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Corruption in India

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Political corruption in India is a major concern.[1] 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.[1] Taxes and bribes are common between state borders; Transparency International estimates that truckers pay annually US$5 billion in bribes.[2] For 2010, India was ranked 87th of 178th countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, which was a huge setback from the preceding year.

Criminalization of Indian politics is a problem.[3][4] In July 2008 The Washington Post reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges, "including human trafficking, immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even murder".[5] An international watchdog conducted a study on the illicit flight of money from India, perhaps the first ever attempt at shedding light on a subject steeped in secrecy, concludes that India has been drained of $462 billion (over Rs 20 lakh crore) between 1948 and 2008. The amount is nearly 40% of India's gross domestic product.[6].

Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2010

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.[7][8][9][10] 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 criminalisation 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 The unpublished annexures to the Vohra Report were believed to contain highly explosive material.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."[11] One of the major problems and obstacles to development that many developing countries face is corruption by greedy, power-hungry politicians, which is endemic in certain parts of the world.

Politics

Main article: Indian political scandals

Criminalization of Indian politics is a problem.[3][12]

In July 2008 The Washington Post reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges, "including human trafficking, immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even murder".[5] At state level, things are often worse. In Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2002, candidates with criminal records won the majority of seats.

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.[1] Taxes and bribes are common between state borders; Transparency International estimates that truckers pay annually US$5 billion in bribes.[2] 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 India's civil servants was a "slow and painful" process.[13].

Land and property

Officials often steal state property. In Bihar, more than 80% of the subsidized food aid to poor is stolen [11]. 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.[14].

Tendering processes and awarding contracts

Government officials having discretionary powers in awarding contracts engage in preferential treatment for selected bidders, display negligence in quality control processes [citation needed]. 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.[15] 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.[16]

Medicine

In Government Hospitals, corruption is associated with non availability of medicines (or duplicate medicines), getting admission, consultations with doctors and availing diagnostic services.[1]. There have been cases of diversion of medical supplies from government hospitals and clinics[citation needed] as well as supply and distribution of medicines of inferior quality [citation needed]

Transport

Officials who oversee transportation regulations, safety norms, traffic violations engage in rent seeking activity. Typically a lenient treatment for an offending driver or vehicle is accompanied by expectation of a bribe [citation needed]. India has multiple jurisdictions for vehicular laws as well as overlapping laws at the central government and state government level which worsens bureaucratic complications. This leads to facilitation payments to accelerate normal government processes [citation needed].

Some airports, such as the Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala, are notorious for theft of valuables from bags checked on incoming flights. Such theft is a rude awakening to the state of corruption in Kerala to tourists and expatriates returning from vacations [17]. Corrupt officials and airport employees turn a blind eye to theft of passenger belongings often colluding in the theft.

Income tax

There have been several cases of collusion of officials of the income tax department of India for a favorable tax treatment in return for bribes [18][19]

Preferential award of public resources

As detailed earlier, land in areas with short supply is relatively common with government entities awarding public land to private concerns at negligible rates. Other examples include the award of mining leases to private companies without a levy of taxes that is proportionate to the market value of the ore[citation needed].

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".[20]

Armed forces

The Indian Armed Forces have frequently witnessed corruption involving senior armed forces officers from the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Many officers have been caught for allegedly selling defence stores in the black market in the border districts of Indian states and territories. Recent sukhna land scandal involving four Indian Lieutenant Generals has shaken public faith in the country's massive military at a time when unprecedented sums are being spent on modernising the armed forces. A string of eye-popping fraud cases has damaged the institution in recent years.[21][22][23]

Police

nee 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.[24][25] The police often torture innocent people until a 'confession' is obtained to save influential and wealthy offenders.[26] 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.[27]

Religious institutions

In India, the corruption has also crept into religious institutions. Some of the Church of North India are making money by selling Baptism certificates.[28] A group of church leaders and activists has launched a campaign to combat the corruption within churches. The chief economic consequences of corruption are the loss to the economy an unhealthy climate for investment and an increase in the cost of government-subsidised 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 ₹21,068 crore (US$2.5 billion). 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.

