The decline, among others may also be due to the time the commission takes in responding to complaints

Update: Complaints of corruption declined by 45 percent in the last three months of July, August and September.

In this quarter, the commission received 72 complaints, which is almost half from the 132 complaints filed in the second quarter of the year, according to the Anti-Corruption Commission’s third quarterly statistical report.

However, only 11 complaints qualified for investigation including repeated complaints.

Commissioner Jamtsho attributed the reduction in complaints to a fruition of His Majesty’s loud and candid message that corruption, big or small is not acceptable in the country of GNH.

“It could be because of relentless efforts of the Bhutanese society as a whole towards fighting and combating corruption,” he said. “Realization of the danger of corrupt practices and as a result, a greater sense of compliance and respect to the rule of law have also attributed to the decline.”

Among the types of corruption, the maximum complaints were on abuse of function, which include misuse of authority and nepotism among others. The commission states that 28 complaints were on abuse of function, and least on bribery with three complaints.

During the period, the commission received the highest number of complaints, 19, from Thimphu dzongkhag followed by eight from Chhukha dzongkhag. Mongar, Paro and Samtse dzongkhags received five complaints each.

No complaints were received from Trashiyangtse, Lhuntse and Gasa dzongkhags.

Complaints received by post remain the highest at 31 followed by 20 walk-in complaints while 15 were made through the ACC website.

Agency-wise, complaints against local governments were the highest at 20, followed by corporations. In this quarter, the commission did not receive any complaint against the works and human settlement, foreign, finance and home ministries.

Among the areas, the highest number of complaints was on resources – funds and property as “this is the most vulnerable area for abuse” according to the commission.

A major chunk of complaints of administrative nature were shared with relevant agencies either for action or sensitization.  Out of 72 complaints received during the quarter, 44 are known and 28 are anonymous.

Annually, the commission has received an average of 450 complaints in the last nine years, according to the ACC report 2014. The highest was 791 in 2007 and the lowest, 336 in 2014.

Annual statistics reveal that complaints have been decreasing. “The decline may be due to constant efforts of the ACC on public education on corruption thereby improving quality of complaints or because of the time that the ACC takes in responding to the complaints,” the ACC report states.

“This may also be indicative of reduction of corruption in the country brought about by the three-pronged strategies of investigation, prevention and education.”

MB Subba