2018 Integrity Icon Nepal
RAM BAHADUR KURUMBANG
Designation: Chief District Officer
The administrator who prioritizes human values and norms above the laws. Ram Bahadur Kurumbang is the Chief District Officer for Bardiya district. He instructs his staff to be accountable to both the land and the people they are serving. He visits the communities he serves twice a month to discuss issues with them in person before working hard to address these. Through this face-to-face discussion, Ram ensures he is being accountable to the citizens in the community. Additionally, after learning of the long-distance citizens had to travel to receive basic government services and the bureaucratic system that met them on their arrival, Ram decided to provide them with the services right on their doorstep. Following his lead, the Ministry of Home Affairs began organising their own mobile government camps. He says, “Our services don’t have to be confined within our offices. By bringing the services to citizens’ doorsteps through our mobile camp, they have felt the presence of “Singhadurbar” in their village”.
ARUN KAFLE
Designation: Senior Horticulture Development Officer
The agricultural expert who ensures he is available to all farmers. Arun Kafle is the Senior Horticulture Development Officer, in Khumaltar, Lalitpur. His colleagues know him as an agricultural expert who works tirelessly to support farmers in transitioning from subsistence farming to commercial farming. Arun was instrumental in the introduction of ‘soil-less’ farming technology in Nepal, meaning farmers are able to harvest more crops with less land. He prioritises accountability and transparency by providing up-to-date information about farming subsidies and official decisions clearly on the website. He has also made the subsidy process more accountable by ensuring that farming subsidies are only being sent to authentic farmers, and not ‘fake’ farmers. He says, “I feel very happy when there are many farmers in my office seeking my assistance. And when they leave satisfied, with a smile on their faces, my happiness feels limitless”.
DHRUBA RAJ ACHARYA
Designation: Chief Administrative Officer
The hardworking administrative officer who brings a smile to the faces of service seekers. Dhruba Raj Acharya is the Chief Administrative Officer for the Tikapur Municipality in Kailali. He is known by his colleagues as the civil servant who really listens to the concerns of citizens who visit his office. One of his colleagues stated: “The ones who preach and practice the same thing are my idols. That is the reason why Dhruba Raj Acharya is my idol”. Dhruba believes that every major and minor decision made by the government directly affects Nepali citizens and therefore, all government activities should be transparent and accountable. Because of this belief, he invites the media to the announcement of any government decision and encourages them to report honestly about these. As of yet, journalists have only positive things to say about Dhruba and his administration. He says, “I have never worked for praises or rewards. The trust I have gained from service-seekers by working responsibly is my reward”.
MAHENDRA PRASAD PAUDYAL
Designation: Undersecretary for the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Singhadurbar, Kathmandu.
The passionate under-secretary who inspires youths and creates change. Mahendra Prasad Paudyal is the undersecretary for the Ministry of Youth and Sport in Singhadurbar, Kathmandu. His colleagues know him as someone who places integrity and accountability at the centre of his work with youths. When working as district education officer, Mahendra introduced software which recorded both the income and expenditure of public schools automatically to stop education funding being misspent. Mahendra also creates opportunities for youth to mobilise around national issues, for example – after the 2015 earthquakes, he gathered over 10,000 youths who contributed to relief projects such as building temporary classrooms. He understands the importance of accountability and passing on these values to the next generation. Mahendra says: “My hope that future generations will not inherit negative perceptions of the government is what drives me to work harder”.
SITA KUMARI SHARMA
Designation: Senior A.N.M
The committed health worker and friend to women and adolescent girls. Sita Kumari Sharma is the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife for Birendranagar Municipal Health Office, Surkhet. She is known as both a health worker and friend to the community. Sita is accountable to all those she is responsible for, ensuring that all flood-affected areas, schools and rural communities have the health education and medication they need. Through her work, she discovered that girls were missing school during their menstrual cycle as they didn’t have access to sanitary products and female-friendly toilets. So, she introduced a campaign to distribute free sanitary pads to teenage girls and improve the toilets for them. After working with Sita, her colleagues agree that her unwavering commitment to women and girls pushes them to work harder, and their own integrity for their work increases just by following Sita’s lead. Sita says “Women from the community who wait especially for my services need me more than my family. Prioritizing their health and serving them is my social responsibility”.
