Corruption- a symptom of misgovernance

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

It is not easy to define corruption. But in a narrow sense, corruption is mostly concerned with bribery and it takes several forms. Corruption is a global phenomenon and it is omnipresent. Corruption has progressively increased and is now rampant in our society.

Let us examine what corruption means. Simple meaning of corruption is an act of characterless-ness, moral degradation and unlawful practices. In other words, it means earning money and positions by hook or crook, without caring for duties and responsibilities towards people, society and nation. Corruption is an act by someone who is ready to do dishonest and illegal things in return of money or for something else they want, or behave in a way what is considered morally wrong. Corruption in India, as a symptom of misgovernance, exists in various forms. Corruption is all pervasive and omnipresent. India is largest democracy of the world. It is the second populous country of the world. India had cherished honesty, morality and also high values from time

immemorial. With passage of time and fast socio-economic changes in the country, corruption has effected all walks of life. CAUSES OF CORRUPTION: A number of causes are associated with the prevalence of corruption in our society. Some of them are-to make illegal things legal on the basis of bribe or commission, to acquire more and more wealth and costumer goods, high aspiration from jobs, to enhance status in the society, to pay dowry, to meet expenditure on technical and higher education of children, to erect modern and beautiful house, to get required number for constituting and running the government, to collect money for fighting election, etc.

There are many ways to temporarily stop it, the two main ones being: 1. Improving law enforcement, sentencing and punishment/correction via the home ministry and the judiciary; and/or 2. Improving transparency in the taxation regime and tax compliance through reform of the finance ministries at the center and the state. Neither of these functions has had much impact on current corruption. The imbalance of power between the haves and the have-nots has led to increased misgovernance. Overlapping laws should be reduced and simplified to a manageable and publically understood size. Parliament and state legislatures should have no items under the concurrent list with instead all items under the state list or the central list so that problems of jurisdiction do not occur. Why are the corrupt susceptible to corruption?

The low salaries of people made them susceptible, bringing with it more inefficiencies and the essay way of making money with less or no accountability. The crime of corruption is easily forgotten, the law offers easy way back into the main stream and acceptance by the society. In addition to that it is the lure of luxury, personal status enhancement and the false sense of elitism that makes the corrupt vulnerable to illegal and unethical means of acquiring wealth.

The cultural connection and other reasons: Indian society still has a cultural setup of having the man of the house to work for a living, while the wife usually deals with the household work, and this puts a pressure on the man to make the living more luxurious. The routine jobs are usually for life-long, with the support of a union there is a lesser fear of losing the job and there is the pressure of dealing with rising prices of commodities and sponsoring future education of children. The society, the social upbringing, the cultural and a general greed also plays a critical role in influencing a timid mind. The lack of instincts and to avoid the time consuming bureaucratical setup of the organization, the corruption may be an easy way out for people who bribe to make things happen.

How can we stop corruption? Greater solution may include population control to improve the quality than the quantity; controlling population will bring up the quality of life and thus lesser competition and effective control of people and government processes. However feasible solution are to impart moral principle in school, and introduction of stringent audits, accountability, effective tracking of corrupt individuals through citizen cards or tax ids.

Computerization of processes, privatization of public sectors, eliminating the chain of corruption by not just punishing the first level but also higher levels involved. Corruption is not limited to atheists, even the most corrupts are highly religious and have close family ties in other words corruption has no boundaries. Religion and religious congregations can support and promote anti-corruption drives. Corruption is NOT a luxury tax. Whoever describes corruption is a luxury tax probably said it out of frustration; the religion of corruption, the corruption of politics, the dishonest souls and perversion of integrity is unpardonable. Effects of corruption

Indian administration is tainted with scandals. India is among 55 of the 106 countries where corruption is rampant, according to the Corruption Perception Index 2004 Report released by Transparency International India. Corruption in India leads to promotion not prison. Corruption in India has wings not wheels. As nation grows, the corrupt also grow to invent new methods of cheating the government and public. Measures to combat corruption Is it possible to contain corruption in our society? Corruption is a cancer, which every Indian must strive to cure. Many new leaders when come into power declare their determination to eradicate corruption but soon they themselves become corrupt and start amassing huge wealth. There are many myths about corruption, which have to be exploded if we really want to combat it. Some of these myths are: Corruption is a way of

life and nothing can be done about it. Only people from underdeveloped or developing countries are prone to corruption. We will have to guard against all these crude fallacies while planning measures to fight corruption. Foolproof laws should be made so that there is no room for discretion for politicians and bureaucrats. The role of the politician should be minimized. Application of the evolved policies should be left in the hands of independent commission or authority in each area of public interest. Decision of the commission or authority should be challengeable only in the courts.

Cooperation of the people has to be obtained for successfully containing corruption. People should have a right to recall the elected representatives if they see them becoming indifferent to the electorate. Funding of elections is at the core of political corruption. Electoral reforms are crucial in this regard. Several reforms like: State funding of election expenses for candidates; strict enforcement of statutory requirements like holding in-party elections, making political parties get their accounts audited regularly and filing income-tax returns; denying persons with criminal records a chance to contest elections, should be brought in. Responsiveness, accountability and transparency are a must for a clean system. Bureaucracy, the backbone of good governance, should be made more citizen friendly, accountable, ethical and transparent.

