Corruption in India. This study focuses only on the corruption experienced by the Common Man in getting services from various service providers i.e. government departments. Citizens are entitled to receive these services, but are not only served po

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Acknowledgement

It is our privilege to express our sincerest regards to our project coordinator, Mrs. Rajandeep Kaur, for their valuable inputs, able guidance, encouragement, whole-hearted help and motivation for our project.

I take this opportunity with much pleasure to thank all the people who have helped me through the course of my journey towards making this project on the topic “CORRUPTION IN INDIA”. Apart from the subject of my research, I learnt a lot from him, which I am sure will be useful in different stages of my life.

                                                      Last  but  not  least  I  wish to avail myself of this opportunity, express a sense  of  gratitude  and  love  to  my friends and  my  beloved  parents  for  their manual support, strength, help and for everything .

Place:  Phagwara

Date:
  November 22 ‘10

CONTENTS

                                                                                                             

                                                                                                           Page No.

Foreword

1.0     AN OVERVIEW                                                                              7

2.0     COVERAGE & METHODOLOGY                                                  11

3.0     RANKING OF PUBLIC SERVICES                                               14

Analysis & Interpretation

4.0     RANKING OF STATES                                                                 17

5.0     MONITORY VALUE OF PETTY CORRUPTION                           21

6.0     SERVICE PROVIDERS PERSPECTIVE                                       23

7.0     RECOMENDATIONS                                                                     26

8.0     QUESTIONNAIRE                                                                          30

9.0     BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                                            32

FOREWORD

The aim of India Corruption Study 2005 taken up by Transparency International India in alliance with CMS, is to sensitize the people of India against all-pervasive corruption faced on day-to-day basis by the Common Man in eleven public services in twenty major states. The study is by no means exhaustive, as some states and services have not been covered.

The other aim of the study is to recognize the good work being done in particular departments/ States where corruption levels have decreased and to share those success stories with other departments. An effort has also been made to suggest how the department concerned can improve service delivery and reduce corruption.

This benchmark study will also help to track and study the impact of various initiatives like the recently passed “Right to Information Act”, adoption of E Governance and various administrative reforms being undertaken across the country to improve service delivery and reduce corruption.

This study focuses only on the corruption experienced by the ‘Common Man’ in getting services from various service providers i.e. government departments. Citizens are entitled to receive these services, but are not only served poorly but very often have to pay a bribe to the service providers.

 

This study does not cover corruption at various other levels such as where a business man pays bribes to an Income Tax official or a custom official to pay much less tax than he is obligated to pay. It also does not cover the mega corruption, the grand larceny, in which hundreds, and thousands of crores of rupees are paid as bribes to corrupt functionaries or Government funds are siphoned off on large scale.

We believe that the money involved in such large corruption may be far larger than the money involved in corruption faced by the common man. However, the damage done to the nation is far greater in the day-to-day petty corruption faced by the Common Man as it corrodes the moral fiber of the society. We also believe that as the common citizens take a stand to combat petty corruption, the large corruption will automatically reduce.

In our 2002 study we had covered ten departments. Two of these i.e Railways and Telecom, have been left out in our new study. Computerization and issue of tickets for rail journeys and competition in the Telecom Sector have ensured that the common citizen does not have to offer bribes for rail tickets and telephone connections. (This not to suggest that there is no corruption in the procurement processes of either the Railway or Telecommunication Department). Three new department, viz water supply, municipal services (sanitation, construction and property tax) and agriculture (rural credit and rural banks / co-operative banks) have also been included in this survey. TI India and its State Chapters are ready to assist service providers and other to create systems to prevent corruption.

TI India hopes that with periodic country wide studies together with a potent “Right to Information Act” and faithfully implemented Citizen Charters will empower the common man to refuse to pay a bribe. This is the only way that this malaise can be combated. The service providers will then get used to doing their duties honestly without extracting any consideration. This is what TII hopes to promote in the coming months using the findings of this study.

This study is based on a rigorous and comprehensive methodology developed by CMS through various experiments and validations it has undertaken over the last four years while undertaking similar studies in the country. The study has also benefited from consultation with leading experts in the field who have themselves been in the forefront of reforms and analyzed one or other aspect of corruption over the years.

TI India gratefully acknowledges the financial support of several donors including Concern Worldwide and many useful inputs from several like minded activists. Last but not the least TI is greatful to the Centre for Media Studies (CMS) for undertaking the study.

  1. AN OVERVIEW

Common citizens of the country pay a bribe of Rs. 21,068 crores while availing one or more of the eleven public services in a year. As high as 62 percent of citizens think that the corruption is not a hearsay, but they in fact had the firsthand experience of paying bribe or “using a contact” to get a job done in a public office.

India Corruption Study – 2005 brings out that the problem of corruption in public services affecting day to day needs of citizens is far more serious than it is being realized and calls for all out initiatives on the part of Government as well as civil society. Putting together corruption in all public services involving individual common citizens, will work out significantly high. Until now, this has never been reliably estimated specific to public service.

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Three-fourth of citizens think that the level of corruption in public services is increasing in the last one year (2004-2005). Hardly ten percent think that such corruption is on the decline. There are no significant differences between the States in the perceptions about the extent of corruption or in their experience with such corruption.

This study taken up by TI India in alliance with CMS, brings out that one-third to half of the compulsions leading to such petty corruption involving the common man could be addressed and also removed with simple initiatives including introduction of technologies.

One-third ...

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