2017 Integrity Icon Nepal
SHESH NARAYAN POUDEL
Designation: Assistant CDO
Mr. Poudel thinks big and doesn’t always wait for an official green light before pursuing solutions to problems. “You never know what will happen if we wait for consent. If it’s an honest and necessary work, then the risk is worthwhile,” he says. Early in his career as the Chief District Officer of Baglung, Mr. Shesh noticed that residents of a remote hamlet had to endure a costly and perilous journey to obtain citizenship papers or a passport. So he decided to bring those services to the people. More recently, he won praise for managing the emergency response to last year’s floods in Nepal. As Morang’s Chief District Officer, he dispatched public workers to go door to door visiting victims and set up a system to disseminate information to citizens and the media.
KRISHNA DHITAL
Designation: Agriculture Extension Officer
Mr. Dhital is credited with helping hundreds of farmers in Kavre district to dramatically boost their rice production and shift away from subsistence farming. Farmers were at first skeptical when he tried to introduce a new technology for growing the local crop. So he rented land and showed them how it could double their output. Now farmers are producing enough to sell their crops. Mr. Krishna believes in visiting farmers to learn about their challenges. He’s a familiar sight walking beside Kavre’s farms in his blue trousers and white shirt. He has created a Facebook page named “Hello Farmers” in order to handle grievances from the farmers and to provide tips and information on farming.
SABANAM PATHAK
Designation: Assistant Forest Officer
When Ms. Pathak joined the forest service in 1991, few believed a woman would have the smarts or tenacity to help communities threatened by deforestation. During her long career as a forest ranger, she has proved her skeptics wrong, engaging rural women and other marginalized people to protect wildlife and bring forests back to life. She has worked intensively with the Chepang ethnic group, even learning their language so she could teach them animal husbandry and commercial agriculture. Her guiding belief: if people see that the forest is theirs, they will feel responsible to protect it.
SHABRAJ BAM
Designation: Teacher
Mr. Bam has shown how a simple idea can change lives. A teacher from one of Nepal’s most rural districts, he saw how intimidated his students were by mathematical formulas. So he decided to turn math lessons into poems and stories, even setting them to tunes. His book “Maths Literature” is now used widely in Kalikot’s school system. Mr. Shabraj trains other teachers and hosts a radio program each year to help students prepare for their final high school exams. As a result, thousands of students who once found math scary now see it as fun. Shabraj has also taken a hard line against a culture of cheating on exams, a stance that has cost him with some of his colleagues.
SRIJANA TIWARI
Designation: Under Secretary
Ms. Tiwari has devoted years to fighting on behalf of Nepalese migrant workers facing injustices abroad. She observed the mistreatment of such migrants up close while working in Nepal’s embassy in Kuwait. In that job, she persuaded officials of various companies in Kuwait to stop abuses and resolve problems. Later, her efforts to publicize the exploitation of Nepalese housemaids working in Gulf countries led Nepal to ban women from migrating to these places for such work. She is known for providing fresh ideas and working to hold her own ministry to a higher standard. “If I work only for the sake of doing a job then who will help bring change? When will the system improvement take place? The change starts from you!” Ms. Srijana says.
2016 Integrity Icon Nepal
DOR BIKRAM SHREES
Designation: Principal
Shrees has led the efforts to make Siddhababa Higher Secondary School a renowned school in the district of Gulmi, but he refuses to take the sole credit for the school’s improvement claiming that everyone has contributed to this effort. Siddhababa Higher Secondary School has become a desirable option for families who want to provide their children with quality education, but are unable to afford the skyrocketing private school fees that have led many families into debt.
