The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority has named education as the most corruption-prone sector. Out of the 31,231 corruption complaints registered at the anti-graft body in the fiscal year 2071-2072, the highest number of them was related to education. According to the annual report submitted by CIAA chief Lokman Singh Karki to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Thursday, 7,264 corruption cases were related to the education sector, followed by local development (3,982), Ministry of Land Reforms (2,165) and Ministry of Health (1493). As many as 1,358 cases were linked to the Forest Ministry whereas complaints relating to the Home Ministry numbered 1,263. The corruption watchdog received the highest number of complaints this year, which is attributed to the CIAA opening five regional offices and liaison offices across the country.

The complaint filing process has also been eased. Among the total complaints, the CIAA brought only 4 per cent into the detailed investigation while 35 per cent were filed at the Special Court. The rest of the cases were referred for departmental action. Around 300 cases were filed at the Special Court in the reporting period, dragging 903 suspects as defendants (828 males and 75 females). In the cases decided by the commission for prosecution in the fiscal year 2071-2072, a total of Rs1,394,016,071 was said to be recovered from the defendants. The constitutional anti-corruption commission claims to have recovered 658-6-3-0 ropani land from encroachers.

The anti-graft body, however, filed a negligible number of cases related to illegal amassing of property. Asked about the CIAA’s failure to catch “big fish”, Spokesman Krishna Hari Pushkar said, “It’s a time-consuming matter. We have to deal with hundreds of institutions to establish a case. But the CIAA is working hard on this and a tangible outcome will be announced soon.” Pushkar said the commission would take tough measures against corruption brushing aside political pressure.