Corruption

The word corrupt (Middle English, from Latin corruptus, past participle of corrumpere, to
destroy : com-, intensive pref. and rumpere, to break) when used as an adjective literally means
"utterly broken". In modern English usage the words corruption and corrupt have many
meanings.
“Corruption is Social Evil” “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Corruption is the abuse of public office (with its associated resources and power) for private gain
or for the benefit of a group to which one owes allegiance or the misuse of one’s own authority”
It is not easy to define corruption. But in a narrow sense, corruption is mostly concerned with
‘bribery’ and it takes several forms. Corruption is a global phenomenon and it is omnipresent.
Corruption has progressively increased and is now rampant in our society.
In its simplest sense, corruption may be defined as an act of bribery or misuse of public position
or power for the fulfillment of selfish motives or to gain personal gratifications. It has also been
defined as "Misuse of authority as a result of consideration of personal gain which need not be
monetary".

It is a term known to all of us precisely meaning an illegal, immoral or unauthorized act done in
due course of employment. But literally it means “Inducement (as of a public official) by
improper means (as bribery) to violate duty (as by committing a felony)".
Corruption is a termite in every system. Once it enters the system, it goes on increasing. Today it
is rampant and has gradually become routine. Worldwide, bribery alone is estimated to involve
over 1 trillion US dollars annually.

• Political corruption, the abuse of public power, office, or resources by government

officials or employees for personal gain, e.g. by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes[2]
• Police corruption, a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial
benefits, other personal gain, and/or career advancement for a police officer or officers in
exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest
• Corporate corruption, corporate criminality and the abuse of power by corporation
officials, either internally or externally, including the fact that police obstruct justice.
• Corruption (philosophical concept), often refers to spiritual or moral impurity, or deviation
from an ideal
• Corruption Perceptions Index, published yearly by Transparency International
• Putrefaction, the natural process of decomposition in the human and animal body
following death
• Data corruption, an unintended change to data in storage or in transit
• Linguistic corruption, the change in meaning to a language or a text introduced by
cumulative errors in transcription as changes in the language speakers' comprehension
• Bribery in politics, business, or sport
• Rule of law, governmental corruption of judiciary, includes governmental spending on the
courts, which is completely financially controlled by the executive in many transitional
and developing countries

