shouldn’t form a coalition with them. While some people wanted us in the government so that we could deliver. They were right too as they didn’t vote for us to be an opposition. As the people didn’t give a majority to any party, a coalition government was the only option. And having 20 seats, being the fourth largest party, it was our responsibility too to help form a government. We were emotionally guided to some extent. And in the by-polls, people have poured their love more strongly. They suggested we be in opposition and the party also thought that we can fight more effectively this way.

And hence we pulled out our participation and support from the government. It’s nothing like the recent rumors—that after the government opened the files of frauds and scams, RSP withdrew its support.

Where does the ideology of RSP lie? Center, right or left?

It’s not even been a year since the establishment of RSP. Our initial focus was to make RSP a delivery-based party. Soon, we went through a series of events: elections, government formation and by-polls, among others. We had no time to discuss such topics. But now, things have been settled down and we are already forming ad hoc committees in all provinces and local levels for a better party organization. With this, discussion and discourse have been started about our political ideology. We are actually in the process of shaping and sharpening our ideology. 

Preparations have already started for our general convention. For building the party structure, we are moving ahead with a top-to-bottom approach, forming the ad hoc committees. After this, the convention will start with the bottom to top approach. There are advantages and disadvantages of leaning toward the right, left or remaining at the center. I personally prefer hybrids of right and left so that we can capture the very best from both. European countries have similar views which has helped them progress. 

What’s your thought on provincial structure?

Again, there was a narrative that RSP is against federalism. But that’s not correct. We are not against provinces, but we are advocating for a better provincial structure. The current structure is so expensive, the state won’t be able to get with it for a long time. We, in the party, are discussing different provincial modalities. In my opinion, a province should have a directly-elected governor.

The governor should be accompanied with directly elected experts as commissioners, such as health commissioner, education commissioner and all. This will make our provinces as powerful and effective as local governments.

How’s RSP sustaining financially?

Many members of our party are working professionals. For instance, before this interview, I taught two classes in the morning. I am also a consultant. Because I am in politics, a full-time job is not feasible for me, hence I do freelance. This has helped me sustain my life and also helped me get involved in the party’s works.

Our party can’t provide us funds for campaigns, meetings and events. The party doesn’t invest in us, rather we invest in the party. We are in a mutually supportive system but most of the party workers and leaders are supporting themselves on their own. And the party aims to run its operation through funds collected from membership drives.

Does age matter in politics?

There is a narrative of young and old in trend, which, I think, is wrong. Many youths this time got engaged in politics for cosmetic activities. In Kathmandu-5 itself, many aspiring youths sat with me for political negotiations. Some came without any agenda but with ridiculous claims that they were surely going to win because of the number of their business customers. Some said they have historical legacy and in the previous election, they got a good vote. Some claimed to have a better financial situation than me, so they should contest the election instead of me.

For contesting parliamentary polls, experience and knowledge in policy making and research should be the criteria. It’s about qualification—not about age.  Take the example of US Senator Bernard Sanders. He is 81 and still, he is highly engaged in policy research and advocacy. Therefore, his constituents, especially the youths can relax and enjoy their private life. We should establish a narrative of qualification for politicians, not age.

What do you suggest for aspiring politicians?

The first and most important thing is you must be independent and self-sufficient. Get some experience and follow a flexible-routine modality via expertise, consultancy and freelancing job. Then only you can manage your professional and political work. And lastly, after realizing your flexibility, knowledge, experience and expertise, decide which level of politics will you be able to fit in and can better deliver. With time, your political engagements will guide you. The present senior leaders had their own share of struggles. They were involved in revolutions. But we don’t have to do that. We are somehow privileged. Hence, we should focus on delivery-based politics backed by individual's qualification. 

Many people say that they will learn when they get into a political post. But a political post is not a place for an internship. It’s not for trial and error but it’s for delivery, based on trial and error that you have already committed and learned. Even after having an experience of about two decades, I was still afraid to join politics. I was not sure if I gained enough knowledge and experience or not because, as I already said, this stage is not for any error.

