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UNDP country director Manoj Basnyat, embattled by a falling approval rating among colleagues, Friday alleged that some staffers had 'wrongly' blamed him for irregularities and retrenchment of officials.

Responding to a media report, Basnyat also said that some government officials levelled charges of irregularities against him as he had not continued "unnecessary" projects.

"As many as 28 out of 55 UNDP staff members could not pass a competency test carried by the local UNDP office as per the instruction of the UNDP Headquarters and the UN resident coordinator," Basnyat told bdnews24.com by phone from Katmandu. Of the 28 staffers, some were transferred from the main office in Dhaka to some projects and some were not "fit" for work at all and were retrenched, he said.

"The retrenched staff members and their relatives in government service have made charges of irregularities against me," the UNDP boss said.

Basnyat's comment came after the publication of a report in The Daily Star Friday that 86 percent of the international and 62 percent of the local staff members had "no confidence" in him as country director.

The report was based on UNDP's Global Staff Survey 2007. The survey also said that 71 percent of the international and 52 percent of the local UNDP staff members felt that the country director had not followed the UNDP rules of procurement.

Besides, a section of government officials complained of "interference in government policy" against Basnyat. "Some government officials wanted extension of some projects which were totally a waste of resources. The projects expired in course of time," said Basnyat.

"As I was the spokesperson and at the forefront, they are putting the blame on me. The allegations are not true," he said. He said the UNDP had delivered funds worth $20 million to $25 million a year during its 30 years of operation in Bangladesh. "I delivered over $57 million last year, a record," he said.

The UNDP staffers were angry with Basnyat, a citizen of Nepal, over his decision to reassess the competence of all UNDP staff in July last year, officials said.

All the permanent staff took an exam to prove their competence again. Those who failed to prove "competence" had to leave the UNDP. Basnyat joined UNDP's Bangladesh office as country director in December 2006

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