On December 10, Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who is also a former Chief Justice, said that she was unable to do even her normal work due to the fear of interference from the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. While addressing the 12th assembly of the Karnali Institute of Health Sciences, Karki had said that it was not possible to build even the institute's normal hostel and residence in a remote area due to the authority.

17 days before this, on Poush 13, former Finance Minister and UML leader Surendra Pandey had said that the country was destroyed by strengthening the Authority. While addressing the Policy Conference, 2025 of the Integrated Development Studies Institute, Pandey had accused the Authority of becoming an institution that hinders development. 

These two statements made public by the top leadership level last month alone are just examples. Such statements have been made public many times in the past by various responsible officials. In informal discussions with most leaders and high-ranking officials, there is a tendency to portray the Authority as an obstacle to development. They have accused the Authority of obstructing development activities, not being able to work on time, and creating obstacles in the formulation and implementation of new plans. Are the activities of the Authority really stopping development? Or are there other reasons behind this?

Problems of the executive and legislature 

Corruption in Nepal has undermined development, the quality of public services, and citizens' trust in the government. The government has not been able to carry out the necessary promotional and preventive work to control corruption and establish good governance. For example, the National Integrity Policy can be taken. The National Integrity Policy, drafted in 2074 BS with the aim of controlling the growing corruption, is still in a neglected state.

The proposed policy requires the federal parliament, provincial assemblies and local level legislatures who have been given the responsibility of public work to publicly submit reports on the income, assets, liabilities, transactions, gifts, domestic and foreign travel, external positions and agreements of their entire family members.

Similarly, the policy proposes to make a provision that a person who is a member of a political party and is regularly paying dues to such a party will be ineligible for appointment to the judiciary and constitutional posts. The 16th Plan, which came into effect on 1 July 2081, also mentions the implementation of this policy. However, even after one and a half years of the implementation of the plan, the government is indifferent to implementing the policy, which is depicted as the foundation of integrity.

Similarly, even though the government has formulated policies, directives and laws related to corruption control, it is showing indifference in its implementation. For example, the weak monitoring system for public works and development work is leading to financial irregularities and corruption in the development sector. The government is protecting some corrupt officials without effectively implementing laws such as the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Public Procurement Act. This is hindering development. 

Similarly, the parliament has not been able to fulfill its responsibilities of making, amending 

laws and monitoring government affairs. For example, the bill to amend the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Act, which was registered in the National Assembly on 6 Magh 2076 by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to make timely amendments, has not yet been passed.

Similarly, the provision in Article 98 (1) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 2047, that the Commission can investigate or cause to be investigated by the law regarding improper acts committed by a person holding a public office, has been removed by the Constitution of Nepal promulgated in 2072. A decade after the promulgation of the constitution, no legal provision has been made to investigate such improper acts. The Public Procurement Act has not been amended in a timely manner. 

In this way, the executive and the legislature are unable to fulfill their responsibilities on time, creating obstacles in development construction due to legal complications and administrative problems. But the chief executive, parliamentarians and political leadership are accustomed to blaming the authorities.

The incompetence of the executive, not the authorities;

Delays in development construction work, uncontrolled cost increases and poor quality work have become structural problems in Nepal, not exceptional incidents. When such problems are seen, the tendency to repeatedly blame the authorities is increasing among the political leadership and the executive. But in recent times, even if we look at the status and statistics of national pride projects, the obstacles in development are not due to the authorities, but due to the incompetence, poor planning, extravagant spending and irresponsible management of the executive.

According to the data of the National Planning Commission, there are currently 27 national pride projects in Nepal. Most of them have doubled or even more in cost. For example, let's look at the Sikta Irrigation Project, which was started in the fiscal year 2061/062. The initial cost of the project, which was 12.8 billion rupees, has now reached 52.89 billion rupees. The cost of the project has increased more than four times, but it has not been completed even in 20 years.

Poor studies during planning, unrealistic cost estimates, frequent design changes, problems with not making timely decisions, and political interference seem to be the main reasons for the development obstacles including cost increases. All these are issues that fall under the responsibility of the executive, not the authority.

Similarly, the most dangerous disease in Nepal's development and construction is the 'normalization of variation culture'. The trend of projects that appear cheap when awarded contracts, frequent design changes during implementation, and increasing the budget under the pretext of adding work has become institutionalized. For example, the Postal Highway can be taken. The initial cost of the highway, which was 47.24 billion rupees, has reached 65.20 billion rupees by 2080 BS. The latest estimated cost is 101.63 billion rupees. 

The executive is making variations at will, unable to complete the work on time. All these are failures of policy, planning, and management. Poor quality work, weak supervision, and the tendency to blame the authorities are extremely dangerous for the country's development. For example, looking at the Kamala Bridge incident, this tendency becomes even more clear. Issues such as repeated extensions of time, pillars washed away by floods, design changes, and the contractor company not being resolved in the long term even after being blacklisted are the results of weak supervision and quality control. In reality, the authorities are supposed to raise questions about such poor quality work. But when regulation is weak, and project heads, ministries, and political leadership are not accountable, then their own incompetence is covered up by pointing to the authorities.