Most of the independent youth contestants are nowhere to be seen post-election. That isn’t the type of politics young people should be engaged in; it sends a very wrong message. You need to be committed and disciplined. If I find any important issue, I research it and share my findings with my colleagues who are lawmakers. They then raise the issue in the parliament. So, although I lost the election, I continuously find my ways to contribute and so can anyone else.

The Embassy of Nepal in Washington, DC has received  40 Nepali wooden artifacts dating back to the 19th-20th century from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USA.   The artifacts smuggled from Nepal were confiscated in Honolulu, Hawaii by the United States Customs and Border Protection on 18 Aug 2010. Nepal  had officially requested the Government of the United States to return these objects to Nepal in 2011.

In the handover ceremony held on Sunday, Nepal’s Ambassador to the US, Sridhar Khatri, extended his sincere thanks to the DHS, the Department of State, media and art and heritage campaigners for their support in retrieval and repatriation of the artifacts. He particularly appreciated and thanked the investigators and staff members of the DHS and HSI for their hard work and dedication in recovering the objects of art handed over today and other artifacts that were recovered earlier.

Deputy Assistant Director of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Ricardo Mayoral expressed his happiness on the successful return of these important artifacts to the Government of Nepal after long investigations. He also assured that the HSI will extend fullest cooperation to the embassy for repatriation of other stolen and lost artifacts of Nepal. 

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of State Scott Urbom stated that the United States will continue its cooperation and collaboration with Nepal to preserve and restore its rich art and architectural heritages. He said that the successful recovery of the illegally exported artifacts is a major achievement.  The trove of the artifacts handed over to the Embassy includes 39 engraved and painted wooden panels and a carved wooden shrine, among which the four panels were randomly selected for display during the handover ceremony.

Photographs of other artifacts were displayed separately to give the audience a flavor of what the remaining pieces would look like. These precious Nepali artifacts are estimated to date back to the period between the 19th and 20th century. They signify various aspects of Lord Buddha’s life and his teachings as well as the Buddhist religious and cultural values and practices. As part of efforts to recover and repatriate the lost and stolen heritages of Nepal, the embassy has been actively engaged with relevant agencies of the governments of Nepal and the United States. 

The embassy had repatriated to Nepal seven artifacts—stone statues of Uma Mahesvara, Chaturmukh Shivlinga, Nagaraja, Padmanpani and Shakyamuni Buddha—on 18 May 2022; and a wooden statue of Nritya Devi and a standing stone statue of Lord Buddha on 28 April  2023. The embassy said it will send the artifacts received on Sunday to the Department of Archaeology of Nepal as soon as possible.

Most of the major political parties recently submitted their audit report of fiscal year 2021/22. The political parties—registered at the Election Commission (EC)—are required to maintain real accounts of their income and expenditure, appoint a responsible official for this purpose, audit their income and expenditure within six months of the end of the financial year and submit it to the commission within one month after auditing by a licensed auditor in accordance with the law, says the Article 269 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 and the Political Party Act, 2017.

According to an EC source, 83 political parties have submitted the report on time. “We are planning to ask those who haven’t submitted the report to submit explanations with valid reasons for not maintaining their accounts and submitting audit reports,” a top EC official told ApEx. The EC, within 45 days of the expiry date of audit report submission, can direct a political party failing to submit its audit report to furnish clarifications with reasons through electronic or other media. According to the audit report, CPN-UML has the highest income and expenditure. The party has mentioned that it had an income of Rs 417,220,317 in the fiscal year 2021/22. The party has said that its expenditure amount is exactly the same as the income. 

In the income category, the party has included membership fees, levies and renewals, support and donations, publication sales, natural calamity relief and miscellaneous income. Election, office management, publication, capital expenditure and investment and miscellaneous costs are included in the expenses category. Nepali Congress, currently the largest party of Nepal, has shared that its income for the fiscal year 2021/22 was Rs 148,994,087. The party’s expenses were Rs 179,078,222. This means the party was in loss in the fiscal year 2021/22 by around Rs 30m.

