--By TC Correspondent

 

Nepal has experienced a significant downfall in corruption in 2013.  Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2013, placed Nepal in 116th position out of 177 countries. Nepal achieved ascore of 31on a scale of 0-100, while 0 indicating the most corrupted and 100 indicating no corruption. Last year, Nepal ranked 139th with a score of 27.

 

The Berlin-based global anti-corruption watchdog reported alertness of the Commission of Investigation on Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and a slew of actions takenon related cases as factors contributing to decline in corruption. Countries achieving a score less than 50 points have been listed as the most corrupt. TI prepared the report in co-operation with Bertelsmann Foundation, The World Bank, World Economic Forum, Global Justice Project and Global Insight. 

 

The report also mentions that around 40 percent Nepali have given bribe atleast once in their lifetime. Similarly, 80 percent of Nepali confessed that it is much easier to get work done in government organisations if there is someone of their acquaintance. Likewise, most Nepali also admitted that political parties are the most corrupted ones in the nation. Meanwhile, Nepal’s neighbours, India and China are placed at 94th and 80th positions respectively. Bhutan was seen as the cleanest country in the South Asia region (31st position) with a score of 63. Likewise, Sri Lanka achieved 91st position whereas corruption level in Pakistan (127th) and Bangladesh (136th) was seen relatively high. Afghanistan (175th)was declared the most corrupt nation in the South Asia with a score of 8. 

 

This year’s CPI figured that 69 percent of the world’s countries are seriously corrupt. Regionally, Eastern Europe and Central Asia ranked the worst, Western Europe and the European Union (EU) the best. The report declares Denmark and New Zealand to be the most clean countries, both sharing a score of 91 points. Similarly, Finland and Sweden stand in the third position with a score of 89 points whereas Norway and Singapore share the 5th position in the ranking with a score of 86 points.

 

According to the report, the most corrupt countries are: North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan with all three nations sharing the highest spot of 175th position in the index. TI reported that 66 percent of the countries in the North and South American Region are seriously corrupt. Similarly, 64 percent of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region are most corrupt.Likewise, 95 per cent of the EU countries (including the Eastern and Western Europe) and 23 per cent nations of Central Asia were labeled as seriously corrupt. Also, 84 per cent of the countries in Middle East and North Africa region and 90 per cent of Sub- Saharan African nations fell into the category of seriously corrupt countries.” The need for greater accountability is clear, and leaders cannot look the other way. But recognizing the problems is only the first step- governments need to turn pledges into actions,” states the report.