Corruption in India
Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2007 Corruption is widespread in India. India is ranked 85 out of a 179 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, although its score has improved consistently from 2.7 in 2002 to 3.4 in 2008. Corruption has taken the role of a pervasive aspect of Indian politics and bureaucracy.
1,History
The economy of India was under socialist-inspired policies for an entire generation from the 1950s until the 1980s. The economy was subject to extensive regulation, protectionism and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow growth. License Raj was often at the core of corruption.
The Vohra Report was submitted by the former Indian Union Home Secretary, N.N. Vohra, in October 1993. It studied the problem of the criminalization of politics and of the nexus among criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in India.
The report contained several observations made by official agencies on the criminal network which was virtually running a parallel government. It also discussed criminal gangs who enjoyed the patronage of politicians of all parties and the protection of government functionaries. It revealed that political leaders had become the leaders of gangs. They were connected to the military. Over the years criminals had been elected to Local Bodies, State Assemblies and Parliament. The unpublished annexure to the Vohra Report were believed to contain highly explosive material.
According to Jitendra Singh, "in the bad old days, particularly pre-1991, when the License Raj held sway and by design, all kinds of free market mechanisms were hobbled or stymied and corruption emerged almost as an illegitimate price mechanism, a shadowy quasi-market, such that scarce resources could still be allocated within the economy and decisions could get made. These were largely distortions created by the politico-economic regime. While a sea change has occurred in the years following 1991, some of the distorted cultural norms that took hold during the earlier period are slowly being repaired by the sheer forces of competition. The process will be long and slow, however. It will not change overnight."
2, Corruption today
2.1, Politics
Main article: Indian political scandals
Criminalization of Indian politics is a problem. In July 2008 Washington Times reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges, "including human trafficking, immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even murder". At state level, things are often worse. In Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2002, candidates with criminal records won the majority of seats.
2.2, Bureaucracy
A 2005 study done by Transparency International (TI) in India found that more than 50% of the people had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office. Taxes and bribes are common between state borders; Transparency International estimates that truckers pay annually $5 billion (` 22500crores) in bribes. A 2009 survey of the leading economies of Asia, revealed Indian bureaucracy to be not just least efficient out of Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines and Indonesia; further it was also found that working with the India's civil servants was a "slow and painful" process. Officials often steal state property. In Bihar, more than 80% of the subsidized food aid to poor is stolen. In cities and villages throughout India, Mafia Raj consisting of municipal and other government officials, elected politicians, judicial officers, real estate developers and law enforcement officials, acquire, develop and sell land in illegal ways. Many state-funded construction activities in India, such as road building are dominated by construction mafias, which are groupings of corrupt public works officials, materials suppliers, politicians and construction contractors. Shoddy construction and material substitution (e.g. mixing sand in cement while submitting expenses for cement) result in roads and highways being dangerous and sometimes simply washed away when India's heavy monsoon season arrives. In Government Hospitals, corruption is associated with non availability of medicines (or duplicate medicines), getting admission, consultations with doctors and availing diagnostic services.
2.3, Judiciary
Corruption is rampant in the judicial system of India. According to Transparency International, judicial corruption in India is attributable to factors such as "delays in the disposal of cases, shortage of judges and complex procedures, all of which are exacerbated by a preponderance of new laws".
2.4, Police
Despite state prohibitions against torture and custodial misconduct by the police, torture is widespread in police custody, which is a major reason behind deaths in custody. The police often torture innocent people until a 'forced confession' is obtained to save influential and wealthy offenders. G.P. Joshi, the programme coordinator of the Indian branch of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi comments that the main issue at hand concerning police violence is a lack of accountability of the police.
2.5, Religious institutions
In India, the corruption has also crept into religious institutions. Some members of the Church are making money by selling Baptism certificates. A group of church leaders and activists has launched a campaign to combat the corruption within churches. Among Indian Muslims, the recent "cash for fatwas scandal" was a major affair that exposed the Imams of the Islamic ulama accepting bribes for issuing random, often nonsensical fatwa.
2.6, Effects
The chief economic consequences of corruption are the loss to the exchequer, an unhealthy climate for investment and an increase in the cost of government-subsidized services. The TI India study estimates the monetary value of petty corruption in 11 basic services provided by the government, like education, healthcare, judiciary, police, etc., to be around Rs.21,068 crores. India still ranks in the bottom quartile of developing nations in terms of the ease of doing business and compared to China and other lower developed Asian nations, the average time taken to secure the clearances for a startup or to invoke bankruptcy is much greater. According to Transparency International, Bihar is the most corrupt state in India. The Economist magazine said in 2004 that "Bihar become a byword for the worst of India, of widespread and inescapable poverty, of corrupt politicians indistinguishable from mafia-dons they patronize, caste-ridden social order that has retained the worst feudal cruelties".
3, Anti-corruption efforts
3.1, Right to information act
Main article: Right to Information Act
The Right to Information Act (2005) and equivalent acts in the states that require government officials to furnish information requested by citizens or face punitive action, computerization of services and various central and state government acts that established vigilance commissions have considerably reduced corruption or at least have opened up avenues to redress grievances. The 2006 report by Transparency International puts India at the 70th place and states that significant improvements were made by India in reducing corruption.
3.2, Computerization
Bhoomi is a project jointly funded by the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka to digitize the paper land records and create a software mechanism to control changes to the land registry in Karnataka. The project was designed to eliminate the long-standing problem of inefficiency and corruption.
3.3, Whistleblowers
Whistleblowers play a major role in the fight against corruption (See the TI page here http://www.transparency.org/index.php/news_room/in_focus/2007/whistleblowers). India even today does not have a law to protect whistle blowers. However subsequent to the murder of whistle blower Sri Satyendra Dubey, Government of India after much pressure directed by an order making the Central Vigilance Commission to hear and protect whistleblowers. The latest Administrative Reforms Commission also has suggested to encourage whistle blowing and to protect whistleblowers. But this benefit is not available to whistle blowers working to any officer working under state governments. An on going effort can be seen here http://fightcorruption.wikidot.com . http://www.corruptioninindia.org is another "not for profit" website dedicated to increase awareness against corruption in India and contains comprehensive info of corruption in India.
" Vande Matharam "
"Jai Hind"
Gangadharan Nair N
ng.puthoor@gmail.com
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