Measures to cleanse corrupt politics

By DR SHREEDHAR GAUTAM

Nepal is one of the most corrupt countries as revealed in the Transparency International corruption Index. Corruption is not only harmful but also an anti-national act. In our case it is also anti-poor since corrupt politicians and bureaucrats siphon off the resources meant for poverty alleviation schemes. This article is an attempt to throw light on some of the factors responsible for corruption as well as the measures which can contribute positively to an anti-corruption campaign. One of the factors in corruption is our culture of tolerance. Our society by and large tolerates amassing of wealth irrespective of the means and procedures. Our politics is dictated by emotion rather than reason; and so nepotism has become the basis for distribution of public property. It is also for this reason that politicians show extreme attachment to their families and they feel that they should earn enough not only for themselves but also for their children. Evil social practices and unhealthy desires also tempt the politicians to make money by hook or by crook. Similarly, corruption in the educational sector is also contributing to corruption in our political system.

There could be many more reasons for corruption in a country like ours where a majority of the people are living under the poverty line. Now the question is how can we reduce the corruption and make society more humane in nature. What could be the effective measures to cleanse our politics and make the life of ordinary people worth living? These questions need a careful analysis of the problem. The first and foremost measures to control corruption can be wide-ranging awareness among our people. This can be achieved only by spreading education as world history shows that educated societies are least corrupt in nature. We take a tolerant view of the misbehaviour of our leaders because of the lack of education and awareness. We should realise that democracy cannot survive in the absence of probity in public life. Due to lack of education, issues like the price of food grain and drinking water rank higher than corruption during elections. There seems to be a total lack of awareness about the damage caused by corruption in public life to the overall well being of common people. We are bothered much about high level corruption only when we are directly and visibly affected by it. We consider all political parties equally corrupt, not going into depth due to our apathy to politics.

Against this background it is our duty to sensitize the silent majority about the evil effects of corruption and how corruption comes in the way of fulfilling the genuine demands of common citizens. People can be sensitized to the evil effects of corruption only when all relevant information is available to the public as freely as possible. It is our responsibility to pressurize the government to adopt the Right to Information Act and implement it sincerely so that authorities concerned are bound to provide information within a time frame. If there is freedom of information and citizens have access to information, there can be some sort of transparency in governance.

Another method of reducing the level of corruption is compulsory introduction of corruption as one of the subjects in academic curricula with a view to arousing public awareness and interest in the study of people who take and give bribes. The study should expose corrupt people as well people who bribe politicians for their own sake. In our country corruption cannot be wished away as long as our politicians do not change themselves because it is they who are supposed to initiate the change to check corruption. So, we need politicians with personal integrity and zeal for enforcing it in public life. Unfortunately, we do not have clean and honest politicians.

One of the measures to cleanse politics is to enforce a ban on corrupt politicians becoming members of parliament. It should be made mandatory for sitting members of the House of Representatives to contest the next elections from the same constituency so that they cannot fool the voters of a new constituency. Political posts should be given on merit. For this, minimum educational qualifications should be mandatory. The Election Commission should be given more powers to check the background of candidates. Fixing the age of retirement for politicians can also minimise the level of corruption. If a corruption charge against a minister is proved, his political career should be demolished mercilessly. No extra privileges should be given to ministers and their kin. The judiciary should be more proactive, without taking sides with any politician. Equally important is to empower the opposition parties. They should have tools of investigation and intelligence agencies should report to them so that the ruling party can be brought under scrutiny.

On the whole, the basic responsibility for making our society corruption free rests on us. It is we the people who have to fight against corruption. So, the first requirement for us is to uphold our own moral character so that we can raise a finger at our politicians’ corrupt acts. Corruption has to be fought individually as well as collectively. When we make a complaint against any politician or government official we must be bold enough to declare our identity. Otherwise a culture of blackmail will prevail. This can be done if we take up the matter seriously. In Nepal, the number of persons benefiting from corruption is in minority. It is therefore obvious that if the non-corrupt majority comes together, the whole situation can be changed. Of the majority of people, the more educated, the intellectuals have to play a greater role in controlling corruption. It is the responsibility of intellectuals to respond to this need with a dream of making our country a worth place to live in.

