A common man’s view of corruption

A visit to a government office for some work—license renewal, filing your taxes, getting a passport—means taking a day off. But if you are willing to spend a few extra thousand rupees for ‘chiya kharacha’ or if you happen to know somebody at the offices, your work will be done in a couple of hours. You might not even have to be present depending on how light your purse has become or how strong your connection is. Minor grievances aside, rapists have walked free because of political clout. The culprits of the Sikta scam were given a clean chit by the Special Court. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) regularly files cases against government officials for corruption. But with political pressure and protection, the issues are eventually swept under the carpet. “The problem is everyone is corrupt, from the highest ranking officials to the lowest tier clerks,” says Shubham Karki, 39, an engineer who has come home to Nepal from the US for a short break. He says he would like to return and live with his aging parents in Old Baneshwor which is where he grew up. But having seen his family have problems with simple things like paying vehicle taxes or getting a routine checkup, he shudders at the thought of living in Nepal permanently.

Karki says he has tried to get his parents to move and live with him. But they say they are used to the ‘Nepali way of doing things.’ What seems like big problems to him feel like small inconveniences for them. “That’s just sad, isn’t it? Nepalis have internalized corruption. Those who have the money and power will get their work done but what about those who don’t have that luxury?” says a visibly frustrated Karki.

Nepal got 34 in Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, which scored 180 countries on a scale from 0 (most corrupt) to 100 (least corrupt). According to the Berlin-based anti-corruption group, scores below 50 indicate a high level of corruption. People ApEx spoke to in Kathmandu and Lalitpur said everyone is corrupt, from top to bottom. Nothing gets done unless you know someone or pay extra. This makes daily life difficult and they worry about their children’s futures. A few years ago, they would have liked their sons and daughters to stay in Nepal and do something in their homeland. Seeing how the system in Nepal is rigged to favor the ones in power or with money, they want to send their children abroad. “Corruption has led to inflation, lack of opportunities, and next to no progress and development,” says Ramesh Thapa, 48, who is originally from Sindhuli. His family moved to Kathmandu for a better life. They were able to establish small businesses—among them is a furnishing store in Kumaripati, Lalitpur—and send their children to school. But is that all, he wonders? What about the good life that he envisioned for his children? Corruption is universal. It’s prevalent in developing as well as developed nations, both in private and public sectors. But it’s the extent of it that determines a country’s fate. When there is an under-the-table price for everything, nothing gets done unless the monetary demands are met. And that makes for a hostile and insecure environment. Tika Limbu, 42, proprietor of New UK Fancy in Manbhawan, Lalitpur, says the top honchos of the country are shameless. Over the years, we have seen those in power favor their own—give them positions they were undeserving of, make laws that benefit big businessmen but put more pressure on the poor, and let party-affiliated criminals get off scot-free. In a way, we have come to accept these actions as part and parcel of daily life. But the recent incident of politicians and bureaucrats sending Nepalis to the US as Bhutanese refugees is the lowest of low, says Limbu. Thapa adds that they have done something he would have never believed even corrupt officials such as ours were capable of, had he not read many detailed reports of it in the papers. “The politicians aren’t working for the people as they are supposed to. They rather work for themselves, their close ones, and those who are willing to fatten their bank balances,” says Limbu. Worse, as no one is clean there is an unwillingness to take action when somebody is found guilty of wrongdoing. The rare ones who come into power determined to change things find themselves caught in a cesspool of corrupt officials who create roadblocks. Gyanu Timilsina, 47, who runs Khumal Store in Khumaltar, Lalitpur, fears nothing will happen in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. As it is, political leaders are already trying to contain the outrage. The only reason it has come this far is because of the American interest in the case. “If those in power can suppress this, it will fuel their confidence that they can get away with anything,” she says. Corruption undermines democracy and lays the foundation for criminal activities. It creates bureaucratic quagmires in places where there should be none—educational institutes, hospitals, the justice system, etc. The effects are far-reaching, including but not limited to political, economic, and social instability. People confess that there was a time when corruption was just something they talked about. It didn’t bother them as the trickle-down effect wasn’t that great. But now it keeps them up at night. They wonder if the little money they have in the banks is safe. Many are working out a plan B. Some say they are searching for jobs in India and elsewhere. With little to no business on most days in recent times, Thapa is resigned to the fact that there may be no better days ahead. “The government only takes from us and gives us nothing in return. Unless you have people in the right places, it’s impossible to prosper in business,” he says, adding his family’s lifestyle is getting worse by the day and they are looking for alternatives. “We might have to move, even though we don’t want to,” he says. Timilsina says we ourselves are responsible for this mess. We are the ones who gave power to the politicians by voting for them. We are blind to their faults. “We vote for them hoping they will make Nepal better but every leader that comes into power has his own agenda to get rich,” she says. Nepalis, she hopes, will learn a lesson and elect good people in the future, and not egoists who toot their horns, aka those ‘who can fly in helicopters’. Ram Tamang, 45, a daily wage earner who lives in Ratopul, Kathmandu says people like him have never been the country’s concerns. He laments that those in power continue to exploit us for their gains and we let them do so by being swayed by their empty promises. “We think one leader is better than another. When KP Oli was the prime minister, we thought Sher Bahadur Deuba or Pushpa Kamal Dahal would be our savior.  But they are all corrupt and thus the same,” he says. There has never been a lot of power in public voices, as much as we would like to tell ourselves otherwise. And now it’s fading, suppressed by all the pressure politicians and bureaucrats put on the government to act in their favor. Limbu says there have been so many rallies and protests but they haven’t made much impact. They have managed to create an uproar and led to some conversations on social media but eventually, they have all fizzled out. “We need unbiased and fearless leaders who can differentiate between right and wrong. We need a complete overhaul of the system,” she says. Limbu doesn’t expect there to be zero corruption. She just hopes for a less corrupt government, for the sake of her 13- and seven-year-old daughters.