Koshi Province Public Service Commission chair resigns amid controversy
Mahendra Prasad Guragain has resigned as chairman of the Koshi Province Public Service Commission after accusations over his role in its examinations and the extra allowances he drew. He denies wrongdoing.
Mahendra Prasad Guragain, chairman of the Koshi Province Public Service Commission, has resigned before the end of his term, after months of accusations over his role in the commission's examinations and the extra allowances he drew for that work. He submitted his resignation on Tuesday (October 27), and Province Head Parshuram Khapung accepted it with effect from Monday, November 2, 2026, the Province Head's office said.
Guragain, a former secretary of the Government of Nepal, was appointed on July 7, 2024, for a six-year term. He leaves less than two years into it.
The accusations
Nagarik, Ratopati and Annapurna Post reported that Guragain was accused of keeping the commission's sensitive examination work to himself rather than bringing in independent subject experts: setting and moderating question papers, marking answer sheets, sitting on computer skills tests and conducting interviews.
According to Nagarik and Ratopati, he was also accused of drawing allowances for that work under the commission's own procedures: 3,600 to 5,400 rupees per set of questions, and 2,500 rupees per interview shift.
The commission's then secretary, Asman Tamang, had objected to the extra allowance arrangements and was later transferred. Ratopati reported an accusation that the transfer came under pressure from the chairman; Annapurna Post said that claim has not been independently verified.
The ministry and the assembly
The commission had proposed amending its spending procedures to raise the benefits it pays. In a letter dated August 3, 2026, the provincial Ministry of Economic Affairs and Planning declined, saying extra benefits beyond the pay set by law should not be granted through internal procedures, Annapurna Post and Ratopati reported.
On October 15, 2026, a complaint was filed with the Koshi Province Assembly's Good Governance and Planning Committee seeking an investigation into Guragain, according to Annapurna Post.
Guragain has denied the accusations. He said the commission's examinations followed established legal methods, and that it was not true that one person handled every stage from setting papers to marking and interviews.
Officials have not confirmed any direct link between the complaint and his resignation, and no investigation has established the accusations against him, Annapurna Post noted.