Corruption in India

Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2010.

Political corruption
Corruption Perceptions Index, 2010
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Political, bureaucratic, corporate and individual corruption in India are major concerns. A 2005 study conducted by Transparency International in India found that more than 55% of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or influence peddling to get jobs done in public offices successfully.^[1][2]

Transparency International estimates that truckers pay US$5 billion in bribes annually.^[3] In 2010 India was ranked 87th out of 178 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

“The recent scams involving unimaginably big amounts of money, such as the 2G spectrum scam, are well known. It is estimated that more than trillion dollars are stashed away in foreign havens, while 80% of Indians earn less than 2$ per day and every second child is malnourished. It seems as if only the honest people are poor in India and want to get rid of their poverty by education, emigration to cities, and immigration, whereas all the corrupt ones, li] are getting rich through scams and crime. It seems as if India is a rich country filled with poor people",^[4] the organisers of Dandi March II in the United States said.^[5]

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India said, “As on March 31, 2010, unutilised committed external assistance was of the order of Rs.1,05,339 crore.”^[6]

History

The economy of India was under socialist-inspired policies for an entire generation from the 1950s until the late 1980s. The economy was characterized by extensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, policies vulnerable to pervasive corruption and slow growth.^{[7][8][9][10]} License Raj was often at the core of corruption.

The Vohra Report, submitted by the former Indian Union Home Secretary, N.N. Vohra, in October 1993, 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 political parties — and the protection of government functionaries. It revealed that political leaders had become the leaders of gangs. Over the years criminals had been elected to local bodies, State Assemblies, and even the Parliament. The unpublished annexures to the Vohra Report are 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. 'Italic text'''Bold text'''

Politics

As of December 2008, 120 of India's 522 parliament members were facing criminal charges.^[12] Many of the biggest scandals since 2010 have involved very high levels of government, including Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers, such as in the 2G spectrum scam, the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam and the Adarsh Housing Society scam, mining scandal in Karnataka and cash for vote scam.

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.^[2] Taxes and bribes are common between state borders; Transparency International estimates that truckers pay annually US$5 billion in bribes.^[3] 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 cities and villages throughout India, 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 and 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/fake medicines), getting admission, consultations with doctors and availing diagnostic services.^[2]

Income tax department

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.^[17][18]

Preferential award of public resources

See also: Illegal mining in India

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]}

Black money

Main article: Indian black money

Black money refers to money removed from the official economy (via corruption, bribery, tax evasion, etc.) and stored outside of the country. A November 2010 report from the Washington-based Global Financial Integrity estimates that India lost at least US$462 billion in illicit financial flows, another word for black money, from 1948 through 2008. The report also estimated the size of India's underground economy at approximately US$640 billion at the end of 2008 or roughly 50% of the nation's GDP.^[19]

Black Money in Switzerland

According to a 2010 The Hindu article, unofficial estimates indicate that Indians had over US$1456 billion in black money stored in Swiss banks (approximately USD 1.4 trillion).^[20] While some news reports claimed that data provided by the Swiss Banking Association Report (2006) showed India has more black money than the rest of the world combined,^[21][22] a more recent report quoted the SBA's Head of International Communications as saying that no such official statistics exist.^[23] Another report said that Indian-owned Swiss bank account assets are worth 13 times the country’s national debt.^[24]

Judiciary

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".^[25]

Armed forces

The Indian Armed Forces have witnessed corruption involving senior armed forces officers from the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. A number of scandals in the 2000-2010 period damaged the military's reputation; such scandals included skimming of armed forces money, re-selling of government property, and faking combat missions.^[26]

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.^[2][27] The 2006 report by Transparency International puts India at the 70th place and states that significant improvements were made by India in reducing corruption.^[28][29]

Ombudsmen

Main article: 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement

The Lokayukta is an anti-corruption organization in the Indian states.^[30][31] 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.^[32]

Social welfare worker Anna Hazare has led a movement to compel the Indian Government to notify the Committee for the implementation of the Lokayukta against corruption as an independent body and also giving enough powers to the Lokayukta to also receive corruption complaints against politicians, bureaucrats and even sitting judges. Anna Hazare is currently pursuing an agenda to pass a bill called Jan Lokpal bill, and he has gathered the support of many citizens residing in metropolitan cities of India. He was on an indefinite fast at the Ramlila Grounds, Delhi, in order to campaign for the cause.^[33]

Whistleblowers

See also: Whistleblower protection in India

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. Indian courts are regularly ordering probe in cases of murders or so-called suicide of several whistle blowers. One of the latest case of such murder is of V Sasindran Company Secretary of Palakkad based Malabar Cement Limited, a Government company in Kerala and his two minor children, Kerala High Court ordered CBI probe on 18 February 2011. Initially, CBI showed its unwillingness for probing into such cases citing over-burden as a reason.

