KATHMANDU, JULY 28

Despite extensive study for entry into public service and acquisition of skills to manage the administration, public servants lack negotiation skills and the politician's vision is blurred. Besides, there is the rampant corruption, for which there doesn't seem to be a cure.

The latest Corruption Perceptions Index, released by Transparency International on 8 February 2023, ranks Nepal 110th out of the 180 countries assessed, with a score of 36 out of 100. This indicates slight improvement from Nepal's previous ranking of 117th in 2021. Nevertheless, the score still indicates a high level of corruption in the country, and considerable efforts are required to improve the status.

Currently, the government is going through a series of scandals like the gold smuggling racket, land grab scam, and human trafficking in the guise of Bhutanese refugees.

Business tycoons, former secretaries of the government as well as the names of former prime ministers are making headlines in the mainstream media.

Meanwhile, experts from the government sector and academia have claimed that politicians lack vision, suffer from inferiority complex, and are not committed to development of the nation.

Similarly, bureaucrats are seen as poor at negotiation skills which we can observe through the politicians' decisions and policies.

'Leaders have no policy clarity for development. They suffer from beggars' mentality.

Likewise, the bureaucracy is way behind in negotiation skills and are caught in anglophobia,' said former economic development adviser to the prime minister, retired government secretary Lal Shanker Ghimire.

According to him, so far, Nepal has received aid amounting to three trillion dollars till date. However, our leaders have not been able to bring about any transformation in developmental terms.

He also said that they have developed a 'without aid, no development mindset'.

Political parties are more loyal to donors than the country and citizens. 'We have imported our policies from other countries and are significantly influenced. On top of that, our government is based on 'bureaupathology' which includes resistance to change, an obsessive reliance on rules and regulations and are incapable of responding to unpredictable events,' said Sucheta Pyakurel, director, Centre for Governance and Academic Affairs at IIDS. 'Bureaucracy is an instrument that works for politicians to implement their vision. Therefore, if there's anything wrong, it's the reflection of both,' Pyakurel told THT.

She further said, 'The culture of corruption has tainted bureaucrats. They are not able to get away from it. This has been costing the country in terms of development.'

Similarly, former urban secretary of the government Deependra Nath Sharma said, 'Government staffers are afraid of collusion and collision.'

He said they are scared if they do not agree with the culture practised inside the institutions they will be thwarted.

They may not be promoted.

Their name could be implicated in corruption. 'I have experienced this on a personal level. I got saved luckily because of blessings from my seniors, otherwise I would have been dragged to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority,' said Sharma.

'Corruption becomes rampant when it comes to mega projects, but people need to be aware of repercussions.

Government employees have been taking new appointments when they are one day away from retirement,' said Ghimire, adding no one agitated when a project like

Pokhara International Airport was initiated in 2007. They maintained silence when MCC and BRI were brought in.

'Later when various issues appeared they started to protest.' Ghimire added.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 29, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.