What is Corruption? The word corruption means the destruction, ruining or the spoiling of a society or a nation.

A corrupt society stops valuing integrity, virtue or moral principles. It changes for the worse. Such a society begins to decay and sets itself on the road to self destruction. Corruption is an age old phenomena. Selfishness and greed are the two main causes of corruption. Political corruption is the abuse of their powers by state officials for their unlawful private gain. Over 1500 years ago the mighty Roman Empire disintegrated when its rulers became corrupt and selfish. Nations having a tyrannical powerful ruling elite that refuses to punish the corrupt within it, face the menace of corruption. A corrupt society is characterized by immorality and lack of fear and respect for the law.

Corruption cannot be divorced from economics. Inequality of wealth, low wages and salaries are some of the economic causes of corruption. Employees often strike corrupt deals to supplement their meager incomes. A licencepermit regime or scarcity of basic commodities promotes corruption. In societies where traditional, religious, ethical teaching and standards of morality are weak, corruption often thrives. These values should be revived among their congregations and subjects and in this effort religious leaders and chiefs have an important role to play. Of late, the media has carried out a large number of stories of prophets who misuse offerings and traditional healers who abuse their patients.

The judiciary, the law enforcement agencies and the education sector have an important role to play to fight corruption by changing the prevailing laws, punishments and the education system. Corruption has prevailed in all forms of government. Various forms of corruption include extortion, graft, bribery, cronyism, nepotism, embezzlement and patronage. Corruption allows criminal activities such as money laundering, extortion and drug trafficking to thrive. Corruption in several forms prevails all over the world with bribery alone crossing one trillion US dollars annually. A state of unchecked political corruption is known as kleptocacy, which literally means rule by thieves. At times, bribes are given to avoid punishment. For some people, being corrupt is a way to get what they desire. In societies which ignore corruption, it becomes a way of life. People getting very low wages feel they have to demand bribes in order to lead decent lives. But they do not realize that corruption causes suffering to others. The consequences of corruption for social and economic development are bad. Corruption hinders economic growth and deters investment. The impact of development assistance is reduced and natural resources are overexploited causing further harm to a countrys environmental assets. Resources are diverted from sectors such as education and health to less important sectors or personal enrichment. The rule of law is eroded and the people no longer respect or trust the state. A few people manage to get rich at the expense of society as a whole, while the poor suffer terribly. In the long run unchecked corruption pushes more and more people into poverty which often destabilizes a society. Societies can fight corruption by letting the state know that they have had enough of it.The authorities move very quickly when the

press or the television highlights instances of corruption. Education spreads political and social awareness and these are some factors that help curb the menace of corruption There is an old axiom often applied to those with political ambitions: Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. In this case, the term corruption means the abuse of a public office for personal gain or other illegal or immoral benefit. Political corruption is a recognized criminal offense, along with bribery, extortion, and embezzlement three illegal acts often associated with corruption in office. Some forms of corruption may escape legal notice, such as the hiring of relatives for key positions, but they may not escape the scrutiny of voters on Election Day. Whenever a person accepts a political appointment or wins election to an office, he or she must take an oath to uphold the public trust. While this may sound noble on paper, enforcement of this oath can prove problematic. Very few political candidates successfully reach office without making a few promises along the way. Many of these campaign promises are harmless, such as sponsoring a bill or lobbying for more funding for schools. Other promises, however, may come closer to crossing an ethical line, such as hiring relatives or awarding government contracts to influential contributors. Political corruption has been a fact of life for thousands of years, beginning with the first attempts at a democratic form of government in ancient Greece and Rome. Almost all of these countries' political representatives were from the wealthier class, which inevitably led to a division between the influential haves and the virtually powerless have-nots. The seeds of political corruption were planted as soon as the senators and other political leaders realized that power and wealth could be equals. Political corruption often begins with favoritism towards those with wealth and influence. In the modern sense of the term, political corruption is a cancer on the integrity of a governmental body. Very few public officials begin their careers with the intention of becoming corrupt, but some succumb to a sinister form of peer pressure over time. Being placed in a position of significant political power can be overwhelming, and the temptation to bend or break rules for a perceived 'greater good' is always present.

