Corruption problem in India is serious and it has stunted economy & country’s development from reaching newer heights. Studies have shown that India’s major corruption comes from entitlement programs and social spending schemes of Indian Government followed by the bribery that India’s goods transport industry has to pay every day to numerous regulatory authorities and police checkpoints on interstate highways to stay in business.
Indian Currency
It is a well-known fact that India’s political, judicial, administrative systems are poorly corrupted and government’s revenue and police department top the list. Indian media has widely accused many politicians and government officers of having undisclosed black money in Swiss Bank. Although, it has been accepted by the Swiss Bank in 2015-16, about thousands of Indians are having millions of rupees stashed in their secret bank accounts. However, who owns how much amounts are still mysteries.
While we media have always been blaming individuals for accumulating black money by evading taxation system, Wikipedia has another view about the prime reason of corruption in India. The official website has highlighted that…
– Excessive regulations
– Complicated tax and licensing systems
– Numerous government departments with opaque bureaucracy and discretionary powers,
– The monopoly of government-controlled institutions on certain goods and services delivery, and
– Lack of transparent laws and processes,
…are some of the major causes of corruption in India.
A recent survey conducted by Transparency International gave a corruption score of 41 out 100 to India. India has been ranked 78th amongst 180 nations as per Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2018.
Another survey by LocalCircles, in collaboration with Transparency International India, was recently concluded. The survey aimed to determine the levels of domestic corruption in the country. This survey report ‘India Corruption Survey 2019’ conducted the third year in a row, received over 190,000 responses from over 81,000 unique citizens from across 20 different states.
The report highlights the following points:
• While the corruption rate in the country was recorded at 56% in 2018’s survey, it has dropped to 51% in 2019’s survey. The reduced percentage can be considered good news.
• Major credit for the same can be is the ‘Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2018’ which was hailed as a force to deter the Government employees from indulging in bribery as it is is evident from the numbers from this year’s survey.
• The report highlighted that around 61% of the surveyed audience was not aware of the government’s existing state hotlines/helplines to report corruption. The government should promote information through appropriate channels.
• Even after the digitalisation of various procedures and payments systems, bribes continue to occur in government offices, in cash and the CCTV surveillance arrangements have been proved ineffective to stop the bribery.
• The report has highlighted ‘Property Registration and Land Issues’, ‘Police Department’ and ‘Municipal Corporations’ are the top three major departments responsible for fostering bribery and corrupt practices in the country. Further, the survey shows that there has been no improvisation in Police bribery in the past 12 months.
• Coercion or inefficiencies prevailing in Government offices have been highlighted as the main reason for corruption.
• While a majority of surveyed people believe that nothing is being done, only 6% of citizens opinionated that effective steps have been taken by their state Government or local administration to reduce corruption during the year.
Here is a list of Indian states, stating which state has a higher percentage of corruption and various other aspects of the survey:
| Indian States | Percentage Citizen Paid Bribe in a Year | Votes | Several Times | Once or Twice | Got Work Done Without Paying Bribe | Not applicable or did not have a need |
| Rajasthan | 78% | 596 | 22 | 56 | 0 | 22 |
| Bihar | 75% | 1054 | 50 | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| Jharkhand | 74% | 547 | 74 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 74% | 3057 | 57 | 17 | 3 | 23 |
| Telangana | 67% | 2740 | 56 | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| Karnataka | 63% | 2981 | 35 | 28 | 9 | 28 |
| Punjab | 63% | 1075 | 27 | 36 | 27 | 10 |
| Tamil Nadu | 62% | 2859 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 30 |
| Chattisgarh | 57% | 528 | 43 | 14 | 0 | 43 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 55% | 1082 | 22 | 33 | 12 | 33 |
| Maharahstra | 55% | 3379 | 29 | 26 | 18 | 27 |
| Anddhra Pradesh | 50% | 1100 | 30 | 20 | 30 | 20 |
| Uttarakhand | 50% | 546 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 0 |
| Gujarat | 48% | 1226 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 30 |
| Delhi | 46% | 4317 | 25 | 21 | 19 | 35 |
| Goa | 46% | 525 | 0 | 20 | 40 | 40 |
| West Bengal | 46% | 1198 | 36 | 10 | 18 | 36 |
| Haryana | 44% | 2882 | 22 | 22 | 26 | 30 |
| Odisha | 40% | 563 | 20 | 20 | 13 | 47 |
| Kerela | 10% | 1089 | 10 | 0 | 50 | 40 |
It is map-based depiction highlighting the state-wise breakup of corruption levels in the Indian state:
It is another map-based depiction highlighting the state-wise breakup, highlighting the major areas in value terms in the Indian States:
You can read the whole report:India Corruption Survey 2019 Report