Anti-corruption police and courts

The income tax department of India, Central Vigilance Commission and Central Bureau of Investigation all deal with anti-corruption initiatives. Certain states such as Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Anti-corruption Bureau) and Karnataka (Lokayukta) also have their own anti-corruption agencies and courts.^[34][30]

Anti-corruption organizations

A variety of organizations have been created in India to actively fight against corrupt government and business practices. Notable organizations include:

• 5th Pillar is most known for the creation of the zero rupee note, a valueless note designed to be given to corrupt officials when they request bribes.
• India Against Corruption is a movement created by a citizens from a variety of professions and statuses to work against corruption in India. It is currently headed by Anna Hazare.^[35]
• Jaago Re! One Billion Votes is an organization originally founded by Tata Tea and Janaagraha to increase youth voter registration.^[36] They have since expanded their work to include other social issues, including corruption.^[37]
• Association for Social Transparency, Rights And Action (ASTRA) is an NGO focused on grass-roots work to fight corruption in Karnataka.

One organization, the Lok Satta Movement, has transformed itself from a civil organization to a full-fledged political party, the Lok Satta Party. The party has fielded candidates in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Bangalore. In 2008, it obtained its first elected post, when Jayaprakash Narayan won the election for the Kukatpally Assembly Constituency in Andrha Pradesh.

Effects of corruption

According to a report by KPMG, "high-level corruption and scams are now threatening to derail the country's credibility and [its] economic boom".^[38]

See also

	India portal
	Politics portal

• List of politicians in India charged with corruption
• 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement
• Jan Lokpal Bill
• List of scandals in India
• Corruption Perceptions Index
• Licence Raj
• Mafia Raj
• Rent seeking
• Lok Ayukta
• Socio-economic issues in India
• United Nations Convention against Corruption

