– Jamuna Barsha Sharma
Chipledhunga, August 6: Kaski has been identified as the district has the highest number of public complaints against corruption throughout the Gandaki state. The data available at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Pokhara Office shows that Kaski is ahead among other districts in the state in terms of corruption.
During the fiscal year 2075-76 BS that had ended on July 16, the Office had received 832 corruption-related complaints and of them, 281 are related with Kaski followed by 82 in Parbat, 79 in Tahanu, and 64 in Syangja. The least number: one, is concerned with Manang. The Office looks after the corruption issues concerning 10 districts (except Nawalpur) in the state. The number of settled cases in that period stands at 563.
The highest 304 complaints mentioned the names of bodies under the subordination of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration while the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is in the second place with 205 complaints followed by 56 complaints against the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.
One complaint has been filed against the Ministry of Law, Justice and Social Development. According to the CIAA Pokhara office under-secretary and information officer Meghanath Rijal, a series of the sting operation was conducted in this period with the confiscation of the bribed amount over Rs 1.1 million. Detailed investigations into the 67 complaints are going on. Reluctance to provide services to service seekers without additional and personal profit, revenue leakage, to produce fake official documents and involvement in trade and business against the code of conduct by the people holding public posts are barriers to the efforts aimed at establishing good governance.
According to Rijal, prior to this, the education sector had been at the forefront in terms of corruption and now it has been replaced by the Ministry of Federal Affairs. The study shows that offices such as transport, education and health office and local levels where the citizen have their direct concern are plagued by corruption more than other offices. Nepal is ranked in the fifth position among the eighth South Asian countries in terms of corruption.
As CIAA Pokhara Office Chief Kashiraj Dahal said, the latest development in the sector of information technology has led to changes in the forms and ways of committing corruption. Preventive, prohibitive and punitive, a three-pillar strategy against corruption has been adopted by the CIAA to fight against this crime.
He highlighted the need for reforms in process and system and capacity enhancement of employees to combat corruption. Positive behavioral change and development and promotion of positive thinking are vital to undo corruption, said Civic Surveillance Group outgoing chair Anandra Raj Mulmi. He is of the view that people on public posts must learn and practice good conducts to establish a culture of zero-tolerance against corruption.
