The moral of the story is corruption is an age old phenomena that’s evolving over a period of time. Earlier corruption used to be confined to certain section of society and large sections of them remained untouched. Now it’s a different story and corruption has percolated to each and every section of the society. It’s hard to point out where corruption is not present. We have been regularly fed media report on corruption;. Bofors, fodder scam, MPLAD scheme, coffin scam, hawala, match-fixing, Harshad Mehta, Ketan Prikh, George Fernandez Bagarau Laxman, Joyti Kumaran, Nuke deal trust vote, the list is endless. Every new report pales previous one into insignificance. All of them scream that corruption is growing at an alarming pace in India and if it goes unchecked, the peril of our nation is imminent.
In order to have introspection to the problem of corruption, a Chennai based NGO Nandini- Voice for the Deprived, organized anti corruption meeting on 15th August 2008 (Independence Day) at Chennai. The meeting was attended by over 250 participants consisting of former IAS officers, NGOs, professionals and large number of people from lower income group. The most noteworthy among them was Mr Kalyanam, now 88 years of age and who had served as personal assistant to Mahatma Gandhi.
Mr. N. Vittal, Former Central Vigilance Commissioner, of India delivered the keynote speech and began by saying that corruption has been defined by the World Bank as the ‘use of public office for private profit.’ In our country, there are five major players on the corruption scene, interdependent, strengthening and supportive of the vicious cycle. They are the corrupt politician (Neta); the corrupt bureaucrat (Babu); the corrupting businessman (Lala); the corrupt NGO ( Jhola); and the criminals (Dada).
He added that corruption flourishes in our system because of five basic reasons. (i) scarcity of goods and services; (ii) red tape and complicated rules and procedures; (iii) lack of transparency in decision-making; (iv) legal cushions of safety for the corrupt under the ‘healthy’ principle that everyone is innocent till proved guilty; and (v) tribalism among the corrupt who protect each other.
He further said corruption is a two-way street. For every bribe taker, there is a bribe giver. While the debate on corruption in our country has focused on the demand side of corruption, there has been a thundering silence on the supply side who bribes the public servants and politicians.
The former Central Vigilance Commissioner suggested a three-point plan to check corruption; first simplification of rules and procedures, second is empowering the public and bringing in greater transparency and third is effective punishment.
The important aspect of the meeting was that ahead of it, fifteen colleges from all over India took part in an essay competition “Rampant Corruption in India: Who is responsible.” Eleven college students among them won prizes and were awarded certificates and cash prizes during the meeting. Five of the students were allowed to speak and present their views on corruption in India.One of them said corruption follows a vicious cycle, but the root cause is the corruption of the political system. The nexus between corrupt politicians and corrupt bureaucrats makes it look that any fight against corruption is the fight against the government itself, he said.
As long as the work is done, it is fine – this attitude of the people could be another cause for the rampant corruption in India. We have a tendency to blame the politicians, government employees or higher authorities in any sector for putting money in their pockets. But, have we ever introspected how true we are as citizens, with regard to the issue of corruption? How many of us do not look for “contact” for getting our children in good school or college, said another student.
The other underlying cause of corruption could be tolerance of the people, almost complete lack of intense public outcry against corruption and the absence of strong and effective public forum to oppose corruption allow it to reign over people.
Another student was intrigued about why that even the well informed people in India have carried this corruption burden for so long and why have they not revolted against it? Is this linked to an unflinching faith in karma theory or is it a reflection simply of utter helplessness, he asked? Even the efforts of great fighters like Anna Hazare have not made a dent into breaking the evil of corruption, and even the educated people are not supporting such efforts adequately, he said.
One speaker said we need a second freedom struggle and the fight against corruption must begin at home. Family and schools are the twin indispensable social institutions which must be activated to fight for value system in life. Functioning of these institutions at high ethical level can usher in a revolution to change the mind set of both the giver and the taker. The pressure must come from the public by agitating against corrupt practices. The youth can make a difference if there are role models for them, he said.