References

1. ^ "Transparency International - the global coalition against corruption". Transparency.org. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Centre for Media Studies, India Corruption Study 2005: To Improve Governance: Volume I – Key Highlights, New Delhi: Transparency International India, 30 June 2005.
3. ^ ^{a b} India: Where Shipping Is Shaky. Businessweek
4. ^ "India: Billionaires among a sea of poor people - Rediff.com Business". Business.rediff.com. 2010-10-04. http://business.rediff.com/column/2010/oct/04/guest-india-billionaires-among-a-sea-of-poor-people.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
5. ^ "NRIs In US Organize March Against Corruption In India | Link Newspaper". Thelinkpaper.ca. 2011-03-12. http://thelinkpaper.ca/?p=5316. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
6. ^ "India sitting over Rs. 1 lakh cr of unused external aid: CAG". The Hindu (India). 2011-03-18. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1550624.ece. 
7. ^ Eugene M. Makar (2007). An American's Guide to Doing Business in India. 
8. ^ "Economic survey of India 2007: Policy Brief". OECD. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/52/39452196.pdf. 
9. ^ "The India Report". Astaire Research. http://www.ukibc.com/ukindia2/files/India60.pdf. 
10. ^ "India's Rising Growth Potential". Goldman Sachs. 2007. http://www.usindiafriendship.net/viewpoints1/Indias_Rising_Growth_Potential.pdf. 
11. ^ "Will Growth Slow Corruption In India?". Forbes. 15 August 2007. http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/15/wipro-tata-corruption-ent-law-cx_kw_0814whartonindia.html. 
12. ^ "A special report on India: The democracy tax is rising: Indian politics is becoming ever more labyrinthine". The Economist. 11 December 2008. http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12749771. 
13. ^ Indian bureaucracy ranked worst in Asia: Survey The Times of India, 3 June 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. http://archives.digitaltoday.in/indiatoday/20061016/state-up.html. 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. http://blogs.livemint.com/blogs/romanticrealist/archive/2008/09/01/killer-roads-in-india-and-rethinking-the-death-penalty.aspx. 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. ^ "Corruption in Income-Tax: beaten by Babudom". LiveMint. http://www.livemint.com/2007/04/01225456/Corruption-in-IncomeTax-beat.html. 
18. ^ "Two Income Tax officials booked for corruption". The Indian Express. India. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/two-income-tax-officials-booked-for-corruption/414293/. 
19. ^ Kar, Dev (2010). The Drivers and Dynamics of Illicit Financial Flows from India: 1948-2008. Washington, DC: Global Financial Integrity. http://india.gfintegrity.org/. 
20. ^ "The Hindu Business Line : Black, bold and bountiful". Thehindubusinessline.in. 2010-08-13. http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2010/08/13/stories/2010081350370900.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
21. ^ "Govt to reveal stand on black money on Jan 25 - India News - IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/govt-to-reveal-stand-on-black-money-on-jan-25/141423-3.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
22. ^ "Govt To Reveal Stand On Black Money On Jan 25 | India news, Latest news India, Breaking news India, Current headlines India, News from India on Business, Sports, Politics, Bollywood and World News online". Currentnewsindia.com. 2011-01-25. http://www.currentnewsindia.com/nation-news/govt-to-reveal-stand-on-black-money-on-jan-25.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
23. ^ "No 'black money' statistics exist: Swiss banks". The Times of India. 13 September 2009. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-13/india/28092452_1_james-nason-swiss-bankers-association-sba-s-head. Retrieved 13 November 2011. 
24. ^ http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/tehelka-says-manorma-group-has-account-2011-02-12-1.355118
25. ^ Praful Bidwai. "INDIA: Legal System in the Dock". http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=37972. 
26. ^ Chakravarty, Pratap (23 January 2010). "Indian land scandal spotlights military corruption". Taiwan News. http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1162535&lang=eng_news&cate_img=44.jpg&cate_rss=news_Perspective. Retrieved 7 November 2011. 
27. ^ Example of a central government department's implementation of the Right to Information Act.
28. ^ "Transparency International Press release". http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases/2006/en_2006_11_06_cpi_2006. 
29. ^ Transparency International Press release
30. ^ ^{a b} "Karnataka Lokayukta". National Informatics Center. http://lokayukta.kar.nic.in. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
31. ^ "Karnataka Anti-Corruption Laws (Acts)". National Informatics Center. http://lokayukta.kar.nic.in/acts.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
32. ^ "Lokayukta may get constitutional status". Deccan Herald. India. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/78301/lokayukta-may-get-constitutional-status.html. Retrieved 2010-06-30. 
33. ^ "Anna Hazare latest news: Lokpal bill in monsoon session, fast track courts for corruption cases – Economic Times". The Times Of India (India). http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/anna-hazare-latest-news-lokpal-bill-in-monsoon-session-fast-track-courts-for-corruption-cases/articleshow/7927451.cms. 
34. ^ "A.P. Departments > Anti-Corruption Bureau". A.P. Government. http://www.aponline.gov.in/apportal/departments/departments.asp?dep=13&org=83. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
35. ^ G Babu Jayakumar (10 April 2011). "Wasn’t easy for Anna’s ‘thambis’" (in Indian English). The New Indian Express (India). http://expressbuzz.com/topic/wasn%E2%80%99t-easy-for-anna%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98thambis%E2%80%99/264213.html. Retrieved 12 May 2011. 
36. ^ "Tata Tea and NGO launch programme on right to vote for youth". The Hindu. 16 September 2008. http://www.hinduonnet.com/holnus/004200809162080.htm. Retrieved 30 May 2011. 
37. ^ "Articles". Tata Tea. http://www.jaagore.com/articles. Retrieved 30 May 2011. 
38. ^ Colvin, Geoff (20 April 2011). "Corruption: The biggest threat to developing economies". CNNMoney. http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/19/news/international/corruption_developing_economies.fortune/?section=money_latest. Retrieved 23 May 2011. 

Further reading

• Kohli, Suresh (1975). Corruption in India: The Growing Evil. India: Chetana Pvt.Ltd. ISBN 0861865804. 
• Dwivedy, Surendranath; Bhargava, G. S. (1967). Political Corruption in India 
• Gupta, K. N. (2001). Corruption in India. Anmol Publications Pvt Ltd. ISBN 8126109734 .
• Halayya, M. (1985). Corruption in India. Affiliated East-West Press 
• Guhan, Sanjivi; Paul, Samuel (1997). Corruption in India: Agenda for Action. Vision Books 
• Vittal, N. (2003). Corruption in India: The Roadblock to National Prosperity. Academic Foundation. ISBN 8171882870. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EI06Df01.html 
• Somiah, C.G. (2010). The honest always stand alone. New Delhi: Niyogi Books. ISBN 8189738712. 

External links

• 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.