As many as 19,213 public officials didn’t submit their property details to the government in the last fiscal year 2015-16, though it  was an improvement compared to the previous fiscal year when 22,860 did not publicise their property details .

According to the National Vigilance Centre (NVC), which has been authorised to monitor whether public officials submitted their property details in time, those not submitting their property details in the fiscal year 2015-16 make 4.41 percent of the total public officials against 6.63 percent in the previous fiscal year.

The public officials include politicians holding state posts, officials of constitutional bodies, civil servants, teachers, army, police and staffers of different public enterprises, the NVC said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Due to our consistent effort, there has been progress in ensuring that more public officials submit their property detail in the last fiscal year,” said NVC Spokesperson Bishnu Raj Lamichhane.

The number of public officials who submitted their property details in time grew to 412,801 last fiscal from 336,731 in the previous fiscal year. Among the officials, the highest percentage of teachers (12.34pc) did not submit their property details followed by civil servants (5.35pc), army (2.83pc) and police (0.5 pc), according to the NVC.

As per the Corruption Control Act 2002, all public officials are required to submit their property details, including that of their close family members, 60 days before the end of a fiscal year. They can get additional 30 days for submitting the property details if there is a genuine reason for the delay.

Those failing to  submit the property details even in the extended timeframe, are subject to a fine of Rs 5,000 and the concerned agency could launch an investigation into their property. The NVC is also authorised to write to the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, calling for a probe into the property of those public officials failing to submit the details.