An interesting view was that most people who talk about corruption and ethics today appear to be of plus sixty. Most of them had been part of the corrupt system in public life in one way or the other earlier and had not fought against the issues when they had the power and energy. At sixty when they preach, they do not inspire confidence amongst the youth.
Alarm bell rang when some one said; one would shudder to think as to what would happen to the peace of the society, if the common men whose interests are defeated by the forces of corruption, would feel helpless and take to violence as the only option available to them to tackle corruption. He was obliquely pointing to the rise of the Maoist in India.
Another speaker pointed that if the corruption would continue at the present pace, it may lead to a situation where the corrupt people (both the givers and takers) would become shameless and even a sense of shame would not deter them from indulging in nefarious activities. This situation should not be allowed to deteriorate further and the corrupt forces in the country should be defeated at any cost, he advocated.
Use of modern gadgets like cell phones with cameras to expose corrupt officials was stressed by one speaker. Everyone can become a citizen journalist and make use of modern gadgets to expose the corrupt practices. Sting operation on corrupt official will certainly help reduce corruption to a great extent, he said.
N.S.Venkataraman, Trustee of the NGO, Nandini Voice for the Deprived, and the main organizer of the meeting concluded saying the root cause of corruption is greed and how to overcome it is the biggest challenge before us. He stressed that efforts should be made to develop hatred against corrupt practices and corrupt elements in our society.
Normally on Independence Day, the entire nation remains in a holiday mood. There is little time for anyone on this day to brood over such ticklish issues. Given this fact, efforts made towards organizing such a purposeful public meeting where there was involvement of large section of the society is something laudable. The organizers of this meeting definitely deserve a word of praise.
Having spent over a year of my four-year term as Central Vigilance Commissioner, I am aware of the challenge which the forces of corruption in our country pose to individuals and organisations who want to fight it. Everyone in India pays lip service to the principle of honesty. We belong to the land of Gandhiji for whom truth and non-violence were the fundamental principles of existence. Going back in time 2000 years, I quote the Vedic dictum, ‘satyam vadhadharmam charah’. Our nation’s motto is Satyameva Jayate. Therefore, at the level of lip service, we are all for truth and honesty. Our government believes that truth will prevail and all our religions advocate that we should tell the truth. But, the reality is that India is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Corruption has been defined by the World Bank as the ‘use of public office for private profit.’ In our country, there are five major players on the corruption scene, interdependent, strengthening and supportive of the vicious cycle. They are the neta, the corrupt politician; the babu, the corrupt bureaucrat; the lala, the corrupting businessman; the jhola, the corrupt NGO; and the dada, the criminal of the underworld.
Corruption is a two-way street. For every bribe taker, there is a bribe giver. While the debate on corruption in our country has focused on the demand side of corruption, i.e., on public servants and politicians who demand bribes, there has been a thundering silence on the supply side of corruption, i.e., around the business community which bribes the public servants and politicians. It is therefore interesting to note the business community’s focus on the issue of ethics in business.
This is possible if only we have a clear idea about the dynamics of corruption, why corruption flourishes and how it can be tackled. Corruption flourishes in our system because of five basic reasons. These are: (i) scarcity of goods and services; (ii) red tape and complicated rules and procedures; (iii) lack of transparency in decision-making; (iv) legal cushions of safety for the corrupt under the ‘healthy’ principle that everyone is innocent till proved guilty; and (v) tribalism or biradari among the corrupt who protect each other. The popular phrase is ‘thick as thieves’ not ‘thick as honest people’.
As CVC, I have adopted a three-point plan to check corruption. The first is simplification of rules and procedures. Corruption is like malaria, handled by either giving medicine to those affected or by preventing the breeding of mosquitoes. Many of our rules and procedures breed corruption. Orders have therefore been issued to check and simplify procedures. One example is a ban on post-tender negotiations in government purchases, except with the lowest bidder. Such negotiations are a flexible source of corruption.
