Corruption in India

Political corruption in India is a major concern. A 2005

study done by Transparency International (TI) in India
found that more than 50% of the people had firsthand
experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to
get a job done in a public office. Taxes and bribes are
common between state borders; Transparency
International estimates that truckers pay
annually US$5 billion in bribes.
Criminalization of Indian politics is a problem. In July
2008 The Washington Post reported that nearly a
fourth of the 540 Indian Parliamentmembers faced
criminal charges, "including human trafficking,
immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even
murder".[5]

Overview of the index of perception of corruption,

2007
Contents
 [hide]

 1 History
 o 1.1 Politics
o 1.2 Bureaucracy
 1.2.1 Land and property
 1.2.2 Tendering processes and awarding
contracts
 1.2.3 Medicine
 1.2.4 Transport
 1.2.5 Income tax
 1.2.6 Preferential award of public resources
o 1.3 Judiciary
o 1.4 Armed forces
o 1.5 Police
o 1.6 Religious institutions
 2 Anti-corruption efforts
o 2.1 Right to information act
o 2.2 Ombudsmen
o 2.3 Computerization
o 2.4 Whistleblowers
o 2.5 Creation of Anti-Corruption Police and Courts
o 2.6 Private sector initiatives
 3 See also
 4 References
 5 Further reading
 6 External links
o 6.1 Indian government
[edit]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.[6][7][8]
[9]
 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 The unpublished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."[10] 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.
[edit]Politics
Main article: Indian political scandals
Criminalization of Indian politics is a problem.[3][11]
In July 2008 The Washington Post reported that nearly
a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced
criminal charges, "includinghuman 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.
[edit]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.[12] 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].
[edit]Land and property
Officials often steal state property. In Bihar, more than
80% of the subsidized food aid to poor is stolen [10]. 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].
[edit]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]
[edit]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]
[edit]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.
[edit]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]
[edit]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].
[edit]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]
[edit]Armed forces
The Indian Armed Forces have frequently witnessed
corruption involving senior armed forces officers from
the Indian Army, Indian Navy andIndian 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]
[edit]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.[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
Delhicomments that the main issue at hand
concerning police violence is a lack of accountability
of the police.[27]
[edit]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$4.7 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.
[edit]Anti-corruption efforts
[edit]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]
[edit]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].
[edit]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[35].
 Enforcement automation of traffic violations
by Bangalore Traffic Police [36].
[edit]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.
[edit]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].
[edit]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].
[edit]See also

 Indian political scandals

 List of Corrupt Indian Politicians
 Socio-economic issues in India
 License Raj
 Mafia Raj
 Corruption in Mumbai
 Rent seeking
 Lok Ayukta
[edit]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.
2. ^ India: Where Shipping Is Shaky. Businessweek
a b
3. ^     "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.
a b
5. ^     Wax, Emily (2008-07-24). "With Indian Politics,
the Bad Gets Worse". Washington Times.
Retrieved 2010-04-30.
6. ^ Eugene M. Makar (2007). An American's Guide
to Doing Business in India.
7. ^ "Economic survey of India 2007: Policy
Brief". OECD.
8. ^ "The India Report". Astaire Research.
9. ^ "India's Rising Growth Potential". Goldman
Sachs. 2007.
a b
10. ^     "Will Growth Slow Corruption In India?".
Forbes.
11. ^ The criminalisation of Indian democracy (May 2,
2007). "Jo Johnson". Financial Times. Retrieved
2007-05-12.
12. ^ India: Where Shipping Is Shaky. Businessweek
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. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/message-
board_is-corruption-widespread-in-the-indian-
armed-forces-how-can-it-be-dealt-with_1335253
22. ^ http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.
php?
id=1162535&lang=eng_news&cate_img=44.jpg&c
ate_rss=news_Perspective
23. ^ http://www.defenceforum.in/forum/showthread.p
hp?7280-Corruption-in-Indian-Armed-Forces
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. ^ [1]
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
a b
32. ^     "Karnataka Lokayukta". National Informatics
Center. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
 ^ "Karnataka Anti-Corruption Laws
33.
(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.
[edit]Further reading

 Kohli, Suresh (1975). Corruption in India: The

Growing Evil. 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. Excepts
[edit]External links
[edit]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)