DHANUSHA: Anjana Pandit, a Nepali Congress Madhesh Provincial Assembly Member, is married to a doctor who serves as the Rector of the Madhesh Institute of Health Sciences. Their house is situated in Bansi Chowk, Janakpurdham. This location is significant because Pandit’s property includes a separate house that hosts the Nepali Congress Provincial Office. The situation is notable: she is a Provincial Assembly Member, her husband is a doctor who holds a high academic post, and of their homes, one is rented to the Nepali Congress Party while she and her family reside in the other house.

The irony is that Anjana, who travels to the Provincial Assembly from her own house, regularly receives a house rent allowance from the Madhesh Provincial Assembly as a Provincial Assembly Member.

Anjana is not the only Member of Parliament with a house in Janakpur who takes the house rent allowance from the province. Surita Kumari Sah, elected from Constituency Number 2 ‘B’ of Mahottari, has a house at Bhramarpura Chowk, considered the heart of Janakpurdham. She won as an independent after the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP) Nepal did not give her a ticket. After that, she joined the Janta Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nepal. She was once a minister of state in the federal government.

Surita Kumari Sah was previously a provincial minister when Saroj Kumar Yadav became chief minister from the JSP Nepal. Until some time ago, her house in Janakpur was rented by Rajarshi Janak University for the vice-chancellor’s office. She rents out her own house and lives in a rented house herself. In return, she receives the house rent allowance from the Provincial Assembly.

Meanwhile, Rupa Yadav, the Chairperson of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly’s Women, Children, and Social Affairs Committee, also has a house in the Namuna Basti of Pidari Chowk, Janakpurdham. She lives in her own house. She entered politics after the accidental death of her husband, Arun Yadav, who was also a leader of the then-Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party. In the last election, Yadav was elected as a Provincial Assembly Member from the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP). As the chairperson of a subject committee, the provincial assembly has also provided her with a vehicle facility. Despite this, she takes Rs 18,000 monthly as house rent from the province as well.

The Nepali Congress provincial office at the house of Madhesh Provincial Assembly member Anjana Pandit. Photo: Birendra Raman

Similarly, Ratneshwar Lal Goit, the Chairperson of the Provincial Assembly Affairs Committee, is in the same situation as Rupa. His house is near Thapa Chowk in Janakpurdham. He has received the vehicle facility provided to the chairpersons of subject committees. Moreover, Goit has also been taking the additional house rent allowance from the Provincial Assembly.

Chandra Kishore, a journalist and Madhesh affairs expert, argues that the Madhesh Provincial Assembly Members exploiting government resources for house rent, despite owning houses in Janakpur, makes a mockery of morality and social values. He says, “Unethical acts are not excused in politics. The squandering of the public’s money by Provincial Assembly Members in this manner is outright corruption. The money taken by Members of Parliament who own houses should be deposited back into the state treasury.”

Meanwhile, Ram Saroj Yadav, a Provincial Assembly Member and former Minister, has a house at Campus Chowk, Janakpurdham. It takes about 10 minutes to walk to the Provincial Assembly from his house. Despite owning a house in Janakpurdham, he has been taking the house rent allowance from the province. He was elected as a Provincial Assembly Member from Dhanusha Constituency 3 ‘A’ (Nepali Congress) in the 2022 election. Yadav receives Rs 15,000 every month as house rent from the Provincial Assembly.

Binita Thakur, a professor at Ramsagar Ramswaroop Multiple Campus, Janakpurdham, says, “People’s representatives should maintain high conduct. However, this kind of integrity is lacking in parliamentary politics. There is no greater shame than the honorable members who own houses in Janakpur taking the house rent allowance.”

These few examples related to Madhesh Provincial Assembly Members and Chairpersons show that even those who own houses in Janakpur are taking the facility generally provided to Members of Parliament who live in rented accommodations. This anomaly has become so pervasive in the Madhesh Province that it is difficult to find a Member of Parliament who does not take the house rent allowance.

Dipendra Thakur, the Deputy Leader of the Madhesh Provincial Parliamentary Party, has a house at Ramanand Chowk, Janakpur. However, he collects the house rent. A native of Janakpur, he owns three houses in Janakpur.