The tendency to establish the authorities as an obstacle to development is extremely dangerous for the long-term progress of the country. Because this tendency tries to legitimize political and administrative incompetence. It tries to normalize corruption and non-transparency as the 'price of development'. It weakens accountability in projects funded by citizens' taxes and leads to a greater fiscal and financial crisis in the future.

Continuous disregard for the suggestions given by the commission 

The Authority has been regularly providing various suggestions to the Government of Nepal to promote good governance. However, the government has been continuously ignoring such suggestions. The Authority 

has given suggestions on policy and legal reforms in its annual reports. In this regard, it has suggested revising and effectively implementing the National Strategy and Action Plan for the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption 2005, formulating and implementing strategies and action plans related to corruption control at all provincial and local levels. Similarly, it has given suggestions on making contemporary amendments to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Act, 2048, clearly defining policy decisions through law, bringing corruption in the private and non-governmental sectors within the scope of action, formulating and implementing laws related to the protection of complainants, witnesses and informants, and conflict of interest management.

Similarly, it has suggested that public bodies should assess the risk of corruption and adopt control measures, formulate and implement sector-specific preventive and promotional programs for corruption control and promotion of good governance, and formulate and implement procedures, standards or guidelines for public service delivery at all levels. Similarly, it has suggested that the work or decision that is specified to be done by the position or organization, should be done by the same body and that the work or decision be made, and that the three-level work responsibilities and organizational structure should be removed.

Similarly, the Authority has found that there are various problems in the system related to development project management and budget allocation. The Commission has suggested that projects that have been guaranteed multi-year resources and projects that have been allocated a budget much lower than the cost estimate and could not be implemented should be studied and properly managed. Similarly, it has been suggested to formulate DPR and business plan and determine the budget by scientifically analyzing the benefits to be obtained from the project before constructing it, not to conduct complex works requiring technical knowledge through the user committee, to allocate the budget to complete the sick contracts as soon as possible, and to strictly follow the budget allocation system after entering them in the National Project Bank Management Information System.

Similarly, it has been suggested to maintain uniformity in the standards of public construction and structural repair to solve the problems seen in public procurement management, to determine the standards for the preparation of standard consulting services, and to amend the acts and rules in a timely manner to make the consultants responsible. It seems that the political and administrative leadership has a tendency not to implement such suggestions effectively, but to portray the same authority as an obstacle to development.

The way forward

In order to operate development activities effectively, the accountability of the political and administrative leadership must be enhanced. Development activities cannot be operated effectively without making the development process transparent, accountable, and stable in the long term. Some work needs to be done for this. 

First, strong political and administrative commitment. Political and administrative commitment is required to complete any development work within the specified budget, quality, and time frame. Rather than blaming the authority, the main responsibility lies with the political and administrative leadership to make the instructions and suggestions given by it effective. If the government implements the plan without the authority having to investigate, there will be no problem. Similarly, in some cases, if the instructions and recommendations given by the authority are implemented effectively, the development process can move forward effectively. Therefore, the political and administrative leadership should make corruption prevention their priority and ensure full compliance with the law, freedom of investigation, and disciplinary action. 

Second, the formulation and implementation of well-organized policies and laws. Clear, strong, and practical laws and policies are necessary to control corruption. When there is ambiguity or delay in the law, corrupt officials can misuse it. For example, if clear rules and time limits were set for the public procurement system, budget allocation, and control of financial irregularities, unnecessary delays and irregularities in projects would have been reduced. त्यसैले सुस्पष्ट नीति तथा कानुनको निर्माण र त्यसको प्रभावकारी कार्यान्वयन गर्दा विकासका गतिविधिहरू नियमित रूपमा सुचारु हुन सक्दछन् । यस किसिमका नीति बनाउने कार्यमा कार्यपालिका र व्यवस्थापिकाले काम गर्नुपर्दछ । 

तेस्रो, नागरिक सहभागिता र अनुगमनको प्रणाली विकास । दिगो विकास सुनिश्चित गर्न स्थानीय समुदाय, नागरिक समाज र सञ्चारमाध्यमको सक्रिय सहभागिता अनिवार्य छ । नागरिकहरूले सरकारी योजनाहरू अनुगमन गर्न, अनियमितता उजागर गर्न र परियोजनाहरूको पारदर्शितामा ध्यान दिनुपर्छ । उदाहरणका लागि, बजेटको प्रयोग, सार्वजनिक निर्माण वा शिक्षा–स्वास्थ्य परियोजनामा अनुगमन गर्दा भ्रष्टाचारको सम्भावना न्यून हुन्छ । यसले केवल अख्तियारको त्यस्ता कार्यमा छानबिन तथा हस्तक्षेप मात्र घटाउँदैन बरु लोकतन्त्र र सामाजिक जवाफदेहितालाई बलियो बनाउँछ । विकास निर्माणलाई प्रभावकारी कार्यान्वयन गर्दछ ।