In recent Centuries India has earned a place among the THREE most corrupt countries in the
world. Corruption in India is a consequence of the nexus between Bureaucracy, politics and
criminals. India is now no longer considered a soft state. It has now become a consideration state
where everything can be had for a consideration. Today, the number of ministers with an honest
image can be counted on fingers. At one time, bribe was paid for getting wrong things done but
now bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time.
It is well established that politicians are extremely corrupt the world over. In fact, people are
surprised to find an honest politician. These corrupt politicians go scot-free, unharmed and
unpunished. Leaders like Lal Bahadur Shastri or Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel are a rare breed now
who had very little bank balance at the time of death. The list of scams and scandals in the
country is endless. Now Recently Before Start 2010 Commen Wealth Games Corruption is
playing major role with commen wealth games. The Bofors payoff scandal of 1986 involved a
total amount of Rs 1750 crore in purchase of guns from a Swedish firm for the Army. The
Cement scandal of 1982 involved the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, the Sugar Scandal of 1994
involved a Union Minister of State for food, the Urea Scam and of course no one can forget
Hawala Scandal of 1991, the Coffin-gate, fodder scam in Bihar or the Stamp scandal which
shocked not only the political arena but the entire society.
Is it possible to contain corruption in our society?...
National scenario
Corruption in India is a consequence of the nexus between Bureaucracy, politics and criminals.
India is now no longer considered a soft state. It has now become a consideration state where
everything can be had for a consideration. Today, the number of ministers with an honest image
can be counted on fingers. At one time, bribe was paid for getting wrong things done but now
bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time.
Effects of corruption
Indian administration is tainted with scandals. India is among 55 of the 106 countries where
corruption is rampant, according to the Corruption Perception Index 2004 Report released by
Transparency International India. Corruption in India leads to promotion not prison. It is very
difficult to catch ‘big sharks’. Corruption in India has wings not wheels. As nation grows, the
corrupt also grow to invent new methods of cheating the government and public.
Causes of corruption
The causes of corruption are many and complex. Following are some of the causes of corruption.
· Emergence of political elite who believe in interest-oriented rather than nation-oriented
programmes and policies.
· Artificial scarcity created by the people with malevolent intentions wrecks the fabric 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, service and honesty
are regarded as an achronistic.
Typical types of Corruption from the Department
1) Policy Manipulation : The most frequent example quoted by many pertained to the
overnight changes in import duty structures via issuance of SROs during previous
regimes. These Sores were linked with imports of BMW cars, steel items, etc. According
to respondents, many SROs were designed to favour a single industry at the cost of others,
at times even a single firm.
2) Collusion : Most income tax and customs levies are said to be determined with prior
consultation between the two parties concerned. In customs, collusion takes place in mis-
declaration of items imported, their quantities and values. In income tax, the assessment is
manipulated to favour people who pay bribes and extort money from those who do not.
Similarly in sales tax, factories and retailers are let off with lower levies on payments of
money. Many employees are reported to have a monthly payment plan with different
organisations.
3) Extortion : Many respondents were most unhappy with the level of extortion in the tax
administration. It makes sense, as in the case of collusion and policy manipulation the tax
collector and the taxpayer both share in the benefits. However, extortion supposedly
makes it difficult for an honest taxpayer to live with dignity. It forces one to indulge in a
dishonest practice with the sword of future blackmail always dangling. Most of this
extortion is possible because of the immense discretionary powers that the tax officials
have over taxpayers, coupled with very little accountability.
4) Speed money : Speed money seems to be the most common form of corruption in the
whole of tax administration. The system is well understood by all parties and is not even
considered as loophole.
WAYS to Control it ...
Eradication of Corruption
Eradication of corruption should be the nation’s number-one priority in view of the ever-
increasing horizon of political and administrative corruption and its baneful multifarious effects
on the society-at-large. It needs to be understood by all that eradication of corruption is only
possible if strong political commitment exists. Without strong political commitment, bureaucratic
reorientation and a vibrant and effective civil society, checking corruption turns into a very
difficult almost impossible task. In the context of Bangladesh only radical and fundamental policy
measures initiated and strongly backed by a committed political leadership and supported and
implemented by a reoriented bureaucracy and watched and monitored by an organized and vocal
civil society can control corruption.
Given the presence of three crucial variables - committed political leadership, reoriented
bureaucracy and an organized and vocal civil society - other policy measures need to be adopted
to effectively contain as well as control corruption. What is proposed below are a number of long-
term and short-term policy measures placed in wider socio-political and economic contexts to
control corruption.
Transparency in public-sector decision making is totally absent. This absence, in turn, contributes
to corruption. Civil servants by and large value secrecy and are totally unwilling to share
information about decisions with citizens. A number of actions have been recommended to ensure
transparency and thereby considerably empower citizens and consequently contain corruption.
First, the Official Secrets Act of 1923 and Conduct Rules of 1979 should be suitably modified.
Second, a task-force on public-sector transparency should be estabilished with membership from
different professional and occupational groups to suggest measures to enhance transparency.
Third, necessary steps should be taken to make all contract evaluation reports public, thereby
enabling all bidders to see how evaluations are made. Still other steps should be taken to ensure
transparency and reduce corruption.
Fourth, earning and tax payments of all public officials - elected as well as appointed - should be
published each year to enable the people to learn about the assets of public officials.
Fifth, interested citizens must be allowed access to relevant files and documents. For this to
happen the number of files marked secret and top secret should be drastically reduced.
Sixth, civil servants long accustomed to transact public business under the veil of secrecy should
be appropriately trained and indoctrinated to bring about necessary changes in their attitudes and
work habits.
A number of specific policy measures have been recommended to control corruption in
administration.
First, a high-powered task force to be established consisting of public officials, parliamentarians
and leading citizens to review all relevant issues pertaining to corruption and to suggest a
comprehensive eradication programme.
Second, an autonomous standing committee to be formed with judges, senior public officials and
leading citizens to oversee the activities of the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) as well as
authorize investigation in ministries, corporations and other agencies by a statutory appointed and
protected public prosecutor.
Third, salary and benefits of civil servants need to be at par with their counterparts in the private
sector.
Fourth, provision of severe punishment including long stays in jails and confisation of assets and
properties to be instituted for civil servants involved in corruption. Other measures have also been
suggested to counter political and administrative corruption.
Fifth, a code of conduct should be adopted by the parliament to provide guidelines for the
conduct of elected representatives and to take appropriate steps when departures from accepted
norms are detected.
Sixth, elected representatives must be compensated suitably to enable them to devote their
attention only to public welfare and service.
Seventh, enactment of a law to regulate the functioning of law is needed. This law would require
political parties to hold regular organizational elections at different levels; maintain prompt and
systematic accounts and submit audited accounts to either the Election Commission or the
Comptroller and Auditor General; and comply with income tax regulations and guidelines.
Eighth, election expenditure needs to be reduced and closely monitored by a designated body.
Ninth, deregulation and debureaucratisation, bounded discretion in decision making, realignment
of the government’s audit and intelligence are to be encouraged to control corruption.
Tenth, existence of free media so that they can investigate and expose corrupt practices.
Eleventh, voluntary agencies and religious groups as well as other components of civil society
can play significant role in constraining corruption in public delaine.

