The government is issuing a Whistleblowers Protection Ordinance (WPO) to check corruption and irregularities in public offices.

The fiat is aimed at protecting a person, who provides information to the authorized official about works against public interest, from prosecution and punishment for the concerned office, organization or person.

Speaking at an interaction in the capital on Tuesday, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Niranjan Thapa said the WPO is basically aimed at protecting informants who report any kind of irregularities taking place in government offices.

He said that the government had so far failed to guarantee such informants security of their jobs and pensions against their seniors. “The WPO will help to protect such interests of informants and contribute to promoting good governance by checking irregularities in the country,” added Thapa.

Hari Prasad Neupane, secretary at the Nepal Law Reform Commission (NLRC), said the proposed ordinance mentions confidentiality of information and protection of informants.

He also said that the draft has, among other things, made provisions for rewards to informants and incentives to encourage the reporting of misdeeds to the government authorities concerned.