There are a few experienced politicians, however, for whom political corruption is a natural state of being. History is filled with examples of corrupt public officials, such as New York City'sBoss Tweed and his political cronies at Tammany Hall during the late 19th century. Charges ranging from bribery and graft to nepotism, racketeering and fraud were all leveled at Tweed's administration, but it was Tweed's skills in political corruption that kept law enforcement at bay for years. A number of judges and law enforcement officers were already on Boss Tweed's secret payroll. Political corruption may always remain a concern for democratic governments, but there are a number of independent checks and balances that can root out corruption before it affects the integrity of the political body as a whole. 1. How do you define corruption? Transparency International (TI) has chosen a clear and focused definition of the term: Corruption is operationally defined as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain. TI further differentiates between "according to rule" corruption and "against the rule" corruption. Facilitation payments, where a bribe is paid to receive preferential treatment for something that the bribe receiver is required to do by law, constitute the former. The latter, on the other hand, is a bribe paid to obtain services the bribe receiver is prohibited from providing. 2. What is "transparency"? "Transparency" can be defined as a principle that allows those affected by administrative decisions, business transactions or charitable work to know not only the basic facts and figures but also the mechanisms and processes. It is the duty of civil servants, managers and trustees to act visibly, predictably and understandably. 3. What does TI do against corruption? TI has been dedicated to the fight against corruption since its foundation in 1993. The basic principles of TI's anti-corruption struggle have been defined from the start: coalition building, proceeding incrementally, and remaining nonconfrontational. What does this mean?TI believes

that keeping corruption in check is only feasible if representatives from government, business and civil society work together and agree on a set of standards and procedures they all support. TI also believes that corruption cannot be rooted out in one big sweep. Rather, fighting it is a step-by-step, project-by-project process. Finally, TI's nonconfrontational approach is necessary to get all relevant parties to the table.It is TI's goal to define and introduce strategies and mechanisms that make corrupt practices if not impossible, at least unlikely and punishable, both on the national as well as on the international level. Raising public awareness of the problem, stressing that corruption is a problem that can be tackled and that it is not a given fact of life, is the first step in this direction. That is why TI has begun by collecting, analysing and distributing information on the subject. The anti-corruption strategies and tools subsequently developed are described in detail in the Source Book, complemented by an extensive collection of practical examples for their application. The Source Book is available online as well as in print. A collection of civil society experiences and emerging strategies in countering corruption are also available in the Corruption Fighters' Tool Kit, available both on the web and in CD-ROM format. More than 80 national chapters (NCs) are working on strengthening integrity and transparency in their respective countries and regions. The Berlin-based secretariat (TI-S) supports the national chapters in their work and presses international bodies such as the OECD and OAS to draft international anticorruption legislation. TI then monitors the implementation of the legislation on a country-bycountry basis. TI activities around the world and in the Secretariat can be divided into awareness raising, information management, monitoring of the public and private sector, campaigning work for anti-corruption legislation, and project work.

4. What are the costs of corruption? The cost of corruption is four-fold: political, economic, social, and environmental.On the political front, corruption constitutes a major obstacle to democracy and the rule of law. In a democratic system, offices and institutions lose their legitimacy when they are misused for private advantage. Though this is harmful in the established democracies, it is even more so in newly emerging ones. Accountable political leadership can not develop in a corrupt climate.Economically, corruption leads to the depletion of national wealth. It is often responsible for the funnelling of scarce public resources to uneconomic high-profile projects, such as dams, power plants, pipelines and refineries, at the expense of less spectacular but more necessary infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and roads, or the supply of power and water to rural areas. Furthermore, it hinders the development of fair market structures and distorts competition, thereby deterring investment.The effect of corruption on the social fabric of society is the most damaging of all. It undermines people's trust in the political system, in its institutions and its leadership. Frustration and general apathy among a disillusioned public result in a weak civil society. That in turn clears the way for despots as well as democratically elected yet unscrupulous leaders to turn national assets into personal wealth. Demanding and paying bribes become the norm. Those unwilling to comply often emigrate, leaving the country drained of its most able and most honest citizens.Environmental degradation is yet another consequence of corrupt systems. The lack of, or non-enforcement of, environmental regulations and legislation has historically allowed the North to export its polluting industry to the South. At the same time, careless exploitation of natural resources, from timber and minerals to elephants, by both domestic and international agents has led to ravaged natural

