Corruption Culture in Nepali Society

Wherever you go, you hear people saying Paisa Nadie Kama Hudai Hudaina (nothing should be done without bribing) Paisa Nakhuwai Kama Hudai Hudaina (nothing can be done without bribing) That is true. I came to know that even the payment of your property tax amount could be less or more depending on the bribe you give. I have a neighbour who built six storied houses with the house design and permission for three-storied. That is in roadside and a substantial multi-storied house. He has been paying home and land tax for three stories bribing the corrupt pigs of the municipality ward office. Life is much easier and smoother when you adopt the culture of corruption. If you do not do it, you have to spend much more, ten times more money, face many artificially created hurdles and problems, and suffer physically and mentally visiting the office to get things done many times. You become their target and make it challenging to live. No one helps you.

When I went to my ward office 14 to pay my property tax on 12 September, someone told me that I would need to pay only about 60 thousand rupees without any problem if I would give them about fifteen thousand rupees kharcha (bribe) for my property tax. If not, I would need to pay additional three to four hundred thousand rupees. I was astonished to hear it. The person had no shame and fear of openly asking for a bribe. It seems political party leaders protect them all. But I told them I was happy to pay any amount according to the country’s law without a bribe, not getting an unfair advantage. That was the accumulated amount since the government made it taxable. It was untaxable till the fiscal year 2041/42 BS. At the same time, I learned that they charge tax only for two years, omitting and erasing the other year’s due amount from the computer when you bribe them.

Similarly, I could smell and see that the “Gang of Four” of tax dealing staff was operating that bribe company in that ward office. They must have been collecting millions of rupees as bribes daily. That is an open secret. No auditor and no other official check it. Suppose if anyone wants to see and study that account document right or wrong and wants to punish the culprit for doing illegal work, in that case, one can easily find out the wrongdoing and illegally tax waived by the corrupt official of the ward offices of the Kathmandu Metropolis Corporation. I assume most ward offices have been following corrupt practices to collect property tax for bribes. They think no one would know or catch them for their illegal tax waive to take hundreds of thousands rupees bribe.

Now I became their enemy and target because of my thought of anti-bribery. I have some other land in Kathmandu Metropolis Corporation ward No 14 but not in the compound where I live —land not used for any purpose. According to the law, I have been paying land tax (Malpot). The corrupt officials wanted to supervise that land to see whether it had some building or shade to give me trouble as I was not ready to bribe them. I had to take them to the ground for supervision. In general, they would not visit the site. At the same time, they said they needed to see my house and compound and inspected it though I had submitted the house tax document received from the Government Tax Office. After checking, they tried to tax the remaining staircase of the dismantled house to widen the road, saying it was taxable. I could not get house tax exemption for the house cracked, not living condition because of the earthquake damage for which I had reported to the ward office in 2015. Besides, they included my other plot of land to the house compound to make me pay more tax which did not exist when I built the house and was not a part of the house compound. Not only that, they said that they had to charge me land tax again from the beginning, which I had been paying every year regularly. When I told them about it, they asked me to submit all the land tax bill receipts to be exempted, which we never preserve except the last one. Everybody knows that even the Land Registration Office does not ask for all the receipts to transfer your property. That was their unbearable final endeavour to give me trouble, to make me weak to stand against the bribery. They opened their big evil eye to see many other ways to make me more upset. In this way, my honesty and integrity were punished in many ways.

At last, they determined three hundred sixty-five thousand seven hundred seventy-eight rupees, and I deposited that amount to the Bank on 2 November because I preferred it. After visiting the ward office many times, I could only deliver that considerable amount after 51 days facing much humiliation and torture. I sent my nephew to pay for it. The officials told him that I was a most dangerous person. They considered my honesty most hazardous. Despite all these problems, they told me I would get my tax clearance document only after getting approval from the head office. We were to go to the head office with the file. On 10 November, I with my nephew went to their head office at Babar Mahal, but the director told us the approval was the jurisdiction of the ward office. We were not supposed to come to that office. So he asked us to go back to the ward office. So we went back there, but the officer told us to come the next day. My nephew could get my tax clearance receipt only on 14 November after hours of unnecessary arguments with many calls and the help of the director. It proves that one needs to suffer without reason when not feeding these dirty pigs in human form. It has become a necessary way of life. You should have a motive and mentality to get an advantage from the bribe system, knowledge, and information of a contact person who could bribe and get the things done economically. The man with that thoughts and learning is considered a wise and practicable man in our country. That is very important for your life’s smooth running. People enquire about and search now. Most people think I am a big fool not to get a substantial advantage from bribing a few thousand rupees and putting myself at risk because they could give me any trouble in the future, whatever way they could. It made me so sad, weak and despairing that I often thought this was not the land for me to live in. It forced me to think that I should adopt a culture of corruption if I want to live here or run away somewhere if I cannot.

When I experienced it, I could imagine how much corruption would be in big projects of the different development works of roads and buildings, industries, hydropower, irrigation, etc. I thought no one would be able to run the government, offices, industries, and business smoothly and efficiently without adopting the culture of corruption and doing business under the table in this country. Corruption and bribes have become a part of your life and culture in Nepal now. Honesty and integrity are the enemies of present Nepal. If you do not know that culture and cannot adopt it, you will hardly have a place to live in this country as you need to know about the iPhone, iPad, computer, etc., these days to survive. My lips get dry, I get weak, feeble, and sick, disturbed, and nervous when I remember I need to go to any government and municipality offices for work, reflecting the system of bribery, so difficult for me to see and tolerate. I get scared I lose my temper there and indulge in shoutings and fighting against my noble nature and disturbing my peace. The rampant corruption everywhere in the country is known to all. But the most disturbing and frustrating to me is that I do not see any civil societies, activists, social workers, political parties, or the high-powered offices established for this purpose are showing any severe concern to eradicate it. People are readily adopting the culture of corruption in our country as if this is the way of life. I lost a good response, help, support, love, and smile from those corrupt officials after I presented my honesty. Due to my anti-corruption motive, I had to face intolerable artificially created problems and challenges paying vast amounts of tax. What would a misfortune of this land be more than that? People need to suffer for paying the taxes everywhere, not getting or earning anything – Municipality, Land Registration Office, Transportation Office, etc.

I wrote about how I suffered and fought against the bribe and wrongdoings in the Land Office, Patan in People’s Review, on 28 April 2021. I must confess I often feel now I may not be able to fight that problem with my old bones, frail body, tired mind, and being a helpless person if I face those problems again. So, I pray God not to put me again in any trouble. I still hope the saviour of this severe problem will appear soon. I pray to God let him send someone who could destroy these corrupt people forever and ever. I pray to God not to live only in the holy books and epics as omnipresent and omnipotent and show his power and strength in action.

— Narayan Prashad Mishra

Note: This article was first published in PeoplesReview. It has been published here with author's permission.