Kathmandu. Rijal, who is representing the insured in the board of directors of the Nepal Insurance Authority, is getting closer to completing his term. With his departure from the NRA board, the NRA will now be limited to a two-member board with representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Law.
A quorum for a five-member board meeting must be attended by at least 3 members. Janak Raj Sharma, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, and Man Bahadur Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Law, Law, are the members of the board. There is a risk that all the work of the Authority will come to a standstill when only 2 members are left in the board of the NRA to take policy decisions.
The cabinet meeting on December 22, 2021 had appointed Rijal as the insured representative for a four-year term. His term ends on December 24. He was appointed to the Board of Directors as an insured representative as per the provisions of the Insurance Act, 2049.
After the completion of Rijal’s tenure, 3 posts in the Board of Directors of the NRA, including the chairman to be appointed by the Council of Ministers, will be vacant. Apart from the chairperson, the government will have to appoint one person each who has special knowledge in life insurance and non-life insurance business.
Section 6 of the Insurance Act, 2079 does not provide for the representation of the insured or the insurer. In the five-member board of directors, 3 members including a woman will be appointed by the Council of Ministers of the Government of Nepal and out of the remaining two, one will be appointed by the Ministry of Finance and the other by the Ministry of Law.
The post of woman board member has been lying vacant since Radha Kumari Pokharel, who was appointed as the insurance expert of NEA, resigned from the post last August citing ill health. Pokharel, who was criticized over the issue of qualifications, had resigned a few days ago citing ill health reasons after the government prepared to sack Sharad Ojha by forming a probe committee against Sharad Ojha who was found disqualified for the post of chairman. The then Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel had appointed Pokharel to the post of director of the Insurance Expert Women Member of the Authority with effect from Chaitra 1, 2081 by bypassing the Insurance Act.
The Ministry of Finance has not been able to give full shape to the Board of Directors of the Insurance Authority, which has the serious responsibility of implementing the Insurance Act, regulating the entire insurance sector and taking policy decisions for the promotion of the insurance sector.