Similarly, the CK Raut-led Janamat Party also suffered a loss of around Rs 9m. While the party had spent Rs 10,150,000, according to the audit report, it had an income of only Rs 190,000. CPN (Maoist Center), who is currently leading the government, had an income of Rs 90,086,064 and expenditure of Rs 74,264,043 in the fiscal year 2021/22. Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav, was in good profit, says the party’s audit report. Their income was Rs 15,166,515 while they spent Rs 5,753,339. 

Like the UML, Nepal Majdoor Kishan Party also mentioned their income and expense amount were exactly the same (Rs 8,666,664).  Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s income was Rs 32,116,450 and expense was Rs 31,968,786. The CPN (Unified Socialist) has mentioned their income as Rs 71,590,377 and expenditure as Rs 60,529,529 in their audit report for the fiscal 2021/22. The newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party has also submitted its audit report, which shows that they had an income of Rs 410,010 and the expenditure of Rs 178,255.

A political party failing to maintain or audit its incomes and expenditures or submit audit reports or submit clarifications as directed can be fined up to Rs 20,000, according to existing provisions. In case a political party fails to submit its audit report for three consecutive years, it could be fined up to Rs 50,000 and the commission can direct it to make corrections within six months.

The EC can scrap the registration of a political party committing the fault more than one time or failing to follow the given directive in this regard within one year or failing to pay the imposed fines. Last year, the commission scrapped the registration of 44 political parties for not submitting their audit reports for three consecutive years, despite multiple deadline extensions. As of now, there are 119 registered political parties.

‘Parties are not transparent ’

Bhojraj Pokharel Former Chief Election Commissioner​​​​​​

Nepali political parties are not transparent. They never let you know where they get their so-called support and donation. They don’t even put it in the audit report. These donations are often the reason for internal party disputes. They have internal competition over who collected the most funds and who gets to spend it. This hampers the party structure and organization. Yet, they are not ready to correct themselves.  They hire private ‘puppet’ auditors for their bookkeeping. Auditors working for political parties are hiding dirty finances involved in politics. 

The Election Commission has the right to investigate the audit report of political parties if they find any suspicious activity or if there are complaints. But the commission, too, ignores it. The audit report is just a formality. This bad culture has been developed for a long time. Unless these parties make their internal work transparent, how can we expect their better commitment for the country? 

Big corporate houses and businesspersons and fund the parties secretly, as they too have their motive to fulfill from the political leadership. Ethical enforcement of laws is necessary to make the political parties correct. Or else, every year, they submit an audit report that shows nothing. 

Nepal have won the ACC Men’s Premier Cup, making its way to the Asia Cup for the first time. This is indeed a dream come true for Nepali cricket team and supporters. In the final held at the TU Ground, Kirtipur, Nepal defeated the UAE by seven wickets to secure its place in the Asia Cup scheduled to take place in Sept 2023.

Nepal had won against the same side in March, landing a berth in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. Nepal will compete in Group A against Pakistan and India. Group B consists of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. 

Nepal chased the target of 118 runs in 30.3 overs with the loss of three wickets.  Gulsan Jha and Bhim Sarki shared an unbeaten partnership of 96 runs. They contributed 67 and 36, respectively. Jha hit six sixes and three fours in 84 balls and Sarki hit four fours in 71 balls.  Jha now has two fifties at a young age of 17 in his ODI career. The first one was in the final and deciding match for the World Cup qualifier against the UAE. The second one on Tuesday, again against the UAE which too was a historic final for Nepal.

The UAE’s Rohan Mustafa took two wickets and Aayan Afzal Khan took one.   The UAE scored 117 runs at the cost of all their wickets in the first inning. They lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Asif Khan made 46 for the team with seven fours and one six. Aryan Larka scored 13 runs on 28 balls. 

