Nepal celebrated Monday – December 9 – the International Anti-Corruption Day voicing faith positively on the anti-corruption move being driven in the country in myriad ways. Transparency International Nepal TIN organized special street demonstration to speak out publicly against the cancerous vice. Although there was nothing to be pleased over the way anti-corruption measures were handled over the year in different parts of Nepal under the banner of different organizations, people found it relevant and essential to add fuel and facilitate the move to go forward. If this is not done, anti-corruption workers opine,” corruption will rule all sectors and damage the cause of the society and people.” Their argument is correct: anti-corruption talk and action should not stop until the corruption is wiped out or reduced; deviation from anti-corruption clearly means opening way for more corruption. The theme for IACD 2024 has been rightly picked up: it is quite appealing and appropriate: “Uniting youth against corruption: Shaping tomorrow’s Integrity.” Nepal should understand the thematic message and prepare youths to work against corruption. Most worrying among corruption-crime is the abuse of authority which appears silent, invisible and goes generally undetected. Those holding public offices and having decisive legal authority tend to make selfish gain, work for personal or own relatives’ benefits. On the surface it does not look like a crime but abuse of authority should not be tolerated in any way. It is worse than the bribe. Equally destructing is the tendency to manipulate public policies for self-interest or partisan purpose. To counter it, all should be conscious of how policies are formulated and whether they are designed to serve the public goal or not. Media and scrutiny bodies should be careful about it and make efforts to avoid it or detect it whenever policy-corruption is found. Developing integrity culture – anti-corruption habits and procedures- is essential and youths should be motivated to develop their character and habits following the parameters of anti-corruption culture – not doing corruption and not tolerating it whenever felt or heard or seen. Zero tolerance for corruption is something that can be done and achieved in a country, experts maintain. The annual Transparency International Perceptions Index indicates the same in case of some countries. Nepal, although far behind in the index -108th among 180 countries with 35 points in 2023 – has prospects for improvement and doing away with corruption in a consistent manner through spread of integrity culture. Perhaps the year 2025 could mark great achievement in the journey to anti-corruption!
