Context: India’s ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI-2020) has slipped from 80 to 86 compared to the year 2019.

Key highlights

• India’s rank is 86 out of 180 nations with a score of 40. “India was ranked at 80th position out of 180 countries in 2019. The CPI score for India is constant this year as well as the previous year’s score,”
• This year, New Zealand and Denmark were ranked at first position with scores of 88. Somalia and South Sudan were ranked lowest at 179th position with scores of 12.
• South Sudan and Somalia were at the bottom of the global ranking, with scores of 12 each.

About the Index

• The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

Asia Specific Region Performance

• As per the CPI 2020 report, key economies in Asia like India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh with scores of 40, 37 and 36 respectively experienced slow progress in anti-corruption efforts.
• 45 is the average score in the Asia-Pacific region which encloses 31 countries. India scored lower than China which is at 78 ranks with a score of 42. India's score of 40 is below both the global average and the Asia-Pacific average.
• With a score of 31, India's neighbour Pakistan ranked at 124. Other top-scoring nations include Singapore with a score of 85, Australia with 77 and Hong Kong also with 77.

Corruption and COVID-19

• The CPI 2020 report noted the menace of corruption is highly pervasive in countries that least equipped to tackle COVID-19 crisis. 
• “COVID-19 is not just a health and economic crisis. It is a corruption crisis. And one that we are currently failing to manage. 
• The past year has tested governments like no other in memory, and those with higher levels of corruption have been less able to meet the challenge,”.
• The latest edition of CPI highlighted the impact of corruption on government responses to COVID-19, comparing countries’ performance in the index to their investment in health care and the extent to which democratic norms and institutions have been weakened during the pandemic.

Recommendation by CPI 2020

• Strengthen Oversight Institutions: To ensure resources reach those most in need and are not subject to theft by the corrupt, anti-corruption authorities and oversight institutions must have sufficient funds, resources, and independence to perform their duties.
• Ensure Open and Transparent Contracting: Contracting processes must remain open and transparent to combat wrongdoing, identify conflicts of interest and ensure fair pricing.
• Defend democracy, promote civic space: To defend civic space, civil society groups and the media must have the enabling conditions to hold governments accountable.
• Publish relevant data, guarantee access: The publication of disaggregated data on spending and distribution of resources is particularly relevant in emergency situations, to ensure fair and equitable policy responses.

About The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)

• It is an index published annually by Berlin-based Transparency International since 1995 which ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys."
• The CPI generally defines corruption as "the misuse of public power for private benefit".