Strategies To Tackle Corruption In Nepal: An Essay.

Corruption is one of the common unethical behaviours in countries across the world. Describe the different forms of corruption in your home country and describe the strategies that can be implemented by your government to minimise corruption ?

Bribery in Nepal

Corruption is a phenomenon which is having many sides and is very complex in nature as it exists in various forms varying across the countries. Corruption has been given several definitions like "an act of bribery", "using power for self-profit" and "misuse of authority". People have been addicted and constantly exercising this issue for self-need and greed. With different manifestations, corruption has become the root cause of evil for developing economies which exists in various forms. The common forms of corruption are fraud, bribery, extortion, embezzlement, Nepotism etc. which are quite prevalent in almost every country.

In recent years, Nepal has been incriminated with this widespread disease called corruption. The main topic of political parties and a matter of national importance has become corruption in Nepal. A prime reason for Nepal being an underdeveloped nation is due to this factor. The course of corruption varies from country to country and similarly, Nepal has its own forms of corruption other than the common forms existing. In this paper, the intent is to classify the various forms of corruption prevailing in Nepal and devising strategies to tackle the same which is a major agenda of every democracy.

A multifaceted phenomenon is something which is having different faces, similar to corruption which exists in different forms across the countries. It has started an economic debate in the country. After the reinstatement of democracy in Nepal, there was a rise in the number of political parties in the country which led to the surge of illegal activism in the country in several forms (Rose and Peiffer, 2015). Some of the major forms existing in Nepal are:

Money in the form of cash or gift which is offered to someone for the procurement of something illegal or seeking a favor for own greed is stated as a bribe. Bribery has been given several definitions like favoritism (giving preference to someone over other), patronage (giving illegal support), and nepotism (favor given to relatives by someone holding a patronage). It has been brought into notice by several Nepali business communities who claimed that they have offered bribes or forced to do so in order to accomplish their agendas more proactively. It helps to expedite the process as no one likes to go through the legal way which is way time taking and complex (Banuri and Eckel, 2015).

Also, the businessman of Nepal has been involved in running illegal activities across the country by offering bribes to the officials and running a business under their shadow. The business environment has been affected severely due to this the impact on the economy of Nepal. The governmental policies and procedures are believed to be unfriendly which sometimes forces people to involve in such kind of illegal activity. Although the issues of corruption are common in every country but in it Nepal has been leading the charts in this scenario (Köbis et al., 2017).

                                                                                                    (Source: Khanal, 2018).

Chakari - Seekiing Favor from Powerful Individuals

Chakari is a concept wherein people who are more powerful politically and administratively are served or appeased. It is done in order to seek favor from these people as they are the ones who have their influences in every sector and people run after them. They are served, respected and people prove their loyalty to them in return of favor or personal greed. The people expect something in return for all the good deeds done. Chakari has become an important aspect for the people of Nepal.

 It is mostly prevailing among the government employees who are linked to this form of corruption in order to get a promotion or make their jobs safe. The people who are generally involved in this practice are called as chakariwal. The social life of the people of Nepal has been integrated with chakari. This has gained more limelight due to the fact that the local governing bodies are itself involved in some way or the other which has made this form of corruption difficult to demolish (KC and Kharel, 2017).

This term is used to link one's own near and dear associates. This may include one's family members, friends, close relatives who can be approached in case of any need. This is generally termed as seeking a favor from the people who are known (Subedi, 2014). The attributes which are considered important for a person such as skills, qualification, training doesn't have any prime importance in case of afnomanche. As the feeling of belonging is enough to be considered for this. An example can be taken from an organization perspective wherein a person is favored due to their closeness to the person holding the power rather than the ones who are actually qualified and skilled to take up the role easily (Integrity, 2018). 

It is a kind of Nepotism wherein the person in power gives importance to the close associates and has become very common and existent.  This form of corruption in Nepal has shifted the paradigm to biases and people are now being preferred having afnomanche. If it continues to exist then the ones who are genuinely skilled and trained will also be involved in such kind of corruption (Gottschalk and Stanislas, 2017).