The second step is empowering the public and bringing in greater transparency. The orders of the CVC with regard to checking corruption are in the public domain. They can be easily accessed through the website of CVC at http://http://www.cvc.nic.in/. One such order has been referred to earlier. Another is that every office should have a board stating, ‘Don’t pay bribes. If anybody asks for a bribe, you can complain to the CVO, CVC.’ This way we can educate the public who come to every small office of the GOI and other organisations like banks and public sector undertakings that there is a way out if they do not want to pay bribes.
The third is effective punishment. It is here that we have miles to go. Punishing the guilty is possible under two circumstances: through departmental inquiry and through prosecution. On the former, I am forcing all government organizations to employ honest retired people to conduct departmental inquiries to be completed within six months. On prosecution, we are constrained because our courts are extremely slow. As of now, nearly 3000 cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act have been pending from two to ten years. If punishment is so slow then elimination of corruption in India will always remain a chimera.
In the ultimate analysis, the best solution to combat corruption is to practice what the Taitreya Upanishad preaches. Let us come together, let us enjoy together, let our strengths of knowledge come together, let there be light, let there be no poison of misunderstanding or hatred. Then we will achieve success and peace. That way lies progress.
Sahanavavatu sahanaubhaunaktu sahaviryam kara va vahai
dyutita.blogspot.com
Indian economy is like a banyan tree of thousand years of life having number of branches i.e society, culture, business, politics, education, industries etc. With the moving pace every branch grow up and provide assistance to the whole tree, but in case if one branch get infected with any of disease it affects whole tree.
If we see this 1000 year old tree, it is flourishing and covering large space of land means number of Indian natives & companies are spreading around the world and providing facilities to other countries & their citizens. In U.K & USA, Indians are doing exceptionally well in various fields i.e. politics, business, arts, literature etc.
Factors behind corruption:
Political Patronage - In India, politicians means criminals. If you want to check out then simply look at the background of any local MLAs, MPs . More than 78% of MPs, MLAs are mafias, highly corrupted individuals, Old jamizaars “Landlords”, criminals or highly corrupted government official.
Administrative Labyrinth- Cumbersome and dilatory administrative procedures and practices are another major cause of corruption in India.
Bureaucracy: If you visit any public (government) office, you will some very simple commonalities i.e.
• No cleanliness
• No fear “ DAD’s office” type of attitude of officials.
• Babu raj “ the peon of government officials looks more powerful than their bosses”.
• “No Bribe No work” principle
Lack of Punishment: “Justice delayed is justice denied in most cases of corruption”.
According to law ministry data of 2006, 33,635 cases were pending in Supreme court, nearly 34.2 lakhs cases were pending in high courts, Allahabad high court having highest pending cases of about 7.3 lakhs. In lower courts, nearly 2.3 crore cases were pending acroos the country. In India conviction rate is only 6%, average disposal time of case in court is 15-20 years.
Social Enviornment: The societal culture or societal environment has powerful impact on public administration. In present day India, corruption has found an acceptance in the social psyche and behaviour. Social evils like bribery, nepotism and favouritism have come to be accepted in the society. Other reasons may be:
Selfish attitude among Individuals: It's very common Indian tendency that if I am not able to do something then others will definitely don’t do it. May be its jealousy or arrogance but its there in Indian attitude & to show off and show down else an individual can do anything and can pay anything.
No time problem: Actually this factor also play a vital role in promoting corruption. Suppose you are new at any place and don’t know anybody in the city but you want to do your job done, then normally people ready to pay extra money than the value of product or service offers which prompts other people to generate extra money from newbie in the city or place.
Increasing worthiness of individuals- With the open economy, youths are earning 5 digits salary. So they never bother in wasting their salary in unfair means i.e. boozing, sex etc which sometimes tapped them in trouble and to come out from such situations they are ready to pay any amount of money to government authorities which also aggrandize the feeling of corruption among government authorities i.e. police etc
-- When the cocktail chitchat turned to education, a New Delhi homemaker quizzed a teacher about getting her 6-year-old into his well-regarded private school. "Do they accept donations?" she asked carefully. Then, noticing his confusion, added: "You know -- bribes."