 More and more courts should be opened for speedy & inexpensive justice so that cases dont linger in courts for years and justice is delivered on time. Local bodies, Independent of the government, like Lokpals, Lokadalats, CVCs and Vigilance Commissions should be formed to provide speedy justice with low expenses. A new Fundamental Right viz. Right to Information should be introduced, which will empower the citizens to ask for the information they want. Barring some confidential information, which concerns national and international security, other information should be made available to general public as and when required. Stringent actions against corrupt officials will certainly have a deterrent impact. Problems faced in tackling corruption in Mumbai Issues of misconduct leading to corruption are not tackled at all. There is no dedicated internet site like for all citizen charters. However, the central government does have a website for citizen charters. Lack of a common measurement system. There is no common center for recording number of departmental enquiries and action taken in cases of harassment or for citizen feedback. Ministry of personnel, public grievances, administrative reforms and pensions for reporting complaints centrally which can act as a one stop shop for recording and measuring government efficiency and improvement. for example: Implementing some of the recommendations of the National Police Commission Report. The key ministry dealing with corruption and misgovernance is the state Home Ministry headed by the Home Minister and the Home Secretary. This key organisation deals with all crime in the state, but does not have a proper website as of Nov. 10, 2005. The website does not have any mechanism to see list of departments under it, the citizens charters of those organisations, how to complain and how to follow up the complaint. It does not have any statistics for measuring its own performance. Tenure of the Home Secretary and other key officials is not fixed, but rather ad hoc.

Certain officials rotate through the same departments and the same locations for extended periods and have developed into roadblocks to reform. The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the state government is not an independent statutory body but comes under the state Home Minister and senior bureaucrats. This makes it difficult for the ACB to take action against its superiors in cases of corruption at higher levels. There is no statutory state vigilance commission, which should be the role given to the ACB as is the case for the Central Vigilance Commission at the federal level. Problems faced in reporting corruption 1. Lack of awareness about the fight against corruption in a regular manner. 2. Lack of convenience -- Until recently there was no easy way of reporting petty corruption, such as a website or a voice recording machine. This has been partly rectified via internet sites such as Praja (municipal problems) or Reporting corruption to the anti corruption bureau But these sites are insufficiently publicized. The number 1090 for Convenient interaction with the Police, 1916 for municipal complaints and 22633333 for Crimefighting complaints also need greater publicity.

3. Procedures are cumbersome and exhausting.

4. Money is locked up. Time and energy put in by the complainant are not considered at all. The complainant is often treated very poorly and his turning hostile later is conveniently reported against him, even if the fault lies with the authorities in maintaining an unfriendly system.

5. Poor logistical reach and infrastructure of the Anti-Corruption organisations. 6. Poor track record of the Anti Corruption Bureau and lack of faith in the government. 7. Anonymous reports are always discarded. 8. Report by email or fax is not considered as proof. 9. Poor media image and poor perception by word of mouth. There is no whistle blower protection or institutionalised support by the state for complainants within the government or in sensitive cases.

Reasons for hope The movement for Right To Information (RTI) is gaining ground with the passage of the National RTI Act.

New, more powerful and better media organisations continue to enter the area, improving the communication problems and the disinformation of earlier periods. Dissatisfaction continues to grow, and more people realise what is wrong and how it can be tackled or improved. The new ACB website is a good beginning and has been well-made, although it has a few drawbacks, as mentioned above.

More people are becoming aware, through the use of the internet, about possible solutions. Awareness is likely to grow, which will lead to increased pressure for implementing correct solutions. Justice P.B Sawant's report on

a corruption allegation involving 3 ministers and a noted social worker has been published at: Sawant Commission Report. The Maharashtra Government website is now becoming a little more user friendly through increased posting and access to information. Other departments and undertakings are developing their own websites, which are slowly being improved. The public is finally able to interact and act conveniently via the websites, weblogs and Yahoo groups. The number of people interacting on governance and corruption issues is increasing, and debates are getting more solution oriented. Example: The creators of the Madventures TV series describe in their book an encounter with a man who rented them a motorcycle.The man, who also tried to sell them illegal drugs, revealed the authors that he was, in fact, officially a policeman. He had borrowed a couple of thousand dollars and used them to simply buy a police rank from higher-ranking officers. He would pay back the debt by soliciting bribes, and also explained that for a larger sum, one could also buy higher ranks that would give access to even higher bribes. This example illustrates a kleptocracy. Anti-corruption efforts 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.

Ombudsmen The LokAyukta is an anti-government corruption organization in the Indian states. 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.

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. Introduction of smart cards for vehicle registration and drivers licenses by Karnataka Regional Transport Organization. Enforcement automation of traffic violations by Bangalore Traffic Police. 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.

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 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. 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.

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." 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.

Indian political scandals

Politics

Corruption in India is a consequence of the nexus between Bureaucracy, politics and criminals. India is now no longer considered a soft state. It has now become a consideration state where everything can be had for a consideration. Today, the number of ministers with an honest image can be counted on fingers. At one time, bribe was paid for getting wrong things done but now bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time.

Criminalization of Indian politics is a problem.

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".[8] 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.[9] Taxes and bribes are common between state borders; Transparency International estimates that truckers pay annually $5 billion in bribes.[10]. 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.

Land and property 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. 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. 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. Medicine In Government Hospitals, corruption is associated with non availability of medicines (or duplicate medicines), getting admission, consultations with doctors and availing diagnostic services. 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.
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. 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.

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".

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. 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 '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.

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. 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 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.

Conclusion Corruption is an intractable problem. It is like diabetes, can only be controlled, but not totally eliminated. It may not be possible to root out corruption completely at all levels but it is possible to contain it within tolerable limits. Honest and dedicated persons in public life, control over electoral expenses could be the most important prescriptions to combat corruption. Corruption has a corrosive impact on our economy. It worsens our image in international market and leads to loss of overseas opportunities. Corruption is a global problem that all countries of the world have to confront, solutions, however, can only be home grown. We have tolerated corruption for so long. The time has now come to root it out from its root.