For Nepal, Lalit Rajbanshi took four wickets followed by two each by Karan KC and Sandeep Lamichhane and one each by Gulsan Jha and Sompal Kami. Rain forced a halt of the game on Monday at 27.3 overs, forcing it to be continued on Tuesday. With just one wicket in hand, the UAE had scored 106 runs on the first day. Gulsan Jha was named the player of the match and Sandeep Lamichhane, the player of the series. Lamichhane took 13 wickets in this tournament.

As the top three finishers at the Premier Cup, Nepal, the UAE, and Oman will compete in the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in July against five-member ‘A’ Teams from the region. The team received praise from Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal for their performance. He promised to promote and reward Nepali cricketers for their hard work and achievements.  Deputy Prime Ministers Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Purna Bahadur Khadka attended the final game at TU Cricket Ground.

Cancellation rumors

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the cricket governing body of India, has declared that the Indian team would not travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup due to security concerns. Pakistan is scheduled to host the Asia Cup 2023 in September.

The BCCI is allegedly intending to stage a brand-new five-nation tournament as a warm-up for the ODI World Cup 2023 after rejecting the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s ‘hybrid model’ for hosting the Asia Cup 2023.

The Indian team will play its matches outside of Pakistan while the other teams play there, according to a hybrid model that Pakistan has proposed to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). However, the BCCI wants the entire tournament moved somewhere else. And the PCB has asserted that if they lose their hosting rights, they will not take part in the competition.

The BCCI and the PCB remain firm in their positions on the Asia Cup hosting, which has been a hot topic in recent weeks. Additionally, there have recently been rumors that the Asia Cup will be canceled or postponed. However, the ACC will have to call an Executive Board meeting to postpone or cancel the event. The meeting may be called by the chairman Jay Shah, who also serves as the BCCI’s secretary, within seven days.

Inside Sports quoted an ACC source: “To date, there has been no indication of any such meeting.”  According to a report in the Pakistani media, PCB would not consent to hosting the Asia Cup at a neutral venue and no such ‘neutral venue’ proposal or notice has been sent to the member countries as of Monday, according to Inside Sports.

If these two strong teams stick to their commitment on Asia Cup hosting, Nepal, an emerging team who fought for its place for the cup, will have its dream killed due to an unnecessary power tussle.

It’s official. Nepal’s economy is going through a deep recession. According to the National Statistics Office (NSO), the country’s economic growth has turned negative in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. In its economic growth projection for the second quarter, NSO said the gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been negative by 1.1 percent. GDP growth has suffered this fiscal largely due to tight monetary policy, slackened domestic demand, the unwinding of the Covid-19 stimulus, and persistent global headwinds.  

With the sharp slowdown in economic activities and higher interest rates, the country’s economy has been under pressure from the start of FY 2022/23. The economy grew by a meager 1.7 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The last time when the country’s GDP turned negative was in the second quarter of FY 2020/21 when the economy was reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the slump in the construction, mining, transport, and manufacturing sectors, and wholesale and retail trade dragged down the overall economic growth.

The NSO report shows the mining sector grew by negative 16.4 percent while the construction sector is negative by 20.6 percent. Similarly, the wholesale and retail trade’s growth turned negative by 9.7 percent while the manufacturing sector is also negative by 4.3 percent.

According to NSO, the growth of the manufacturing sector is likely to decelerate further due to higher interest rates, import restriction measures, and the slowdown in domestic consumption. A dampened external demand has affected manufacturing and construction subsectors. The mining and construction sector has been going through a prolonged slump due to a sharp decline in the demand for cement, steel, and other construction materials. The demand for cement, steel, sand, and other construction materials has decreased with construction activities in the country coming to a halt.

The decline in public construction and the downturn in private house construction have resulted in a decrease in the consumption of construction materials.   The import restrictions and falling market demands have hit the wholesale and retail trade. Credit control measures and a hike in interest rates have slowed down real estate, wholesale, and retail trade activities. Experts say a negative economic growth rate indicates a grinding halt in economic activities.

