Poll Analysis | Is Patience a Remedy for Corruption?
What holds more value to you - money, time or simply getting a job done? If you’re pressed for time, the shortcut for getting a job will appeal to you but this would not come for free. This would mean paying bribes to government officials whether it is to obtain a passport or to avail any other government service.
I Paid A Bribe conducted a poll asking its readers, “What influences you the most while procuring a government document?” 53% of our readers strongly believe that one mustn’t compromise on adherence to rules and regulations, no matter how long the process takes.
38% of our readers prefer completion of the process as quickly as possible while the remaining 9% give more weightage to save money by not paying a bribe.
A resident from Chennai chose to wait for a year to procure his ration card. His experience is worth emulating by those who choose to adhere to rules rather than waiting for long periods to procure a government document.
But unfortunately, individuals such as these cannot afford to waste a lot of time waiting for government officials to take their self-set deadlines in processing applications. A citizen of New Delhi was forced to bribe a tout to procure his passport within a day, after having wasted a month waiting for the Passport office to respond to his application.