Just a day before, her prime minister had devoted his state of the nation address to an appeal to his countrymen to forego paying bribes even if it meant hardship. But who will heed Prime Minister I.K. Gujral if it means losing a chance to send a daughter to a good school? Or waiting months for a phone? Or not getting the lights turned on at all?
Corruption has become a way of life in the world's largest democracy. "Go to the electricity office, the telephone office, the water office -- at each and every office, it's very difficult to get things done until and unless you pay a bribe," said New Delhi docotr S.S. Kanodia, shaking his head at a decline in values he blames on greed. "Everybody's after money, so the morals have gone down," he said. "Nobody thinks of what he or she can do for the country." Manish Sharma, a 23-year-old government clerk, says he paid a bribe to get his job. He wouldn't say how much and asked that his department not be named, but was otherwise surprisingly direct. Others avoid the word bribe, preferring a thesaurus of euphemisms -- from "donations" of $285 to get school authorities to squeeze in one more student, to"holiday gifts" of a few dollars to municipal workers to ensure uninterrupted power supply. "If you don't give the money, it will take time to get things done, but they will get done. It's just that nobody in India wants to take the time," Sharma said. "People think it was politicians who started corruption, but I think it started with the people. They give money to the government official and say the official is corrupt. They never say they are corrupt." Indeed, Gujral reversed the usual discourse in his speech Friday, marking 50 years of independence from Britain. Here was a politician telling ordinary Indians to shape up. He followed up with a speech the next day to business people, telling them they, too, were part of the problem. The Asian Age newspaper bristled in a weekend editorial that Gujral was trying "to abdicate responsibility." Lectures from politicians are hard to swallow after so many -- including a previous prime minister -- have been accused of using their powerful public positions for private gain. Though Gujral himself is seen as clean, he also is seen as weak for doing little last month when the then-head of his political party was charged with stealing millions from the state treasury.
In July, India was ranked the eighth most corrupt nation in the world by Berlin-based Transparency International, which polled business people, political analysts and the general public about where bribes, kickbacks and nepotism were most prevalent. Countries considered more corrupt were, from least to worst: Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Colombia, Bolivia and Nigeria.
Transparency International said corruption discouraged foreign investment in poor countries like India. Without foreign-fueled development, India may never overcome what many see as the root causes of corruption: poverty, and an infrastructure so weak that basicservices like telephones and schools become scarce resources available only to the highest bidders.
The most disquieting aspect of the widespread corruption in India is the fact that it is not anymore confined to politicians or the government machinery alone. It is prevalent amongst almost every section of the society at every level.
As the practice of corruption is a dishonest act, one has to think that most of the Indians are dishonest, which could be different only in degree between the individuals. As the reason for the dishonesty is greediness and the desire to get things done at any cost one can think that most of the country men are greedy and do not anymore think that the means should justify the ends. This is not a flattering statement and many readers would desire that it would not be so and such statement could have been avoided. But, the fact is that most of the Indians are involved in corrupt practices in one way or the other, either due to greed or due to so called compulsion. In any case, the willingness to sacrifice for the sake of not getting involved in corrupt dealings is conspicuous by its absence amongst the most.
Today, if one would say that any particular Indian is honest to the core, it could only be a case of exception rather than a rule.
The study of world phenomenon on corruption has repeatedly branded India as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Unfortunately, this view has not disturbed most of the Indians at all and they do not seem to care as to what others think of them; so long as the existing systems and practices would allow them to make money and get things done in one way or the other.
The irony is that India is still considered to be a very religious country and it is still widely believed that the religion is the basis of Indian life, thoughts and actions. This is obviously true, considering the fact that there are hundreds of temples, churches and mosques spread all over the country and they are all densely visited day in and day out by the feverishly praying Indians.
