Kathmandu. Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel is being criticized all over for appointing inexperienced Radha Kumari Pokharel as a female director of the Nepal Insurance Authority.
Finance Minister Poudel is being criticized for appointing Pokharel as a female director of the Insurance Authority, contrary to the criteria specified in the Insurance Act, 2079 BS. Voices are being raised that Pokharel does not have enough expertise and experience to be appointed as a female director as per the criteria specified in Sub-section (2) of Section 6 of the Insurance Act.
The Insurance Act contains provisions regarding the appointment of members, including the chairperson, to the board of directors. According to which, there is a provision that the Board of Directors shall consist of a person appointed by the government as the Chairman, a member of the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, a member of the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, one member from among the persons with special knowledge in the life insurance business and one member from among the persons with special knowledge in the non-life insurance business. Sub-section (2) of the same section provides that there shall be at least one woman director who has acquired special knowledge in the insurance business mentioned in sub-section (1).
Section 8 of the Insurance Act itself contains provisions regarding the qualifications of the Chairman and members of the Authority. The criteria are that one should have a master’s degree or equivalent in insurance, monetary, banking, finance, commerce, management, public administration, statistics, mathematics, economics or law and at least 5 years of high-level managerial work experience in the relevant field.
A long time after the Insurance Act was implemented, Pokharel was appointed as the female director of the Insurance Authority on Friday by a decision of the Finance Minister. However, Finance Minister Poudel and Pokharel are being criticized for not meeting the standards of expertise and work experience specified in the act.
Pokharel was appointed as the director of Vishal Bazaar Company on February 20, 2022 by the decision of Finance Minister Poudel. She has been the director there for only 2 years. Experts say that even in this regard, her work experience is not sufficient.
In an interview with Insurance Khabar, Pokharel claimed that she has insurance knowledge. ‘I have worked as an insurance agent for 7-8 years. While being an agent, I have had the opportunity to learn and teach a lot about insurance,’ Pokharel said, ‘I have worked in the insurance sector for a long time. I have participated in various trainings related to insurance and have also conducted trainings several times.’
During the conversation, Pokharel admitted that she has little experience in the insurance sector. ‘I have just received the responsibility. Not everything is tested before receiving the responsibility,’ she said, ‘We have little experience there.’
Pokharel said that she was also aware of the protests and criticisms being made about her appointment on social media. ‘If people try to go a little further, there will be protests. This is natural,’ she said, ‘but I have no objection to that. In return for that protest, I will sit at the Insurance Authority and do two or four things.’