Anti-corruption efforts

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, computerisation 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.[1][29] The 2006 report by Transparency International puts India at the 70th place and states that significant improvements were made by India in reducing corruption.[30][31]

Ombudsmen

The LokAyukta is an anti-government corruption organization in the Indian states [32][33]. These institutions are based on the Ombudsman in Scandinavian countries. An amendment to the Constitution has been proposed to implement the Lokayukta uniformly across Indian States as a three-member body, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or high court chief justice, and comprise of the state vigilance commissioner and a jurist or an eminent administrator as other members [34].

Computerization

Whistleblowers

Whistleblowers play a major role in the fight against corruption. India currently does not have a law to protect whistleblowers, which was highlighted by the assassination of Satyendra Dubey.

No one is taking action on BABU's who are looting public money like king's..complete details at http://publicmoney-loot-vijayabhanudaily.blogspot.com/2010/10/looting-govtour-money-by-running-fake.html?spref=bl

Creation of Anti-Corruption Police and Courts

Some have called for the Central Government to create an anti-theft law enforcement agency that investigates and prosecutes corruption at all levels of government, including state and local level. Special courts that are more efficient than the traditional Indian courts with traveling judges and law enforcement agents are being proposed. The proposal has not yet been acted upon by the Indian government. Certain states such as Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Anti-corruption Bureau) and Karnataka (Lokayukta) have similar agencies and courts [37][32]. The creation of a central agency with specialized courts with broad powers, however, is likely to have greater impact in curbing corruption at all levels[opinion][citation needed].

Private sector initiatives

Several new initiatives have come up in the private sector to raise awareness about Corruption related issues and to build anti-corruption platforms. http://5thpillar.org is one such organization that is promoting the use of Zero Rupee Notes [38] to fight corruption by shaming the officials who ask for bribe. Another popular initiative Jaago Re!One Billion Votes from Tata Tea has now changed its focus from voter registration to fighting corruption [39]. nobribe.org is another platform for corruption free India and advocates the use of direct and regular measurement of corruption to force the hands of the leadership into dealing with corruption related issues[40].