Is not religious ethos contrary to corruption and dishonest practices ?The unfortunate situation in India is that those who call themselves most religious are often found to have indulged themselves in dishonest practices on many occasions. Several of the religious centres, of all religions, are suspected to be steeped in nepotism, as such incidents have been repeatedly published in the press.
It does not shock Indians anymore to know that not only the politicians, ministers and IAS & IPS officers are corrupt but even the judges, professors, doctors and NGO organisations are.
Corruption is not only prevalent amongst rich who are greedy in spite of possessing enough but also prevalent amongst poor.
Now, what can be the future of the Indian society in such conditions? It can be only frustration, chaos, unrest and even bloodshed in the not too distant future. This kind of corruption in the national polity and public and private life cannot go on for ever, without disturbing the overall peace in the society. It is sad that those who are in charge of the nation today do not appear to realise this and still are merrily going ahead with their dealings unconcerned about the harm that it would inevitably do to the larger national cause.
What is very sad and extremely disquieting about this country is that Ministers suspected to be involved in murder. Chief ministers of swindling crores of public money, senior police officers of molestation charges are all living in comforts and enjoying positions, thus effectively exposing the fact that the crusade against corruption has finally failed in India.
Even as the vicious cycle of corruption would continue with one swindling the other, there could be a number of persons who would be left out of this cycle due to inefficiency or commitment to the cause of truth and such persons would be driven down to despair.
The incidents of history indicate that some of such persons who are out of the corruption loop could take up the war against corruption at one time or the other. But, they would find that in a corruption entrenched system, they would not be able to improve the conditions and therefore, a few of them may finally take to physical attack on corrupt and dishonest persons, leading to violence and bloodshed. Security, dogs and mere police rifles will not be able to beat down such determined crusaders.
The politicians and bureaucrats would call such crusaders as arsonists or terrorists. But, history would judge them differently. There are a number of determined isolated war groups already existing in the country and they are generally branded as terrorist groups and treated brutally by the state machinery, without investigating the reasons for their existence. One would shudder to think as what would happen to the peace of the society, if such groups would enlarge in size and number.
Those holding the positions of President, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of this country and Chief Ministers of the states should have the wisdom to realise the potential dangers facing this corrupt ridden Indian society. They should not remain as small people who would compromise with the aspects of good governance for the sake of remaining in power for a few number of days more.
Yet two recent incidents reveal that not all is well in India. The billion-dollar scandal involving software company Satyam Computer Services, and the shocking findings of environmental degradation recently released by Joakim Larsson, a research scientist from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, reveal how corruption prevails in India, despite all it has achieved in the past six decades.
The Satyam scandal has also exposed other entities connected to the company, like PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational firm that provides professional services including auditing. The fact that Satyam, whose accounts were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the past several years, was able to cook its account books showcases the extent to which corruption is possible in India.
It is sheer irony that Satyam – whose name comes from the ancient Pali language and literally translates as “truth” – lied to its investors, and PricewaterhouseCoopers did everything other than proper auditing. The auditing firm is not considered trustworthy in some informed circles in India, since a similar scandal, relating to the Delhi municipal water supply, exposed the firm trying to commit fraud upon ordinary people with the connivance of the World Bank. Yes, corruption in India also has taken in the World Bank.
To the average Indian, Satyam and its billion-dollar scandal means nothing much. But the research finding by Larsson means the difference between life and death to the ordinary public. The research focused on the industrial contamination of the Isakavagu stream that feeds the Nakkavagu and Manjira, two tributaries of the Godawari River, a major river in south India.
The research has exposed the shocking levels of industrial contamination, specifically from pharmaceutical companies in Patancheru of Andhra Pradesh state. The drugs manufactured by these companies are consumed in India and exported to the United States. As of today, the United States is the single largest consumer of the drugs produced by these companies, a business that amounts to an estimated US$1.2 billion per year.
The study reveals that complex derivatives like antibiotics and other medicines used for treating serious ailments like gonorrhea and hypertension are found in high concentrations in the river. Due to this the villagers are now forced to depend on water delivered through pipes from a nearby city or by water tankers. However, such pipelines are inadequate and the tankers rarely turn up.