environments. Environmentally devastating projects are given preference in funding, because they are easy targets for siphoning off public money into private pockets. 5. Can the costs of corruption be quantified? The short answer is "no". Some experts use regression analyses and other empirical methods in order to try to put a dollar figure on the cost of corruption. It is virtually impossible, though, since payments of bribes are not publicly recorded. No one knows exactly how much money is being "invested" in corrupt officials annually. And bribes do not take only monetary form: favours, services, presents and so on are just as common. At most, one can research the correlation between the level of corruption and, say, democratisation, economic development or environmental degradation.The social costs of corruption are even less quantifiable. No one knows how much the loss of an energetic entrepreneur or an acclaimed scientist costs a country. Moreover, any estimated social costs in dollars would be inadequate to the task of measuring the human tragedy behind resignation, illiteracy, or inadequate medical care. A general scepticism vis--vis any attempt at quantifying the costs of corruption is thus warranted.The following example illustrates the dilemma of pressing the issue into facts and figures: A power plant is being built somewhere in the world, at a cost of US$ 100 million. It could be argued that - were it not for corruption - the cost could have been as low as US$ 80 million. The financial damage to the public would then be US$ 20 million. In practice, quite often projects are planned simply so that those involved can make huge private profits. Assuming that the power plant was superfluous, the financial damage would have to be assessed at US$ 100 million. Yet no major construction project leaves the environment untouched. The results may be: increased pollution, a lowering of land prices, resettlement of local

residents, an increased debt burden for the country, etc. This calculation - probably closest to reality - is immensely complex. On a global scale, it seems almost impossible. But even if one were able to calculate the environmental damage, the increase of the debt burden and other factors, how would one measure the erosion of public confidence and the deterioration of a government's legitimacy, which are the direct result of corruption? 6. Where is corruption most prevalent? At a first, indiscriminate glance, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published annually by TI, seems to confirm the stereotypical notion that corruption is predominantly a problem of the South. While the Scandinavian countries come out on top, most of sub-Saharan Africa ranks at the bottom. It would not only be wrong to conclude, however, that - according to theCPI 2001 - Bangladesh is the most corrupt country in the world; it would also be counterproductive. The index is not intended to brand any one country, or to pit the North against the South. Rather, it is a tool to raise public awareness of the problem and promote better governance. Corruption is as much a problem of the North as it is of the South. Recent scandals in Germany, France, Japan, the US or the UK attest to that. It is well-established checks and controls that make the difference in proportion. People are as corrupt as the system allows them to be. It is where temptation meets permissiveness that corruption takes root on a wide scale. Such an environment is more likely in the emerging democracies of the South and East. There, administration and political institutions are still weak and pay scales are generally very low, tempting officials to "supplement" their income. In dictatorial systems, meanwhile, administrative and political institutions are nothing but an extension of the usurper's corrupt practices.The North also carries part of the responsibility for the situation in the South due to its role as the bribe-payer. After all, it is largely

Northern corporate interests that supply the bribe payments. Until recently, governments of the North not only tolerated these corrupt practices, but they even rewarded them with tax deductibility. Fortunately, the 1999 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention has made the bribing of foreign officials a criminal offence. TI has addressed this aspect with its Bribe Payers Index (BPI), the logical complement to the CPI.In addition to the question of the regional pervasiveness of corruption, the issue of corruption by sector is also often raised. The BPI provides some statistical evidence as to which business sectors are most prone to corruption. According to these results, the problem of corruption is particularly prevalent in public works and construction, followed by the arms and defence industry. The sector with the least detected corruption was agriculture. 7. How does corruption affect people's lives? Around the globe, corruption impacts people's lives in a multitude of ways. In the worst cases, corruption costs lives. In countless other cases, it costs their freedom, health, or money. Here are a few examples: In May 2000, 950 people were injured and 22 killed, when a fireworks factory in Enscheda, the Netherlands, burst into flames. The explosion reached such catastrophic levels because government regulators turned a blind eye to grave security breaches with regard to storing explosives on the factory premises. In return for remaining silent, the officials are said to have received free fireworks for years. Even an illegal enlargement of the factory was legalised by the authorities a posteriori. The local government official in charge of monitoring fireworks factories in the area admitted to not knowing the specific regulations on the storage of explosives. Though considered an expert, he hadn't read the relevant literature, nor had he taken part in any training seminars. He only followed the instructions of his superiors, one of whom was arrested on corruption charges two

