Kathmandu, June 29: In a novel way to check
corruption at the country's only international airport,
Nepal's anti-corruption body has made it mandatory for
employees to wear pocketless trousers.
The authority said it was issuing the new, bribe-proof
garment to all airport officials after finding widespread
corruption at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
"After sending a team to observe growing complaints
about the behaviour of airport authorities and workers towards
travellers, airport authorities discovered the reports were
true," said an official at the Commission for Investigation of
Abuse of Authority.
"We have decided that airport officials should be
given trousers without any pocket," the official said. The
ministry of civil aviation has been instructed to implement
the instruction immediately," he added.
The new rule has been enforced following increasing
incidents of theft and bribe-taking at the airport. Earlier
Prime Minister Madhav Mumar Nepal had expressed fears that
corruption was tarnishing the airport's reputation.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, June 29, 2009, 21:39