The fact is that people, who otherwise depended upon natural sources of water like the river itself or country wells, are now to depend on water piped in from the city. It will take considerable effort to convince these unfortunate villagers that this is the price they have to pay for the country's development.
The story of Patancheru village depicts the effects of breakneck development in rural India. Unlike the celebrity status achieved by sweatshop workers in countries like China, Vietnam and Cambodia, the stories of the people in rural India who suffer for a few rich men to get richer are relatively unknown to the rest of the world.
Such issues in India survive because of the widespread prevalence of corruption. Corruption prevents the equitable distribution of wealth and services in the country. It allows the over exploitation of natural and other resources. It allows entities like Satyam and PricewaterhouseCoopers to defraud investors. It affects life, irrespective of which strata of society one belongs to. It prevents state agencies from functioning according to their mandate.
Take for example the pollution of Isakavagu stream in Patancheru. The State Pollution Control Board is a government agency that is mandated to monitor and to control pollution. From the research conducted by Larsson, it is apparent that this state agency has done nothing to prevent pollution.
This agency, by law, is authorized to revoke the licenses issued to the pharmaceutical companies that pollute the stream. It could also impose penalties against the polluters. The proper functioning of this single state agency would have made a world of difference for the people in Patancheru. Throughout India, one can easily find similar stories.
India is no more a country of snake charmers and turban-clad coolies as depicted in Rudyard Kipling's stories and poems. Nor is it a state ruled by the dictates of a central politburo. India is a democratic republic that has maintained the relative independence of the four pillars of democracy.
What it lacks, however, is a means to bridge the increasing divide between the classic haves and have-nots. What is needed to bridge this gap is the political will to combat corruption.
By Ramesh Thakur
I recall the story of a man who had been robbed. He duly filled out a formal complaint, in longhand and triplicate, at his local police station. An hour later, as he was walking out of the station, he heard cries of a man being "questioned" by the police. Suddenly a bleeding and badly beaten man rushed out of the interrogation room, clutched the complainant's feet, and pleaded desperately for help.
"Please help me, sir. Only you can save me. I am the unfortunate wretch who picked your pocket. You have written that I robbed you of 10,000 rupees. You know that it was only 1,000. Sir, I have already given that amount to my captors. I have no more money. If you do not tell them the truth, they will surely kill me today." The point of the story, said to be true, is the corruption of all three parties: the victim (intending to cheat on insurance), the police and the pickpocket.
I remember also my father saying shortly before his death how in our home state of Bihar - the most violent and lawless in India - police officers disliked being posted to districts with little crime. Their earning power being directly related to crime levels, they set about deliberately fomenting lawlessness. They could then extract bribes from victims before registering crimes, and from criminals on pain of arrest.
It used to be said when I was growing up in Bihar (in a lawyer's family) that the British judges took bribes from both sides and then gave judgments on the merits of the case. Indian judges took bribes only from one side and then felt honor-bound to find in that side's favor. As corruption became pervasive, the joke ceased being funny.
Corruption feeds on controls. The permit-license raj of the old socialist system spawned an inefficient regulatory regime, cripplingly high compliance and transaction costs, a corrupt bureaucratic system and a rent-seeking political system. The wealth-consuming public servant treated the wealth-creating businessman with contempt.
Government salaries divorce the status of officers from their income. For the bright young person with drive, initiative and self-belief, the private sector offers more attractive salary packages and greater scope for rapid career advancement. Since independence, civil servants have suffered relative deprivation of material rewards as businesses have prospered. Since they are in a position to affect private-sector decisions worth millions of rupees, most give in to the temptation to transfer some of the free-floating money to their own pockets.
Political interference, reduced attractiveness of service and declining morale have all combined to whittle away officials' will to remain honest. India is notorious for its influence-peddling politicians, money-seeking bureaucrats and bribe-dispensing entrepreneurs. Bribery is so thoroughly institutionalized that most people engaged in the transactions are aware of the scale of the charges and the lateral and upwards percentage shares in the illicit rent.
