Conflict of interest is rampant in Nepal’s public utilities for want of law

In the past four years, the board of directors at Nepal Oil Corporation seldom discussed major issues that concerned the corporation. However, when one of the corporation’s board members, Arvind Agrawal, resigned, the employees started to openly discuss agendas, problems and plans.

Agrawal, who is a fuel station operator in Biratnagar, is also the owner of Sunsari Trading Suppliers. In 2016, then Minister for Supplies, Shiva Kumar Mandal, appointed Agrawal as an expert at the corporation. In 2017, Mandal’s successor Matrika Prasad Yadav removed him. But, Agrawal launched a legal battle against the sacking, won the case and returned to the NOC, raising a lot of eyebrows.