1/ What is the definition of corruption?

2/ Tell of various kinds of corruption 3/ Explain in detail some of the most striking causes of corruption 4/ what are the consequences of corruption? Analyze some of them. 5/ Raise some of the most effective solutions to or cures for corruption What Are the Causes of Corruption?
Wendy Updated: 2004-02-09 09:30

What Are the Causes of Corruption? Why do people choose to be corrupt rather than honest? For some, being corrupt may be the easiest way-or indeed the only way-to get what they want. At times, a bribe may provide a convenient means of avoiding punishment. Many who observe that politicians, policemen, and judges seem to ignore corruption or even practice it themselves merely follow their example. For some, being corrupt may be the easiest way-or indeed the only way-to get what they want. At times, a bribe may provide a convenient means of avoiding punishment. Many who observe that politicians, policemen, and judges seem to ignore corruption or even practice it themselves merely follow their example. As corruption snowballs, it becomes more acceptable until it is finally a way of life. People with pitifully low wages come to feel that they have no option. They have to demand bribes if they want to make a decent living. And when those who extort bribes or pay them to gain an unfair advantage go unpunished, few are prepared to swim against the tide. "Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad," observed King Solomon.-Ecclesiastes 8:11. Two powerful forces keep stoking the fires of corruption: **selfishness **and **greed***. Because of selfishness, corrupt people turn a blind eye to the suffering that their corruption inflicts on others, and they justify bribery simply because they benefit from it. The more material benefits they amass, the greedier those practicers of corruption become. "A mere lover of silver will not be satisfied with silver," observed Solomon, "neither any lover of wealth with income." (Ecclesiastes 5:10) Granted, greed may be good for making money, but it invariably winks at corruption and illegality.

Unit 2: Causes of Corruption Introduction The antithesis to corruption is good governance. The term governance alone refers

to the way government carries out its work through decision-making and implementation. Good governance accomplishes the functions of governance without abuse and corruption, and with regard for the rule of law. When there is not evidence of good governance through such qualities as accountability, responsiveness, transparency, and efficiency (see Unit 2), when policies are not effectively implemented, and public services are ineffective or unavailable, there is corruption. Put simply, one could conclude that corruption occurs where good governance is lacking. The question remains, if good governance benefits the population and corruption causes suffering, as we learned in Unit One, why would people participate in corrupt behavior? This unit takes corruption apart by looking at the possible scenarios that would motivate people to participate in the unethical and dishonest behaviors that define it. The unit also explains what situations cause dysfunctional governments to foster a more corrupt world. Motivation for Engaging in Corruption Learning Objectives What causes corruption? After studying this unit, you should be able to: Define good governance; Provide some motivating factors for participating in corrupt behaviors; Name and describe the pillars of good governance. 2 Henry Kissinger once said, Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad. From a personal desire for an unfair advantage, to distrust in the justice system, to complete instability in a nations identity, there are numerous factors motivating people of power, parliamentarians included, and indeed ordinary citizens, to engage in corrupt behavior. Governance problems can be more or less serious, and can vary from one part of government to another. It is one of the key governance problems that a country may face. Governments are vulnerable to corruption when their institutions are: Involved in clear cases of corruption; Inefficient; Unresponsive; Secretive; or Inequitable. In this unit, we take apart these most common motivating factors for corruption in the governance process and among government agents. Desire for an Unfair Advantage Many officials are motivated to participate in corrupt behavior because of the inherently selfish desire to have an unfair advantage over their peers. Through bribery, extortion, embezzlement, nepotism and other means, corruption can help dishonest people get ahead while the public pays the price. A corrupted politician may seek to sway a persons opinions, actions, or decisions, reduce fees collected, speed up government grants, or change outcomes of legal processes. Through corruption, people seeking an unfair advantage may pay courts to vote in their favor or, as with police, customs units, and tax collectors, to disregard a penalty. Bribery may be paid to allow for otherwise unacceptable building and zoning permits, to

sway school exam results or allow acceptance by an unqualified student into a school system. People in the private sector may pay off politicians so that they dismiss rules and regulations to protect employees in the workforce. Corruption motivated by an 3 unfair advantage may also occur in immigration, passport and visa offices in which unqualified individuals may be allowed an unfair advantage to obtain these important documents, at the expense of others. In order to obtain an unfair advantage, governments and government officials may apply any number of methods to abuse their power over the citizens. First, a politician may apply diplomatic, political, or financial pressure, for example trade embargoes. However such pressures may also work to effectively bully vulnerable citizens. Also, many countries are the recipients of development aid, which might cause politicians who seek an unfair advantage to earmark this funding towards their particular cause. The threat of reduced foreign aid, defense ties, arm deals, and gifts may help politicians to obtain an unfair advantage through corruption. Lack of Punitive Measures Thomas Hobbes, the great political philosopher, once said, A man's conscience and his judgment is the same thing; and as the judgment, so also the conscience, may be erroneous. This idea that individuals cannot always rely on a working inner moral compass alone to guide them to virtue is at the heart of the next motivating factor for participating in corrupt behavior. When the legal agencies do not impose sanctions on parliamentarians and other government officials who have violated their public duties there is a lack of punitive measure for corrupt behavior. This is the case, for example when judges are in the pay of the ruling party or there are too few police officers to enforce the law. When there are not punitive measures to assure transparency, monitoring, and accountability through a working justice system, some people will participate in corrupt behavior simply because they can get away with it. Politicians and other individuals require a legal, monitoring system to assure that corruption will not occur in the planning and execution of public sector budgets. Social and internal control mechanisms are required for civil society and autonomous state auditing agencies. Without them or with only weak enforcement measures, people in power are more 4 likely to embezzle money from the national budget, sway votes or participate in other actions that will result in personal gain at the publics expense. Lack of Transparency Transparency describes when there is free access by citizens to public information. When the rules, procedures, and objectives of the government are not available to the public, there is not budgetary and administrative oversight to balance the power of government officials, transparency is lacking and corruption can be bred. Without oversight and transparency of budget and rules, national resources may be plundered and power may be abused in favor of the corrupt official only. Further, when there are not public sector mechanisms that channel social preferences and specific complaints of the population to the agencies involved in those complaints, people of power will not serve their purpose of representing the populace, but have free reign to do as they please in the public sector. Lack of transparency creates opportunities for public officials to abuse their office for private gain. This closely relates to accountability, and weak accountability

mechanisms tend to facilitate corruption. Where there is a lack of transparency and accountability corruption will flourish. Once corrupt bureaucrats realize that they can take advantage of regulations, they will produce more regulations and run the risk of becoming less transparent. Poor Incentive Structures Bad incentives, such as clerks not earning a living wage or not having job security might also encourage corrupt behavior such as supplementing income with bribes. Some people who do not have an incentive to perform their official duties, but actually pay for their jobs with the understanding that they will make money through bribes. A lack of incentive also results when positions of power are granted as a result of favoritism and nepotism (See unit 1). Making people resist hard work. 5 Question: How would you suggest increasing salaries of government officials in order to avoid a cycle of corruption among politicians? What other solutions are there? Incentives also come into the picture when salaries are so low that people cannot meet the basic living standards for food and housing. As a result, people will often take other jobs that cause absenteeism of public officials, and often increase the demand by government officials for bribes and other paybacks in order to supply the public services. In another example, teacher absenteeism, teachers who are underpaid sometimes feel forced to supplement their income with other work, causing absenteeism. This absenteeism may not result in bribes, but may instead result in a lost public service for the students, thus stalling progress among that student population. Problems with the law: Lawless and Over Regulated Governments Corruption can also be caused when there is excessive control and a sort of monopoly of power. In these circumstances, there again is not a level playing field, and decisions will always be made at the advantage of the group or person who dominates political control. As a result, ordinary citizen rights are lost and public resources are often plundered for the personal gain of the public officials. Poverty or scarcity of goods may also push people to live outside the law. Finally, corruption occurs when government officials resist government policies and programs. Introducing policies that allow for greater oversight would help to assure that power were balanced and no one person would be making all of the political decisions. When politicians resist this change they prevent political and cultural progress for their country, prohibit civic interests from being met, and allow the pattern of corruption to flourish. Dysfunctional Systems as a Cause for Corruption 6 Box 1 System-Wide Allowances for Corrupt Behavior: Government may allow system wide corruption to spread by not institutionalizing and enforcing prevention mechanisms. For example:

 Overly complex procedures for obtaining public services allow government to covet the services to only the well-informed or well-connected elite, and not allowing the system to work for the poor. Lack of internal systems to assure relative transparency, monitoring and accountability in the design and execution of public policies. Lack of social control mechanisms aimed at preventing grand corruption schemes usually seen when the states policies are captured by vested interests. Lack of employee participation in and knowledge of the public institutions decisionmaking criteria. Absence of results based management in public service delivery. An ineffective judicial sector (police, prosecutors, officers, and the judiciary.) Instability in government may also catapult a nation and its leaders towards corruption. Among them, war, ethnic or religious conflict, economic hardship, and social inequalities may instigate corruption. Any circumstance that threatens a nation or its people either through identity or establishment may diminish the good governance practices of a nation. Even in less difficult times, the institutions and policies of government may undermine how well the government carries out its work. When institutions and policies are weak, individuals tend to take advantage of them. Therefore, poor governments are a product of sick institutions, or institutions that function poorly because of inadequate resources or bad policies and procedures. As stated earlier, good governance refers to the provision of services that are responsive to citizen needs. When government services are not provided to citizens, either because they were deemed unnecessary, services providers demanded bribes or were lazy, or the services are provided in theory but are not readily available in practice without a bribe, people will aim to have their needs met illegally or unofficially. Likewise, when financial systems are outdated, they are more corruptible. 7 Unit 2 Questions Please answer each of the following questions. If you are taking this course in a group you may then meet to discuss your answers. 1. How would you suggest increasing salaries of government officials in order to avoid a cycle of corruption among politicians? What other solutions are there? 2. What is the difference between good governance and anticorruption? 3. You learned of the major motivating factors for participating in corruption. Which, if any, have provided impetus for you to engage in either publicly or privately unethical behavior? 4. In what way do you think the government or national environment determine whether or not corruption will occur? Conclusion Problems in governance occur when a government is not only corrupt, but also when it is inefficient, unresponsive, or secretive. Essentially, when a government is ineffectual, it is considered to be corrupt. As this unit explained, corruption is fundamentally caused by low wages, poor incentive structures and inefficient systems. In addition, it is also caused by the desire for an unfair advantage, and the knowledge that one will not be caught or punished for corrupt behavior. Corruption