It is now the prime motive of the local governing bodies that the various forms which are existent in Nepal are to be decreased and demolished. The decline of corruption has now become the matter of national importance. Although, Nepal has already devised a few guidelines and laid down strategies but it should ensure that it is playing its part efficiently, as the conventional techniques and strategies are not sufficient.

Nepal government has established various constitutional bodies to fight corruption such as CIAA (Commission for the Investigation of Abuse and Authority) whose prime motive is to investigate and dig deep into the cases where people have complained about misuse of authority by a person holding a powerful position. The government should ensure that this constitutional body gets full support of the people and other important bodies who are capable of providing a transparent audit report about a company or individual. It should be ensured to keep a check on the public resources and the revenue collected in order to minimize the gaps where corruption can prevail.

Afnomanche - Favoring Close Associates

Also, several laws have been established by the government and various acts have been enacted to tackle and diminish corruption. The Prevention of Corruption Act was formulated as a helping aid to CIAA to smoothen the process. The government should ensure that timely legal provisions are formulated in order to curb corruption keeping in mind that peace among the people of Nepal is maintained and there is no disturbance in the society. The morality and discipline should remain constant while tackling the issue so that people can also cooperate when it comes to fighting against corruption (Graycar, 2015).

Although the government has been actively involved in keeping its foot forward in every case where corruption exists, still there are specific recommendations which should be formulated in order to increase the efficiency. The constitutional body i.e CIAA should be authorized with more powers and freedom so that appropriate and harsh actions can be taken by them in case of any person or organization involved in case of corruption. It would be better if there is a transparency maintained in every governmental process or project which involves huge funding. It will ensure that there is no illegal outsourcing of money to any of the officials and every penny is accounted.

Lastly, the most important recommendation which can be taken into consideration is by the people of Nepal itself. It is the mere duty of the citizens of Nepal to take a stand and express their views on the issue. Before changing the country, it is the duty of the people to change themselves and the attitude towards corruption. As money is not the main concern but the people's attitude and mindset is the main problem.

One should change their thinking and realize that involving in such kind of act will only result in the loss of their country and their people. Along with this, the rules and regulations laid down by the country should ensure that the people are strict with the guidelines devised against fighting corruption. Whosoever involved practicing any form of corruption should be handled strictly and legal actions should be the first step that should be taken against them.

Conclusion

Hence, it can be concluded from the above discussion that corruption is the root cause for the downfall of not only Nepal but also for every other country. Corruption has been a major issue for Nepal for years and has been growing exponentially. The local bodies are the one who can actually act as the saviors of the country. With proper guidelines and acts, it should be ensured that the stakeholders involved in corruption should be charged with justified legal terms and without any biases. Every person should be treated equally and should be provided an equal platform. Also, it is the sole duty of the citizens of Nepal to make sure that this disease should be cured with immediate effect.

References

Banuri, S. and Eckel, C., 2015. Cracking down on bribery. Social Choice and Welfare, 45(3), pp.579-600.

Gottschalk, P. and Stanislas, P. eds., 2017. Public Corruption: Regional and National Perspectives on Procurement Fraud. CRC Press.

Graycar, A., 2015. Corruption: Classification and analysis. Policy and Society, 34(2), pp.87-96.

Integrity,G., 2018.Nepal corruption report..[Online]. Business anti-corruption. Available at https://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/nepal/.  [Accessed on13 September].

KC, G. and Kharel, P., 2017. The Dynamics of Representing Nepal's Struggle for Modernization: from Nepalization to Fatalism. Dhaulagiri: Journal of Sociology & Anthropology, 11(7), pp.130-50.

Khanal,S., 2018. Nepal ranked as third most corrupt country in SAsia. [Online]. The Katmandu post. Available at https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-01-26/nepal-ranked-as-third-most-corrupt-country-in-sasia.html .  [Accessed on13 September].

Köbis, N.C., van Prooijen, J.W., Righetti, F. and Van Lange, P.A., 2017. The road to bribery and corruption: Slippery slope or steep cliff?. Psychological science, 28(3), pp.297-306.

Rose, R. and Peiffer, C., 2015. Paying bribes for public services: A global guide to grass-roots corruption. Springer.

Subedi, M., 2014. AfnoManchhe: Unequal Access to Public Resources and Institutions in Nepal. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 8(2), pp.55-86.