Just as India has committed to moving up the ranks in Ease of Doing Business indicators, a similar commitment should be made on the ‘Ease of living’.

Corruption, as defined by the World Bank, is the misuse of public property for private gain. It
ranges from embezzlement of public money to abuse of power (e.g. asking for bribes). On the
Corruption Perceptions Index, India's rank is 79th, while, 'the ease of doing business' is concerned,
we have moved a couple of notches. The older paradigm, that is, merit-based bureaucracy, has
failed to control corruption, and unfortunately public bureaucracy in India today is rated as one of
the most corrupt in the world.
The root causes of prevailing corruption in the Indian bureaucracy:
There are many causes behind the spread of corruption –
 Deterioration of the ethical qualities and moral values of people working as government
administrators;
 Comparative low salaries of government officials;
 Complex laws and procedures;
 Poor economic infrastructure and illiteracy that take the general public towards corrupt lifestyle;
 High tolerance of people towards corruption.
 Lack of transparency in governance of rules because
Overall a complicated tax and licensing systems, numerous government departments with opaque
bureaucracy and discretionary powers, monopoly of government controlled institutions on certain
goods and services delivery, and the lack of transparent laws and processes all have led to breeding
of corruption.
India’s standing
With an ever growing number of scams, the unholy nexus of politicians and bureaucrats
have put the whole mechanism of probity in public life of India under a scanner. Yet, corruption
banks on lack of integrity – whether financial integrity, intellectual integrity or moral integrity. While
training is one way to inculcate values, it is only a long term remedy. But having a simpler and
straightforward bureaucracy – which is incredibly easier today with digital technology – could be an
effective way to fight corruption.
Anti- corruption efforts:
Legal provisions and policies –
 Prevention of corruption Act 1988
Provides a definition for corruption and lists out the acts which would amount to as corruption such
as bribes, gifts for favours etc. Seeks to create a balance between need to bring corrupt to the books
and protect honest officers. Prosecution of an officer requires sanction from the government. It
includes employees of the central government and the union territories, the employees of public
undertakings, nationalized banks etc.
 Benami property Act 1988
Recent amendments have widened the definition of the benami property and allow the government
to confiscate such properties without any hassles of court approvals
 Central Vigilance Commission Act 2003
It gives statutory status to CVC. Central Vigilance Commissioner shall be appointed by President. It
covers AIS officers, Gazetted officers of centre, senior members of the PSB banks etc. Commission,
while conducting the inquiry has all the powers of a Civil Court.
 Right to Information Act 2005
It makes disclosure of information a legal right of the public, to promote transparency. Section 4
mandates proactive disclosure of the information and digitization of the records. Many RTI activists
have used it to bring out the irregularities in the functioning of the public authorities e.g. Vyapam
scam of MP.
 Whistle-blower protection Act 2014
More than 60 RTI activists have been murdered and many more assaulted due to lack of protection
WPA accords special protection to the people who disclose the acts of wrongdoing in the
government. It provides anonymity and protection from prosecution under acts such as Official
secret act 1923.
 Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013

It appoints an independent authority - Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at the states to probe into the
complaints of wrongdoing by the public servants. In 2015, Parliament passed the Black Money
(Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Bill, 2015 to curb and impose
penalties on black money hoarded abroad.
Civic anti-corruption organisations - A variety of organisations have been created in India to actively
fight against corrupt government and business practices. E.g. India against Corruption was a popular
movement active during 2011–12 that received much media attention.
Administrative reforms- E-governance initiatives - e-gov apart from advancing the good governance
objectives of accountability and transparency also seeks to reduce the manual interface between
state and citizen thus preventing the incidences of bribery
Initiatives like service delivery through CSCs, digitization of the land record, JAM, DBT, E-biz (single
window system), e-marketplace etc. help prevent corruption. Citizen Charters, Public Service
delivery and Grievance Redressal Acts in states. Many states like Karnataka (SAKLA initiative) and
Rajasthan have enacted such acts to make bureaucracy legally accountable for delivering quality
service within stipulate time periods. Bihar is the only state to have a Grievance Redress Act covering
all departments. These acts also create grievance redress mechanism (GRMs) for the public to
ensure effective enforcement of the act. CPGRAMS is another such GRM created under e-gov
project.
Way forward –
In recent times though, while Right to Information has brought about a sea change in creating
awareness among the people on government functions. More changes are required. The alternative
public management model emphasizes that corruption is best fought when systematic efforts are
made to inform citizens about their rights and entitlements, and empower them to resist
corruption, thus, giving them the leading role in anti-corruption efforts. To conclude, corruption is a
multi-faceted problem and requires a comprehensive strategy to deal with and requires a strong
political will.