For example, Dipendra Thakur, the Deputy Leader of the Madhesh Provincial Parliamentary Party, has a house at Ramanand Chowk, Janakpur. However, he collects the house rent. A native of Janakpur, he owns three houses in Janakpur. Thakur has houses in the Ramanand Chowk and Agnikund areas. He was elected from Dhanusha Constituency Number 3 ‘B.’ Having entered politics from the construction business, he has no need for housing in Janakpur. However, he used to collect Rs 15,000 as house rent. But now, he has been suspended after a corruption case was filed against him in the Special Court.

Ram Ashish Yadav, the Chief Whip of the Janta Samajbadi Party Nepal, was elected from Dhanusha Constituency Number 2 ‘B’. Yadav is also the former president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, Dhanusha. Yadav’s house is located in Janakpurdham itself. However, he collects Rs 20,000 monthly as house rent. About 12 members of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly have houses in Janakpur. However, the majority, including them, have taken Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 monthly as house rent.

This situation exemplifies the larger issue of Members of Parliament who own residences in Janakpur yet still collect the house rent allowance. This patronage is twofold: Members of Parliament with Janakpur houses are receiving the subsidy, and so are those who neither own nor rent in the city but simply commute from outside Janakpur.

Bharat Prasad Sah, the leader of the Maoist Center’s Provincial Parliamentary Party, for instance, commutes to the Provincial Assembly meetings in Janakpurdham directly from his own house. Records from the Provincial Assembly Secretariat confirm that Sah commutes from Gaushala, Mahottari, to Janakpurdham and collects house rent every month.

Like Sah, Kumar Kant Jha, the Chief Whip of the Nepali Congress, also commutes to the Provincial Assembly from his own house. With his house in Laxminiya, Dhanusha, he collects Rs 18,000 monthly as house rent from the Provincial Assembly. All members of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly, including these individuals, take the monthly house rent. Some Provincial Assembly Members do live in rented houses in Janakpurdham. However, the majority of members commute to and from Janakpurdham from their homes.

The house of Madhes Provincial Assembly member Surita Kumari Sah, where the vice-chancellor’s office is located. Photo: Birendra Raman

The Madhesh Provincial Assembly directly sends the money to the bank accounts of Members of Parliament who own houses in Janakpur and those who commute to and from Janakpur from their homes. The house rent allowance is given to Members of Parliament without any investigation into whether they own a house or not. However, no one has shown interest in stopping this anomaly yet.

The Remuneration and Facilities of Officials and Members of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly Act 2018 has specified 13 types of services and facilities for everyone from Provincial Assembly Members to the Speaker. This facility is being taken by taking advantage of a loophole in the Act. The Act states that the Provincial Speaker shall also be provided with accommodation. It further states that the Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Whip of the Ruling Party shall be given Rs 20,000 monthly as a housing allowance, while Members shall be given Rs 15,000 as house rent. The Act specifies separate facilities for the officials and members of the provincial assembly.

The accommodation for the provincial ministers is arranged by the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers. Government accommodation for the ministers is provided at Madhesh Bhawan, located on the premises of the Janakpur Cigarette Factory in Janakpurdham. According to the Provincial Assembly, approximately Rs 260 million is spent annually in Madhesh Province for the services and facilities of Members of Parliament and Parliamentary Officials. The house rent allowance is included in this amount.

Out of the 107 members of the Provincial Assembly, three are currently suspended. Those suspended are Dipendra Thakur of the CPN (UML), Saroj Singh Kushwaha of the JSP Nepal, and Abhiram Sharma of the LSP Nepal. The Members of Parliament have the strange argument that although they own houses in Janakpurdham, the law does not prevent them from taking the house rent allowance.

The Remuneration and Facilities of Officials and Members of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly Act, 2018, contains a loophole that Provincial Assembly Members are exploiting to indiscriminately claim the house rent allowance.

Ram Ashish Yadav, the Chief Whip of the Janta Samajwadi Party Nepal, insists that taking the house rent is not inappropriate because the Provincial Assembly’s Act on Facilities itself mentions the provision of the house rent allowance. He says, “The Members of the Provincial Assembly have taken the facility as per the law. The law does not mention anywhere that those who own their own residences are not entitled to the house rent allowance. That is why everyone takes it, and it is justified.”

Youth activist Saroj Mishra argues that it is grossly immoral and shameful for people’s representatives who own houses in Janakpur and do not rent accommodation to take the house rent from money collected from the public’s tax. He says, “It is due to such anomalies that a kind of aversion to politics has arisen. The political parties do not seem to have internalized the issues of good governance raised after the Gen Z protest. The tendency to take facilities in any way possible, from wherever possible, is evident among Provincial Assembly Members.”