is not just about ethics. It is also about how the government is set up and managed. Parliament and parliamentarians improve the way government works so that corrupt behavior is punishable and opportunities for corruption are limited through the laws. In order to fully rectify corruption in a society, it must first be thoroughly diagnosed. Unit three shows methods for diagnosing, measuring, and interpreting data on corruption. As the units thereafter will explain, this step will help to make focused and measurable changes and improvements to corruption when those mechanisms are enacted. 8 Select Bibliography D. Kaufmann (2005): Myths and Realities of Governance and Corruption. http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pdf/21_Governance_and_Corruption_Kaufmann.pdf Stapenhurst, R., Johnston, N., and Pelizzo, R. The Role of Parliament in Curbing Corruption. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2006. Internet Resources Transparency International www.transparency.org Amnesty International www.amnesty.org

Corruption in South Africa, Results of an Expert Panel Survey

Which circumstances, developments or characteristics influence the level and forms of corruption in a country? What explains the cases that occur? In short, what are the causes of corruption? Unless the causes of corruption are clearly identified, it is difficult to prioritise effective anti-corruption strategies, which should address these causes in order to prevent corruption from occurring in future. Arguably, the choice of analytical framework employed to analyse corruption influences the view on the causes of corruption and associated control measures. For example, using public choice theory where corruption is seen to arise from interactions between clients whether businesspeople, ordinary citizens, politicians and public officials who are assumed to be narrowly self-seeking in their behaviour economic reforms and downsizing the state are viewed as the principal anti-corruption reform measures. According to Johnston, entrenched corruption features in societies with the following characteristics: low political competition; low and uneven economic growth; a weak civil society; and the absence of institutional mechanisms to deal with corruption.19 In contrast, those societies which are relatively free of corruption are premised on respect for civil liberties, accountable government, a wide range of economic opportunities, and structured political competition. These are mainly, but not exclusively, characteristics of developed western states. Huntington postulated a variety of propositions about the conditions favouring corruption in government. Several of these find resonance in the South African context: Corruption tends to increase in a period of rapid growth and modernisation, because of changing values, new sources of wealth and power, and the expansion of government. There tends to be less corruption in countries with more social stratification, more class polarisation and more feudal tendencies. These conditions provide a more articulated system of norms and sanctions, which reduces both the opportunity for and the attractions of corrupt behaviour. A countrys ratio of political to economic opportunities affects the nature of corruption. If the former outweigh the latter, then people enter politics in order to make money, which will lead to a greater extent of corruption. If foreign business is prevalent, corruption tends to be promoted. The less developed political parties are, the more prevalent is corruption.20 Causes of corruption in South African society This section explores experts opinions on the cause of corruption in South African society, in general, and more specifically in government. In order to elicit a better understanding of the causes of corruption, a number of conditions and popular assumptions were also probed. These include the perception that government officials are so poorly paid that they have no choice but to ask for extra payment; paying bribes to government officials or doing favours for them helps to overcome the red tape of bureaucracy; democratic systems increase the incidence of corruption in a country; and privatisation increases the potential for corruption. When asked to identify the main causes of corruption in South Africa, respondents provided a wealth of different answers. These have been grouped into five categories for purposes of analysis. A decline in morals and ethics was the most commonly cited reason for corruption in South African society, in general, accounting for nearly a third (31%) of responses (figure 10). This was followed by greed and the desire for self-enrichment (25%), and socio-economic conditions such as poverty and unemployment (18%). Institutional reasons such as weak checks and balances accounted for more than a tenth (14%) of the responses, followed by the apartheid legacy and the process of transformation (12%)

Figure 10: Respondents' perceptions of the causes of corruption in South Africa (n=191)

When asked about the causes of corruption in government, similar reasons were given to those perceived in society (figure 11). However, these were prioritised slightly differently by the experts. Weak checks and balances together with mismanagement were the most common reasons given (38%) as the main causes of corruption in government. Greed and self-enrichment were again ranked second, accounting for 28% of responses. The general decline in morals and ethics was the next most common cause (17%), followed by the legacy of apartheid (9%) and socio-economic conditions (8%). Figure 11: Respondents' perceptions of the causes of corruption in government (n=184)

The reasons cited by white experts were more evenly distributed across the various categories than those given by black experts, who tended to focus on issues relating to the legacy of apartheid (26%), and the abuse of power (39%). Other relevant research findings Huberts panel was asked to indicate the importance of 20 social, economic, political, organisational and individual factors which are mentioned as causes of corruption in literature on the issue. While most of the 20 factors were considered to be important by the majority of experts, more than 80% of the panel were convinced of the importance of the eight causes listed in table 7. Table 7: Causes of corruption according to Huberts survey

Cause Norms and values of individual politicians and civil servants Lack of control, supervision, auditing Strong interrelationships between business, politics, state Lack of commitment by leadership (providing a bad example) Misorganisation and mismanagement Values and norms concerning government, state officials and organisations Increasing strength of organised crime Public sector culture (values/norms)

Percentage 91 89 88 84 84 83 82 82

With a few exceptions, there was significant consensus between the respondents from both the lower and higher income countries about the causes of fraud and corruption. "Mismanagement and misorganisation", "public sector culture" and "increasing strength of organised crime" were three factors considered to be important by more than 80% of the experts from both the higher and lower income countries. There were, however, several factors that were more important to lower income countries, which are clearly related to developmental problems. These include social inequality, rapid social change, rapid economic growth, strong interrelationships between politics and administration and low salaries in the public sector. Analysis What are the causes of corruption? This is the first time such a question has been asked in a survey of this kind in South Africa. Experts cited declining morals and ethics, greed, socio-economic conditions, weak checks and balances and political transformation as the main causes for corruption in South African society, whereas corruption in government was seen to be more concerned with weak internal controls and systems, and mismanagement, followed by greed and a decline in morals and ethics. These variations suggest a differentiated response to the control of corruption. Measures to address the causes of corruption in government therefore have to be aimed more at improving systems and controls rather than influencing individual or social morality. However, it would do no harm to improve the professional ethics of those working in government. When it comes to individual moral failings such as greed and a proclivity to self-enrichment within a context of declining morals and values, where and how should interventions be introduced, especially when measures to improve ethics are seen as the soft side of anti-corruption controls? It would appear that the moral regeneration of South Africa and former president Mandelas call for a reconstruction and development programme of the soul is a priority intimately linked to the effective fight against corruption. Clearly, it cannot be assumed that the technicist approach to public service reform is sufficient in preventing corruption and more fundamental interventions are required from an early age, rather than on the job training, to promote morals and values that uphold the values enshrined in the constitution. Are South Africans an inherently corrupt, self-enriching, greedy and opportunistic bunch? How should these causes of corruption be addressed? Experts were also asked to rank a list of 30 anti-corruption strategies in terms or their potential effectiveness. It is interesting to compare these results with the underlying causes of corruption identified in South Africa. Conditions for corruption Low salaries A series of common perceptions on the causes of corruption were presented to expert respondents who were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with them. While differences in opinion were analysed by race, the small groups within the sample did not allow for analysis of responses by sector. The first statement suggested that government officials are so poorly paid that they have no choice but to ask people for extra payments. Table 8: Respondents perceptions of peoples propensity for corruption as a result of poor salaries, in general and by race

Response

Total

Black

White

Percentage Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Do not know Total 4 10 7 46 32 1 100 5 14 6 41 34 0 100 5 8 8 49 29 1 100

The majority (57%) of those who strongly agreed with this statement were employed in the public sector, while a third (35%) of those who strongly disagreed worked within the public and civil society sectors. The majority of the private sector experts either disagreed (35%) or strongly disagreed (39%). Analysis Clearly, the majority of experts did not agree that government officials were poorly paid and that this would be a reason to extract bribes from citizens. This is confirmed by their responses to the request to rank the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies. Increasing the salaries of government employees did not rank particularly high, although experts were able to differentiate between paying the police better salaries, something which was thought to be effective in the fight against corruption. Recent research undertaken by the United Nations Desk for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) on public service ethics in Africa confirms that, in the Southern African region, South African public officials are paid far above the norm. These salaries ranging between US $4 964 and US $60 273 compete well with private sector remuneration and the public sector therefore both attracts and retains professional employees.21 Bribery and bureaucracy Experts were asked to express an opinion on whether the payment of bribes to government officials, or doing favours for them, helped them to overcome the red tape of bureaucracy and made it easier to get things done. Only 52% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that bribes paid to government officials helped to overcome the red tape of bureaucracy (table 9). Of the respondents, 39% agreed or strongly agreed that paying a bribe to a government official made it easier to get things done. Among white respondents, there was little difference between those who agreed or strongly agreed (45%) and those who disagreed or strongly disagreed (48%). However, a significant higher percentage of black respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed (58%) than those who agreed or strongly agreed (33%). Table 9: Respondents perceptions of whether bribes overcome red tape and make transactions easier, in general and by race