With Shrees’s leadership, the school initiated compulsory computer classes, equipped classrooms with multimedia equipment, and set up a library with more than eight thousand books. To create a culture of reading among the students, Shrees requires each student to read at least one book outside of regular classes every month and present their reflections to their class or the whole school. He also established a Trust Fund from the Lilaram-Kuntidevi National Prize of 50,000 NPR he was awarded, and uses the interest acquired from the Fund to provide scholarships for outstanding students with financial hardships. Today, there are fifteen similar Trust Funds in the school.
The school stands out as a model school in the area, all because of the trust and support provided by the community to Shrees. The founder of Siddhababa Higher Secondary School and the current Chair of the School Management Committee, Til Bahadur Thapa recalls, “When the trend of sending children to private schools started in 2058 B.S., we were faced with the challenge to improve the quality of our school’s education. Shrees consulted with the families of the students and built a trust so strong between them that twenty families offered to put their land as collateral to secure a loan to start work on the school. Together, we built a school that the whole community is proud of today.” To build and maintain the trust between
the school and the community, financial updates are provided to the community through social audits, monthly meetings, and regular bulletins.
“Accountability, transparency, and honesty are all essential attributes necessary in one’s professional as well as personal life.”
TARA SUBEDI
Designation: Health Assistant
Tara Subedi is vital person for women in remote areas. The close ties between Subedi and her community developed over many years of her selfless and dedicated service. As a health assistant, Subedi has even wrapped newborns in her own saree after delivery.
Subedi’s first and foremost priority has always been the wellbeing of her community; even waking up in the middle of the night to deliver medicine to a patient’s house. After being informed by Subedi, citizens previously unaware of health services in their community are now using the services.
Good work sometimes also faces resistance. During the Maoist insurgency, Subedi received threats from both sides in the conflict, accusing her of providing health services to the enemy. Political parties also tried to pressure her, but she always told them that “it is my responsibility to treat everyone, despite the sides they choose” and asked them to let her work in peace. She even received death threats for taking action against staff who were not doing their job, but none of this wavered her commitment to her work.
“Some can afford medical treatment in the city, but for the ones who are unable to, they have no other option but to wait for their lives to end, so I see public service as my social responsibility.” The community in Bhojpur (her previous assignment) has experienced her dedicated service and already misses her. She works with the same dedication in her new assignment location, Solukhumbu. While her dedication to her work has decreased family time, she doesn’t think so because she sees her community as her family.
“To wholeheartedly serve the less privileged in remote areas is not only a professional responsibility of a health assistant, it is also our social responsibility.”
BHISMA KUMAR BHUSAL
Designation: Under Secretary
Bhisma Kumar Bhusal’s friends and colleagues claim that he possesses all the desirable qualities sought in a public servant. According to the CEO of the National Reconstruction Authority, Sushil Gyawali, Bhusal has the ability to empathize with the public, is honest and of a moral character. But more importantly, Bhusal holds a firm stance against corruption. After the catastrophic earthquakes last year, Bhusal played a crucial role in the creation of the reconstruction budget as well as raising awareness about the disbursement of relief funds. By dealing in an exemplary way with banks and financial institutions, he made sure the funds reached the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. He has also been leading the efforts in managing foreign aid and collaborating with NGOs and INGOs for the reconstruction process.
Along with working tirelessly on the reconstruction process, he is also helping individuals and organizations working on reconstruction. Kunjana Ghimire (Suntali) of Dhurmus Suntali Foundation expressed that, “I have witnessed him working from six in the morning till eight in the evening for the public but have never seen him complain or get worn out.”
