India ranks 78 out of 180 countries in the “Corruption Perceptions Index 2018” prepared by global watchdog Transparency International. Not only has it held the economy back from reaching new heights, but rampant corruption has stunted the country’s development.

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Corruption is a result of both politico-administrative issue as well as an issue of ignorance of the citizens. The basic causes of corruption are:

• Lack of Political will: Many politicians owe their careers and status to corruption and few of them, if any, will take a stand against it, either for fear of upsetting their own careers or the political status quo generally.
• Use of black money in elections: According to various studies, a Lok Sabha election candidate ends up spending at least 30 Cr. as against the legal limit of only Rs. 70 lakh. In the last 10 year the declared expenditure has increased by more than 400% for the LS elections while 69% of their income came from unknown sources.
• Criminalization of politics: More than 30% of the legislators in the country have pending criminal cases against them. When law breakers become the law makers, rule of law is the first casualty.
• Monopoly of government controlled institutions on certain goods and services delivery. Example: Railways, PDS
• Lack of transparent laws and processes: Complex laws, delayed judicial processes add to the woes.
• Poor salaries to Bureaucrats: low wages in the civil service encourage petty corruption, and the imbalance between the supply of, and demand for, public services likewise creates opportunities for corruption.
• Colonial bureaucracy: The bureaucracy essentially remains colonial in nature characterized by 19th century laws e.g. Police Act 1861, complex rules, wide discretion, secrecy, moral responsibility devoid of legal accountability and the ivory tower attitude
• Failure of education system: The value education has failed miserably in India to inculcate the value of empathy, compassion, integrity, equity etc. in the young generation. The lifestyle changes induced by the globalization have further degraded the moral fabric of the society. The low level of education found in underdeveloped countries maintains citizens in a state of ignorance of their rights, barring them from participating in political life.
• Social discrimination: The poor and marginalized due to their lack of awareness and high dependence on the state become the easy target of exploitation by corrupt officials
• Changes in lifestyle: Increasing shift towards individualization and materialism has led to increased penchant for a luxurious lifestyle. To earn more money people are willing to adopt even the unethical means with no consideration of others.

Way forward:

• Strengthening the institutional and legislative framework including the Prevention of Corruption Act, an independent Central Vigilance Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Judges (Inquiry) Act, the Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta Act 2013, Whistle Blowers Protection Act 2011, Prevention of Money /Laundering Act, Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act which cover a number of areas of criminalization and bribery.
• Accurate, publicly available information is essential. Example: Implementation of Right to Information Act in its true letter and spirit.
• E-governance initiatives: e-gov apart from advancing the good governance objectives of accountability and transparency also seeks to reduce the manual interface between state and citizen thus preventing the incidences of bribery.
• Citizen Charters and Public Service delivery and Grievance Redress Acts in states: Many states like Karnataka (SAKALA initiative) and Rajasthan have enacted such acts to make bureaucracy legally accountable for delivering quality service within stipulate time periods. Bihar is the only state to have a Grievance Redress Act covering all departments.
• Electoral reforms: Banning the cash donation to political party and imposing limits on the overall expenditure of the political parties. Empowering ECI by giving legal force to MCC and making paid news a criminal offence
• Bottom-up coalitions work, and work better than individual resistance. Example: Anna Hazare movement – India against Corruption.
• Social sanctions and economic incentives work better than legal action. Example: Rewarding those who report corruption.