Response Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Do not know Total

Total 6 33 8 29 23 1 100

Black 7 26 9 35 23 0 100

White 5 40 5 24 24 0 100

Percentage

Analysis The payment of bribes is seen by almost 40% of the respondents to overcome bureaucratic delays. From their perspective, corruption pays. It is very concerning that so many of the experts held this opinion. The question invariably arises: how many have acted on it? Strong private sector agreement with this statement could lead to the belief that common business practice might include bribing officials in order to speed up processes and make it easier to get things done. Corruption and democracy The next statement put to the experts suggested that democratic systems of government increase the prevalence of corruption in a country. The majority of respondents either disagreed (45%) or strongly disagreed (34%) with the statement that democratic systems of government increase the prevalence of corruption in a country, while only 14% agreed (table 10). While little racial variation was identified, a marginally higher percentage of white respondents agreed with the statement, while a slightly lower percentage than black respondents disagreed. Table 10: Respondents perceptions of whether democracy increased the prevalence of corruption, in general and by race

Response Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Do not know Total
Analysis

Total 2 12 4 45 34 3 100

Black Percentage 5 6 3 53 30 3 100

White 0 15 6 42 35 2 100

The pluralist approach assumes that political initiatives centred on the creation of new democratic institutions such as elected legislatures, parliamentary committees and watchdog bodies are central to the success of efforts to control corruption. Democratic systems of governance premised on commitments to accountability, openness and transparency are also thought to create conditions that discourage corruption. However, Johnston suggests that democratic rights and processes as such do not make a significant contribution to reducing corruption. Indeed, there are many examples of countries where corruption has increased in spite of the existence of formal democratic institutions, India and Nigeria being prominent among them. While political competition offers opportunities for the new political lite to gain legitimacy by taking action against corruption, it can also enable them to secure greater access to existing rentseeking opportunities. Corruption and privatisation Experts were asked to respond to the statement that by selling government factories and businesses to private citizens (privatisation), the potential for corruption in government increases. More than half (58%) of the respondents disagreed with the statement that privatisation increases the potential for corruption (table 11). Almost a third (31%) agreed with this statement. A higher percentage of white respondents were likely to be ambivalent about the statement than their black counterparts. Table 11: Respondents perceptions of whether privatisation increases the potential for corruption in government, in general and by race

Response Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree

Total 4 27 9

Black White Percentage 8 2 24 29 7 11

Disagree Strongly disagree Do not know Total

43 15 2 100

41 17 3 100

44 13 1 100

Analysis There are persuasive arguments that the privatisation of state-run services and enterprises can curb corruption. This refers particularly to inefficient parastatals that, because of their monopoly positions, are able to extract huge sums from the public coffers, as well as from providing private sector services. By reducing the degree of interaction between the private and public sectors, privatisation directly reduces the opportunities for corrupt behaviour. Private sector accounting methods and competitive market pressures are also believed to reduce the opportunities for wrongdoing and make it more difficult to hide such activities.22 The expectation is that, by reducing the size of the public sector and the direct involvement of the state in economic activity, opportunities for rentseeking activities will diminish. However, these benefits must be weighed against the possible adverse effects of privatisation. In practice, the evidence that it reduces corruption is far from clear-cut.23 Privatisation in the absence of effective regulation has the potential to generate high levels of economic rent, especially in natural monopolies, and the private appropriation of public assets through illegal means.24 Rather than to create a clear distinction between public and private sectors, privatisation programmes have often been characterised by the emergence of a series of quasi-governmental regulatory agencies. This process of agencification linked to the doctrine of new public management has created significant opportunity structures to peddling influence, as well as to remove many regulatory agencies from direct public accountability.25 Almost a third of the experts agreed that privatisation increases the potential for government corruption, an opinion possibly informed by ideological considerations that disagree, in principle, with the privatisation of state assets. As the government presses ahead with its privatisation programme, it would be wise to ensure that effective regulation is in place to avoid the creation of new opportunities for corruption. How does corruption occur? In attempting to probe the actual form of corrupt practices in South Africa, respondents who indicated that they had been victims of corruption were asked to describe the situation in which the corruption occurred. Three potential scenarios were provided, and respondents selected the most appropriate response. Of the 51 experts who experienced corruption, the most likely response (43%) was that a public official requested or hinted at payment (figure 12). This is followed by a third of the respondents (33%) who experienced a situation where they, or people they knew, were expected to know in advance what the method and amount were. In less than a quarter (24%) of the situations, the offer was made spontaneously by the citizen. Figure 12: How corruption occurs, based on victims' experiences

Analysis

It appears as if the demand side of corruption (the public official requests or hints at payment) is more prevalent than the supply side (where the offer is made spontaneously by the citizen). This points to the arrogance of corrupt officials who are confident that they can make demands in a relatively risk-free environment with no checks or controls to influence their behaviour. However, it is the routine, transactive, entrenched form of corruption where it is known beforehand how it is done and how much to pay that is of the greatest concern. This could potentially indicate that corruption has a systemic nature and has become entrenched and pervasive across the public sector, influencing expectations on both sides of how things work and how they are done. The key question is how many of those who believed that paying bribes to government officials helps overcome the red tape have actually acted on this belief. Interestingly, of those experts who either agreed or strongly agreed to the benefits of paying a bribe, almost two-thirds (61%) had had personal experience, or knew someone who had experienced an incident of corruption. This may imply that those who acknowledge the benefits of corruption, in official spheres at least, are likely to engage in some form of corruption themselves. The perception clearly exists that bribery produces benefits and expedites various otherwise arduous processes. This is exacerbated by the fact that bribery is seen as a victimless crime, in that there are two partners. For example, someone may need a passport quickly, but is prepared to pay the customs official R300 for expediting the request or bypassing certain rules and regulations. The challenge is thus to counter this perception. The fact that more than 30% of the expert group had experienced corruption personally, or knew someone else who did, is cause for some concern.

The main causes of corruption in India

On June 10, 2011, in Uncategorized, by pksabhlok

The main causes of corruption in India are: 1. Continuation of confused Nehruvian Socialism for the last a few decades and hypocrisy of current Liberalism when large scale leaking subsidies still continue. 2. Weak and ineffective Local governments inspite of Amendments 73 and 74 to Constitution of India 3. Fixed and purchased vote bank with manipulated Voters lists. 4. Rusted and fargile steel frame of outdated colonial model of IAS Bureaucracy. 5. Our fundamental rules in governance, Police, Co-operative and other welfare Societies etc are still based on 1860 Act as amended but not implemented. 6. Our private schools/colleges obtain signatures for higher UGC scale salary but pay nearly 50% of the amount. Thus Corrupt teachers/Professors/ management etc are running the schools/colleges. 7. In I.A.S officers Training Academy (LBSNAA) corruption is prevailing and brought to the notice of Cabinet Scy, Prime Minister etc.They are all closing their eyes to save their IAS colleague in LBSNAA.

8. The subsidised domestic LPG cylinders are sold to commercial organisation/hotels etc at much higher rate in the presence of law enforcing agencies, no one stops this for their corrupt material gain. All the Deputy Commissioners of major districts know about it but are helpless. 9. First the government recovers TDS at much higher percentage and when question of Refund comes, for years Refund is not given unless some fixed% is given to Income Tax officials. If you complain there is more harassment in future to make you run from pillar to post. 10. Our spiritual gururs openly accept donation of Black money. Neither the donor want receipt nor Gurus are keen to give receipts. . there is endless list for corrupt practices. i do not know what LOKPAL/LOKAYUKT will do in such cases. Solution is bury Nehruvian Socialism, say good bye to colonial model of IAS Bureacracy, No subsidies, compensation through welfare means and not subsidies, make local governments strong, effective and vibrant.

CEC of India should be reprimanded if manipulation of Voters lists are found etc. Deputy Commissioner incharge should be sacked for accpeting manipulation under political pressure. Regards Root Cause of Corruption in India
Apr 1 2007 | Views 11660 | Comments (2) | Report Abuse Tags: corruption india politics hindu hindus integrity citizen citizenship bharat slaves creed creeds religionreligions culture cultures tradition traditions

Everyone will agree that we are one of the most corrupt nations on Earth. There is corruption in every dimension of human endeavour. So much so that we are sometimes surprised when we find some person or circumstance where there is no scope for corruption! We need to adopt a scientific attitude and process to eliminate this malady from our society, mere calls for integrity are useless. We need to study and understand those individuals and systems where there is no scope for corruption and replicate/roll-out those models for the rest of the population and institutions. First let us review the qualities of individuals of integrity. 1. Self-respect is one of the most important of the common qualities of men/women of integrity. They are content with what their qualification and work can fetch them. And if their present state does not meet their ambition, they will strive to improve in a legitimate way. 2. They love themselves, their families and the mother land. 3. They do not exhibit such cheap behaviour as throwing thrash in their neighbour's plot, elbowing others to beat the queue, jump the traffic signal etc. Instead and they are calm and composed in public, follow rules and desire harmony in society. 4. While some of them oppose corruption publicly, others are content to be clean themselves and leave the others' behaviour to their own conscience. But the latter is not due thier acceptance of

