"Nepali people were asked about their perception of institutions that are extremely corrupt and they responded that Nepal´s parliament and police are listed as the second and third most corrupt institutions respectively," states the report.[break]
According to the new survey of six South Asian countries carried out by Transparency International, the anti-corruption organization, 53.4 percent of Nepali citizen felt that the level of corruption has increased in the country over the past three years.
According to the report, a total 1,044 people (in 44 districts from 14 zones) were surveyed and telephone interviews conducted.
South Asians regularly need to pay bribes when dealing with public institutions, be it to speed up paperwork, avoid problems with authorities such as the police, or simply access basic services, states the GCB survey report unveiled amid a function here Thursday attended by six TI representatives from South Asian countries.
The survey found that more than one in three people who seek public services said they pay bribes.
The report, ´Daily lives and corruption, public opinion in South Asia,´ surveyed 7,500 people between 2010 and 2011 in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"The results help explain why the region is perceived to have some of the world´s highest levels of corruption, with none of the surveyed countries in the top half of Transparency International´s Corruption Perceptions Index. They all score less than 3.5 out of 10 in the index.
Political parties and the police are the most corrupt institutions in all six countries, according to the survey, followed closely by parliament and public officials. Officials entrusted to oversee deals related to buying, selling, inheriting and land were the next most likely to demand bribes, says the report.
"People are sick of paying bribes just to get on with their daily lives, and they are sick of the sleaze and undue influence of public servants," the report quotes Rukshana Nanayakkara, senior program coordinator for South Asia at Transparency International, as saying.
According to the survey, the country most plagued by bribery is Bangladesh, where 66 percent of respondents report paying bribes to public institutions, mostly just to gain access to services that people should already be entitled to.
Two-thirds of Indians, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis who dealt with the police ended up paying a bribe. In Nepal, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, bribes were mostly paid to speed things up, highlighting how corruption can also be a barrier to business expansion. In Sri Lanka, significantly more people paid bribes to tax authorities than for other services, while in Nepal and the Maldives, customs services reportedly receive the most bribes," states the report.
Altogether 83 percent of South Asian people declared themselves ready to get involved in fighting corruption.
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