Kathmandu. Minister for Information and Communications, Dr Bikram Timilsina, has directed the officials concerned to complete the remaining annual audit of the Gorkhapatra Corporation and Public Service Broadcasting Institutions by mid-January.

Stating that failure to complete audit on time has directly affected financial discipline of government bodies, service delivery and budget implementation, he directed the media houses to accord top priority to auditing to make them accountable and systematic.

Taking part in a discussion on the auditing status of public media held at the Ministry today, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Dr Timilsina stressed the need of immediate rectification of the weaknesses shown in the Annual Status Review-2083 BS of Public Enterprises.

He also directed the government to bring the annual audit of the Gorkhapatra Corporation and Public Service Broadcasting Institution (PSB) to the regular system by compulsorily completing it within the first six months of the coming fiscal year.

The audit of the Gorkhapatra Corporation and the Public Service Broadcasting Institution from the fiscal year 2079/80 BS is yet to be done. As a result, there is a problem in the financial management of these organizations as well as difficulties are being created in getting the grants and various titles allocated by the government.

The budget of Rs 46 million allocated by the government for the publication and broadcasting of news in various inclusive languages for the current fiscal year could not be released from the Ministry due to the failure of the Gorkhapatra Corporation to complete the audit.

The amount has been withheld as the annual audit of the organization is mandatory for the release of the budget. Similarly, the corporation is also losing the amount it should have received from the welfare advertisement.

According to the Gorkhapatra Corporation, the process for auditing the fiscal year 2080/81 has already started. The issues of inability of the chief of the corporation and the accounts section for the annual audit to carry out the responsibilities effectively and the managerial problems seen at the leadership level and the delay of the auditing companies were the issues that were raised in the discussion during the discussion.

Similarly, due to the delay in auditing, the publications under the Gorkhapatra Corporation could not participate in the classification process and the internal audit section of the corporation has been inactive for the last five years. The Ministry has also directed to manage employees as per the posts in the branch and operate it effectively.

However, this problem has not been seen in the Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS). RSS general manager Sandip Rai said that the committee has been carrying out its external auditing regularly and preparations for the internal audit have also been made. According to him, the RSS has been giving priority to financial governance and institutional transparency.

On the occasion, General Manager of the Gorkhapatra Corporation, Hikmat Bahadur Rawal, said that he was working with priority to expedite the stalled auditing and expressed commitment to complete all remaining processes by mid-January. He said that a clear action plan would be prepared for the same.

Similarly, Chief of Financial Administration Division of Public Service Broadcasting Corporation, Rishi Bhantana, said that the audit of the organization up to fiscal year 2079/80 has been completed. According to him, the preliminary report of the audit for the fiscal year 2080/81 has been prepared and it has reached the final stage. He said that works are underway to complete the audit up to the current fiscal year 2082/83 by mid-April.

On the occasion, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Timilsina directed the government to make the local news agent (STINGER) management of public media houses systematic, transparent and competitive. He stressed on the need of open competition, inclusion and merit while appointing Stinger at the Gorkhapatra Corporation, Public Service Broadcasting Institutions and RSS. He also directed to give due priority to skilled stingers who have been working effectively since the past.

Currently, there are 151 Stingers working in the Gorkhapatra Corporation across the country, 113 in the Public Service Broadcasting Institution Nepal and 111 in Radio Nepal. Similarly, the RSS has around 190 stingers and the new selection process has been forwarded through legal process and open competition, it was shared in the meeting.

On the occasion, Minister Timilsina said that the government aims to make the public media houses financially disciplined, institutionally accountable and administratively capable.