The National Vigilance Center (NVC) has reported an improvement in the compliance rate of officials and staffers in furnishing their property details. According to the center’s annual report published recently, 98.68 percent of office-bearers and staffers of all three tiers of government submitted their property details in the fiscal year 2022/23, up from 97.79 percent in the previous fiscal. In the previous fiscal (2021/2022), 681,215 office-bearers and staffers had submitted their property details, which increased to 719,157 in the current fiscal. Under the Corruption Prevention Act of 2002, it is mandatory for office-bearers and staffers of public offices to furnish their property details to the NVC within 60 days of their appointment. Furthermore, they are required to submit updated property details within 60 days of the beginning of each fiscal year thereafter.

According to the report, all Nepali Army personnel, and office-bearers and staffers of constitutional bodies have submitted their property details. However, 3,453 employees in the civil service have not furnished their property details despite legal requirements. In addition, 113 police personnel, 1,158 school teachers, and 1,922 political appointees and contract employees have also not submitted their property details.

Among the provinces, compliance to submitting property details was low in Madhes province and high in Sudurpaschim province. A total of 559 staffers and office-bearers have not submitted their property details in Madhes province compared to 25 in Sudurpaschim. Not only at the province level, the compliance to submitting property details was low also in local units in Madhes. According to the report, 664 staffers and office-bearers of local units in Madhes have not submitted their property details. The compliance rate was highest in local units of Gandaki province where only 68 staffers and office-bearers of local units have not furnished their property details. All 1,245 office-bearers and employees in 77 district coordination committees (DCCs) across the country have submitted their property details, according to the report.