Kotparva is considered as the side effect of the then rulers looting the public property of the state for their personal, family and kinship interests.
What you should know
Federal Affairs and General Administration Minister Rajkumar Gupta resigned on June 31 after the audio of bribery transaction in the land grab of 134 ropani of lychee plantation in Pokhara Batulechaur of Kaski district was made public. Gupta is not the only minister to resign after being accused of corruption. Even before this, some ministers have resigned after being accused of corruption or after the evidence was made public. Some political forces are even raising questions on the legitimacy of the current system of government based on such incidents. However, if we study the history closely, it seems that state exploitation and corruption have played an important role in the various power changes in Nepal.
The political history of Nepal is full of a series of power and regime changes, movements and transitions. Especially starting from the reign of Prithvi Narayan Shah and reaching the current Federal Democratic Republic, the country has faced many social, economic and political upheavals. Exploitation of state resources and economic irregularities have played an important role in each stage of these changes.
Even during the time of Prithvi Narayan Shah, who held the view that bribe takers and givers are enemies of the nation, all the resources of the state were limited to the royal palace and the power centers close to it. After the death of Prithvi Narayan, Pratap Singh Shah, who became the king, gave priority to his own comfort and safety over the concerns of the citizens. He died prematurely. After this, Ran Bahadur Shah became the king. History shows that exploitation of state funds during his reign was the main basis of power transfer to Bhimsen Thapa.
Jung Bahadur's father, Balnarsingh Kunwar, as a compensation for the sarvavaharan. In 1901, Jung Bahadur received 21 thousand 68 rupees. Less than two years after receiving the money, he became the Prime Minister of Nepal. According to Baburam Acharya, Jung Bahadur collected more than 46 crores in cash during his tenure. Historian Dr. As mentioned in Rajaram Subedi's book 'Nepal's Facts', during the reign of Bhimsen Thapa, his nephew Mathwarsingh Thapa embezzled millions of rupees from the state treasury. According to history Shiromani Baburam Acharya, once Mathwarsingh Thapa spent one and a half lakh rupees from the state treasury just by dancing and feasting in Calcutta. In time, this same Mathwarsingh Thapa V. No. He became the Prime Minister of Nepal in 1900. Dissatisfaction and anger were high even during his reign due to extreme exploitation of state funds, corruption and irregularity. His style of spending the state funds for his personal interests had increased dissatisfaction among the army, the court, the brothers and the common people. On the basis of this dissatisfaction, Jung Bahadur Kunwar V. No. On the night of October 2, 1902, Kota Parva was held. Apart from other political reasons, Kotparva is considered as the side effect of the then rulers looting the public property of the state for their personal, family and kinship interests. During the time of Ran Bahadur Shah, he himself exploited the resources of the state. The condition of his brothers was the same. Meanwhile, Sher Bahadur Shah and Tribhuwan Khawas had embezzled 18,000 rupees from the state treasury. Ran Bahadur Shah asked to investigate the same incident. In the night of Baisakh 14, 1863, the dispute escalated in the court. Sher Bahadur Shah killed Ran Bahadur Shah as the same dispute escalated. This was an important event in the history of Nepal, which shifted the power and authority that was limited to the Shah dynasty to Bhimsen Thapa. This incident was the basis of Bhimsen Thapa's 31-year rule.
In the Rana regime established after the Kota Parva, the royal treasury was like the personal property of the Ranas. The increase in Jang Bahadur's wealth is a strong example of how much and to what extent the state treasury was exploited during the Rana period. According to the extensive genealogy of the Kunwar Ranajis, Jung Bahadur's father Balnar Singh Kunwar was compensated for the loss of his wife. In 1901, Jung Bahadur received 21 thousand 68 rupees. Less than two years after receiving the money, he became the Prime Minister of Nepal. According to Baburam Acharya, Jung Bahadur collected more than 46 million cash during his tenure.
Purushottamshamsher Jabara, an expert on the history of the Rana period, said that all the Rana prime ministers spent the nation's wealth for their own and their family's interests. At that time no line was drawn between state property and personal or private property. The entire Rana rule is a history of state exploitation. Private rule over state resources lasted for 140 years. The Ranas used the revenue raised by taxing the citizens for their personal interests. Due to the looting and exploitation of the state by the Ranas, some people founded Nepal Praja Parishad and Nepali Congress.
vs. In a pamphlet distributed by the Nepal Praja Parishad, which was established in 1997, it was pointed out the fact that the Rana regime was characterized by economic irregularities, inconsistencies and corruption, and that it needed to end. The Praja Parishad and the Nepali Congress protested against the Rana regime by making state exploitation an agenda. Apart from other national, international environment and political reasons, the exploitation of state funds also inspired the citizens to start a movement against the Rana regime. In the foundation of which V. No. In 2007, the basis for the political movement was prepared. The seeds of change were planted.
