MY VISION: CORRUPTION FREE INDIA
Corruption is like a cancer in public life, which has not become to rampant and perpetuated
overnight, but in due course of time. The word corruption means destruction, ruining or spoiling a
society or nation. A corrupt society is characterized by immorality and lack of fear or respect for
the law. It is the abuse of public power for private gain. Corruption comes under many different
guises like bribery, extortion, fraud, embezzlement. misappropriations of public goods, nepotism
(favoring family members for jobs and contracts) cronyism and influence pending. However like a
elephant, even though it may be difficult to describe, it is generally not difficult to recognize when
observed. Unfortunately, the behaviour is often difficult to observe directly because, typically acts
of corruption do not take place in broad day light. According to Oxford Dictionary perversion
of destruction of integrity in discharge of public duties by bribery or favour is called
corruption. The webster's Dictionary defines corruption as inducement to wrong by improper
or unlawful means as bribery. The most popular and simplest definition of corruption is given by
the world bank. According to this definition corruption is that it is the abuse of public power for
private benefit . From this definition it should not be concluded that corruption cannot exist
within private sector activities. Especially in large private enterprises, this phenomenon clearly
exists, as for example in procurement or even in hiring.
India has been ranked 79th out of 176 countries in the recently released Corruption Perception
Index (CPI) for the year 2016 by the Berlin-based corruption watchdog Transparency International
(TI).Corruption has taken the role of a pervasive aspect of Indian Politics and Bureaucracy. The
economy of India was under socialist policies for an entire generation from the 1950s until the
1980s. The economy was shackled by extensive regulation protectionism and public ownership,
leading to pervasive corruption and slow growth. Since 1991, economic liberalization in India has
reduced red type and bureaucracy, supported the transition towards a market economy and
transformed the economy with high growth rate. However, although the Indian economy has
become the 4th largest in the world, the growth has been uneven across social and economic
groups and poverty is still on issue. Endemic and deep rooted corruption is a major factor for most
social and political ills. It is a serious threat not just to sustainable economic growth, but also to the
sociopolitical fabric of the country. In Indian civilization, corruption have caused maximum
suffering to the humankind. In ancient Indian history the great Indian philosopher Kautilya says
just as it is not possible, not to taste honey or poison put on the surface of the tongue, so it is not
possible for the government servant dealing with money not to taste it in however small a
quantity. On the difficulties of corruption detection Kautilya says just as a fish moving under
water cannot possibly be found out either as drinking or not drinking water, so government servant
employed in the government works cannot be found out taking money. Corruption In India:
Nature, Causes, Consequences And Cure www.iosrjournals.org 21 | Page After the independence
corruption is widespread in Indian bureaucratic and political system fill lust small point to apex.
According to an international report, the much amount of Indian black money deposited in Tax
Heaven Foreign banks, if which is come out in India. Then the annual budget of India can be made
without tax lies to next 30 years. It is surmisal that the is how much widespread in present India
after independence probably that high profile scandal was the jeep scam in 1948, when jeeps were
required for the army operation in Kashmir. Other notable scandals includes the Mudgal case
(1951), Mundra case (1957 58), Malviya Sirajuddin Scandal (1963). The governing climate in
those days can be gauged from the many observations . A.D. Gorwala committee, set up to suggest
ways to improve the system of governance. The Santhanam committee (1962) examine the
problem of corruption observed in 1964 that there is widespread impression that failure of
integrity is not uncommon among ministers and that some ministers, who have held office during
the last sixteen years have enriched themselves illegitimately, obtained good jobs for their sons and
relations through nepotism and have reaped other advantages inconsistent with any notion of purity
in public life. In later years corruption will be gradually widespread in Indian society and no
effective measures have yet been installed that curb the menace. The lokpal bill could not be
passed in last decades, it speaks for the utter lack of political will in the country. In recent years so
many major scandals involving high level public officials have shaken the Indian public services.
These scandals suggests corruption has become a pervasive aspect of Indian political and
bureaucratic system.