The market for public office can be quantified in the marriage market in Bihar: The dowry will reflect the illicit-earning potential of the bridegroom's public-sector job. Officers recruited into the elite civil and police services command the highest dowry. They then rise to positions of authority and are required to enforce laws banning dowry.
Similarly, a state cabinet minister in Bihar will expect a kickback in proportion to the earning potential of the posting of a police officer to a wealthy and high-crime district. In turn, squabbles between politicians for portfolios reflect the latter's earning potential rather than policy preferences. In Bihar at least, the chief demand on a state Cabinet minister is not to make policy but to exercise discretionary authority in exchange for "due consideration."
Another explanation for venality in public life is the refusal of the people to set realistic standards and benchmarks of public behavior. The salaries of lawmakers, civil servants and judges are not commensurate with their status, responsibilities and powers. They are required to be wedded to the Gandhian ideal of selfless public service, forgetting that it took a lot of money to keep Gandhi in the style of poverty to which he was accustomed.
Graft is said to lubricate the wheel of government in India, to bring the costs of services in line with market prices. Is bribery an efficient mechanism for rationing goods and services in short supply? Even from the point of view of economic logic, public corruption is bad because it encourages inefficiency. Managers have built-in incentives to distort and disrupt markets because this increases their market power.
The biggest cost is political. Petty corruption is especially endemic at the lower, clerical levels of administration -- precisely the point at which the ordinary citizen comes into daily contact with officialdom. People are forced to pay bribes for securing virtually any service connected with the government, even that which is theirs by right and law. People naturally tend to judge the entire structure of government on the basis of direct experiences with the agents of government. It would be difficult to exaggerate the revulsion felt by ordinary Indians toward the ubiquitous and institutionalized venality of public life.
In Japan and South Korea, former prime ministers and children of presidents have been jailed for corruption. In India, not one senior politician of the many who have been implicated in scandals - and they are numerous - has so far been convicted. The labyrinthine legal system is used to frustrate the course of justice.
A shift from a culture of corruption to one of accountability is absolutely vital to India's regeneration, stability and prosperity. On the evidence so far, South Africa may have the better future. A nation whose sporting heroes are ashamed of having let down their game and their country has more to commend it than one whose players resort to brazen defiance.
The saving grace for India is that it was the Delhi police who first revealed the South African connection. Left to themselves, free of political pressure, Indian officials can be competent and honest. There might be hope for the country yet.
(Ramesh Thakur, vice rector of the United Nations University in Tokyo, is the author of "The Government and Politics of India." These are his personal views.)
Forbes.com
Knowledge@Wharton
Now that India is playing an ever larger role in the world economy, the issue of corruption, in both the private and public sectors, is coming into sharper focus. Two scenarios are possible: As India's multinational corporations develop both economic and political muscle, they may act as a broom, sweeping corruption from the economic sphere.
On the other hand, entrenched practices may prove the stronger force, and corruption could end up being a significant brake on India's economic rise.
The costs of corruption are manifest in various parts of the economy. Inadequate infrastructure, of course, is widely recognized as a serious impediment to India's advancement. Producing valuable goods is of limited utility if they cannot be transported in a timely fashion, for example. Transparency International estimates that Indian truckers pay something in the neighborhood of $5 billion annually in bribes to keep freight flowing. "Corruption is a large tax on Indian growth," Ramamurti said in an interview after the conference. "It delays execution, raises costs and destroys the moral fiber."
Corruption also cripples the effort to ameliorate poverty in India and to improve the country's stock of "human capital." The rate at which this happens varies tremendously from region to region. Edward Luce, for example, author of In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India, notes that "Rates of theft vary widely from state to state in India, with the better states, such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu, getting more than 80% of subsidized government food to their poor. Meanwhile, in the northern state of Bihar, India's second poorest with a population of 75 million, more than 80% of the food is stolen."