corruption, but because of practical limitations in constantly opposing an overwhelming majority of people. Let us now review the qualities of institutions of integrity. 1. Honesty is their policy. It is the cornerstone of their business existence. 2. They build and tune their systems to be resilient enough not to fall prey to human weaknesses and inadequacies. 3. They rely on innovation and continuous improvement rather than questionable business practices. 4. They respect the interests of their customers, stake holders and employees. Their policies and procedures are tuned to imbibe responsibility and accountability in every individual. 5. Unscrupulous individuals will find it difficult to survive and grow in such institutions as the system demands accountability. Now, though an institution is greater than an individual, it is individuals who form, contitute and run insitutions. Hence, let us see why our country is failing in producing individuals of integrity. The main reason why our country is failing to produce individuals of integrity is because of Lack of Intellectual Independence. Sitting at the top of our national executive are mere parrots who will simply speak out what they have learnt by rote. All that they know is to imitate and follow the legacy of our erstwhile colonial masters. There is a very subtle problem here - all those preindependence things were first put in place to make us loyal servants of our colonial masters, and prevent us from becoming authors and masters of our own destiny. For example, take our social studies text books, while they heap condemnation on all 'bad' aspects of our culture and tradition, they have absolutely nothing worthy to highlight in a positive way. As a result, an average Indian is led to believe that our inheritance is evil and we need to "reform" - that is change in a way mostly acceptable for our western audience. But even while the text books condemn and call to abandon all aspects of our native culture, they un-conditionally extoll the 'virtues' of foreign cultures and creeds. Our text books scrupulously avoid being critical of any aspect of foreign cultures/creeds. This results in an average citizen developing the attitude of being inimical to the country's own culture and tradition - that is to towards his own fellow citizens of the native culture and tradition - while they are timidly respective of foreigners and other fellow citizens following colonial/foreign cultures/traditions. This behaviour is seen even more in our mainstream media (mainly English). Another simple example - especially of common knowledge to frequent fliers - is that most Indians scrupulously follow the Q system outside India, while they will resort their normal 'elbow thy neighbour' the moment they touch-down back home. To sum it up our current educational system will continue to create good slaves of foreign masters, but cannot create good masters of our own destiny. Coming to the un-educated, they simply follow the behaviour of their educated peers. Once we achieve Intellectual Independence, everything else will fall in place. Individuals of integrity have their role to play - to write about what is good about them and their motherland. Vajrapani., all rights reserved.

Finance & Development / March 1998 11

Corruption: Causes, Consequences, and Agenda for Further Research PA O L O M A U R O What do we know about corruption, how do we know it, and what steps do we need to take to improve our understanding of corruption and enhance governments effectiveness in combating it? VER THE LAST few years, the issue of corruptionthe abuse of public office for private gainhas attracted renewed interest, both among academics and policymakers. There are a number of reasons why this topic has come under fresh scrutiny. Corruption scandals have toppled governments in both major industrial countries and developing countries. In the transition countries, the shift from command economies to free market economies has created massive opportunities for the appropriation of rents (that is, excessive profits) and has often been accompanied by a change from a well-organized system of corruption to a more chaotic and deleterious one. With the end of the cold war, donor countries have placed less emphasis on political considerations in allocating foreign aid among developing countries and have paid more attention to cases in which aid funds have been misused and have not reached the poor. And slow economic growth has persisted in many countries with malfunctioning institutions. This renewed interest has led to a new flurry of empirical research on the causes and consequences of corruption. Economists know quite a bit about the causes and consequences of corruption. An important body of knowledge was acquired through theoretical research done in the 1970s by Jagdish Bhagwati, Anne Krueger, and Susan Rose-Ackerman, among others (Mauro, 1996). A key principle is that corruption can occur where rents exist typically, as a result of government regulationand public officials have discretion in allocating them. The classic example of a government restriction resulting in rents and rent-seeking behavior is that of

an import quota and the associated licenses that civil servants give to those entrepreneurs willing to pay bribes. More recently, researchers have begun to test some of these long-established theoretical hypotheses using new cross-country data. Indices produced by private rating agencies grade countries on their levels of corruption, typically using the replies to standardized questionnaires by consultants living in those countries. The replies are subjective, but the correlation between indices produced by different rating agencies is very high, suggesting that most observers more or less agree on how corrupt countries seem to be. The high prices paid to the rating agencies by their customers (usually multinational companies and international banks) constitute indirect evidence that the information is valuable. These indices are obviously imperfect owing to their subjective nature, but can yield useful insights. Causes of corruption Since the ultimate source of rent-seeking behavior is the availability of rents, corruption is likely to occur where restrictions and government intervention lead to the presence of such excessive profits. Examples include trade restrictions (such as tariffs and import quotas), favoritist industrial policies (such as subsidies and tax deductions), price controls, multiple exchange rate practices and foreign exchange allocation schemes, and government-controlled provision of credit. Some rents may arise in the absence of government intervention, as in the case of natural resources, such as oil, whose supply is limited by nature and whose extraction cost is far lower than its market price. Since abnormal profits are available to those who extract oil, officials who allocate extraction rights are likely to be offered bribes. Finally, one would expect that corruption is more likely to take place when civil servants are paid very low wages and often must resort to collecting bribes in order to feed their families. While all of the hypotheses described above are empirically testable, in the sense that data are available for that purpose, only a few have actually been tested. What empirical studies have been done support certain hypotheses: namely, that there is less corruption where there are fewer trade

restrictions; where governments do not Paolo Mauro, an Italian national, is an Economist in the IMFs European I Department. Oengage in favoritist industrial policies; and perhaps where natural resources are more abundant; and that there is somewhat less corruption where civil servants are paid better, compared with similarly qualified workers in the private sector (Van Rijckeghem and Weder, 1997). Consequences of corruption From economic theory, one would expect corruption to reduce economic growth by lowering incentives to invest (for both domestic and foreign entrepreneurs). In cases where entrepreneurs are asked for bribes before enterprises can be started, or corrupt officials later request shares in the proceeds of their investments, corruption acts as a tax, though one of a particularly pernicious nature, given the need for secrecy and the uncertainty as to whether bribe takers will live up to their part of the bargain. Corruption could also be expected to reduce growth by lowering the quality of public infrastructure and services, decreasing tax revenue, causing talented people to engage in rent-seeking rather than productive activities, and distorting the composition of government expenditure (discussed below). At the same time, there are some theoretical counterarguments. For example, it has been suggested that government employees who are allowed to exact bribes might work harder and that corruption might help entrepreneurs get around bureaucratic impediments. One specific channel through which corruption may harm economic performance is by distorting the composition of government expenditure. Corrupt politicians may be expected to spend more public resources on those items on which it is easier to exact large bribes and keep them secretfor example, items produced in markets where the degree of competition is low and items whose value is difficult to monitor. Corrupt politicians might therefore be more inclined to spend on fighter aircraft and large-scale investment projects than on textbooks and teachers salaries, even though the latter

may promote economic growth to a greater extent than the former. Empirical evidence based on crosscountry comparisons does indeed suggest that corruption has large, adverse effects on private investment and economic growth. Regression analysis shows that a country that improves its standing on the corruption index from, say, 6 to 8 (0 being the most corrupt, 10 the least) will experience a 4 percentage point increase in its investment rate and a 0.5 percentage point increase in its annual per capita GDP growth rate (Mauro, 1996). These large effects suggest that policies to curb corruption could have significant payoffs. The association between corruption and low economic growth remains broadly unchanged when estimated for a group of countries with extensive red tape. Therefore, there is no support for the claim that corruption might be beneficial in the presence of a slow bureaucracy. The most important channel through which corruption reduces economic growth is by lowering private investment, which accounts for at least one-third of corruptions overall negative effects. At the same time, the remaining two-thirds of the overall negative effects of corruption on economic growth must be felt through other channels, including those mentioned above. While it is difficult to disentangle those other channels, there is some evidence that one of themthe distortion of government expenditureplays a significant role. Based on cross-country comparisons, it seems that corruption alters the composition of government expenditure: specifically, corrupt governments spend less on education and perhaps health, and probably more on public investment. Regression analysis shows that a country that improves its standing on the corruption index from 6 to 8 will typically raise its spending on education by 12 of 1 percent of GDP, a considerable impact. This result is a matter for concern, because there is increasing evidence that educational attainment fosters economic growth. Of course, empirical results related to a phenomenon that is, by its very nature, difficult to measure must be treated with a high degree of caution. Two issues that merit special attention in this context are those of causality and the possible role of

other forms of institutional inefficiency. Why do countries judged to be corrupt experience slow economic growth? Is it that corruption harms growth or simply that low growth leads consultants to give bad corruption grades to a country? To deal with this issue, one can take variables (such as a countrys colonial history or the extent to which its population is divided along ethnolinguistic lines) that happen to be correlated with corruption but have no effect on economic growth or government spending other than through their impact on the efficiency of institutions, and use them as instrumental variables in the regression analysis. Through this statistical trick, it is possible to get around problems relating to the subjectivity of the corruption indices, and it can be shown that corruptiontogether with other forms of institutional inefficiencycauses low economic growth. Corruption is most prevalent where there are other forms of institutional inefficiency, such as political instability, bureaucratic red tape, and weak legislative and judicial systems. This raises the question of whether it can be established that corruption, rather than other factors correlated with it, is the cause of low economic growth. Regression analysis provides some evidence that if one controls for other forms of institutional inefficiency, such as political instability, corruption can still be shown to reduce growth. Nevertheless, it is hard to show conclusively that the cause of the problem is corruption alone, rather than the institutional weaknesses that are closely associated with it. The truth is that probably all of these weaknesses are intrinsically linked, in the sense that they feed upon each other (for example, red tape makes corruption possible, and corrupt bureaucrats may increase the extent of red tape so they can extract additional bribes) and that getting rid of corruption helps a country overcome other institutional weaknesses, just as reducing other institutional weaknesses helps it curb corruption. Agenda for further research While there is a well-established body of