Prior to the NRA, Bhusal worked for the Ministry of Finance. “During Bhusal’s time at the Ministry of Finance, no service seekers were ever turned away,” said Ganesh Raj Osti, Joint Secretary of the Government of Nepal. Sharada Bhusal Jha, an anti-corruption activist first got to know Bhisma Kumar Bhusal after he won a poetry competition organized by Hem-Sarita Foundation. She then encountered Bhusal at the Ministry of Finance. Jha remembers that it was her time experiencing efficient service from a public servant. Believing that each and every person should understand and have access to the national budget, Bhusal lead the efforts to put the Red Book (national budget) online and also trained his staff on how to interpret the contents of the Red Book in order to explain it to the public. Bhusal also initiated the current updates found online about the reconstruction process.
Bhusal’s dedication to public service has been consistent throughout his career. Before his time at the Ministry of Finance, Bhusal worked for the Department of Health at a health post in Kathmandu, where he won an award for his outstanding performance making it the best health post in Kathmandu valley in 2058 B.S.
Bhusal’s source of inspiration for his dedicated contribution to public service is his experience studying abroad with a government scholarship. He recalls people showing discontent everytime he introduced himself as a public servant from Nepal. He realized that we do have some shortcomings but are definitely capable of changing that. Upon his return, he set out to be an example of a model civil servant so it would also inspire other civil servants to change their ways.
“Change starts from within. Being a good example is not only a satisfying feeling, but more importantly, it inspires others to follow suit.”
BINDU KUNWAR
Designation: Women Development Inspector
‘Seek Bindu if you need justice’ is a common saying among the women of Banke. There are very few institutions in the country that deal with issues of violence against women, so women from all 75 districts reach out to her and consult her about the processes to address violence of varying nature. Because of Kunwar’s expertise in addressing cases of violence against women, many even call her the ‘Process Dictionary’ for women who have been victims of violence.
Kunwar knows that fighting for justice for women is not easy, so believes that you must not waver but firmly stand your ground when trying to find justice for women. “Sometimes you have to work differently to get things done,” mentioned Kunwar. Service seekers say that you can reach Kunwar from four in the morning till ten at night and she is always prepared to answer and advise people who call from all over Nepal. The Rupediha border in Nepalgunj is a trafficking hotspot. Kunwar has rescued and brought back many women who have been trafficked into India and has singlehandedly dealt with more than twelve hundred cases of orphans, women who are victims of violence, and senior citizens seeking justice.
After her transfer to Jumla, the women and especially the Women Department of the District Police Office in Banke are already missing her. The Superintendent Police of Banke, Tek Prasad Rai, expressed that Kunwar is the only person fighting for justice for women, children, and senior citizens. Despite the challenging nature of her work, Kunwar never sees her job as a burden and always has a smile on her face, which has helped her gain the public.
“A public servant with integrity is one who is accountable to the citizens and transparent about government programs that citizens are entitled to.”
KRISHNA PRASAD DHANCHHA
Designation: Principal
As government schools struggle to retain students, Bageshwari Higher Secondary School receives 400 new students every year, some even from private schools, speaking volumes about the quality of the school. In 2071 B.S. a student of Bageshwari, Ayusha Suwal, ranked second nationwide in the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examination with 92.39%. The school also had the highest rate of students (156 students) taking the SLC exam in Bhaktapur.
Dhanchha received the ‘National Education Award’ twice for his contribution to the education sector. A fellow teacher, Bhanubhakta Humagain spoke about how Dhanchha received a regional award for education and gave the prize of 10,000 NPR to the school.
Dhanchha believes that active participation of the community in the school’s decision-making ensures their ownership of the school. In collaboration with the students’ guardians, Bageshwari Higher Secondary School has improved their physical infrastructure and the quality of their education without any outside support, bringing them to the same level as private schools. Dhanchha also advises and collaborates with nearby schools to help them retain their students. Teachers used to outnumber students in the nearby Siddhi Sarada Primary School, but after being advised by Dhanchha, the school now has 150 students.
A strong believer in group leadership, Dhanchha has created a culture of “We, not Me”, making this the unique identity of Bageshwari Higher Secondary School.
