Combating corruption in service provision in Nepal

Development depends on the provision of public goods and services. Despite considerable investment, infrastructure services have been unsatisfactory in many countries. This failure can often be traced back to corruption, which not only diverts funds but also discourages investment.

Infrastructure services arethose public goods provided by physical installations or infrastructurenetworks such as electricity, water, sewerage and roads. These are usuallyprovided by local, municipal governments, but may also involve the privatesector, non-governmental organisations or community-based organisations. Apaper from Loughborough University in the UK reviews corruption in theinfrastructure sector and service delivery at the municipal level in Nepal.

Corruption can be defined asthe misuse of public office for private gain. It occurs in many forms, andcould be initiated by an individual in public office (e.g. fraud) or anexternal party (e.g. bribes). It has been estimated that corruption costsAfrican economies over US$148 billion a year.

In Nepal, major servicesinclude networks of roads and pavements, drainage and sewerage, solid wastemanagement, and centrally-provided goods such as water and electricity. Manyopportunities for corruption in service provision exist, particularly wherecommunity participation is limited. There may be irregularities during project formulationand execution, such as in the awarding of contracts and during account settlement.Corruption may continue during service delivery, for example while providingelectricity connections, metering and billing.

Key causes of corruption inNepal include:

• lack of publicawareness of the regulations, and a culture of corruption
• increasingmaterialism, and cultural changes such as the breakdown of systems like jointfamilies and community organisations that support the individual
• organisationalimmaturity: including a lack of accountability, as municipal officers areresponsible to their superiors, not the public; abuse of authority; lack of asystem of awards and punishments; and lack of information disclosure
• a generalacceptance of irregularities
• low salaries that provide the incentive to engage incorruption.

Widespread corruption disproportionatelyaffects poor people. They usually cannot afford the payoffs necessary to obtainservices. Further, corruption means providers do not have the funds, capacityor even the motivation to extend services to more disadvantaged groups.

Anti-corruption mechanismshave had varying degrees of success in Nepal:

• Preventivemeasures: codes of conduct and laws exist to anticipate acts of corruption andprevent them, but in practice these are usually ignored.
• Curativemeasures: organisations such as the Commission for the Investigation of Abuseof Authority (CIAA) have the power to investigate corruption, but have hadlimited success despite several high-profile trials.
• Awareness-raisingmeasures: organisations such as Pro-Public and Transparency International areinvolved in spreading messages against corruption, in the hope of effectinglong-term changes in society.
• The Federation ofthe Nepalese Chambers of Commerce (FNCCI) has adopted an anti-corruptionprogramme in the form of a code of conduct and a complaints hearing unit.
• Urban poor peoplehave various coping mechanisms: developing contacts in service provideragencies; organising to put pressure on officials; and community solutions tosharing services.