years ago.A Swiss activist for the rights of the Penan, a nomadic people in the Malaysian rainforest, has been missing since May 2000, after he successfully drew international attention to the problem of the unscrupulous logging of Borneo's woods. Turning rainforest into palm plantations, the logging companies and government officials destroy the habitat of the indigenous rainforest nomads. In addition to threatening the lives of the Penan and those who fight for them, the excessive logging in Borneo contributes to the worldwide problem of deforestation, affecting the earth's climate. The corrupt co-operation between loggers and government also hurts the Malaysian people on the whole, as the money made by logging companies does not flow back into Malaysia's economy. A 1993 study showed that "log exports to Japan were under-declared by as much as 40 percent, thereby reducing the amount of export tax paid to the national treasury". (Sizer, Nigel: Practical Measures for Promoting Integrity and Curbing Corruption in the Forest Sector: A Contribution to the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Intstitute, 1997.)Other examples of the impact of corruption abound: take the residents of shanty towns, who need to pay off city officials so that the little bit of living space they have built does not get torn down; or citizens harassed by police in their daily activities, having to pay left and right only to go about their business. Some bureaucracies only work if they are enticed by additional "rewards". In any case, grand and petty corruption is making life more difficult or outright threatens the lives of many people all over the world. 8. What kind of environment does corruption need to thrive in? As indicated above, corruption thrives where temptation coexists with permissiveness. Where institutional checks on power are missing, where decision making remains obscure, where civil

society is thin on the ground, where great inequalities in the distribution of wealth condemn people to live in poverty, that is where corrupt practices flourish. It cannot be stressed enough that corruption is alive and well even where political, economic, legal and social institutions are well entrenched. For more details on specific conditions, please refer to our Source Book and our Corruption Online (CORIS). 9. Can corruption be seen as normal or traditional in some societies? Critics argue that the fight against corruption is just another case of the West trying to impose its views and values on the South. Some go on to say that gift giving and taking in the public realm is a normal tradition in many non-Western cultures. The debate over cultural relativism and neo-colonialism is a contested one. Where concepts like public procurement procedures are unknown concepts, bribing public officials to secure public works contracts does not exist. Norms and values are context-bound and vary across cultures. Gift-giving is part of negotiating and relationship building in some parts of the world. But cultural relativism ends where the Swiss bank account enters the scene. It is a matter of degree: there are limits in all cultures beyond which an action becomes corrupt and unacceptable. When Olusegun Obasanjo, now President of Nigeria, criticised the corrupt practices of the dictatorial regime of Sani Abach, he was was imprisoned. He once commented that, in African tradition, "a gift is made in the open for all to see, never in secret. Where a gift is excessive, it becomes an embarrassment, and is returned." (Olusegun Bosanko, "Positive Tradition Perverted by Corruption", Financial Times, 14 October 1994)It is precisely in order to account for cultural differences that TI has developed its national chapter system. People anchored in their societies have the best sense of what is customary, and what

is a violation of the norm. Clearly the abuse of power for personal gain, the siphoning off of public or common resources into private pockets is unacceptable in all cultures and societies. 10. Are democracy and corruption (ir)reconcilable? In a modern democracy, the power of governing bodies is inherent in the political mandate given by the people. Power is entrusted and it is supposed to be used for the benefit of society at large, and not for the personal benefit of the individual that holds it. Thus corruption - misusing publicly entrusted power for private gain - is inherently contradictory and irreconcilable with democracy. That does not mean, unfortunately, that corruption cannot be found in democratic systems. Temptation remains a challenge anywhere. That is why it is all the more important to put in place control mechanisms and establish systemic hurdles to prevent people from abusing their power, as TI is seeking to do. Such mechanisms are more easily drawn up and introduced in established democratic systems, however, than in newly democratic or nondemocratic ones What is Corruption and who is Corrupt? Apr 10 2011 | Views 3461 | Comments (17) | Report Abuse Tags: anna hazare ShareThis