“’Every day is a special day, and every student is an outstanding student’ should be the motto of every successful teacher”
2015 Integrity Icon Nepal
PRADIP RAJ KANEL
Designation: Chief District Officer
Pradip Raj Kandel has contributed greatly in protecting public rights, organizing public hearings and creating an inclusive opportunity.
Kandel has worked in Mustang, Mahottari, Solukhumbu and Panchthar districts. During his stay in Mustang. Kandel played a major role to organize a bilateral discussion in January 1st 2006, which provided easy travel access to the Mustang people and created an environment of trade and commerce. This happened despite travel restrictions for people living within 30kms of the border. People of Mustang relate this achievement to gaining freedom
In Solukhumbu, Kandel implemented a campaign “Touch to Find” which sought to make management efficient with quicker accessibility to necessary documents and in Panchthar he executed audio information system in District Administration Office. These are some examples of his contribution in promoting accountability in his work. Either his initiation to clean the district or his role to increase the literacy rate through the campaign “Teach One, Each One”, his contribution on education sector is equally commendable
According to Jitendra Bhandari, Station Manager of Eagle FM, Panchthar, it was impossible to clear the garbage in Panchthar, but the result of the cooperation with Federation of Trade and Commerce and the local residents, resulted in a cleaning campaign. Today, here no trash on the road.
Every morning before his duties begin, he uses a loudspeaker to state “we are your helpers. If you are facing problems, you can directly contact the Chief District Officer.
Once his duties are finished,,Kandel visits the villages to hear their complaints. He gives his personal number and encourages people to share their views. Every morning before his office opens, message is spread by using mike which states, “We are your helpers, if you are facing any problems you can directly contact the Chief District Officer.” These activities proves that Kandel in not the ruler but the helper of the public.
Kandel prefers to pursue other’s good practices. He adopted the concept of “Clothes Bank”, a campaign initiated by youth of Ilam district in which clothes are collected and provided to needy people. He also started giving garments to the poor and deprived people
It has been a month since Kandel was transferred to Gulmi district. In this short period, he has already coordinated with businessmen, social workers, and local stakeholders to establish an audio information system in offices and vehicles, initiated a time card system in long route vehicles, started district cleaning campaign and has established a fire brigade.
“Transparency, responsibility and accountability are important aspect of good governance. If we work properly public become happy, that happiness and the smile on their face gives a feeling of self-satisfaction”, says Kandel who has proved himself as a true helper of the public.
RAM NARAYAN SHAH
Designation: Resource Person
Ram Narayan Shah, an expert in Mathematics and Nepali, uses technology and does a lot of homework before training teachers. In the words of Balkrishna Ranjit, Kathmandu District Education Officer, coordination between government and private schools is the key factor to end the increasing gap between them. Ram Narayan Shah is one of them who is working for the coordination.
With a belief that partnership can support in improving the quality of school education, Shah, a resource person, is engaged in implementing the concept of group training and clinical supervision in order to bring uniformity in school education.
Shah offers trainings to 20 teachers, 10 from government and 10 from private schools at one room on his own budget, exchanges them (making the government teachers work in private school and vice versa) post training, examines the progress and develops new plans based on the evaluation.
Similarly, his activity of selecting mathematics teachers of five different schools that are under the resource center, monitoring their classes once a week to evaluate the improvement, and receiving feedback from the students has proved that he is a skilled resource person.
Shah played a leading role in developing labor self-evaluation tool for the first time in Nepal. “There was no system of documentation in schools, now it is being developed.” says the teachers trained by him. Shah believes that self-evaluation is the only tool to bring changes in system and therefore he has written a book on self-evaluation. The book is available in schools in more than 25 district A teacher who had participated in resource center advanced training distributed the book in every schools of Dolakha district. Resource person Ram Narayan Shah believes that the book can be a base to evaluate the education system of Nepal.
