Root Out Corruption

Corruption is the cancer of society as it stunts economic growth, breeds inequality and generates conflicts. The common people are mostly hit by the abuse of power and siphoning off taxpayers’ money. Corruption occurs when there is a transaction of a hefty amount of money. It varies from petty to grand to systemic corruption in which billions of rupees are embezzled by those who control and mobilise the resources. When there is massive irregularities in the construction of projects, they are not complete in time. Their cost grows and quality remains substandard. Corruption reduces the competitive edge of institutions and decreases their capacity to effectively deliver services and goods to the people. So it is next to impossible to achieve good governance, social justice and equality when there is widespread corruption.

In Nepal, people are fed up with corruption scandals occurring frequently. When the clamour of one corruption case peters out, another one rocks the country. What is a more worrying scenario is that elected representatives and government employees collude to misappropriate the public fund. When a lawmaker succeeds in bringing pork barrel projects to his/her constituency, there is a high chance of policy-level corruption. Corruption is one major factor behind the underdevelopment of the country. There has been the tendency to allocate budget without identifying the need and legal norms in public procurement and construction works, to move forward with the procurement process without a proper plan and to make payments without completing projects. Other forms of corruption are misuse of grants, flouting of the citizen charter and intrusion of middlemen in service delivery.

Despite all institutional efforts, Nepal is still grappling with corruption cases that have eroded the people's trust in the ability of state agencies and authorities to cater service to them. This is also reflected in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) made public by Transparency International (TI) on Tuesday. Nepal ranks 107th scoring 34 points, one point down compared to the CPI in 2023 when it secured 35. In the index of zero to 100, zero indicates the most corrupt while a score of 100 denotes the least corrupt. Similarly, a score below 50 is considered to have a relatively higher level of corruption. This year, the average score of the surveyed countries remains 43, according to a news report published in the digital edition of this daily. With 90 points, Denmark has become the least corrupt country while Sudan is the most corrupt one, scoring only 8 points. Among the South Asian countries, Bhutan is the least corrupt country with 72 points while Afghanistan has the lowest point at 17. TI applies at least 13 international survey data to prepare the CPI of around 200 countries annually.

The other day Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) marked its 34th anniversary, reiterating its commitment to control corruption at various levels. On the occasion, President Ramchandra Paudel expressed his confidence that the CIAA would not be swayed or influenced by external pressure and would continue its work impartially, irrespective of the size or status of the crime or criminal. Indeed, it is a challenge to eradicate corruption root and branch. People's endless greed for power, money and status drives them to indulge in corruption. Promoting ethical practice and strict enforcement of anti-corruption laws is necessary to root out this social and economic evil. Moreover, it is vital to enhance the institutional capacity of anti-graft bodies and appoint competent persons with clean images in their positions.