Economist Chandra Mani Adhikari said the slowdown in economic activities has impacted the country's economic growth. “The government has not been able to pay more than Rs 60bn to the contractors,” said Adhikari, “This has affected the cash flow not only in the construction sector but also in industries like cement, steel, and other construction materials.”

According to Adhikari, the disruption in the cash flow has made it difficult for businesses even to repay the loans of the banks.  The only silver lining is, the growth of the hotel and restaurant services sector has increased by 20.4 percent in the second quarter of this fiscal year compared to a growth of 2.2 percent in the second quarter of last fiscal year. 

The NSO report is in line with the growth estimates of the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB). Both WB and ADB have projected that Nepal's economic growth would grow at 4.1 percent this year. 

Rabindra Puri Foundation for Conservation (RPFC) on Friday organized a farewell program for Jorg Bahr, who has been doing philanthropic work in Nepal for over two decades. Born in Germany in 1940, Bahr came to Nepal in 1999 after his retirement as German Army Colonel and started working for the improvement of Nepal’s education with a main focus on rural areas, it was informed at the program.

Realizing that there will be no development of the community and the country without education, his organizations have been supporting the construction of infrastructure for 12 community schools like school buildings, science labs, computer labs and providing scholarships as well as educational materials.

“After retiring from my job 22 years ago, a Rotarian professor friend brought me to Nepal and since then I started visiting Nepal 2-3 times a year,” Bahr said. I have become a part of education-health programs in operation in Nepali villages. Thus, I have become a German by birth and a Nepali by deed.”  In 2009, he established ‘Schulerhilfe fur Nepal’ (School help for Nepal), which has constructed nine out of 12 planned school buildings and associated infrastructure—in Kavre, Gorkha, Bhaktapur, Ramechhap, Gorkha and Nawalparasi through RPFC—per information provided at the program.

Nepal Vocational Academy (NVA), operating from Kamalbinayak (Bhaktapur) in collaboration with the Schulerhilfe fur Nepal and RPFC, aims to produce 100 skilled personnel every year. In Thambesi, a village in Nawalparasi, around 250 students study at Chhatisdevi Secondary School, which boasts of a well-equipped and solar-powered computer lab, courtesy of Schulerhilfe fur Nepal.

Saraswati Primary School in Kavre, Bhimeshwar Basic School, Sri Krishna High School and Shatlingeshwar Higher Secondary School in Ramechhap have new infrastructure, with help from Schulerhilfe fur Nepal, benefiting around 5,000 children studying there. RPFC has been coordinating with the campaign of Schulerhilfe fur Nepal to construct community school buildings, associated structures and rehabilitating heritages, with about Rs 10m already collected reportedly for the campaign.

After the 2015 earthquake, Schulerhilfe fur Nepal helped with the distribution of Pall filters, reconstruction of damaged school buildings as well as some houses. It has also provided support to Dhulikhel Hospital, Scheer Memorial Hospital in Banepa, Sushma Koirala Hospital in Sankhu, Tilganga Eye Hospital, Iwamura Hospital in Bhaktapur, Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, Shechen Clinic in Boudha and Manthali Hospital in Ramechhap through German Rotary Volunteer Doctors’ Organization.  

Besides, in coordination with Schulerhilfe fur Nepal, Nepali doctors were sent to Germany for special training, according to Rabindra Puri. “Bahr also supported the construction of high temperature incinerators for waste disposal centers and smokeless stoves in rural areas for hospital waste management.”

The process to establish another stock exchange in the country has finally emerged on the horizon with the Supreme Court clearing the way for the Securities Board Nepal (Sebon) to issue licenses to operate stock and commodity exchanges, and stock brokerage firms. Following the court's verdict, Sebon has invited applications from interested parties.

Pratik Ghimire of ApEx talked to Ramesh Kumar Hamal, Chairman of Sebon to talk about the changes the issuance of licenses will bring in the capital market, among other topics. Excerpts:

How is Sebon moving ahead after the Supreme Court cleared the way to issue licenses for new stock exchange and stock brokerage firms?