Besides, Shah gives free SLC preparation classes to weak students. His timely and practical trainings to the teachers is highly appreciable. Shah, who is trusted by teachers, students and community says, “If we move forward with honest and positive thinking we get support from others and that support promotes us to do better in the future.”
Briefly, today where resource persons are limited in giving trainings, there are very few people like Ram Narayan Shah who uses new technologies, monitors regularly and develops quality evaluation system to improve the overall education system.
BHUWAN KUMARI RAI
Designation: Women Development Champion
Bhuwan Kumari Rai, a resource person of the hilly district Khotang, is actively working against women violence as Women Development Inspector. She gives consultation to women of one municipality and 72 vdcs. Khotang is one of the underdeveloped district of Eastern Development Region. National and International Non-Government Organizations even hesitate to implement their programs in this district and therefore it is not an easy task to visit all the 72 vdcs.
her initial days Rai says, “While visiting the villages to implement government policies and programs, people used to accuse us of spoiling their daughters and daughter in laws. Some even used dogs to chase us away. Later women began to participate in our programs as we informed them about reproductive health, women rights and education.”
Those women who used to suppress the brutality they were facing, those who could not easily accept the steps of Bhuwan Kumari Rai are now involved in different women groups established to support in giving justice to women affected by violence. They are now able to find their own income source, are self-dependent and self-employed.
Even though Rai had opportunities to work in developed districts she chose to remain in Khotang. “I myself was born and brought up in an underdeveloped area and hence I am closely aware and can feel the problems faced by women in those areas. I am happy to work for them. I could get chance for personality development, capacity development in the developed places but there are thousands of women like me in these areas who are deprived from different opportunities in lack of well consultation.”
Every day there are cases of rape in the district. Most of the girls are raped by their relatives. Some of them are even raped by their own father and grand-fathers. Those girls are rejected by society resulting in some committing suicide. Rai has played a vital role to re-settling the victims back into their communities
“Government job is ‘slow’ and then there is a ‘flow’” says Rai, “Public view towards government staffs is true to some extent. There are different programs but due to lack of interest of the government staffs those programs become unsuccessful. Big budget and ambitious programs even get dismissed.”
“There are staffs in the government job who work day and night but their work is not recognized. Few staffs are irresponsible due to who man environment of unbelief towards government staffs has been created,” says Rai regarding public perspective towards government staffs.
DEEPAK SHRESTHA
Designation: School Principal
When we talk about government or community schools, image of poor/unmanaged building, minimum number of students and unmodern management emerge in our mind. However, those who visit Beni Community Higher Secondary School located in Beni of Myagdi district changes this mindset. This is all made possible by the school Headmaster Dipak Shrestha.
Shrestha, who played a major role in making the school best of Nepal 2069 (2012 AD), is an efficient administrator as well as a proficient manager. Every class is equipped with fan to generate student friendly environment. Disabled friendly infrastructures are developed. Library, laboratory, computer lab, sports ground are developed and are monitored by cc camera.
Shrestha doesn’t compromise with education quality and hence has developed a system of conducting separate discussions with students and guardians and receiving feedback from them. Such discussions are arranged for students of grade 9 and under three times in a year (the first one is organized after the first terminal examination, second is organized after second terminal examination and the last one is organized before the third terminal examination). Similarly, five such discussions are organized for the students of grade 10.
Most important of all, every day attendance of each students is displayed on a board, easily visible to everyone. Absent students are identified and their guardians are contacted by the class teacher. This has promoted and improved attendance. Similarly, the practice of allowing guardians to cross check classes and the school and making the students participate in every discussions and decisions has developed a feeling of ownership in the guardians and leadership in the students.
As an outcome, the school has been achieving over 98% success in the SLC examinations every year. At present, where the result of community school is below 30%, this result of Beni Higher Secondary School is an example of success.
