The country’s education sector attracted the highest number of complaints in 

the last year, accounting for over 20 percent of the total complaints lodged with the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), according to the anti-corruption watchdog’s report of Fiscal Year 2016-2017. The report, which was submitted to President Bidya Devi Bhandari at the Sheetal Niwas on Thursday, shows that the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development was second on the complaint list with 15.54 percent, followed by the Ministry of Land Reform and Management at 6.85 percent, health services (4.60pc), the Home Ministry (4.57 percent) and the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (3.87 percent).

There were a total of 11,704 complaints about corruption activities and irregularities in public bodies in the last fiscal, the CIAA report said. It probed into 19,580 cases last fiscal, including 7,876 from the previous year. 

Of the total complaints, the CIAA has kept 7,065 cases on hold after initial investigation. It has launched detailed investigation into 306 cases while forwarding the remaining 4,490 complaints to the concerned authorities for further actions. 

The CIAA had taken 860 decisions from 76 meetings held in the last fiscal year. According to the report, a total of 154 cases were filed in the Special Court. The authority collected Rs11 billion as bail amount from 267 defendants during the period. 

Receiving the annual report, President Bhandari said, “The CIAA may play effective role in controlling corruption by adapting various strategies and maintaining impartiality to promote good governance in the country.” She expressed hope that the government would carefully implement all the suggestions forwarded by the authority. 

Speaking on the occasion, CIAA Chief Commissioner Deep Basnyat said the body was carrying out its duty of controlling corruption as per the rights prescribed by the constitution and other laws. 

“We have realised that every public body should be equally responsible towards instilling good governance in the country by controlling corruption. However, the suggestions forwarded by the CIAA for curbing corruption, has not been effectively implemented,” Basnyat informed the President. 

He also said that the commission is well aware about the possibility of corruption that might occur in the newly-delineated local, provincial and federal structures as they go about distribution of resources and carry on with development activities.

 

 

The CIAA received a total of 11,704 complaints about corruption activities and irregularities in public bodies in the fiscal year 2016-2017