Global Surveys Reveal Rampant Corruption in India
Global Surveys Reveal Rampant Corruption in India
It is being observed that corruption has increased manifold under the government of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
By Rakesh Raman
As corruption is increasing rapidly in all parts of India, global anti-corruption organization Transparency International has given India a dismal score of 40 and put the country at No. 86 in its latest survey.
The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on January 28 by Transparency International ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives. It uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
According to the Transparency survey, India’s score of 40 out of 100 is below the average score of 45 in the Asia Pacific region.
Similarly, the Global Corruption Index (GCI) 2020 has given India a score of 51.93 out of 100 and ranked it at 100th position. The GCI reveals that both direct corruption measures, i.e., the indicator of corruption perception and that of bribery experience in recent transactions, indicate significant corruption risks in India.
The GCI results also reveal that the criminal justice system in India is much more exposed than the civil one to corruption risks with a score of 63.40 against 54.99.
Covering 198 countries and territories, the GCI provides an overview of the state of corruption around the world based on 28 variables. Country results are presented on a 0-100 scale, where 0 corresponds to the lowest risk and 100 corresponds to the highest risk. Its results display the corruption risk exposure deriving from both the public and private sectors.
CORRUPTION UNDER MODI GOVT
It is being observed that corruption has increased manifold under the government of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi. But Modi has done nothing to stop corruption and he has done everything to encourage corruption.
In fact, Modi himself is embroiled in a number of corruption cases, including the Rafale deal, secretly floated PM-CARES Fund, Sahara-Birla payoff case, and a number of other cases in which his party colleagues are involved.
Apart from bureaucratic and political corruption, now there are also reports of judicial corruption under Modi’s regime, and corruption is the main cause of socio-economic meltdown and increasing unrest in India.
As the focus of the Modi government is on encouraging corruption and ignoring governance, global research reveals that India has almost lost its status of democracy and it has become an autocratic country under Modi.
Political and bureaucratic corruption is the main cause of poverty, pollution, sickness, and hunger in India. The political corruption is so extreme that it is difficult to measure it. However, estimates exist for bureaucratic corruption in the country.
In the book ‘Corruption in India: The DNA and the RNA’ authored by Professor Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari, it is said that the public officials in India may be cornering as much as Rs. 92,122 crore ($18.42 billion), or 1.26% of the GDP, through corruption.
The book estimates that corruption is increasing in India by over 100% annually, and most bribery is accrued from the transport industry, real estate, and other public services.
BUREAUCRATIC AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION
In 2019, the bureaucratic corruption in India through bribery, policy distortion, delinquency, process violation, red-tapism, tax terrorism, etc. is estimated to be $100 billion. The ill-gotten money with Indian politicians is believed to be in excess of $1 trillion.
Data reveals that many of the biggest scandals since 2010 have involved high level government officials and top politicians. These include the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam (US$10 billion), unresolved Rafale scam (US$4 billion), the Adarsh Housing Society scam, the Coal Mining scam (US$27 billion), the Mining Scandal in Karnataka, and the Cash for Vote scams.
According to a new research report, Exporting Corruption, released in October 2020 by Transparency International, India has come in the list of top corruption exporting countries, under Modi’s rule.
In his political rhetoric that has no basis, Modi often claims that India is among those few countries where technology is being used more and more to prevent corruption. But it is a blatant lie while Modi is known for telling lies effortlessly.
In fact, today no anti-corruption agency is operational in India. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), anti-corruption ombudsman organizations Lokpal and the Lokayukta, state vigilance departments, and the Economic Offences Wings (EOWs) of police are not working properly.
The officials in these so-called anti-corruption outfits are apparently complicit in most corruption cases. Instead of taking action against the corrupt officials or politicians, they protect them or simply ignore the cases.
Moreover, these departments are full of unskilled investigating officers who lack communication skills and do not understand various aspects of white-collar financial crimes. Obviously, when Modi says his government is fighting against corruption, he is lying and downplaying the disastrous impact of corruption in India.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
