Rising up against corruption

Critics of Baba Ramdev, who is presently on a hunger strike to apply pressure on Indian government to tackle the twin issues of corruption and black money, maintain that his stand is merely an attempt to further his not-so-covert political ambitions. Maybe! But, at the same time, we cannot deny that the fast of the Indian yoga and spiritual guru, whose followers extend well beyond India and into Nepal as well, along with social activist Anna Hazare’s fast-unto-death earlier in April to exert pressure on the government to enact a strong anti-corruption act has done something very significant in our southern neighbor: It has raised an unprecedented awareness among the Indian mass on the need to raise their voice against this grave societal ill. The result is that politics in India can never be the same again. It cannot move forward without making serious attempts to weed out this deadly menace.



Going by the many examples of high-profile corruption cases that have been tumbling out of the closet in recent times, perhaps it is time Nepal too needed a similar campaign. Unless the Nepali people are awakened to the damage that corruption has been inflicting on our society, they will never stand up against it. The civil society leaders have an important role to play here.



Our state’s attitude toward corruption until now has been lax to say the least. Just look at the state of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Though the anti-graft body has been given sweeping powers, it has remained ineffective as it has been without commissioners for years. The reason: Political parties have not been able to agree on the choice of commissioners. Insane, isn’t it? Should commissioners of such a body be selected on merit or on the basis of political inclinations? What good are the powers granted to it on paper if political interference renders it toothless? If competent people had been occupying these vacant posts, various corruption cases like Sudan scam could have been dealt with more efficiency.



With a score of 2.2, Transparency International (TI) placed Nepal in the 146th position out of 178 countries that were surveyed and ranked in its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) last year. This clearly speaks volumes on where we are and how far we need to travel in order to make Nepal a corruption-free society. That, however, is only possible if there is a very strong political commitment. Sadly, that is one thing that seems to be in short supply at least when it comes to fighting corruption in Nepal.

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