Bribe Outlook | Retail Corruption At a Wholesale Price
By Juwairia Mehkri
Corruption has seeped deep down into every political and bureaucratic sphere, leading the country into a political and social frenzy. This can be witnessed through apparent and unapparent consequences affecting citizens across the country. Lack of stringent governance and existence of procedural loopholes allow corruption to spawn uncontrollably.
During a time when India is on the cusp of becoming the world’s most densely populated country, the government’s coffers remain perpetually empty. Money allocated for national and state development is embezzled by our ‘responsible’ politicians, leaving the country’s political, economic and social growth in a lurch.
There has been an awakening among citizens about how corruption, that was once a concept seldom heard of, has now eroded the country economically as well as ethically. However, representation of the same in the media has led to skewed perceptions of what graft is. Even though, petty corruption involves smaller sums of money as opposed to wholesale corruption, the magnitude of the former is much greater than the latter form. It occurs at many different levels, in various forms with varying consequences. This article will throw light on the two different kinds of corruption endemic in the country, mentioned briefly in the previous article.
Petty corruption, what I Paid a Bribe calls as ‘retail corruption’, is a tad more corrosive and damaging than big-ticket corruption that comprises bureaucratic, political and corporate corruption. Retail corruption was a lesser known and almost accepted form of graft that the country has begun to acknowledge in the recent years. This has affected individuals belonging to every strata of the society.
Years ago, chai pani (a term commonly used for bribe) demanded by peons, policeman, government clerks was a normality. Whether it is to part with a few hundred rupees to get police verification for a passport or to skip waiting in long queues at public/ government offices: a bribe is used as a ticket that allows citizens to accelerate government processes by means of speed money.
If there is a problem, then there should be causes as well. But the causes of retail corruption are widespread. These can be attributed to diminishing morality in citizens, for whom indulgence in corruption has become a way of life. Group D government workers use corrupt ways to supplement their paltry income. The entire hierarchy of officials is mutually benefitted by the money collected through corrupt means. It is this kind of systemic corruption that assures a constant income flow among the lower rungs of government personnel.
Government services that ought to be delivered to us for free are given to us for a price. This is illegal, yet widely practiced. The government or bureaucratic machinery refuses to function unless a few palms are greased. This blatantly indicates a moral deficit that is seeping in to the minds of people.
Wholesale corruption, on the other hand, does involve large sums of money, yet the impact is not as direct as petty corruption. This form of corruption has a direct effect on citizens. Most adult Indians have paid a bribe at least once in their lives. I Paid a Bribe attempts to collect and collate data from bribe reports posted by citizens belonging to all walks of life. It also intends to quantify petty corruption backed by concrete statistics of bribery involved in various government related procedures and the varying amounts of bribe amounts paid by citizens on an average. As on August 2012, the website has received 19, 649 reports from all over the country, amounting to Rs.51, 67, 80, 257 paid in bribes.
Corruption has reached a level where it has become highly malignant to the country’s economy. The country’s economic growth will soon be on the verge of arrest if immediate measures are not taken to contain its spread. However, finding a solution to this mess is not so simple precisely because of the systemic nature of petty corruption, which is hard to track. Extensively studying trends of corruption and understanding the forces that encourage widespread corruption and its breeding grounds is important to combat the same. These are long-term approaches to help solve the issue. One must also understand that patterns of retail corruption differ from one state to another and processes differ from one authority to other, thus posing a problem of diversity.
A shorter method to track and prosecute fraudulent private as well as government officials can be done by setting up stringent laws to check graft at every level. Transparency in every aspect of governance should be brought about which is being enabled today with the help of Right to Information Act.
Surprisingly, the country doesn’t have any provision or law that restricts or checks the widespread nature of petty corruption. The Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill), when enacted, can potentially be a beacon of hope that will help bring to book corrupt government officials and bureaucrats. However, the bill fails to take into consideration graft committed outside the ambit of a government body. Private sector too is beleaguered with petty corruption that has to come under a scanner. The recent scandal involving steel giant Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Satyam founder - Ramalinga Raju’s billion dollar scam etc. throw light on money related crimes even in the private sector. RBI’s measure to emphasize on sound corporate practices is a step in this direction.
Right to Information Act gave a new lease to the fight against petty corruption that allows any citizen to access government documents. It intends to bring in more transparency in governance and what happens to the money that is drained out of our pockets. The power of information has empowered citizens against corruption. An awareness of procedures; assertiveness and unwillingness on the part of the citizen can help resist paying a bribe.
Incentives and disincentives are a plausible solution to prevent officials from collecting money in exchange for public services they ought to render for free. Rewarding honest officials and setting up mechanisms to catch and bring corrupt officials to book is an integral move that will help decrease retail graft. Simplifying processes can prevent agents and touts from manipulating people. Collecting bribes in government offices where CCTV cameras are installed will deter the greedy and corrupt.
A regulator should be instituted to vigilantly track assets of government officials. The disclosure of assets should be made mandatory. Firm law and order measures should be established against touts and their corrupt systems. Reforms in administration need to have anti-corruption as a criteria. Instituting a body on the lines of Lokpal for lower rungs of government such as Panchayat/village clerks can help to check lower levels of graft.
Illiterate citizens can be empowered with a better grievance redressal platform to post their grievances. Resolving complaints quickly as well as without much complexity will prove to be a boon in our fight against corruption.