Story Messy

Public campaigns—on cyberspace, print media, television and radio—have spurred three of our political stalwarts to publicly pledge not to avail of some of the state perks. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda), Ram Chandra Poudel and Madhav Kumar Nepal have all returned government-owned Pajeros. Will Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai make a public pledge not to take the Mustang with him when he gives way to another guy in that hot seat soon? We do not know yet. We will also have to wait for some time to know how the Supreme Court will decide on a public-litigation filed by some lawyers to annul the Cabinet decision that paved the way for the Bhattarai Cabinet’s perk distribution scheme. Supreme Court judges are among the largest chunk of beneficiaries of that Cabinet decision, but we have been told again and again that Chief Justice Khila Raj Sharma is a man of principles. Well, let’s see what principle he will uphold in this case. His own perk is at stake. If Baburam Bhattarai is mindful of public opinions and his own repeated pledge not to embezzle public funds, he should annul the earlier Cabinet decision. According to one estimate, this decision will cost Nepali state over 50 crores annually. That is, excluding the costs involved in providing their security.

At the same time, we should not forget that the top politicians are just a part of the story. Not long ago, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives spent 16 crores to produce a document that is largely useless when it comes to addressing the real needs of Nepali farmers. Ministry of Agriculture bureaucrats were party to this legalised loot. The Asian Development Bank provided most of the money, and the hiring of hundreds-of-dollars-per-day consultants constituted the bulk of the expenses. Ironically, there was nothing that local consultants could not do that the overpaid expatriates did in the process. We know that this is one of the many projects in which “technical-experts” are routinely brought in as part of the “package”. The locals are also hired to buy their silence. Tai chup, mai chup (you keep quiet, I keep quiet), as they say in Nepali. This kind of corruption continues in every government ministry that receives “donor” money. 
When coalition governments are formed, the division of portfolio is based not on which ministry is the most crucial in providing public goods to the citizens. If it were, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Comen and Child Welfare, among others, would rank high. Yet that is not the case. During the last 22 years of non-monarchical rule, only once were serious attempts put in place to build a public health system. The then minister of health, Giriraj Mani Pokharel, deserves kudos, although what he and his team attempted to do has unravelled beyond recognition by now. That was an exception. 
The division of portfolio is made in terms of which ministry mobilises more money and police force. The ministry that buys a lot of weapons, food and uniforms is ranked number one. I am talking about the Home Ministry. All the political parties want this because then they are ensured under-the-table perks. Recruitment of lower rung police is still done through personal orders of those in power. We do not have a public commission for police recruitment. Do we know how Nepal Army buys weapons?
It is routine practice for district offices to keep some journalists on regular “payroll”. Informed circles in Kathmandu know that Nepal’s most corrupt public corporations throw parties for journalists. Marketing departments in major media houses are constantly watchful of what gets published. They want to ensure that negative publicity for their major advertisers is tempered to a manageable level, if not altogether done away with.
Let’s get back to the government institutions. Government budgets are put to use in constructing roads and other infrastructure immediately before monsoon. Year-end is also a time of “bill-making”—to transfer leftover budgets among those in public offices. We see this every day in and around the places we live. We read this in our newspapers. The engineers, contractors and district haakims all have been involved in this grand collusion for a long time now. 
Nepal’s bureaucrats know this full well. Let me thank some of the retired ones for sitting in relay hunger strike in Ratnapark this week. Many of those who are participating in the hunger strike administered some of the most corrupt institutions during their lifetimes of service. Perhaps they were not involved directly or they acted under duress. But I am sure they know how it all happens. 
We definitely need to clean up  politics. But we have to understand that politicians are not the only part of the story. It would have been much easier to clean up the mess if this were the case.


By: The Kathmandu Post