theoretical knowledge, as well as some tentative results on the causes and consequences of corruption, several more questions need to be answered to enable governments to design effective policies aimed at curbing corruption. If the costs of corruption are so high, why dont governments get rid of it? A possible answer is that once a corrupt system is in place, and a majority of people operate within that system, individuals have no incentive to try to change it or to refrain from taking part in it, even if everybody would be better off if corruption were to be eliminated. Consider the following examples: You live in a society where everybody steals. Do you choose to steal? The probability that you will be caught is low, because the police are very busy chasing other thieves, and, even if you do get caught, the chances of your being punished severely for a crime that is so common are low. Therefore, you too steal. By contrast, if you live in a society where theft is rare, the chances of your being caught and punished are high, so you choose not to steal. You are a new junior civil servant in an administration where everybody, including your superiors, is very corrupt. Somebody 12 Finance & Development / March 1998offers you a bribe to help him avoid paying taxes. You decline the offer. A few hours later, you receive a telephone call from your boss, who would have liked a cut of your bribe. Your boss suggests that if you treat a friend nicely (by accepting the bribe), you may be promoted, while if you dont, you will be transferred to a remote provincial office. You then take the bribe and share it with your boss and colleagues. If, instead, the administration in which you work is very honest, you are likely to behave honestly to avoid the risk of being fired. Individuals A and B are members of the same government. Suppose, on the one hand, that A is very corrupt and has established a private bribe-collection system for her own gain. The need to pay substantial bribes reduces entrepreneurs incentives to invest and imposes a significant burden on economic growth. Citizens realize that economic growth is being harmed by the corrupt government, though they may not know exactly who is

soliciting bribes. Therefore, they decide not to reelect the government. This shortens Bs horizon, making him more inclined to extract a large proportion of current output and to disregard any ensuing adverse effects on future output. In other words, B will seek to obtain a large slice of the cake today since he knows that the government that he participates in will soon be ousted. On the other hand, following a similar line of reasoning, if A does not collect bribes, then B will also refrain from doing so. The last example may provide an explanation not only for the persistence of corruption but also for the empirical observation that, on average, countries that are more corrupt tend to be more politically unstable. It also suggests that both corruption and political instability may result from the failure of members of the same government or ruling elite to coordinate their actions. In that sense, corruption and political instability may be two sides of the same coin. This example may fit the cases of countries that are bedeviled by frequent coups whereby corrupt regimes succeed one another. At the same time, it does not explain a number of other relevant cases, such as those of dictators who have remained in power for many years by allowing their supporters to collect large bribes, or those of governments formed by groups of individuals who have been able to agree on bribe levels that are high, but not so high as to cause them to be ousted. All of the above examples show that once corruption has become ingrained, it is very difficult to get rid of. As a result, corruption tends to persist, together with its adverse consequences. This leads to an important policy conclusion, which is consistent with international experience over the past few decades. Attempts to eliminate corruption tend to succeed when reforms are undertaken in a very sudden and forceful manner and are supported at the highest levels of government. However, an equally relevant question is what characteristics make countries more likely to fall into a high-corruption, low-growth trap. Corruption breeds poverty, but does poverty breed corruption? One

striking empirical finding is that poorer countries are usually considered to be more corrupt. This result must be treated with caution, since it may well be driven by the observers perceptions. However, if one assumes for a moment that this finding reflects a genuine correlation, it may be useful to explore its sources. We have seen that there is evidence that corruption lowers economic growth, thereby breeding poverty over time. At the same time, poverty itself might cause corruption, perhaps because poor countries cannot devote sufficient resources to setting up and enforcing an effective legal framework, or because people in need are more likely to abandon their moral principles. Researchers have begun to analyze the link between civil servants wages and the extent of corruption. It has been suggested that reasonable wages are a necessary condition for avoiding corruption, though not a sufficient one. Which forms of corruption are worse? Available indices of corruption are general and do not distinguish between high-level corruption (such as kickbacks paid to a defense minister in exchange for his countrys purchase of expensive jet fighter aircraft) and low-level corruption (such as petty bribes paid to a junior civil servant for expediting the issuance of a drivers license). Nor do they distinguish between well-organized corruption and chaotic corruption. (When corruption is well organized, the required amount and appropriate recipient of a bribe are well known, and payment guarantees that the desired favor will be obtained.) Therefore, we still do not know which kinds of corruption are more deleterious and should be tackled first. Country-specific studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that high-level and low-level corruption tend to coexist and reinforce each other. Thus, this distinction may not be relevant. On the other hand, the distinction between well-organized corruption and chaotic corruption may be more relevant, since a fairly convincing theoretical case can be made that the latter has worse effects than the former.

Under a well-organized system of corruption, entrepreneurs know whom they need to bribe and how much to offer them, and are confident that they will obtain the necessary permits for their firms. It has also been argued that well-organized corruption is less harmful because, under such a system, a corrupt bureaucrat will take a clearly defined share of a firms profits, which gives him an interest in the success of the firm. In contrast, under chaotic corruption, entrepreneurs may need to bribe several officials, with no guarantee either that they will not face further demands for bribes or that the permits they seek will actually be delivered. In addition, if multiple agents request bribes from the same entrepreneur without coordinating bribe levels among themselves, they are likely to make excessive demands, with the result that entrepreneurial activity comes to a halt. While chaotic corruption seems a priori to be more deleterious than well-organized corruption, there is currently little empirical data available to test this hypothesis. What is being done, and what else could be done? Many countries and institutions have paid increasing attention to the problem of corruption, and the debate on possible policy options is still ongoing. In deciding how to allocate aid funds, some donor countries have begun to give more importance to recipient countries actions to curb corruption. Member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have acted to criminalize the bribery of foreign public officials. International institutions, which have always played an important role in reducing the scope for corruption, are now giving more prominence to the issue. For example, the IMF has always encouraged countries to liberalize their economies (for example, by eliminating trade restrictions), terminate off-budget operations, and ensure budget transparency. The guidelines on governance, which were approved by the IMFs Finance & Development / March 1998 13 Corruption and political instability may be two sides of the same coin.Executive Board in August 1997, formalize the IMF staffs involvement in such tasks.

An example of the remaining challenges. One of the most difficult policy issues is how to prevent corruption from distorting government expenditure. This important issue goes to the heart of donors concerns about the possible misuse of aid funds. Donors find it difficult to ensure that aid funds are spent wisely, because resources are fungible. For example, a donor may give aid funds to enable the recipient country to build a school, which the recipient may indeed use for that purpose; however, the availability of aid funds to build the school makes it possible for the recipient to use the resulting savings to buy sophisticated weapons, whose purchase may provide more scope for illegally diverting funds into individuals pockets than school construction could. How should this problem be addressed? Clearly, donor countries should pay attention to the overall composition of government spending and not focus narrowly on how their own funds have been spent, but many donors may not have sufficient resources to do this. One possible approach that has been suggested is to have an international institution monitor the overall composition of government expenditure, as a service to both the recipient countrys citizens and the donor community. This approach would not, however, be easy to implement. Recipient countries would probably resist attempts by the rest of the world to play a role in determining the composition of their public spending. In addition, as a practical matter, it may be difficult to ensure that spending items are not simply relabeled, with no real improvement in the composition of government expenditure. How should policy effectiveness be assessed over the next decade? We have a reasonable theoretical understanding of the causes and consequences of corruption, and have begun to get a sense of the extent of these relationships through empirical research. A consensus is emerging that corruption is a serious problem, and several bodies in the international arena have begun to take policy measures to curb it. At the policy level, although we may still be at the stage of learning by doing, action is being taken. It is important to ensure that ten years from now, we can look back on todays focus on corruption and observe that some concrete results were attained in

this domain. To that end, those bodies that are taking action against corruption ought to establish criteria to evaluate their policies. Each entity would need to devise its own evaluation criteria, and it should do that now, so that the effectiveness of its policies can be assessed accurately and fairly over the next decade. The need to define concrete results might appear to be a tall order in an area where quantification is difficult. A place to begin, however, could be the wellestablished body of knowledge on the causes of corruption. For example, efforts to curb corruption could be assessed on the basis of how effective they were in bringing about the implementation of policies known to reduce corruption, such as the elimination of government restrictions that create rents. 14 Finance & Development / March 1998 Suggestions for further reading: Paolo Mauro, 1996, The Effects of Corruption on Growth, Investment, and Government Expenditure, IMF Working Paper 96/98 (Washington: International Monetary Fund). Vito Tanzi and Hamid Davoodi, 1997, Corruption, Public Investment, and Growth, IMF Working Paper 97/139 (Washington: International Monetary Fund). Caroline Van Rijckeghem and Beatrice Weder, 1997, Corruption and the Rate of Temptation: Do Low Wages in the Civil Service Cause Corruption? IMF Working Paper 97/73 (Washington: International Monetary Fund). F&D Wo r l d B a n k Publications For US customers, contact The World Bank, P.O. Box 7247-8619, Philadelphia, PA 19170-8619. Phone: (703) 661-1580, Fax: (703) 661-1501. Shipping and handling: US$5.00. Airmail delivery outside the US is US$13.00 for one item plus US$6.00 for each additional item. Payment by US$ check drawn on a US bank payable to the World Bank or by VISA, MasterCard, or American Express. Customers outside the US, please contact your World Bank distributor. Wo r l d B a n k Publications Visit our Website: http://www.worldbank.org World Bank Spurs Fight Against AIDSThe Daily Telegraph AIDS Surge is Forecast for China, India, and Eastern Europe

New York Times These are just two of the headlines that appeared worldwide upon release of the World Banks largest report to date on the growing global AIDS crisis. The report, Confronting AIDS: Public Priorities in a Global Epidemic, addresses this devastating disease from the perspective of government policymakers in developing countriespolicymakers outside the health sectorwho shape and finance national efforts to combat the epidemic. Confronting AIDS addresses an overarching question: Given the limited public resources in developing countries, which measures for confronting the epidemic should be public priorities? The report is the product of 18 months of researchwith extensive support from UNAIDS and the European Commissionand contains a wealth of information and statistics that you cannot afford to ignore. Confronting AIDS can now be yours for only $30.00 plus shipping and handling by ordering directly from the World Bank. Please see below for ordering information.

