Public Accounts Committee to Discuss Passport Printing Irregularities

Kathmandu. The Public Accounts Committee meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday. The meeting, scheduled to be held at 9 am, is expected to discuss the irregularities in passport printing and the new passport system. It was claimed that there was a disagreement between Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal and the Prime Minister's Secretariat regarding whether to give the printing of new passports to a German company. After an agreement between the Foreign Minister and the Secretariat, the Department of Passports has announced that it will issue a notice regarding the new system and start the process of printing passports. From Asar 29, the department will print and distribute passports through the new system.

In the new system, German companies Veridos and Muhlbauer will print the passports. It was claimed that there was a commission manipulation and corruption in awarding the printing contract to these two companies, and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) filed a charge sheet in court on Asar 8 under pressure from the Prime Minister's Secretariat.