‘Impartiality’ in public appointments

The obvious resultant pitfalls thereof are mismanagement and unchecked corruption.

One of the key reasons for the perpetuated sorry state of and underperformance by public enterprises, including several academic and other institutions, is blatant political interference in the appointment of their chief executives. The obvious resultant pitfalls thereof are mismanagement and unchecked corruption in them. The government recently appointed Umesh Prasad Thani as managing director of Nepal Oil Corporation, the natural monopoly in the nation's petroleum distribution. The government is alleged to have amended the eligibility criteria in the interest of a particular candidate by adding "practice of engineering" as "countable" experience for the position. Last month, Pradeep Adhikari got appointed as managing director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, who surprised a couple of his seniors vying for the post.