Cures for Corruption

2

21 October 2010

by Bettina Fachinger

Corruption is difficult to measure. Transparency Internation therefore established a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) that looks at the perception of corruption in 150 countries (Source: Shutterstock)

Corruption threatens public life and corporate culture. Caspar von Hauenschild of the anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International explains the consequences for society. Why was Transparency International founded? The founders Peter Eigen and Michael Wiehen, both former directors of the World Bank, saw so many public funds simply disappearing. As a result, instead of fighting poverty some governments simply increased their countries debts and dependence. Transparency International tries to raise awareness of this vicious cycle. How does Transparency International define corruption? Transparency Internationals official definition of corruption is the misuse of power for private gains. Any employee of a company, any officer in a public institution, or any politician is a potential offender or victim. Private gains can either be cash or any other kind of monetary benefit. Small gifts like a pen with the company logo or a normal invitation to a business lunch do not count. However, if your decisions are influenced by an invitation to a fancy hotel for the weekend or expensive opera tickets you are using your position for your personal advantage and this is corruption. How does corruption damage the reputation of companies? There are three major risks for companies. First, corruption leads to distorted competition. The service or product linked to the highest bribe gains market share. Second, a corrupt company risks being blacklisted. It gets extremely hard for listed companies to offer their services because no one really wants to make a deal with companies suspected of corruption. Third, corruption undermines a companys promotion of a fair and sustainable corporate culture and nullifies any publicized code of conduct. This is the most severe damage because the employees solidarity and the companys credibility are destroyed. What does corruption mean for wider society?

Corruption is paralyzing the infrastructure of social welfare systems, education, and public life. Democracy, or any other kind of ideology, is not sufficient to base decisions on anymore. Its all about the size of your wallet now.

Causes, Consequences and Cures of Corruption in India

Posted Date: 28-Feb-2011 Author: wasi arman Rating: Category: General Member Level: Silver Points: 45 (Rs 40)

Corruption is a cause of serious concern for the people of India. Since, it is adversely affecting all aspects of their life- social, spiritual, political, economical,educational,moral. It is spreading like tumour in all systems and administrations. Hence, it is a responsibility on every citizen of India to make our country free of corruption. This article will throw light on various causes, effects and cures of corruption in India.

If every citizen of a country will become honest, then that country will surely grow by leaps and bounds. Honesty leads to growth, development and progress in all aspects of life and society. The opposite of honesty is corruption. Corruption is an act done by taking undue advantage of one's position, power or authority to gain certain rewards and favours.Corruption opposes development and growth. It is very harmful and deterimental for all aspects of society and life. It corrodes their beauty, values, strength and resources. In India, the epidemic of corruption is spreading rapidly in every fields and departments.Contractors and builders are constructing weak and low standard roads, bridges and houses. Students are engaged in mass copying.Teachers and examining body are indulge in leaking out question papers. Doctors prescribe unnecessary medicines and pathology examinations for commissions. Traders are engaged in overcharging, adulteration and

underweighing. Government officials take bribe for doing or sanctioning any work or contracts. Scams in banks, financial institutions, sports, defence department, religious places, government projects are the order of the day. Hence, it has become biggest threat to the social and economical development of India. There is termendous loss of national wealth due to various scams. In order to cure society from this deadly social pathology.We should know its causes, consequences and cures.

Causes of corruption in India

1) Lack of effective management and organisation: Due to mismanagement and misorganisation, there is a weak control on various departments and their working. This leads to lack of coordination and control among departments and levels of organisation. This uncontrolled and unsupervised administration gives rise to corruption on large scale. Besides, appointment of inefficient and incapable managers and executives on various levels of hierarchy also leads to mismanagement and misorganisation. The only cause of this wrong appointment is corruption. Hence, corruption breeds corruption. 2) Lack of economical stability: Economical crisis and price hike are major causes of corruption. Economical crisis leads to unemployment and change in standard of living. It develops a feeling of insecurity in the minds of affected people. Most of the people do not have patience and courage to face this situation. In order to regain their employment and to maintain standard of living and status,this affected people engage themselves in illegal and immoral activities. They do not want to work hard again for achieving the same position and post. They use various illegal short cuts for achieving them. 3)Lack of effective leadership: Good leaders can only lead people towards growth, development and progress. They play significant role in eradication of social evils. In India, there is tremendous shortage of good leaders. Leaders convey message of citizens to the administration and government.They lead the people against corruption and social evils. A country cannot survive without honest and sincere leaders. There is urgent need of leaders like Mahatma Gandhiji. We need more Anna Hazares and Medha patkars. 4) Lack of support: There are few good leaders in India. They strive hard to eradicate corruption from the society. But due to lack of support and cooperation from people, the voice and efforts of these great leaders are often suppressed. People of India are more concerned with their life than the development and protection of their country against social evils. Many citizens have accepted corruption as a part of their life. They think, it is useless and waste of time, to support leaders against corruption.

5) Lack of values: Home and educational institution play a significant role in character building of citizens. Moral values are only taught in most of these institutions. But, they are not properly inculcated in individual. This is the basic cause of corruption. Many parents and teachers do not practise what they preach. Hence,their preaching does not bring out desired results. Children imitate parents. If parents are corrupt,it is more likely that children will also become corrupt. 6) Lack of love for country: Due to rapid modernisation and globalisation, people are becoming more and more selfish. They are only concerned with self enrichment and wealth accumulation. The only objective of many Indian is to become rich as soon as possible. They consider themselves as patriotic just by celebrating independence and republic day. They do not know the actual meaning of patriotism. They are not concerned with development of nation and rights of others. Due to this attitude, they easily get involved in corruption and immoral activities. During strike and protests, many politically affiliated citizens damage and destroy public property. 7) Lack of proper system: In India, corruption exists in all levels and areas of system. Very few honest people survive in this corrupt system. Those who raise their voice against corruption are killed or forced to resign. This accelerates the growth of corruption. Most of the people involved in Indian system have take corruption as part and parcel of their duties. They don't have hatred or ill feeling towards corruption. They think that without it, we cannot survive and sustain in this system. Besides, systems are interrelated and interdependent. As a result, corruption spreads like tumour in all the systems. 8) Lack of satisfaction: Greed results from non-satisfaction. People are not satisfied with their current status, position and wealth. They want to become millionaire in a short span of time. Growth and richness is not bad. But it is sad to see that the Indian are adopting illegal and immoral ways to achieve them. Many Indians are engaged in unhealthy competitions of wealth accumulation(with relatives, colleagues and neighbours). 9) Lack of autonomy: Establishment and expansion of private and business sector depend on approval of politician. Many politician misuse their authority and power. They have only one criterion for approval "Pay us otherwise you will not get paid". Entrepreneurs consider bribery as tax like other official taxes. Bribery has become necessary for the establishment of organisation. Companies and contractors secure contracts and government projects due to bribe. Good quotations and work of company does not considered to be criteria for securing contracts. 10) Lack of good control and vigilance: In India, some agencies are working day and night

to stop corruption. But some officials of these agencies get tempted towards illegal commissions and leave corrupt people without any penalty and punishment. Corruption breeds corruption. To keep a check on crores of people, more agencies and more honest officials are required. Hence, there is a tremendous shortage of these agencies and officials in India. This results in lack of control and vigilance on illegal activities. 11) Lack of good remuneration: In private sector, employer decides salary and employment benefits. He has complete freedom and there is no pressure on him from government. Due to this fact, many employers pay less for more work. They exploit employees of their companies. Even the working conditions in most of the establishments are worse.Employee does not have any social security and retirement benefits. Employees get frustrated and adopt illegal means to make their earnings better and future secure. 12) Lack of employment: Many unemployed educated youth fall prey to corruption. They are willing to pay huge amount for jobs. Many employer take undue advantage of this situation. They take bribe and give appointment letters. The appointed employee uses all means (legal and illegal) to recover his lost money as early as possible. Hence,Corruption breeds corruption. When these employees achieve power and authority. They take bribe from candidates for jobs. These tradition of corruption continues from generation to generation without any check and control. 13) Lack of seats and educational institutions: In order to fulfil dreams and ambitions of their children, parents pay huge donation to secure admission for their children. Hence, the basis of admission is not merit but money. Management use maximum utilisation of quota granted to them. Every year there is a increase in donation amount. Affluent students who secured less percentage in examinations, easily gets admissions by paying huge donations. Poor students who secured good percentage struggle day and night to get admissions. Many a time their efforts go in vain due to lack of seats and more number of applicants.

Consequences of Corruption

1) Loss of National wealth: This is the greatest loss for the people of India. Since independence, India is showing tremendous growth in corruption (Jeep deal to 2 G spectrum scams). India lost billions and billions dollars of money in various scams. Instead of becoming independent affluent nation, India is dependent on international loans, grants and favours due to this tremendous of wealth in corruption. 2) Hindrance and obstruction in development: Corruption is the only obstruction in the way towards development. We cannot become a developed and self sufficient nation until

corruption is not eradicated from our country. Many developmental projects are taking unnecessary time for their completion due to corruption. Since, many officials consider these projects as special hens(hens which lay golden eggs every day). If project will get completed, these special hens will die. Hence, they take proper care of these hens. 3)Backwardness: Due to corruption, India is behind in almost every field- sports, inventions, health, medicine, research, education, economy, defence, infrastructure, technology and so on. Many scientists do not have latest equipments and technology for research and development. Sportsmen do not have proper facilities, equipments, coaching and training. There are scams and corruption in defence deals. Many doctors lack specialised and modern skills of treatment and diagnosis. 4) Poverty: Due to corruption, government is unable to eradicate poverty. Rich are becoming richer by snatching the rights and wealth of poor. Various packages, reservations and compensations for poor people,minorities and backward community are announced by government from time to time. But these disadvantaged sections of society hardly get any benefits. Since, affluent people freely consume benefits meant for poor. 5) Authority and power in wrong hands: Ineligible and incapable candidates are selected for various important positions. They pay and get selected. Due to their inefficiency,there exist many faults and weaknesses in system and management.These faults gets easily hidden through corruption.The deserving and creative candidates satisfy themselves with unsuitable jobs and positions. 6) Brain drain: Corrupt employers and mediators offer jobs to unskilled and incapable candidates by taking bribe.They get their share of wealth. But nation loses its valuable share.Due to lack of good opportunities in India, many creative and talented Indian are serving developed nations. This is a termendous loss for India. Since, we cannot become a developed nation without the contribution of talented and creative people. Talented people who serve other countries are actually cheating with their own nation. They are made capable and efficient by their own nation. But they use their capabilities for increasing the efficiency of other nation. This is also considered as corruption. 7) Rise in terrorism and crimes: One of the reasons for rise in crimes is corruption in police administration. Police departments grant security and protection to the citizens. When this departments get engaged in corrupt activities. Then there is no control on crimes and brutal killings. Since, criminals are given freedom and victims are tortured. Besides, corruption also leads to injustice. Injustice gives birth to crimes and anti social activities. Citizens take up arms for securing justice.

