Business is done for profit but it should be based on ethics. Businessmen are liable to add the value of their service. This is natural, moral and legal. If the businessmen’s service jeopardizes the life of people, community or nature, it is unethical. Adulterations of products, cheating in measurement, cartel for unnatural price hikes, evading taxes with false bills or statements are unethical acts.
These days Nepalis experience several immoral activities in business. Unethical dealings by businessmen have blatantly violated costumers’ rights. Recently a group of petrol transporters were caught red-handed stealing petroleum. At a time when the country is suffering from high shortage of petro products, 17,000 liters of stolen petrol was found at Rupandehi district. Investigation has shown that transport businessmen were behind the crime. People have been accusing petroleum traders and Nepal Oil Corporation for several dubious activities such as cheating in measurement, adulteration and unnatural price hike. Detection of such theft has only verified their accusation and also raised suspicion that such theft occurs at many other places, on different transportation routes.
We have hardly few business areas uninvolved in such unethical jobs. Adulteration of food with inedible chemicals, even poison, was reported time and again in Sweets and Gundpak shops. It was found that the confectioners mixed rotten substance in their products. Fish transported from India were found deepened in Formalin, a highly toxic chemical that produces inflammation in stomach causing gastritis and even causes death. Fruits, especially used in Nepal for weak patients, elderly and children, were found sprinkled with Borax and other toxic chemicals as preservatives.
High levels of fatal toxic pesticides are used by vegetable farmers. Due to ignorance or negligence, such pesticides are not handled safely. Farmers, especially females in Kavre and Sindhupalchok districts, didn’t even wash hands properly after spraying pesticides. They were found infected with cancer. That is why a large number of farmers have now stopped the use of such pesticides. However, they changed their habit as it threatened their life. They were not worried about the customer’s health.
Every year thousands of people die from drinking locally produced cheap alcohol, made of rotten stuffs. Many mineral water bottles were found with high contamination and bottling companies were found using untreated water taken directly from polluted sources. Last year, many dairy farms in the capital were found selling milk products contaminated with Coliform bacteria, which originates from fecal contamination. Pasteurized milk product should contain no Coliform but many were found with 24,000 times higher number of bacteria than allowed.
Observing the trend in increasing crowd of patients at dispensaries can make one easily understand the effect of increasing adulterated or toxic food taken by people. We can find medical shops mushrooming at every corner where the drug is sold by amateurs. Law dictates that drugs must be sold only by a pharmacologist. But drugs are sold even without doctor’s prescription. Besides this, large illicit drug business is in operation that sells duplicate or fake drugs, expired drugs and even narcotics.
It is not only the food business that is doing such mischief. Goldsmiths were found adulterating 18-carat gold with lead. Gold is smuggled from China or a third country and transported to India. Red sandalwood is smuggled from India and transported to China. Even when goods are imported legally, businessmen cheat the customs by unnaturally lowering its real value. Goods are smuggled three times more than through customs offices.
Shopping malls and supermarkets charging exorbitant taxes and VATs from customers were accused of not paying back these taxes to the government and even not paying electricity, water and other bills for several years. This is why in the last few weeks; Kathmandu Municipality stopped collecting garbage and other facilities of many malls. Last year, 568 business farms were accused of producing fake VAT bills worth more than seven billion rupees. Cooperatives, finance institutions and network businesses like Oriental Cooperative, Unity Networking and Gold Quest have swindled millions from the innocent people.
Social sector like education and health are no exception to unethical behavior. Privatization drive opened the gate for businessmen to manipulate social activities. The demand side was expanding with increasing population whereas remittance and other income sources were making people more capable of spending money. Health and education service are the essential services that allured such group of people having bulgy wallet but virtually little or no knowledge and interest in the gravity and social responsibility associated with such services. Large investment in these sectors led to opening of many new schools, colleges and hospitals but most were used just to make profit.
When we hear about unethical incidences like textbook scandals, bribing the examination board, bribing University officers for getting affiliation, we can easily guess the dubious dealings of businessmen. The long hunger strike of Dr Govinda KC exposed the maneuvering of medical mafia. We hear of ‘briefcase’ schools that do not exist physically and fake teachers get salary. We also hear of uterus operation of thousands of women who really do not need such operation but the health camp organizers coax them for this. The motive behind such crimes was to get government’s incentive of Rs. 12000 to 15000 per operation. Recently, Health Department has stopped the incentives after finding such misdeeds.
Such corruption has spread in business due to weak monitoring, wrongdoers going scot-free, negligence of government for customer’s rights, weak customer forums: in totality, the weak implementation of law-and-order. The public expects a people-centered system with stern law and order provisions. Just a month ago, we also saw fresh set of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries committee members led by Pradeep Jung Pandey. FNCCI and Pandey have vowed for democracy, value and business ethics. They should fulfill their commitments. People’s hope also lies with the customer forums that are in need of robust overhaul to make their presence felt. Nepali public and customers expect FNCCI, the Government and public forums for their dedication and strength to maintain value-based business and customer’s rights at the upmost.