Some of them major scams are following
1 Coal Allotment Scam (Cost 186000 Crores)
2 2 G Spectrum Scam (Cost 176000 Crores)
3 Commonwealth Games (CWG) Scam (Cost 70000 Crores)
4 Mega black money laundering Scam (Cost 70000 Crores)
5 Adarsh Housing Scam (Cost 18978 Crores)
6 Stamp Paper Scam (Cost 20000 Crores)
7 Boforce Scam (Cost 400 Million)
8 Fodder Scam (Cost 950 Crores)
9 Hawala Scam (Cost 8000 Crores)
10 Satyam Scam (Cost 14000 Crores)
11 Stock Market Scam (Cost 3500 Crores)
12 Madhu Koda Scam (Cost 4000 Crores)
Under the Indian constitution, the government consists of three branches : the legislative, the
executive and the judiciary with clear mandate for independent functioning of each branch. For the
good governance it is compulsory that each of these units must function with integrity and efficiency.
The legislators are elected representatives of the peoples and responsible for making laws. The
executive branch consisting of ministers, bureaucrats and whole government machinery, which is
responsible for the implementation of laws made up by legislative assemblies. The judiciary, acts as
an impartial watchdog to see if the people are governed as per the law. It lakes the power to frame
any law, it can only interpret the laws passed by the law makers under the constitutional framework
and give its verdicts. But when corruption invades, governance begins to degrade implying loss of
integrity and efficiency both. Now a days corruption is widespread in every segment of Indian
government system and politics. The behaviour of India legislators both at the union and in the state
leaves a lot to be desired. Every time they act motivated by personal gain. Corruption in the
assemblies as seen from this perspective implies floor crossing, case for vote taking money or other
benefits to ask questions, framing rules under the influence of big corporate houses at the cost of
common people. Criminalization of politics is yet another fact of corruption in the current parliament.
These are over a quarter MPs with criminal records. Many with serious charges against them. It also
highlights an area where electoral reforms is urgently needed so that criminals don't enter in the
parliament or state assemblies. In the executive branch, ministers are placed at top of the hierarchy.
They are responsible for the making policies for the public because the public trust on them and
elected by votes to making government. In recent analysis we seen that the level of corruption in
ministers is highest. 2 G spectrum scam, coal allotment scam, commonwealth games scam, fodder
scam etc. are the best examples of it. In Indian parliamentary system, the responsibility of execution
of the policies making by government at ground level is taking hand over to the bureaucracy. But the
report card of the Indian bureaucracy is also not very flattering. Bureaucratic corruption in India
thrives on red tape, complicated procedures and discretionary power. Governance in India is
characterized by the lack of transparency in rules. Complicated procedures and a bureaucracy that
enjoys broad discretionary power. According to a recent analysis of reports of bribery demands
Corruption In India: Nature, Causes, Consequences And Cure www.iosrjournals.org 22 | Page in
India conducted by trace international was published in January 2009, 90% demand for bribe came
from government officials of which over 65% for avoiding harassment, 50% bribery was for timely
delivery of services to which the individuals were already entitled, about 10% were meant to provide
any advantage. Bureaucratic corruption pervades the Indian administration system with widespread
practices of bribery, nepotism and misuse of official positions and resources. Independence of the
judiciary is guaranteed by constitution of India. But corruption is also rampant in Indian courts.
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 procedure, all of which exacerbated
by a preponderance of new laws. Almost 3% respondents in India consider the judiciary to be
corrupt. Causes Of Corruption In India :- Corruption is a global phenomenon and it is omnipotent. It
has progressively increased and is now rampant in our society. Corruption in India has wings, not
wheels. As the nation grows, the corrupt also grow to invent new methods of cheating the
government and public. The cause of corruption are many and complex. The following are some
other causes of corruption :- Emergence of a political elite which believes in interest oriented rather
than nation oriented programmes and policies. Artificial scarcity created by people with malevolent
intention wrecks the fabrics of the economy. Corruption is caused as well as increased because of
the change in the value system and ethical qualities of men who administer. The old ideals of
morality, services and honesty are regarded as anachronistic. Tolerance of people towards corruption,
complete lack of intense public outcry against corruption and the absence of a strong public forum
to oppose corruption allow corruption to reign our people. Vast size of population coupled with
widespread illiteracy and the poor economic infrastructure lead to endemic corruption in public life.
In a highly inflationary economy, low salaries of government officials compel them to resort to
corruption. Graduates from Indian institutes of management with no experience draw a far handsome
salary than what government secretaries draw. Complex laws and procedures deter common people
from seeking help from the government. Elution time is a time when corruption is at its peak. Big
industrialists fund politicians to meet high cost of election and ultimately to seek personal favour.