8) Rise in suicide cases: Suicide cases are increasing in India by leaps and bounds. One of the major causes in several suicide cases is injustice resulting from corruption. Government announces various schemes and help packages for farmers but most of the time this financial help does not reach to the farmers due to corruption in administration. This leads to rise suicides cases among farmers. Candidates fulfil all necessary criteria for jobs or admissions, but then also they fail in their attempt to secure it. Because they do not have political contacts and money. This leads to hopelessness and depression which ultimately results in suicide. 9)psychological and social disorders: Due to corruption in judicial system and police administration. Culprits are left free and victims get punishments and injustice. Due to this injustice, many victims suffer from depression and serious psychological disorders. Many victims get frustrated with judicial system and develops feeling of revenge against culprits. As a results, the victims become culprits by engaging themselves in anti-social activities. It corrodes the healthy social fabric of nation.

Cures for corruption in India

1) Value education: Parents and teachers should inculcate moral values in children.Practice is more persuasive than preaching. The best way to inculcate values in children is not only to preach but to set an example by actual doing.They should set themselves as a models of good behaviour. They should narrate stories based on moral values. Teacher should not only teach morals in value education period but they should inculcate values in pupils by correlating value education with various subjects and activities. They should not leave any stone unturned for achieving this great purpose. 2) Effective and regular vigilance: Strict action should be taken against lazy and corrupt officials. Number of agencies and officials should be increased. They should be properly trained in the latest investigative skills. Government should supervise and monitor these agencies. They should be quick and active in their duties. They should not delay their investigation and inspection .Since,these delay is the cause for loss of tremendous wealth of nation. 3) Responsible citizen: If an individual is corrupt,he cannot expect those in power to be free from corruption. Hence, it is essential for every citizen to perform his duties faithfully and to the best of their abilities . Every citizen should strive hard to eradicate corruption. People of India should report cases of corruption to vigilance department immediately without delay. They should follow up the cases of corruption. Since, merely reporting the evil practice is not sufficient for its complete eradication.

4)Strong and Effective leadership and administration: All those who are granted powers and authority by people should fulfil their promises and pledge. They should strive their utmost to eradicate corruption from systems and administrations. They should give up hypocrisy. Government and vigilance agencies should keep a check on their source of income and bank accounts. If any leader is not performing his duties properly, then he should be immediately terminated from the position. It should be performance based position. Government should do performance appraisal of leaders regularly. 5)Media: Media has wider coverage and impact. It plays an important role in changing the life of people. It should frequently expose the cases of corruption. It should educate people against corruption on regular basis. Journalists and editors should give complete information about the issues related to corruption in their newspapers. Reporters should give more importance to the news and information on corruption, they should report corruption cases immediately. 6) Legislation: Government should frame strict and stringent anti-corruption laws . Severe punishments and penalties should be imposed on corrupt people. The justice and proceedings should not be delayed. Immediate action should be taken against corrupt people. The punishment should act as a good lesson for other corrupt people. 7)Social organisation: Non government organisations should work in coordination with people and vigilance departments for prevention of illegal activities. They should devise and plan innovative strategies and methods against corruption. 8)Declaration of wealth and assets: It should be made mandatory for political leaders and government officials to declare their wealth and assets.Investigation agencies should strictly and properly check their claims and declaration. 9)Transparency: Every process of selection, dealing and appointments of different fields should be made transparent.People should be made aware of reasons and merit for selection of candidates, contracts,tenders, etc. 10)Advertising: Advertising and marketing agencies should educate and aware people against corruption. There should be appealing ads on internet, vehicles, bus stops, railway stations,sign boards and television. 11)Serials and films: Films are powerful medium of mass communication. Films have powerful influence and widespread appeal. Films can be used to create public opinion against corruption.Producers should make certain popular serials and movies against corruption.

Serials should have different episodes dealing with various types of corruption and their cures. 12)Appointment and admissions: Selection of students, managers, officers and executives should only be based on merit. It is the responsibility of candidates and parents to critically examine the selection and appointment procedures. They should report irregularities to the higher authorities without delay. 13)Religious sermon: In India, people show very strict adherence to their faith and belief. They are very sensitive towards religion, place of worship and religious leaders. They have deep attachment and great respect for preachers and spiritual orators.They try to adopt the teachings of their spiritual leaders in day to day life. Hence, religious leaders should give sermons against corruption. 14)Loyalty and patriotism: Every citizen of India should become patriotic in true sense.He should give priority and preference to the development of his nation. He should always remain loyal to their beautiful culture, ethics and country. Social workers, political leaders, media and teachers should inculcate true patriotism in the citizens of India. 15)Dedicated and diligent leaders: There should be more dedicated, devoted and diligent leaders like Medha Patkar and Anna Hazare. These leaders dedicated their whole life for eradicating corruption. It is the responsibility of every citizen of India to support and cooperate with leaders who are sincerely striving against corruption. 16) Coordination and control: All government and non government agencies should work in coordination with media, educational institutions and corporate sectors to control and eradicate corruption. They should be united in their efforts against corruption. 17)Creative writers: Pen is mightier than sword. Creative writers should write appealing articles and books against corruption. They should write interesting short stories based on honesty. 18)College and Universities: These institutions should educate and train the youth against corruption. They should organise symposium, debates,group discussion, seminars and lectures for this purpose. 19)Gratitude: We Indian should show gratitude towards all those honest people who sacrificed and laid their lives for eradicating corruption from our beautiful country. It is now our turn to take this greatest responsibility and make our nation free from corruption.

Possible Solutions To Corruption....

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Bhavna Raina 05-05-2011 India faces a big challenge today.This year will be known in the history books as the year of the scams. 2G Spectrum scam, Commonwealth games fiasco, IPL scam, Adarsh housing scam and many more came out of the closet, severely deteriorating its image across the world as well as in the eyes of its own people. Add to it, the common man has had to face frauds at individual levels also. Scandals and scams are nothing new or unique to India, but what is extremely disturbing is that it has spread to almost every major field and event, increasing in enormous proportions. Even the services like education and health have not remained untouched. Donations are given by parents to get their children admitted into schools. Doctors are influenced by the medical representatives of the companies through gifts. The government schemes to help the needy fail to produce the intended impact due to the multi level scams that eat up the money and benefits before they reach to the grassroot level. I hope to give some practical solutions to the problem to the best of my understanding and knowledge. In my view, the sorry state of affairs in our nation is mainly due the politics of power and money .The politicians and the big corporations seem to bend the rules to get what they want. Undue advantages given to them must be taken away. Some major institutional reforms are needed to start with. We need an India where every person fears that corruption and frauds of any kind will land him in jail. That alone will replace todays greedy deeds with incentives for honesty. First, we need a mechanism that induces criminals to leave politics. What can one expect when Power is manifested in the hands of the very perpetuators of crime?? We must end the outrageous situation where criminals join politics and often become cabinet ministers. This gives them huge clout and ensures that charges against them are not pursued. Following are some highly alarming statistics to show the criminalization of politics in our country. In the 2004 election, 128 of the 543 winners faced criminal charges, including 84 for murder , 17 for robbery and 28 for theft and extortion. One MP faced 17 murder charges. Shibu Soren, a man convicted of a crime as grave as murder, has been the chief minister of Jharkhand. Parties do not find this deterring since all these criminals provided them with money, muscle and patronage networks that every party found useful. All candidates are required to submit a list of their assets and criminal cases against them but it has not yielded any results. Exposure of criminal cases is not enough. We need a new law mandating that all cases against elected MPs and MLAs will be given top priority, and heard on a day-by-day basis until complete prosecution. This will make election victory a curse for criminalsit will accelerate their trials, instead of giving them the political immunity they seek. If such a law is enacted, we may well see criminal legislators and ministers resigning in order to get off the priority trials list. This reform can truly transform the face of politics in India. Second, we need judicial incentives that speed up justice. Truly, Justice delayed is Justice Denied. Often, its the case that even if a fair verdict comes out, it is too late to punish the guilty either because hes no more or is in the twilight of his life that a sentence so late does not matter after enjoying a lifetime of freedom. Giving time-consuming procedures and precedents priority over speed has to be questioned. Speedy justice may be achieved through setting a maximum time target in which judgement has to be pronounced. Strict monitoring of judges who preside over a case has to be followed to ensure that there is no conflict of interests for the judges. The already existing mechanism regarding this is not enough, since it requires that the judges voluntarily excuse themselves from the case in such situations. What must be done is that the lawyers on both sides must actively keep track of the judge to ensure no