According to the Madhesh Provincial Assembly Secretariat, Rs 1.4 million is paid monthly as house rent to 92 Provincial Assembly Members. Since the 2022 election, approximately Rs 50.3 million has been released as house rent for Provincial Assembly Members.

According to Homnath Pahadi, the Secretary of the Provincial Assembly, in addition to the house rent, Rs 187,800 is released monthly to 92 individuals for private secretariat arrangements, Rs 185,000 for electricity and water, and Rs 282,400 for communication.

Who is charging how much for rent?

According to the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, Govinda Bahadur Neupane, the Parliamentary Party Leader of the CPN (Unified Socialist), collects Rs 18,000 monthly as house rent. Similarly, Bharat Prasad Sah, the Parliamentary Party Leader of the Maoist Center, takes Rs 18,000, and Ram Ashish Yadav, the Chief Whip of the JSP Nepal, takes Rs 20,000. Saroj Kumar Yadav, the Parliamentary Party Leader of the JSP Nepal, takes Rs 20,000; Sharda Shankar Prasad Kalwar, the Chairperson of the Development Committee, takes Rs 18,000; Anita Kumari Sah, the Chairperson of the Finance and Planning Committee, takes Rs 18,000; and Kanish Patel, the Chief Whip of the CPN (Unified Socialist), collects Rs 18,000. Kumar Kant Jha, the Chief Whip of the Nepali Congress, takes Rs 18,000; Krishna Prasad Yadav, the Parliamentary Party Leader of the Nepali Congress, takes Rs 20,000; and Chandan Kumar Singh, the Chief Whip of the Janamat Party, collects Rs 16,000 as house rent.

Jawaharlal Kushwaha, the Whip of the Maoist Center, takes Rs 16,000; Jibachhi Yadav of the Nepali Congress takes Rs 16,000; Fakira Mahato, the Chief Whip of the Maoist Center, takes Rs 18,000; Bhagyshree Chaudhary, the Whip of the Janamat Party, takes Rs 16,000; and Manju Thapa Magar, the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, takes Rs 18,000.

The house of Ram Ashish Yadav, chief whip of JSP-Nepal. Photo: Birendra Raman

Furthermore, Mamata Mandal, the Whip of the JSP Nepal, takes Rs 16,000; Mahesh Yadav, the Parliamentary Party Leader of the Janamat Party, takes Rs 18,000; Ratneshwar Lal Goit, the Chairperson of the Provincial Assembly Affairs Committee, takes Rs 18,000; and Rupa Yadav, the Chairperson of the Women, Children, and Social Affairs Committee, takes Rs 18,000. Sharada Das Pahadi, the Chairperson of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee, takes Rs 18,000; Sanjay Kumar Mahato, the Chairperson of the Agriculture and Land Management Committee, takes Rs 18,000; and Hari Narayan Mahato, the Chief Whip of the CPN (UML), collects Rs 16,000 as house rent. The other Provincial Assembly Members take Rs 15,000.

Members of the Provincial Assembly took the house rent allowance not only after the 2022 Provincial Assembly election but also after the 2017 election. The Provincial Assembly Secretariat’s record shows that approximately Rs 90 million was spent on house rent during the Provincial Assembly’s first term.

During the first term, Kishori Sah Kamal, a Provincial Assembly Member of the CPN (UML), was the only one who announced that he would not take the house rent allowance. Even though he made that declaration in the Provincial Assembly, no other Provincial Assembly members stopped taking the house rent allowance. Sah, who comes from a contractor background, has a house at Pidari Chowk, Janakpur.

The practice of politicians collecting the house rent allowance has severely undermined the morality of the Members of Parliament and exposed a blatant entitlement-seeking tendency.

Roshan Janakpuri, a political analyst, argues that such conduct destroys the credibility of both the Parliament and its members. Janakpuri forcefully asserts, “Exploiting a legal loophole to take house rent when one owns a house is the height of immorality.”

Economist Bhogendra Jha reinforces this sentiment, demanding immediate action: “This must stop immediately; if the Provincial Assembly Members have any morality and integrity left, those who own houses in Janakpur should return the money taken from the government treasury.”