Intellectuals in Nepal can take a lesson from American Professor Noam Chomsky. He has long denounced his country as an imperialist power grabber. Though American leaders do not listen to his wise counsel, it goes to his credit that he has shown exemplary courage. Likewise, in our country too we need courageous and intelligent people to expose the corrupt politician. Here in Nepal we have intellectuals who consider themselves second to the power brokers and corrupt politicians. This mentality has to be changed. Once we set an example, a new culture will replace the present rotten tradition of tolerating corrupt politicians and the amassing of wealth by hook or by crook. We should try to introduce ethics as part of our educational system. Students in schools and colleges should be mobilized to create the social climate for making corruption unacceptable and casting a social stigma on those who are corrupt.

Jolly under the brolly !

By BIDWATA BAHETY

The first shower of the year has refreshed the environment, and a bunch of carefree children had shared an umbrella on a rainy day. Huddled under an umbrella, splashing the water collected in poodles, I remember that day when I was one of those walking in the rain. We were returning home after a tiring day at school when all of a sudden it began to rain cats and dogs. And as it happened only one of us had carried an umbrella. No sooner an umbrella popped out than you could see a bunch of little schoolgirls clustering together under that small
umbrella fighting off the heavy downpour. We were six of us, each pulling the tip of the brolly and nudging the other in vain effort to get some cover. It was quite a sight for people watching from a safe haven. From the safety of their shelters, they gave us quizzical looks. A passer-by even dared to suggest that we do away with that frail umbrella which was more a nuisance than a protection for us. Needless to say, the poor man got a piece of our minds (for having stirred a hornet’s nest!).

All of us were dripping wet by the time we reached the nearest refuge, my home. Apart from the hot tea and dry clothes, we were greeted with severe rebukes from my Mom. She really couldn’t believe it when we explained that carrying an umbrella was an unnecessary hassle because it would only add to the weight of our already heavy school bags. It was then that smart Simi (she was the one who had carried an umbrella) promptly jumped in for our rescue. She smiled and said: "Aunty, huddled together under the brolly we have shared one moment of our friendship that none of us will ever forget. And then sharing is caring isn’t it?" My! My! Mom was really taken by this for one moment. But until each one of us had sworn that we would carry an umbrella next time, Mom didn’t let us off the hook.

Later on, Mom went to the kitchen to prepare french-fries, for the diehard foodies that we were (and actually we still are!). We were laughing over a joke Mini had just cracked when an overwhelming aroma, (actually an irresistible smell of food for us gluttons) entered the room. All of us were at once attacking the heap of potato fingers like famished carnivores attacking their prey. At this Mom quipped: "Sharing is caring and now it seems sharing is fighting for the largest piece of french-fries too!"

Today, although those bubbly girls are scattered in different places of world, each one of us has the memories of the days when we shared our love and friendship. It makes no difference whether you share a prized possession or a even a simple joke. Share a hug with your Mom or share a kiss with your love or just share a smile with a stranger. What is really important is that you share! Because sharing is such a wonderful thing - share your joys and they’ll double, share your burdens and they’ll become lighter.

Proposals for health insurance

By ARJUN BHANDRI

It is needless to explain that health care service in Nepal is highly expensive. The majority of people in the rural and urban areas are deprived of even the basic health facilities. Whatever budget the government allocates for health sector goes to waste and the needy people are always kept at bay. Even the government-run regional and zonal hospitals are always in dire need of skilled hands and sophisticated equipment, forget the condition of health posts in the rural areas. This situation is grim. The country’s 70 per cent of the doctors have been confined to the capital and a large part of the country lacks such skilled human resources.