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Centre for Media Studies (20/tii/ICS2k5_Vol1.pdf). "India Corruption Study 2005: To Improve Governance Volume – I: Key Highlights". Transparency International India. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b India: Where Shipping Is Shaky. Businessweek
  3. ^ a b "A special report on India: The democracy tax is rising: Indian politics is becoming ever more labyrinthine". The Economist. December 11, 2008.
  4. ^ The criminalisation of Indian democracy (May 2, 2007). "Jo Johnson". Financial Times. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  5. ^ a b Wax, Emily (2008-07-24). "With Indian Politics, the Bad Gets Worse". Washington Times. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  6. ^ "Black money trail: 'India drained of Rs 20 lakh crore during 1948-2008'". timesofindia.com.
  7. ^ Eugene M. Makar (2007). An American's Guide to Doing Business in India.
  8. ^ "Economic survey of India 2007: Policy Brief" (PDF). OECD.
  9. ^ "The India Report" (PDF). Astaire Research.
  10. ^ "India's Rising Growth Potential" (PDF). Goldman Sachs. 2007.
  11. ^ a b "Will Growth Slow Corruption In India?". Forbes.
  12. ^ The criminalisation of Indian democracy (May 2, 2007). "Jo Johnson". Financial Times. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  13. ^ Indian bureaucracy ranked worst in Asia: Survey The Times of India, June 3, 2009.
  14. ^ K.R. Gupta and J.R. Gupta, Indian Economy, Vol #2, Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2008, ISBN 8126909269. Snippet: ... the land market already stands subverted and an active land mafia has already been created ...
  15. ^ "Mulayam Hits Mafia Hard". India Today. 2006-10-16. Retrieved 2008-10-30. Snippet: ... The road sector has always been the main source of income for the mafia. They either ask their men directly to grab the contracts or allow an outsider to take the contract after accepting a hefty commission ... a large number of criminals have been grabbing contracts under the protective umbrella of parties like SP, BSP, BJP, as well as the Congress ... opportunity to refurbish the image of his Government by initiating a crackdown on the mafia-contractor-engineer nexus ...
  16. ^ "Killer roads in India and rethinking the death penalty". The Wall Street Journal. liveMint.com. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2008-10-30. [dead link] Snippet: ... this year's rains have destroyed 581 roads in the state with 139 road accidents killing 373 people through 10 August ... they spoke about a road building contractor mafia that pretty much has a lock on many projects for redoing roads--apparently year after year ...
  17. ^ "Check-in baggage open to theft (Google cache)". The Hindu.
  18. ^ "Corruption in Income-Tax: beaten by Babudom". LiveMint.
  19. ^ "Two Income Tax officials booked for corruption". Indian Express.
  20. ^ Praful Bidwai. "INDIA: Legal System in the Dock".
  21. ^ Is corruption widespread in the Indian armed forces? How can it be dealt with? - India - DNA
  22. ^ 義美聯電-數位影音多媒體刊物
  23. ^ Corruption in Indian Armed Forces: 72 officers sold their weapons for profit - Army
  24. ^ Torture main reason of death in police custody The Tribune
  25. ^ Custodial deaths in West Bengal and India's refusal to ratify the Convention against Torture Asian Human Rights Commission 26 February 2004
  26. ^ Custodial deaths and torture in India Asian Legal Resource Centre
  27. ^ Police Accountability in India: Policing Contaminated by Politics
  28. ^ Are even the Priests taking to corruption?
  29. ^ Example of a central government department's implementation of the Right to Information Act.
  30. ^ Transparency International Press release
  31. ^ Transparency International Press release
  32. ^ a b "Karnataka Lokayukta". National Informatics Center. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  33. ^ "Karnataka Anti-Corruption Laws (Acts)". National Informatics Center. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  34. ^ "Lokayukta may get constitutional status". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  35. ^ "Smart new driving licence issued in Bangalore". Live Mint.
  36. ^ "Bangalore Traffic Police". Bangalore Traffic Police.
  37. ^ "A.P. Departments > Anti-Corruption Bureau". A.P. Government. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  38. ^ "Zero Rupee Note". 5thpillar.org.
  39. ^ "Jaago Re Campaign from Tata Tea". Tata Tea.
  40. ^ "nobribe.org". nobribe.org.

Further reading

  • Kohli, Suresh (1975). Corruption in India: The Growing Evil. ISBN 0861865804..
  • Dwivedy, Surendranath; Bhargava, G. S. (1967). "Political Corruption in India". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help).
  • Gupta, K. N. (2001). Corruption in India. Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd. ISBN 8126109734..
  • Halayya, M. (1985). "Corruption in India" (Document). Affiliated East-West Press. {{cite document}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |isbn= and |url= (help).
  • Guhan, Sanjivi; Paul, Samuel (1997). "Corruption in India: Agenda for Action" (Document). Vision Books. {{cite document}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |isbn= and |url= (help).
  • Vittal, N. (2003). Corruption in India: The Roadblock to National Prosperity. Academic Foundation. ISBN 8171882870.. Excepts

Indian government

  • CIC - The Central Information Commission is charged with interpreting the Right to Information Act, 2005.
  • DoPT - The Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, is charged with being the nodal agency for the Right to Information Act, 2005. It has the powers to make rules regarding appeals, fees, etc.
  • Complete text of the Right to Information Act
  • Karnataka Information Commission The State Information Commission for Indian State of Karnataka
  • Jaago Re! - Interview with RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal on fighting corruption in India.
  • Jaago Re! - 'Corruption starts right before birth until death for an Indian citizen': Interview with Vijay Anand, founder of the 5th Pillar (Zero rupee note)
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