There has been so much hue and cry about the corruption and its huge proportions in India during last few years 😦
But Are we really the most corrupt nation – Let’s look at results of survey conducted by World Economic Forum:
I am presenting data on two parameters: Public trust of Politicians and Prevalence of Bribery – Better rank means that public trust of politicians is high and prevalence of bribery is low.
Well, we actually are corrupt but guess what – so are other BRICS nations (direct peers to us – BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) . It is either the developed western countries with strong institutions or smaller countries like Singapore who face lower levels of corruption. What it means is that we are not the only country that faces corruption; it might be in the human blood and result of the fact that humans are selfish creatures by design. It needs to be stopped through strong laws IMPLEMENTED PROPERLY or through religion promising us great afterlife 😀 . Corruption is our biggest bane and we need to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Lets analyze, what is the source of corruption… There are two parties involved and it is a win-win situation for both… the payer of bribe gets favoritism and saves/earns a lot of money while the receiver gets direct monetary benefits as the payer shares a portion of the moolah.
Now,the million dollar question: Who is more responsible – payer or the receiver:
I think, that the person paying bribe is actually more corrupt than the receiver and is the actual instigator of corruption.
Take few small examples:
1) How many of us pay the designated fine to traffic police in case we break some traffic rule by mistake or otherwise – I don’t – Do YOU?
2) How many of us comply with the income tax rules and pay income tax in full – I do because my company deducts TDS – I might not (if I was running a business) – DO YOU?
3) How many of us buy electronics items from Grey market to save taxes – Data shows that a lot of us do – I have bought many items from Grey market – DON’T YOU?
4) And How many of us ask the retailer, if the items can be purchased without bill – I do a lot of times – DON’T YOU?
This is an endless list – You would say – why should I pay taxes and fill politicians’ coffers – I say – you actually are selfish and its’ all a sham that you have been playing.
Lets try and stop pretending that we are supporting Anna and we are fighting Corruption. Guys, WE ARE THE SOURCE OF CORRUPTION. We are not the Victims, we are the perpetrators. I certainly feel so.. what do you think…let the World know..comment..share…do whatever you want to do..but for God’s sake STOP BEHAVING LIKE VICTIMS…..
And I would finish with the song from Teesri Kasam –
Sajan Re Jhooth mat bolo – Khuda ke pass jaana hai
Na Haathi hai na Ghoda hai – Waha Paidal hee jaana hai!!!
SoneKiChidia 
The problem is that the lawmakers are making laws to garner votes and money resulting in bad and unimpolementable laws. Since, people can’t comply with these laws, they need to resort to corruption.
Western lifestyle has also resulted in corruption. People have given up on “Saada Jeevan Uchch Vichaar” and are running after money leading to corruption. Everybody wants to show off.
Multi national corporations have also resulted in huge corruption as these companies resort to anything and everything to maximize their profits.
Posted by Pawan Jain | August 5, 2012, 5:44 PMInteresting read yet again. I agree with most of the points. To add to the bright side: let me put forward my model on “Corruption in India”. Why, how and when would it slow down, lets see whats your take on this:
I suppose the people who are governing the nation right now, were mostly born around independence (1947 +- 20 years). The time when “we are free” was a big thing (the enemy was still “British”) and the government itself was immature – essentially we didn’t know ourselves how to run such a big nation. We were still evolving. Government tried to take care of the people of India by controlling the internal economy of the nation, an “average” Indian didn’t particularly competed with rest of the world. The obvious result of that was, we never knew where the world is going! Thus, when these kids took the position in the government, they assumed as easy life and if not granted, the most obvious route was bribery and easy money.
Then came the era of public reforms during early 1990’s. Now the kids who were born in 1980 onwards saw a different India. An India that is much more global and modern – that is why I think youth-of-today is much more aware and active towards social-activities compared to pre-1980 generation.
I think, it would take another 10-20 years for our generation to reach the right ranks in government (we are still not at the top of the pyramid) and then “hopefully” this problem would diminish all by itself. Since the outlook would be very different. Private sector is the one who is dragging the nation forward right now, but soon public sector would not be behind as well – its just a matter of time now.
That is what I feel for my nation!
Prashant
Posted by prashantmahajanblog | August 5, 2012, 7:33 PMPrashant, I think you are right that there is going to be a generational shift in the attitude of politicians. The independence generation (who were middle aged in 1947) were the least corrupt with strong undercurrents of patriotism all around. This sense of patriotism has kept on diminishing in our country; additionally, with the general level of ethics declining and money being the only objective of an average Indian now a days; corruption is on the rise. I also hope like you that our generation will have faith in its ability to make money through constructive routes and not give in to corruption. However, strong laws would be great add-ons and reduce the probability of our going further down.
Deepak
Posted by Deepak | August 6, 2012, 10:59 PMvery well put- but you did not answer the theme raised in the beginning- why are the people in the developed countries not selfish- and why don’t payer and receiver try to get involved in win-win situation there?
Posted by Saurabh Jindal | August 5, 2012, 8:06 PMSaurabh, people are selfish everywhere. However, it is the general environment around them which changes their behavior. In developed countries; two things change
1) Laws are strong and implemented properly
2) As Harish rightly pointed out: In developed countries, resources per capita are much higher and the fight for survival is on the lower plane.
Deepak
Posted by Deepak | August 6, 2012, 11:07 PMI agree with you that we are the source of corruption, and even government employees including politicians are one of us.
The more important question, as Saurabh raises, is why? What is the difference between us and the developed nations? I have a few thoughts on this question.
I think the honesty which a person shows in work or business, strongly correlates with the passion for that work. Ex: A contractor who takes pride in building infrastructure will rarely think of using under-quality material. Am I saying that Indians don’t have passion for their work? Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. (of course, not all of them, but a big majority).
Most people in the developed world are career oriented. They choose a profession which they really want to do and love, and with that, comes honesty, pride and integrity. In contrast, the primary motive for work or business in India, is money. If that is all you care about, you will find a way to cheat the system to gain more. I feel there is a real dearth of
career contentedness in Indian culture, and is generally the case in most developing countries which are big with huge population density. The primary measure of success in life is how rich you are, and the greed perpetrates even amongst the rich.
So, why is this so? When in comes to developed countries, money doesn’t completely define your quality of life. Even if you don’t earn a lot of money, you can lead quite a comfortable life, with good amenities, albeit without extravagant luxuries. That is not the case in India, at least it didn’t use to be. When life is a struggle, when you have to compete
with people around you for basic resources, you don’t care about your career.
I feel we are stuck in a vicious cycle. As long as there is no integrity, infrastructure crumbles, businesses are not as
prosperous as they should be, and it is very difficult for things to get better. And when things stay the same, when basic resources like food, health care and basic infrastructure is lacking, the struggle for money continues and integrity is lost.
Posted by Harish | August 6, 2012, 9:41 PMHarish, really nice thoughts. I also agree that the declining ethics and integrity levels in our country are the undoing of everything. Our society today does not value good deeds, it only values money and this needs to change. In the past, money was never given such a huge importance and people used to lead a content life (influenced of course by the opium called religion); once we as a society start giving accolades for behavior of integrity and start boycotting people who earn money through black route; it will change and a positive cycle will start rolling.
Deepak
Posted by Deepak | August 6, 2012, 11:14 PM