The WHO, which provides ‘technical support’, distributed everything from laptops to TVs to please the secretary

Kathmandu. The World Health Organization (WHO), which is supposed to provide “technical support” to the Ministry of Health and Population, has given gifts ranging from laptops to TVs to please the secretary. Swasthya Live has discovered that then Health Secretary Laxman Aryal has received a laptop worth Rs 1.5 lakh to a smart TV worth Rs 7.5 lakh from WHO. According to ministry officials, some of the items provided by the WHO were used personally by secretary Aryal.

The WHO, which has a vital role to play in vaccination, testing equipment, and providing other technical assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic, has been found to be distributing irrelevant items worth Rs 6 million, including laptops, TVs, speakers, mixers, amplifiers, microphones, antennas, software licenses, and parqueting, etc.

A former official of the Health Ministry told that secretary Aryal has not only tarnished the image of the nation by receiving different goods and appliances from WHO but has also created an environment for the WHO employees to defy the work ethics in the ministry. WHO’s communication consultant Sunoor Barma has been found taking care of TV, watches, and other appliances in different office rooms of the ministry. According to government officials, he used to personally distribute different goods and appliances to please the top officers.

A former health ministry official said the secretary should not personally take such goods even if the WHO provides them. Instead, they should only accept the help and items related to public health and the control of the pandemic

Sushil Nath Pyakurel, a former chief expert at the Ministry of Health, said the WHO should focus on providing technical and logistic support only in the most urgent areas. But in Nepal, time and again, the WHO officials have defied all the work ethics and provided personal goods and appliances to the top officials and ministers to please them.

Goods received by Aryal from WHO

Secretary Aryal has received a Dell Latitude (5310) model laptop worth Rs 150,000, 4 units of Samsung’s 55-inch smart TV worth Rs 100,000 each, 2 units of 85-inch smart TV worth Rs 7.5 lakhs each.

WHO has also provided 1 Yamaha mixer worth more than Rs 32,000, one Ahuja wall speaker worth Rs 11,000, Ahuja amplifier worth Rs 31,000, 11 units of Ahuja wireless microphones worth more than Rs 28,000 per unit, Ahuja Wireless Conference System more than Rs 115,000, and Ahuja Wireless Conference Antenna worth Rs 8,000.

Then secretary Aryal had also received Ahuja wireless handheld microphone worth Rs 8,000, four ceiling microphones worth Rs 128,000, sound structure worth Rs 800,000, EagleEye IV camera worth Rs 65,000, and EagleEye director worth Rs 737,000 from WHO.

The WHO has also provided Rs. 60 lakhs worth of irrelevant items like software licenses worth Rs 119,000, a Jabra speaker, two Jabra Panacasts, Zoom license worth Rs 1.5 lakhs, parqueting worth Rs 3 lakhs etc.