In the foundation of the movement led by the Nepali Congress, On February 7, 2007, the Rana regime collapsed. Democracy was established. But the exploitation of state funds did not stop. V.No. In 2008, the government led by Matrik Prasad Koirala was mired in corruption. The then ministers Suvarna Shamsher, Surya Prasad Upadhyay and Ganeshman Singh resigned saying that the government could not control corruption. After this V.No. In 2012, Pashupati Ghosh and Balchandra Sharma resigned saying that Tank Prasad Acharya's government was corrupt. After this, the government led by Acharya collapsed. After this Dr. became the Prime Minister. KI Singh said that the government before him had committed corruption of 12 to 14 million rupees from the country's treasury. On August 17, 2014, an audit commission was formed. But Dr. Singh had to resign within 120 days before the amount said to be irregular was investigated and collected. In the midst of these and such economic irregularities, V. No. Nepal's first general election was held from February 7 to March 21, 2015. After this election, the government led by Vishweshwar Prasad Koirala was moving the country in a rhythm. The foundation of good governance was being laid in the country. Land reform and other important works were being done. But the poor class, who have been exploiting the state treasury for a long time in history, were shocked by the reforms of the government. Before even digging the initial foundations of reforms, the then king Mahendra implemented a panchayat system of governance in a 'coup' on the Koirala-led government on December 1, 2017.
Mahendra used the corruption-spreading 'card' to hijack democracy. He formed a search committee and asked them to search the houses of the members of the Koirala Cabinet. The panchayat governance system, which was established by 'coup' the democratic government and governance system by alleging corruption, itself became a breeding ground for corruption. The buying and selling of MPs started during this regime. Carpet scandal, cattle scandal, chemical fertilizer scandal have decreased. Irregularities occurred in the purchase of ships of Shahi Nepal Airlines Corporation. Gold smuggling flourished. To overcome the panchayat system, the state allowed smuggling.
The partyless panchayat governance not only prohibited democracy, but also laid the foundation for institutional corruption by establishing an opaque administrative structure. Loyalty to the palace became the first criterion in administrative appointments, budget distribution, and contracts. State projects began to focus on the benefits of factions close to power. During that regime, corruption became not only economic but also the main cause of moral decline and loss of trust of citizens.
As a result, citizens became angry and agitated against the Panchayat governance system. In the year 2046, the commander of Jan Andolan, Ganeshman Singh, gave a speech that the Panchayat governance system was indulging in corruption and economic diversion, and that Jan Andolan was necessary to save the country. Based on this, V. No. In 2046, there was a people's movement and democracy was restored in the country on 26 March. But good governance could not be established in the country. Corruption continued. Nor was any step taken to nationalize the exploited property after investigating those who exploit and corrupt the state treasury. Instead, after the establishment of democracy, scandals like Dhamija, Chase Air, China Southwest, Lauda etc. took place. Gold was smuggled without interruption. The buying and selling of MPs went on. The people's movement established democracy, but the institutional structure continued in the same pattern. The competition between the parties focused not on ideas, but on the use of power and state resources.
After the restoration of democracy, the CPN-Maoist started an armed war by showing the economic irregularities and corruption. In the 39th number of the 40-point demand submitted by the CPN-Maoist to the then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in January 2052, it was mentioned that 'corruption, black market, smuggling, bribery, commissariat should be ended'. They started an armed war from February 1, 2052 saying that their demands were not met. But there was no change in the style of political parties. Exploitation of the state continued. Based on this, the court raised its eyes on democracy and accusing the leaders of political parties of being corrupt, the then King Gyanendra B.S. On January 19, 2061, he did a coup. V.No. The first meeting of the Council of Ministers led by Gyanendra on January 20, 2016 decided on 21 points, the first point of which was the establishment of a royal commission empowered to investigate corruption.
The then King Gyanendra, who saw the leader of the party as corrupt, started exploiting the state's funds. Increase the budget of the royal palace tenfold. He distributed crores of rupees to the supporters of the autocratic regime exploiting the state treasury. In the meantime, some ministers themselves got involved in corruption scandals. When the corruption incidents during Gyanendra's reign were published one after the other in the mass media, the citizens again protested. Raised anti-corruption slogans in the public movement. With the strength of the citizens' movement, V. No. People's movement was successful on 11 Baisakh 2063. Republic was established on this basis. A federal democratic governance system was implemented. The centralized governance system was changed to a decentralized one. But there was no change in the government style of misusing power. The leaders and activists of the ruling party dominated the appointments, budget distribution and contracts at the union, state and local levels. Corruption became institutionalized in a more sophisticated manner using technology and legal nets. Hundreds of scandals were made public even in the republican governance system. Power changed but the style of governance remained the same. It was seen that some ministers and high-level administrators were involved in corruption. During the republican regime, the corruption case against the prime minister has been filed in a special court.
In this way, the success of every movement in Nepal has created a neo-rich class. After the movement was over, no one paid attention to the serious and thorough study of the cases of exploitation of state funds during that regime and bringing back the funds. Instead, those who appeared to be revolutionaries during the movement have themselves drowned in the state's wealth exploitation. As a result, for centuries, the ruler exploits the state treasury, the citizens protest and change the power, and whoever comes to power - he starts exploiting the state treasury again.
For the long-term solution of such a series, regular mechanism work alone is not enough. Instead, the formation of a powerful, independent Property Inquiry Commission has become inevitable. This commission should thoroughly investigate and investigate the sources of wealth of political, administrative and other people who have personally acquired enormous wealth from the exploitation of power and power from the past to the present. The said commission should be given the right to publish the property details of all public officials through digital system. Also, it is necessary to make a legal provision that can start the process of confiscation of illegal assets and judicial action. Only this can break the cycle of corruption, culture of impunity and exploitation of state funds. Therefore, it is now necessary to end the political agreement on corruption and start a decisive campaign. Otherwise, it is certain that corruption can pose a risk to the current governance system as well.