How can you prevent corruption?

1. Teach morality in homes and schools. That's morality in the larger sense, the concept of
right and wrong. Unfortunately there are many, especially those who gravitate toward
politics, who do not understand the word. Power corrupts, ultimate power corrupts
ultimately.
2. Minimize the power of government. We should insist on politicians who vow to decrease
government size. We must do away with the programs which are impossible to verify.
Government sponsored "entitlement" type programs are a bottomless pit that sucks money.
Corrupt officials find easy ways to siphon off some of the money from those programs.
Entitlement programs are ineffective and offer far too many opportunities for corruption.
"Welfare" type programs are managed far more efficiently by charitable organizations.
Charitable medical programs are far more efficient than a government sponsored health
system.
3. Term Limits for politicians would eliminate the entrenchment and corruption of anyone
who would want to make politics a profession. After being in office for an extended
period, all politicians start looking for supplements to their income. Guess who gets to
pay.
4. Inspectors, administrators and other government employees should never be allowed to
make a decision without the agreement of a second person. Two people should be sent if
there is ever a possibility of corruption or graft. They should never be paired up as
 "partners", but instead they should be randomly assigned to work together for a day.
Departments should offer rewards or bonuses for finding mistakes or evidence of graft.
These are just some quick ideas that didn't require much thought. I'm sure a panel or
committee could figure out some effective and inexpensive ways to decrease corruption.
There has been corruption since the beginning of time and it's not going to go away. The first
poster gave some excellent ideas and that's a good start.
First of all we should realse that corruption prevails in every department whether its
judiciary,ministries or any govt dept.there cant be one solution for all types of corruption.
so in a big step govt should monitor the flow of money.because corruption is mainly done for
earning black money.flow of money should be monitored through a committe having members
from all different departments.govt should receive all the documents staring from its allocation to
its distribution.
Govt should stregthen the laws related to corruption.those who are involved must be punished and
if in any case any politician is found involved in any scam like 2G spectrum,Adarsh society scam
etc then he should be banned from entering in to politics.but this should be based on the
recommendation of a advisory committe.
In case of govt dept's officials should be suspended from their job up to the inquiry report.then
appropriate action should be taken against them.
More over parents and teachers are the responsible persons for their child's future.they can teach
moral behaviour right from childhood.

Anti-corruption efforts

Right to information act

The Right to Information Act (2005) and equivalent acts in the states, that require government
officials to furnish information requested by citizens or face punitive action, computerisation of
services and various central and state government acts that established vigilance commissions
have considerably reduced corruption or at least have opened up avenues to redress grievances.
The 2006 report by Transparency International puts India at the 70th place and states that
significant improvements were made by India in reducing corruption.

Ombudsmen

The LokAyukta is an anti-government corruption organization in the Indian states. These

institutions are based on the Ombudsman in Scandinavian countries. An amendment to the
Constitution has been proposed to implement the Lokayukta uniformly across Indian States as a
three-member body, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or high court chief justice, and
comprise of the state vigilance commissioner and a jurist or an eminent administrator as other
members

Computerization

• Bhoomi is a project jointly funded by the Government of India and the Karnataka local
government to digitize the paper land records and create a software mechanism to control
changes to the land registry in Karnataka. The project was designed to eliminate the long-
standing problem of inefficiency and corruption.
• Introduction of smart cards for vehicle registration and drivers licenses by Karnataka
Regional Transport Organization.
• Enforcement automation of traffic violations by Bangalore Traffic Police.
Whistleblowers

Whistleblowers play a major role in the fight against corruption. India currently does not have a
law to protect whistleblowers, which was highlighted by the assassination of Satyendra Dubey.

Creation of Anti-Corruption Police and Courts

Some have called for the Central Government to create an anti-theft law enforcement agency that
investigates and prosecutes corruption at all levels of government, including state and local level.
Special courts that are more efficient than the traditional Indian courts with traveling judges and
law enforcement agents are being proposed. The proposal has not yet been acted upon by the
Indian government. Certain states such as Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh Anti-corruption
Bureau) and Karnataka (Lokayukta) have similar agencies and courts. The creation of a central
agency with specialized courts with broad powers, however, is likely to have greater impact in
curbing corruption at all levels.

Private sector initiatives

Several new initiatives have come up in the private sector to raise awareness about Corruption
related issues and to build anti-corruption platforms. http://5thpillar.org is one such organization
that is promoting the use of Zero Rupee Notes to fight corruption by shaming the officials who
ask for bribe. Another popular initiative Jaago Re! One Billion Votes from Tata Tea has now
changed its focus from voter registration to fighting corruption. nobribe.org is another platform
for corruption free India and advocates the use of direct and regular measurement of corruption to
force the hands of the leadership into dealing with corruption related issues.