As soon as the Supreme Court rejected the writ petition, we invited applications from interested parties for a new stock exchange and commodity exchange. As the deadline is over, we will review all the applications and proceed with license issuance as soon as possible. There will be no unnecessary delay from our side. We will provide a written note with reasons to those who have their applications disapproved. 

Why has Sebon deemed the issuance of licenses necessary for the growth of the capital market in Nepal?

As the number of investors in the stock market has surged massively over the last few years, we need more than the existing 50 stock brokerage firms to provide better services to investors and better market practices. This is why, Sebon is also issuing new licenses for brokerage firms. It is also equally important to understand that increasing numbers alone is not sufficient, there should be better corporate governance practices and the firms should play a role in reducing costs for the investors and providing reliable services. 

The rationale behind the new stock exchange and additional brokerage firms is to create a competitive market that will be beneficial to all. I am a strong believer in the fact that without competition, there will be no progress. The new stock exchange is the need of the hour.  I am an advocate of good governance and believe good practices should be maintained in every private and government institution. People who are capable should always get the opportunity to work. The same goes for the security market too. The license is necessary for the growth of the capital market. It will open the doors of opportunity for 30m Nepalis. 

Which areas Sebon is currently focusing on for improvement of the securities market?

Sebon is currently working to maintain good governance in the capital market. We want to ensure investors get prompt services and face no hassles in their capital market dealings. Besides working on issuing new licenses for the stock exchange, brokerage firms, and commodity exchange, we are also bringing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into the capital market.  We are also working on updated rules and regulations needed for the capital market. There are around 1,200 large tax paying companies in Nepal.

But less than 100 of them are listed in the secondary market. Sebon aims to list at least 400 of them in the next fiscal year, 600 in another fiscal year, and 1,000 within the next five years. The listing of these companies will help the market grow, which ultimately helps the national economy. 

Tell us more about the SME platform that Sebon is planning to introduce.

I have been active for a long time to bring SMEs to the capital market through a separate platform. We can implement it within about two months if everything goes as planned. What we are trying to do through this is to inspire small businesses to come to the capital market. If large companies and small companies are kept in separate indexes, it helps in the overall development of entrepreneurs from every corner of the country. It will then help to increase the size of the country’s economy.

We have done great work in private equity ventures because it is an international practice that is successful across the globe. With the traditional banking system, it is not possible to grow our economy. Hence, the growth of private equity has become important. It will also attract foreign investment. But we don’t have the domain of private equity ventures. We are working on it. 

It’s been over a year since you took the helm of Sebon as the chairman. What challenges have you encountered in this period?

I am very satisfied with my work. There were challenges of course but I faced them because I never compromise on good governance. I will always advocate bringing the world’s best practices. Some people wanted to create hurdles from the day I assumed office by spreading rumors and character assassination.

But I guess they failed. I think investors and other stakeholders trusted me because I have been working by prioritizing investors and markets at the center of everything. I have been utilizing my experience and knowledge from international markets.

What are your major achievements so far?

We brought the C-ASBA charge down to a maximum of Rs 5 which was up to Rs 100 previously. Sebon also worked on a fast-track basis to provide a 10 percent quota for migrant workers in the initial public offerings (IPOs) which has helped to increase the inflow of remittances through the legal channel. We have cleared up confusion regarding the mergers of publicly listed companies.

Now any application for merger/acquisition should be approved within three days through the integrated guidelines. Previously, these cases were suspended for years. We have arranged that the trading of shares of any company going for merger/acquisition should not be suspended for more than 15 days. In the meantime, we made it possible for the process of IPOs to conclude in 15 days.

How is Sebon working to put a stop to insider trading and other manipulative activities in the securities market?

In the 30-year history of Sebon, this is the first time that we have penalized people found guilty of insider trading. We have concluded two such cases and have adopted a zero-tolerance policy regarding the malpractices in the capital. The market will be fairer as insider trading and other manipulative practices will be strongly dealt with.