There is a lot of talk on corruption. Thesis are being written on how to stop corruption. Rules are being enunciated by some luminaries. Anna hazare's fast unto death had shaken the government. He is being lionised as a national hero, by some. He ought to be. But I reckon he might have been fooled by UPA/CONGRESS with people like Kapil Sibbal, Veerappa Moily, Salman Khursheed and Parnab Mukherjee----they are pastmasters of intrigue, guile and dirty games. It is yet to be seen what would

be the end result of Anna's much hyped campaign against corruption. I feel, like the KASHMIR -IMBROGLIO, most of us do not understand the real problem of corruption. The real problem is that we get emotional while talking of corruption and forget the basic points. Emotions often blind our rational faculties. So is the case of this noise on corruption. The fact is that we were missing the woods for trees. There is no proper definition of corruption in the moral, social, religious and political millieu.There are people who claim that everyone in India was corrupt. Some say that HONESTY belongs to those who do not get opportunity to make money------so there was a noise of cribbers and crying babies , not because of a choice but circumstances. Therefore, the question that bugs my mind is : What is Corruption? Dhirubhai Ambani, was, once, ticked off by a journalist for corrupting the government and bureaucratic machinery. His answer was amusing. He said, " No, it is NOT corruption but management of the environments'. If you really understand this, you would undoubtedly agree with him. How and why? Let me explain. As an average and a normal citizen, you live in a sytem, whether social or political. They have their own environments. To live in such sytems smoothly, one would have to make sure that needs and wants, which complement one's life, are addressed at whatever cost. So, in the bargain, if you have to buy certain services to make yourself comfortable, you might as well do it. To illustrate the point, let me say you have to pay your monthly telephone or electricity bill. There are three ways of doing it---one, on line, if you have the facility---unfortunately, I doubt if more than 15% can afford this---two, go and stand in the line for hours and pay for it-----3040% would do this----Three, pay to a Bill- boy, who comes to your door, charges you some money for services rendered and does the job for you-----some 45-55% who do not have the time to stand in the line, nor have online facility, would do this. In other words, you have paid for the services you have bought. Is it corruption? Now take the case of getting driving license? Some friends say that paying money to a driving license authority, in order to save your time and avoiding the discomfort of sun, was amounting to corruption. No, you are just managing your environments because you can not afford to waste your time and energy but you have the means to avoid these inconveniences. Let me emphasise that much sought after HUMAN- EQUALITY was only THEORETIC in any human system-----It is an emotive dream of academecians but beyond the scope of pragmatic implemetation. Like proverbial

FIVE FINGERS of a hand no FIVE men can enjoy the same privileges and fruits of life. In the same context, I would say that some of you throw the reception party of your son's marriage in a FIVE STAR HOTEL---because you can manage it----you can afford it--Can the same thing be done by a RICKSHAW WALA----No, he can not do so, though he would love to do so. It does not mean that you were corrupt and he was honest------while the reverse might be true-----So, therefore, what is corruption? Is this ordinary man corrupt, who was trying to live in existing social and political environments, beyond his control? No, he is not. Let me insist that RAM RAJYA was a pipe dream. It can never be truly brought about in a practical sense. To seek perfectly corruption -free society is to fool yourself. Sometimes we call people corrupt based on the yardsticks evolved some hundreds of years back----which are out of sync with modern times. In so doing, we need to define corruption before we accuse everyone of corruption. It is very easy to shout about corruption and then let inaction overtake us. Unfortunately, it is the THOUGHT BANKRUPTCY on corruption which makes it difficult for us to tackle it. Corruption is of values and ethics and not of the system or individuals. The deviation from these ethics and values create certain kind of envoronments for social/ political/ economical living. Therefore, you have people who create these environments and people who adjust to these environments. Fundamentally speaking, people who create deviation are to be blamed for corruption. The deviation can be moral, social, political and economical. It can be by a single individual or a collective group. While moral deviation might pertain to acting in violation of certain known human norms; social deviation would involve deviation from laid down social norms. Same thing applies to tampering with political and economical norms. Corruption has some misplaced legal angles, too. It is because of rigid values and inflexible rules and their inability to move with changing times. So, if you continue to see certain individual acts with legal framework worked out some 100 years before you would continue to say that everyone wa s corrupt. Take the simple case of modern amenities in government offices---such as ACs, refrigerators and computers----which were unauthorised a few years back----those officers who managed it -----were definitely corrupt by default. We ought to understand such follies. If you do not give such amenties to your officers, they would manage it----so, why not authorise them? There are numerous such cases which I

