Kathmandu. Nepal Savings & Credit Central Co-operative Union Ltd. Chandra Prasad Dhakal, Chairman of NEFSCUN and Dr. Shivaji Sapkota’s 5-day visit to Australia has been widely criticized in the cooperative sector.

Dhakal and Dr Sapkota were in Australia on the occasion of being honoured with ‘Global Digital Growth Award-2026’ by Chandragiri Savings and Credit Cooperative, a member of NEFSCUN. The World Debt Council (OKU) presented the award at its annual general meeting held in Sydney, Australia on July 21.

The organization claims that this organization is at the forefront of operating according to the values and values of the cooperative. This award is also considered as a big award for Nepal’s SACOS campaign.

According to the Council, Chandragiri SACOS has been honoured for its contribution in making the institutional operation technology-friendly by providing easy, fast and quality services to its members through the effective use of digital technology. In this program, the chairman and CEO of NEFSCUN have been criticized for going on foreign trips after taking a decision from the board of directors.

The proposal was presented at the NEFSCUN Board of Directors meeting held on July 28. The proposal had to be passed anyway. In the meeting, some of the directors questioned the importance of this award in the cooperative movement, but about the participation of NEFSCUN.

In the meeting, it was said that the chairman and CEO should not visit arbitrarily at a time when the financial condition of NEFSCUN is deteriorating and it has not been able to provide any benefit to the member institutions. At the same time, some of the operators suggested that NEFSCUN should not go to such programs when they are not even members of OKU.

NEFSCUN has not renewed its membership with OKU in the last three years, citing a reduction in operating costs. The annual membership fee is Rs 35 lakhs. The issue was also raised in the meeting on May 28.

“In the board of directors meeting called on July 28, a proposal was made to go to Australia for the chairman and CEO of an organization that is not a member, why should we go to a program of an organization that is not a member after receiving the proposal? Such questions were raised,” said one of the operators, “Maybe it is because they have made all the arrangements from plane tickets to come and go, somehow they have already passed the proposal and traveled abroad.” ”

According to these directors, instead of saying who went where, why should they go to the program of an organization that has not renewed their membership? What will be the impact of this tomorrow? What will be the responsibility if there is discrimination in the next day by going to an organization that is honored and not going to some?

The directors told Investment News that the meeting discussed the problems that would arise in the coming days due to the tendency of the leadership to go abroad after a foreign visit rather than working in the interest of the members.

On the other hand, NEFSCUN does not yet have policy clarity on foreign trips. It is said that there is no alternative to reimbursement as per the bill submitted after returning from foreign trips.

“The meeting raised a moral financial question about not renewing the membership of OKU earlier because the organization could not give proper returns to the members, and now to go to the program of the same organization,” said the director.

According to the directors, the tendency of the member organizations to get nothing and the directors and managers go abroad is very distorted in the cooperative sector.

The NEFSCUN directors also recalled that the Nepal Rastra Bank had restricted the foreign travel of the chairman and CEO of the cooperative bank saying that the expenses of the organization have increased unnecessarily.

Meanwhile, NEFSCUN CEO Dr. Sapkota claimed that there was no point in criticizing the visit.

“It’s a good thing to be a part of such a world-class event,” he said. He said that they have not only participated in OKU’s General Assembly but also had the opportunity to participate in training given to 23 organizations in Africa.

He also said that the Ministry of Cooperatives, Department of Cooperatives and Cooperative Authority have asked NEFSCUN to engage in promotion and monitoring without engaging in financial transactions. He also claimed that the government is now going to bring the Cooperative Act and the Savings and Credit Act, so discussions were also held on the issue of OKU’s support in it.

According to CEO Sapkota, NEFSCUN spent only Rs 2.60 lakh on airfoil while going to such an important event.

He added that NEFSCUN was a member from 2018 to 2022 and the annual membership fee is Rs 3.5 million. Since 2022, NEFSCUN has not renewed its membership fee. CEO Sapkota recalled that Okun had supported Nepal in 2074 BS when the Cooperative Act was enacted, and expressed his hope that he would also help in the upcoming Savings and Credit Act.