Bribery to politicians buys influences and bribery by politicians buys votes. In order to get elected,
politicians bribe poor, illiterate people. Consequence Of Corruption:- Corruption is as much a moral
as a development issues. It can distort entire decision making processes on investment project and
other commercial transactions, and the very social and political fabric of societies. In India corruption
is like a cancer for society. It is destroying Indian economic, democratic and political system.
Corruption reduces public revenue and increases public spending. It thus, contributes to larger fiscal
deficits, making it more difficult for the government to run a sound fiscal policy. Corruption is likely
to increase income inequality because it allows well positioned individuals to take advantage of the
government activity at the cost of the rest of the population. Corruption distorts markets and the
allocation of resources because it reduces the ability of the government to impose necessary
regulatory controls and inspection to correct for market failures. It acts as an arbitrary tax and reduces
the fundamental role of the government, legitimacy of the market economy and increase poverty.
India is the largest democratic country of the world. According to the fundamental corrupt of
democracy Indian constitution provides that no taxation can be charged without permission of
legislature. The money yield by the taxation process is the precious wealth of public. But black
money is generated through corruption. It black money is like oxygen for the corruption. According
to an international report the much more amount of black money deposited in the foreign banks. If it
money will be taken reverse in India than all the foreign debt can be removed and after the much will
be keep out that about 20000/- rupees gain by every Indian or if all the black money will be taken
reverse than the budget of India can be make without any tax for next 30 years. This black money are
destroying our democratic system. Politically, corruption increase injustice and disregard for rule or
law. Basic human right and freedom comes under threat. as key judicial decisions are based on the
extent of corrupt bribes given to court officials rather than on the innocence or guilt of the parties
concerned. Police investigations and arrests may be based on Corruption In India: Nature, Causes,
Consequences And Cure www.iosrjournals.org 23 | Page political victimization or personal vendettas
rather than on solid legal grounds. Commenting on the socio political consequence of corruption the
supreme court of India observed that corruption in a civilized society was a disease like cancer. If not
detected in time it was sure to turn the polity malignant leading to disastrous consequences.
Remedial Measures (Cure) To Combat Corruption :- Corruption is a cancer, which every Indian must
strike to cure. Many new leaders declare their determination to eradicate corruption but soon they
themselves become corrupt and start amassing huge wealth. Many people become materialistic and
money oriented, there is no importance of ethics and morals in business dealing. This is because these
kinds of people have no moral accountability to anybody or about society or nation. There are many
myths about corruption which have to be exploded if we really want to combat it :- Public awareness
is must to combat corruption in India, for this it should be must to improve our education system
because education is the best mean to understand fundamental rights and Right Wrong
conversation. Corruption can be remed if people can understand and start to believe the value of
ethics and morality in their life. People will start to believe that their life is accountable if they really
start to believe in God, in oneness of God and if they really start to live life on the way which God
has chosen for mankind. 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 an independent commission or authority in each area of
public interest. The decision of the commission or authority should be challenged 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 and
inexpensive justice so that cases dont linger in courts for years and justice is delivered on time. Local
bodies, independent of the government, like Lok pals, Lok adalats and vigilance commissions should
be formed to provide speedy justice with low expenses. The Strongest lokpal is must to remed
corruption in India. With the help of the Right to Information Act, citizens should be empowered to
ask for information related to public services, etc. and this information should be made available to
general public as and when required. Such stringent actions against corrupt officials will certainly
have a deterrent impact.
Conclusion There is a much better grasp today of the extent to which corruption is a symptom of
fundamental institutional weaknesses in Indian society. Instead of tackling such a symptom with
narrow intervention designed to eliminate it, it is increasingly understood that the approach ought
to address a broad set of fundamental institutional determinants. However, the challenge of
integrating this understanding with participatory process has barely begun. The implementation of
institutional reforms can benefit significantly from the participatory process that is being developed
for anti-corruption activities. Equally important, any participatory process, however sophisticated,
ought to lead to concrete results beyond enhanced participation and heightened awareness. Thus,
identifying key institutional reforms in India, and mobilising support for such reforms, needs to be
fully integrated into the participatory process from very early on. Such early convergence is likely to
promote a better balance between prevention and enforcement measures in addressing corruption.
Until recently, the pendulum was firmly in the enforcement corner. The gradual swing towards the
middle ground has taken place due to recognition of the limitations to expose legalistic enforcement
measures, since the law institutions themselves are currently part of the corruption problem in India.
Therefore, corruption is an intractable problem in India; it is like diabetes, which 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 some of the important prescriptions to combat
corruption.