These days Nepalis experience several immoral activities in business. Unethical dealings by businessmen have blatantly violated costumers’ rights. Recently a group of petrol transporters were caught red-handed stealing petroleum. At a time when the country is suffering from high shortage of petro products, 17,000 liters of stolen petrol was found at Rupandehi district. Investigation has shown that transport businessmen were behind the crime. People have been accusing petroleum traders and Nepal Oil Corporation for several dubious activities such as cheating in measurement, adulteration and unnatural price hike. Detection of such theft has only verified their accusation and also raised suspicion that such theft occurs at many other places, on different transportation routes.
We have hardly few business areas uninvolved in such unethical jobs. Adulteration of food with inedible chemicals, even poison, was reported time and again in Sweets and Gundpak shops. It was found that the confectioners mixed rotten substance in their products. Fish transported from India were found deepened in Formalin, a highly toxic chemical that produces inflammation in stomach causing gastritis and even causes death. Fruits, especially used in Nepal for weak patients, elderly and children, were found sprinkled with Borax and other toxic chemicals as preservatives.
High levels of fatal toxic pesticides are used by vegetable farmers. Due to ignorance or negligence, such pesticides are not handled safely. Farmers, especially females in Kavre and Sindhupalchok districts, didn’t even wash hands properly after spraying pesticides. They were found infected with cancer. That is why a large number of farmers have now stopped the use of such pesticides. However, they changed their habit as it threatened their life. They were not worried about the customer’s health.
Every year thousands of people die from drinking locally produced cheap alcohol, made of rotten stuffs. Many mineral water bottles were found with high contamination and bottling companies were found using untreated water taken directly from polluted sources. Last year, many dairy farms in the capital were found selling milk products contaminated with Coliform bacteria, which originates from fecal contamination. Pasteurized milk product should contain no Coliform but many were found with 24,000 times higher number of bacteria than allowed.
Observing the trend in increasing crowd of patients at dispensaries can make one easily understand the effect of increasing adulterated or toxic food taken by people. We can find medical shops mushrooming at every corner where the drug is sold by amateurs. Law dictates that drugs must be sold only by a pharmacologist. But drugs are sold even without doctor’s prescription. Besides this, large illicit drug business is in operation that sells duplicate or fake drugs, expired drugs and even narcotics.
It is not only the food business that is doing such mischief. Goldsmiths were found adulterating 18-carat gold with lead. Gold is smuggled from China or a third country and transported to India. Red sandalwood is smuggled from India and transported to China. Even when goods are imported legally, businessmen cheat the customs by unnaturally lowering its real value. Goods are smuggled three times more than through customs offices.
Shopping malls and supermarkets charging exorbitant taxes and VATs from customers were accused of not paying back these taxes to the government and even not paying electricity, water and other bills for several years. This is why in the last few weeks; Kathmandu Municipality stopped collecting garbage and other facilities of many malls. Last year, 568 business farms were accused of producing fake VAT bills worth more than seven billion rupees. Cooperatives, finance institutions and network businesses like Oriental Cooperative, Unity Networking and Gold Quest have swindled millions from the innocent people.
Social sector like education and health are no exception to unethical behavior. Privatization drive opened the gate for businessmen to manipulate social activities. The demand side was expanding with increasing population whereas remittance and other income sources were making people more capable of spending money. Health and education service are the essential services that allured such group of people having bulgy wallet but virtually little or no knowledge and interest in the gravity and social responsibility associated with such services. Large investment in these sectors led to opening of many new schools, colleges and hospitals but most were used just to make profit.
When we hear about unethical incidences like textbook scandals, bribing the examination board, bribing University officers for getting affiliation, we can easily guess the dubious dealings of businessmen. The long hunger strike of Dr Govinda KC exposed the maneuvering of medical mafia. We hear of ‘briefcase’ schools that do not exist physically and fake teachers get salary. We also hear of uterus operation of thousands of women who really do not need such operation but the health camp organizers coax them for this. The motive behind such crimes was to get government’s incentive of Rs. 12000 to 15000 per operation. Recently, Health Department has stopped the incentives after finding such misdeeds.
Such corruption has spread in business due to weak monitoring, wrongdoers going scot-free, negligence of government for customer’s rights, weak customer forums: in totality, the weak implementation of law-and-order. The public expects a people-centered system with stern law and order provisions. Just a month ago, we also saw fresh set of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries committee members led by Pradeep Jung Pandey. FNCCI and Pandey have vowed for democracy, value and business ethics. They should fulfill their commitments. People’s hope also lies with the customer forums that are in need of robust overhaul to make their presence felt. Nepali public and customers expect FNCCI, the Government and public forums for their dedication and strength to maintain value-based business and customer’s rights at the upmost.
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