Comment Piece | Corruption that Fits All Sizes
Much uproar often follows eye-popping bribe stories. But corruption comes in all sizes, starting from crores of thousands of rupees to a miniscule of Rs.5.
Can you imagine that a person had to pay a bribe of Rs.5? This is a story of a respondent from Ambala (Haryana) who had to pay Rs.5 as a bribe to a police officer for a cup of tea.
Another person wrote to us saying that a post office clerk demanded 10% commission for selling postal orders. When the person asked the reason for the commission, the clerk refused to sell it. The respondent with no other option had to pay Rs.20 to the clerk to get postal orders.
In another instance, a respondent from Bangalore was forced to pay Rs.10 to a local gas distributor. When the respondent refused to pay the additional amount, the distributor blatantly warned and said “Give money otherwise I will take back the cylinder.”
These reports indicate that corruption is equally perilous in the grassroots level. Corruption in any avatar or size is injurious to the growth of a country. Even if the bribe amount is as less as Rs.5 or Rs.10, people should refuse to pay it. Remember, these small drops of bribes have a dangerous tendency to swell as an ocean of corruption.