can quote----where it is the officialdom's failure that compells the person to resort to underhand means, though avoidable, to create modern comforts for him-----which some might see as corruption---and this generally is the cause of disaffection in an organisation , whether governmental or private. I have seen such cases are often touted as corruption by some disgruntled subordinates. Legally, they are correct but it might not be real corruption. Let me emphasise here :WE OUGHT TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN PRIVILEGES AND PILFERAGES. Primarily, I would see corruption as the ABUSE of the AUTHORITY ENTRUSTED IN ME TO CARRY OUT MY OFFICIAL FUNCTIONS and MISUSING IT FOR PERSONAL GAINS. Thus, according to me, government officials, Peon to PM, and powerful executives in private corporations,PA to CEO, can qualify to be corrupt. Truly speaking, it is the people with authority, whether in Corporate world or government service, who are responsible for corruption-----from Raja to Sukhram---they all fall into this category----Ministers, judges, defence officers, bureaucrats, policemen, corporate honchos, and host of such people are responsible for corruption. I don't think normal citizens like you and me fall into this category, even if we pay to get our driving licenses----remember, for us it is to live in those environments----WE CAN NOT STOP LIVING. Can we? Therefore, let us not say that all of us were corrupt because we manage our environments, for, the other alternative for us is to stop living. It is those people in authority, who charge from us renumeration for the quick services rendered that they were corrupt.There is a HINDI saying : MARTA KYA NA KARTA. (When in deep crisis, one resorts to all means---fair and unfair). This is the difference one has to make. I tell you a story to substantiate my point. In the year 2000, my son, on pass ing out from Engineering College at Pune, had got the job with AMDOCS Greece----He did not have the Passport----he missed the job because of this. Reason, we had applied for the passport in 1999---my wife refused to pay to the policeman when he came for verification-----No gainsaying the fact that the file disappeared from police records and it took me one year ---fighting it out to get the passport made through some friends-----all my appeals and requests on my official pads to all authorities had gone unheard-----probably into the waste paper basket------What was my choice? It is moralising and sermonising others but in practical life it is not possible to live in discomfort.

Everyone can not be ANNA HAZARE or MAHATAMA GANDHI. I tell you another story. There is a friend of mine, whose son in USA. He was living with his wife there for nine years. He has a six year old daughter. During this period my friend and his wife have been only twice to their son. Last year, their daughter in law fell out with their son----filed a domestic violence case against him. She lost the case and judge passed strictures against her for making false and fabricated case. Fearing prosecution, she fled to India with her daughter. she came back in November 2010. And in february 2011, she filed a dowry demand and domestic violence case against her old and infirm in-laws. Unfortunately, Punjab Police is so desensitised that they do not listen to their story that their DIL hardly visited them in NINE years of her marriage to their son----she had plenty of money in her account----while she was only a home maker-----whatever happened was in USA and outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts but POLICE is bent upon arrestiing them-----sidetracking all evidences and proofs they have given to police commissioner, Amritsar and other authorities-----Poor couple is badly in trouble and might be put behind bars by CORRUPT punjab police for no fault of theirs----the bait for Punjab police is their NRI SON---earning tons of money-----Now if they have to pay some money to avoid their fate---WOULD YOU CALL IT CORRUPTION? I don't think so------Have your take.