Forum (Spotlight Weekly)

Why corruption practices are rampant in Nepalese bureaucracy?

By Dr.Niranjan Prasad Upadhyaya

Nepalese bureaucracy is characterized by different kinds of pathological traits such as the pathology of persistence, pathology of conservatism, pathology of growth, pathology of status, pathology of self–service, pathology of buck- passing, pathology of delay, pathology of nepotism and favoritism and pathology of corruption. Corruption is furthermore institutionalized and has been accepted as mode of life. At the same time, people within the country do not bother about the source and nature of income, they worship money and all are behind it. Because of this corrupt environment, developmental undertakings of the country are facing lots of problems and the bureaucracy is compelled to be environed within the corrupt circle.

Recently, Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of The World Bank stressed that the Government has taken significant preventive measures to stem corruption. But defeating corruption involves much more than news, laws and institutions. It depends crucially on three further aspects: (1) strong example from leaders to set standards of behavior, (ii) transparency; (iii) promoting policies which limit bureaucratic discretion by reducing and simplifying licensing, etc. Thus, defeating corruption is about changing behavior and reducing opportunities for corruption as well as detecting and punishing it.

Work motivation is a vital issue in every organization. It is true that without motivation, the objectives of the organizations cannot be achieved. The government of Nepal has provided little facilities to the civil servants. It is a fact that the Nepalese bureaucrats receive very poor salary. Due to this problem they can not meet their primary needs. And consequently he or she may indulge in corruption. Nepalese personnel management researchers have stressed that salary paid to civil servants should depend upon the job level which is within the frame work of pay scale determined by HMG. Pay scale has always been a burning and vital issue to the civil servants. With the rising market prices and low purchasing power, the Nepalese bureaucrats are struggling even to fulfilling basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing. An economist, Paolo Mauro (1997) introduced a research article on “Why worry about corruption?” in the Economic issue Series. In that article he stressed that when civil service pay is too low, civil servants may be obliged to use their positions to collect bribes as a way of making ends meet.

Motivation may be stated as an inner force that impels human beings to behave in a variety of ways. The motivational force has three basic features –direction, intensity, and duration. It is directed towards goals; its force may vary considerably depending on the strength of individual desires; it may persist for long or short periods or be intermittently recurring. Behavior primarily is encouraged through positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement provides favorable consequences that encourage repetition of a behavior. An employee, for example, may find that when he carries out a high quality work, the supervisor gives a reward of recognition, behavior is reinforced, and the employee tends to want to do high quality work again .The reinforcement always is contingent on the employee’s correct behavior.

Essentially, to secure an efficient civil service, it is essential to protect it from political and personal influences. In countries where this principle has been neglected and the spoils system has dominated, an inefficient and disorganized civil service has been the inevitable result and corruption there have been out of control. It is a leading hindrance to progress. It deteriorates democracy and destroys the credibility of government. In reality, there is no system approach in Nepalese bureaucracy. Basically, in administrative functions there is excessive political interference. District level political leaders approach to the central level authorities for the transfer of certain bureaucrats. They demand and select according to their preferences. This is the very simple example of Nepalese political leaders. Generally, in each and every bureaucratic function, the political leaders hamper the day today administrative functions.

These days, corruption has become a social phenomenon. It is well known and is found rising at an unbelievable rate. There is hardly any area of activity that has remained completely free from corruption. In Nepal, bribes, commissions, under- the-table payments, gifts, are no longer frowned upon, and even subtle ways have been discovered to legitimize them as a part of normal life activities. CIAA’s bold action on August 16, 2002 seems to be a high-quality beginning to control corruption. Also the bureaucrats accept their unethical behavior by hiding their faces in front of the general people.

In fact, bureaucracy is a professional corps of officials organized in a pyramidal hierarchy and functioning under impersonal, uniform rules and procedures. But in Nepalese context, this definition does not work. In every official works, the bureaucrats receive political pressure. In this situation, they face problems in decision-making. Recently, Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa had given directives to the secretaries of His Majesty’s Government that was published in print media. In media, he had said that the civil servants have to take initiative to save Nepal from being a “failed state”. At the same time, he had added that the civil servants were successful even during the difficult time including the referendum. Again he claimed that there is the example that civil servants saved the country during the political instability in France and this is relevant in the context of Nepal. Also he insisted that the employees be active and courageous to discharge their responsibilities. Side by side, the administration should be impartial and work without any prejudice and discharge the responsibility within the framework of the rules and regulations. In reality, prime minister’s directives seem to be a perfect guideline to the bureaucrats in delivering prompt services to the general people. But in Nepalese context, first of all there must be built strict demarcation between bureaucrats and politicians. Furthermore, the bureaucrats must be free from unnecessary pressures from political parties. If such situations prevail, the Nepalese bureaucrats’ motivation towards work may improve.

In conclusion, corruption in all societies is as old as the power itself. It is, thus, widespread in all countries, irrespective of their stages of development. However, its nature, volume, and dimensions differ largely from country to country and from one environment to another. It deteriorates democracy and destroys the creditability of government.

(Dr. Upadhyaya is a senior psychologies and joint secretary at the Public Service Commission)