“Extra technique or effort is not required to improve the quality of government schools.” Shrestha says, “Administrators, teachers, guardians, management committee and students need to work themselves for achievement as there is no any particular slogan for success.” Shrestha has given a message that with a joint effort of administrator, teacher, guardian and students it is not difficult to develop a school with well educational environment and physical infrastructures.
RAMESH KUMAR THAPA
Designation: Assistant Management Officer
Ramesh Kumar Thapa, Assistant Management Officer of National Park and Wildlife Conservation Department Babarmahal, worked in Bardiya National Park for 22 years. During this time, the armed conflict meant Security force of Nepal Army, responsible for conservation, was centered in the highway whereas Nepal Police was positioned in district headquarters due to security reasons. Meanwhile the rhinoceros transferred from Chitwan were being killed by poachers.
The residents of four village development committees of Surkhet which lies at the Northern border of the National Park namely Chinchu, Hariharpur, Lekhparajul and Taranga were living under poverty line. They were unemployed, uneducated and illegal hunting of wild animals was their profession. They were made aware of wildlife conservation and why this was important. 241 of them submitted their illegal weapons to the staffs of the National Park. This success could be compared to chewing iron flakes.
Chandrakala Budha of Taranga vdc, was once involved in wild life hunting and Bir Bahadur Dangi of Lekhparajul VDC, who while involved in poaching had confrontations with jungle staffs in which two staffs were killed and served 10 years in prison, are now engaged in conservation of the National Park.
Ramesh Kumar Thapa raised awareness in residential areas and encouraged the community to be involved in wild life conservation.
His campaign is recognized in national and international level as “Campaign to mobilize youth to control poaching.” More than 2 thousand 2 hundred youth are members of the campaign and they are working as volunteers to protect wildlife in 65 different groups. He says, “An employee fulfills his responsibility and returns after limited time period. But the people living around the area who are dependent on wildlife for their everyday need are the inherent of advantages and disadvantages. Unless they support and coordinate it is impossible to even think of wildlife conservation.”
His leadership helped in implementing the provision of providing monthly Rs 1500 stipend to the widows and people suffering disability from wild animal attacks In addition Rs 25 is collected as tax from hay cutters and Rs 10 is collected as conservation amount. The amount is submitted to the victims by the jungle staffs.
His colleague Ashok Bhandari states that Thapa is an honest, friendly and dedicated staff who is always dedicated in controlling the poaching of wild animals.
“Transparency is an important factor to develop trustworthy environment. Public believe us if the government budget is made transparent.” Thapa adds, “Our activities need to be focused on community welfare rather than self-centered.”
2014 Integrity Icon Nepal
GYAN MANI NEPAL
Designation: District Education Officer
District Education Office of Panchthar district Gyanamani Nepal has given an example of possibilities if system are brought into place. The first time he reached that district with the responsibility of education office, student’s pass rate was just 14%, which is now exceeds 60%. This example itself speaks level of his contribution towards the community and accountability towards his duty. He introduced technology to improve devastating condition of education in his district. He went to every single school of 41 VDCs, visited classes, interacted with students as a civilian, then left his mobile number in the Black Board saying “If any of your teacher miss his/her class, arrive late in the class and leave earlier, go to house and either send me message or call through your parents phone.” In the early stage, many people laughed at him and even stood against it, even the teachers unions demanded his transfer from the district. But today, time has changed, parents have supported him, students have been very active in reporting problems of their school. Teacher’s attendance is over 90%, many teachers have resigned as they are guilt of their mistakes, many of them are punished by the department of education and education ministry, schools are declared “Zone of Peace”, none of the schools gets closed during any short of protests, strikes or political campaigns. Today, parents are taking their kids out of the private schools and sending them to public schools because of the regular classes and good results.