After the restoration of democracy, all the successive elected governments, be they the government of so-called socialist party or the leftist ones, are least bothered about the public health care. Ironically, the health sector has been handed over to the private sector in the name of liberalisation and privatisation. This, including the education sector, has now become a lucrative business, not a social service, even for those who studied abroad under the government scholarships. There are a few people who have studied abroad at their expenses.

The mushrooming private nursing homes, most of them run by doctors themselves, in major cities do not, in anyway, provide health service to the people; rather they suck people’s blood. If a low-income person has to undergo a major surgery, he or she cannot afford to pay the bill charged by the private nursing homes. As far as the government hospitals are concerned, they are not up to the standard. Education and health care are the two essential aspects of modern society, where the government cannot shirk its responsibility.

Given such a grave situation, can we improve the country’s existing health care situation? Certainly, provided that the government and civil society work together seriously. Everybody has a right to receive health care service at affordable prices, regardless of his or her economic status and geographical location. The majority of people in a country like Nepal cannot afford to bear such exorbitant health costs on their own. It is the government’s duty to provide health care facilities to all people across the country as far as possible.

A nationwide mechanism could be developed so that the entire population of the country can have easy access to this most essential service.

One of the sustainable ways to make available health services to all the people is to introduce a Health Insurance Programme nationwide. Such a scheme has been implemented in most of the developed countries, especially the Scandinavian countries, for a long time. The Health Insurance Programme can be introduced in Nepal on a phase-wise basis. Such a mammoth plan needs a long-term vision, vast resources and huge health-manpower to enforce it.

Under the Health Insurance Programme, each and every family member will be required to deposit a certain amount of money into the government accounts on an annual basis so that the insurer can have easier access to health service. If this programme is expanded throughout the country, the government’s financial burden to run the health sector could be drastically reduced and thousands of lives, especially children and women, could be saved from common diseases. The government, on the other hand, can invest its precious resources in other important sectors like education.

Let’s make a rough calculation. The 10th National Census has recorded the country’s total population at around 23 million. If a person, on the average, pays 100 rupees to the Health Insurance Programme each year, the government would be able to generate around 2.3 billion rupees, which is 44 per cent of 5.2 billion rupees, allocated during this fiscal year in health sector. This is quite a huge amount of money as compared with the nation’s annual budget for health. Moreover, the government will have a regular flow of resources under this scheme.

Once the plan materialises, the government’s dependence on foreign loan assistance will automatically be slashed and the nation will become self-reliant in health sector. The state can, thus, build more hospitals and research centres in most of the regions, where health service is beyond the reach of the common people. And, it will also help discourage the mushrooming private nursing homes, which have been making money out of the sheer negligence of the government.

At first sight, this seems to be an ambitious plan as far as the income disparities of the people and management aspects are concerned. The mid-term review of the Ninth Plan states that the daily earning of 42 per cent of the total population in the country is less than 13 rupees. The population living below the absolute level of poverty cannot be expected to pay the bill for their health insurance. But the population having higher income could be asked to pay more than that of those living below the poverty line. The people living in the urban centres – the capital, sub-metropolitan cities and municipalities – can be asked to pay more than the people in rural areas.

Under this scheme, a person holding the Health Insurance Card will have the right to receive free health care service in any state-run hospitals across the country. The card, irrespective or wherever it is issued, can be made equally valid across the country. It is high time civil society discussed this kind of proposal at the national level. A national campaign regarding the scheme has to be launched highlighting the pros and cons of the programme. All the political parties and policy-makers must hold discussions with the people and concerned experts before it is finally put into practice.

But a big hurdle before us is effective management of the scheme at the grassroots level. There is a strong probability of corruption seeping into the proposed scheme. To make sure that the fund raised under the Health Insurance Programme is not misused, one or two districts having geographical variation can be chosen for a pilot project of the scheme.