BHUWAN KUMARI DANGOL
Designation: Associate Professor
Being active in the education sector since 1990, Bhuvan Kumari Dangol is the first lady to run a medical college as principal by involving local community. Many of her colleagues consider her as strong women as she has executed administrative norms and values during her tenure regardless of the pressure from her colleagues, different organizations and even politicians. While there was a tendency of getting admission in medical college by spending money rather than the qualification, certifying students on the basis of how much money they have donated to the institution rather than how much they have score in performances evaluation, she challenged every single groups and entities associated with such practice and broke the chain of corruption and mafia. And to establish it as a law, she got the community involved in it. As a result, she was awarded “Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine-Best Teacher” in 2060 B.S., “Best Teacher” in 2063 B.S. and “National Education Medal” in 2064 B.S. She has always internalized those awards as energy to do more than just a prize. She believes in hard work, always prioritize the future of her students as her first job and adopt responsibility as her main duty. As a result, she is very popular among students.
LILA SHARMA BHATTARAI
Designation: Women Social Mobilizer
A multi-disciplinary women social mobilizer, she serves in one of the remote districts, Rukum. She has never felt tiredness till date, while serving poorly educated and empowered local girls and women of that district, she has been educating, organizing and empowering them every day and night. In experience of her colleagues, she travels every rural villages, some of them takes her 3 days of walking, without asking for rest, demonstrating higher level of accountability towards her duties. As a result, “She has scored 100/100 in her evaluation of performance appraisal” – says Rama Adhikari, her senior officer. She has also been working as Local Focal Person for Girls Education Program of UNFPA. To remark her achievement, 3 girls who have left their schools passed School Leaving Certificate after Lila helped them re-enrol into the school education. She has been helping girls and women to get organized, form groups to help each other in difficulties, start savings and mobilise those savings to improvise the condition of needy members, motivates them to send their girls to schools and also teach them adult education. In her own language: “if every women social mobilizer in the country do their duty being responsible and accountable, the day is not far that our daughters, sisters and mothers will get equal respect and dignity in the society”. Integrity, responsibility, accountability and honesty are not only limited to her profession, that is why she is exemplary women in her community.
PAWAN KUMAR MANDAL
Designation: Health Assistant
Pawan Kumar Mandal, who has served for more than 14 years as Health Assistant in government service, is 50 years old. As he started his government service from the most remote part of the country, Kalikot, he has been providing priceless health services to the people of remote villages who have been deprived of basic health facilities. He believes “There is the need of health assistants, like me, to the people of remotest villages, who have been losing their families and friends, untimely, because they lack Cetamol (Very common medicine/anti-biotic). In cities, they do have access to expert doctors and well facilitated hospitals.” Oath, which he has taken before starting his service, is his guideline that always drives him to serve those poor people regardless of time. Regardless of linguistic and cultural barriers, he has been accountable to the service seekers and that is the reason he has been awarded many times as the best employee in the districts he has worked for. Since past 4 years, he has been ranked 1st in his district according to the points of Performance Appraisal Evaluation. In the experience on local people, he has not been in any leave except Holi (Holi is one of the major celebrations of Terai people, and Mr. Mandal is from Terai). He wishes to serve his own community during the last years of his service.
PREM BAHADUR KHADKA
Designation: School Principal
58 year’s Prem Bahadur Khadka has spent 35 years or his active life to improve educational standard of his community. As the Principal of Araniko Higher Secondary School, he has taken some unpractised steps in order to uplift the deteriorating educational standard of public school. He raised more than 20 million Nepali Rupees locally, by organizing Purana, to start higher secondary education +2 in his school to insure easy access of higher education for kids of local community, and most importantly despite of expecting funds from government or any development agencies, he mobilized local community to do so. He started to provide yearlong extra coaching classes to enhance the level of education for the students of economically backward and marginalized community. His school provides various kinds of scholarships to the deprived students through established memorial trust funds. Every year, 3 students get scholarship that insures their free education up to +2 levels. Not only through trusts, but he also offers scholarships from his personal level. Due to all these exemplary works, today, Arniko Higher Secondary School is renowned as one of the public school consistently producing good results in national level.