Corruption

partiality to the other and no bribery. A provision for complaint can see to it that anything amiss is looked into. Witnesses are a major problem to the conduction of a fair trial. Firstly, people do not come forward to help in an investigation thinking court ke chakkar lagane padenge or police hume hi fasa degi etc. Low confidence in police make witnesses hold back . In India, a witness is very susceptible to being influenced to change his stand since there are no provisions for their security. Not only in physical terms but they may be targeted through other ways like threats to destroy their professional and social life etc. Witness protection Program is something really credible that ought to be started to draw the witnesses and help in getting justice. Third, We must free the police of political control . What we see today is that although cases are registered against the powerful but are not followed up by the police. This is because they are influenced by the ministers and the business lobbyists. The police is used to tone down the cases against the ruling party and their coalition members or to provide VIP security. Crime Detection has to be made their top most priority. One important step is making the police a powerful institution in itself. It is not something unheard of and has been successfully implemented in Japan which has an independent police commissioner. Extrication of police from the control of politicians, and having a truly independent Police Commission will mean police force can stand up to politicians as firmly as the Election Commission. Since law and order is a state subject, so we will need police commissioners in every state, under a national police commissioner. Providing monetary and other benefits to family and friends or using their authority to get advantages for themselves by the officers or ministers of high ranking is not uncommon. This is often at the cost of worthy aspirants, and also amounting great losses to the public institution and the public at large. Recently the Adarsh society scam demonstrated this very hard reality. A solution to this could be that the awarding of contracts and positions should not be left to the monopoly of any one person but must be decided by a board of persons through reports submitted by qualified and experienced professionals after detailed analysis and examination. Investigation and prosecution of the rich and the powerful regardless of their clout will mean making corruption highly risky instead of profitable. Some great person has said that the hallmark of a democracy is not that it holds elections , or represents the will of the majority , but that it creates independent institutions that can thwart subversion of justice by politicians and mobs. Treatment of politics as a lucrative and tax-free profession has to be stopped. The youth, instead of just blaming the present state of affairs, must do something to change it. There has been some initiative in this direction with the joining of educated professionals like doctors, lawyers and IAS officers into the politics. More youth with the will to clean out politics and uplift the nation have to come forward. But the common people need to rise above the politics of caste, region, language and religion and give support to the really qualified and deserving candidates like these who are committed to the cause of working for the people. Media has an exceptionally significant role to play - communicating to the masses the wrongs prevalent in the society. Regular news ran by TV, radio and newspapers about these do create pressure on the government to act against the offenders. Telecom minister A. Raja was finally chargesheeted in the 2G Spectrum scam only due to the consistent cries raised by the mass media. Sting operations to expose the corrupt have seen some action being taken against the guilty, ranging from setting up investigations to even suspension. What the media has been doing is good but must not get swayed to anyones side by personal prejudices or benefits etc. It must rise as the voice of the people, for the people and by the people. Only a few decades back, there was a general impression among the people that corruption was a shameful affair. Though even then, many persons were corrupt, the people looked down upon them and the corrupt persons were left socially isolated. But now it has become so common that the people have come to accept it as a way of life and think it better to mind their own business. They even have become a part of this scheme when they give bribes to get their work done, escape out of being fined etc. But if the public does not shun it completely, there is no hope for the corrupt to abstain. JAAGO RE!! very appropriately defines what we need to do... WAKE UP! Legal action and public shaming together can prove to be an incredibly effective means to root off this menace.

The common man who is affected the most by all the political or small individual scams seems to have accepted the evils as the way of life, thereby giving up the will to fight. What most people think is is desh ka kuch nhi ho sakta, yahaan aisa hi hota hai, tum bhi aadat daal lo etc.. This chalta hai attitude is what is holding us down. But if everyone thinks like this, how can we expect to bring a change? If even only one takes an initiative it is possible that others will follow the lead. Even if not, such individual efforts will not go in vain and will definitely produce some fruits. The Power of ONE must not be understated- One voice can break the silence, and one ray can tear down darkness. To bring the change, you have to be the CHANGE!

2ndlook
Chinas solution to corruption
Posted in China, Current Affairs, History, India, Media, politics by Anuraag Sanghi on June 15, 2011

1 Votes

Two birds with one stone - Underpaid government employee of the past; and glib rejection of corruption charges. (Cartoon by RK Laxman). Click for larger image.

China believes it is a corrupt nation

China has a big corruption problem. Apart from Western media reports, Chinas own media confirms, Corruption has long haunted the ruling Communist Party of China. The Partys General Secretary, Hu Jintao, once said that determined punishment and effective prevention of corruption concerns the existence of the Party. (via Former official executed by lethal injection). A report carried by Time magazine, says that The current level of corruption in China is systematic and widespread. It is so entrenched that honest officials are now part of a minority that risks being left behind. It is a system

where corruption is the rule rather than the exception. According to the Chinese professor Hu Xing Do, 99% of the corrupt officials will never be caught. The few who do get caught are simply considered unlucky, and even if their punishment is typically heavy, the dissuasive effect remains minimal.

They have an answer

The Chinese answer to corruption has been death penalty. Liberally, widely, explicitly. A bullet in the head. Finito. Finito. Fini. nde. Revestimento. Vuoden. Eind. Ende. final de la muerte. . . That is the Chinese answer. To further ram home the point (in case the bullet does not do the trick), these executions are photographed, televised, published in newspapers, covered by the media. Cant miss it.

Everyone must get equal opportunity at corruption. (Cartoon by Kirish Bhatt; courtesy - bamulahija.blogspot.com). Click for larger image.

Strike Hard
In 1983, Deng Xiaoping initiated what were called Strike-Hard campaigns. Based on traditional imperial Chinese attitudes and wisdom, apparent from traditional sayings like a life for a life, killing one to warn a hundred, killing a chicken to warn a monkey are embodiments of these retributive and deterrent beliefs. Deng, who initiated the strike-hard campaigns in light of the rampant crimes, commented that the authorities could not be soft on crime, and the death sentence was a necessary educative tool This thinking continues in China The notion of returning like for like is rooted in China. The majority of the public could not accept that some murderers could go free after 10 years imprisonment. It is believed in modern China that, death penalty does have a strong deterrent effect. Studies do suggest that one execution deters five to 18 potential murderers from committing the ultimate crime. Though there is no detailed study on the death penaltys deterrent effect on corruption cases, it can be expected to play a similar role. If corruption is struck off the capital punishment list in such a situation, there is a fear that all hell would break loose. (via Opinion: Corruption has to stay capital crime). From the Dengs initial Strike-Hard campaign in 1983, crimes that qualify for death penalty has increased from 32 to 68 ranging from corruption to embezzlement, smuggling and tax evasion.

The State has simply public appetite for vengeance, killings and torture. (Cartoon from chinadaily.com.cn/).

Simply lovin it
What do the Chinese people think of these killings, shootings and executions?

Public opinion in China is rooted in the eye-for-an-eye and a tooth-for-a-tooth idea of justice. Efforts by the Chinese authorities to reduce categories of crimes for which death penalty can be awarded, sparked suspicions that abolishing the death penalty for economic-related and non-violent offences (was) a tool to help privileged officials involved in corruption crimes escape capital punishment (text in parentheses supplied). Chinese public opinion and reactions borders on being vengeful. Pictures on the Chinese internet, of the execution of Wang Shouxin, a woman government official from northern province of Heilongjiang scored more than a million hits. In another case, Hearing the news of Wens execution, some local residents lit firecrackers or held banners that read Wens execution, Chongqings stability at the gates of the Municipal High Peoples Court and the municipal Communist Party Committee. (via Former official executed by lethal injection). Time magazine reports of the Chinese appetite for such killings and executions. Even as China tops the world in the number of executions and killings, there is endless public demand for this kind of punishment and (by) the surging popular anger, it would seem that there is actually not enough of it. Of all the criminal cases in China, those involving corrupt officials sentenced to death arouse the greatest interest. The morbid examples abound: from the public cheering for the recent death sentences. People in China viscerally hate corruption and are reluctant to see the death penalty dropped. (text in parentheses supplied). Was China always like this. During the time when Buddhism at its peak in China, in early Tang dynasty (618 AD 907 AD), death penalty was abolished for a time during the reign of Tai Zong emperor (627-650), one of the Tang dynastys most admired rulers.

Chinese plans and measures

The Chinese do understand, that these killings and executions are not the answer. If cutting hands, legs, heads, was the solution, every Islamic shariat-country would have been free of crime. China has been killing people since 1983, for nearly 30 years, now. Chinese corruption should have reduced. With the largest prisoner-population in the world, with the biggest secret-service, police force, the US should have been crime-free. After a sustained levels of executions at a historic-high, China still believes, it has a corruption problem.

In fact, Time magazine goes further and announces, China is the global leader for the number of corrupt officials who are sentenced to death, and actually executed each yearcarrying out 90% of (the executions) worldwide. Though another report by Time Magazine gives a varying estimate that China puts to death more people than the rest of the world combined about 70% of the global total in 2008. In 2001, Amnesty International recorded and confirmed more than 4,000 death sentences and nearly 2,500 executions in China. Chinese authorities do not release execution statistics, but rights groups estimate that they number from about 5,000 to 12,000 annually. Is the Chinese Government happy with these killings and executions? Using Western models, ideas and thinking, the Chinese look to the West for solutions. For the first time in 30 years, Chinas top legislature proposed this week to reduce the number of crimes punishable by execution. The proposal, largely symbolic, has drawn renewed attention to Chinas controversial death-penalty policy, under which 68 crimes are punishable by death. 13 nonviolent economic crimes ranging from smuggling relics and endangered animals to faking VAT receipts have been dropped in a pending amendment to Chinas capitalpunishment law. Convicts above the age of 75 will also be eligible for the exemption. If passed, the revised law could slash the total number of capital crimes in the country by up to 20%. (via China Reviews Death Penalty for Nonviolent Crimes TIME). For one, Chinese authorities seem quite amenable to adopting the Western labels of developing country and increased supervision as the models to go with. As a developing country, Chinas current food and drug safety situation is not very satisfactory because supervision of food and drug safety started late. Its foundation is weak so the supervision of food and drug safety is not easy, (via Former SFDA chief executed for corruption). Another senior government official echoed similar sentiments As for the death penalty, different countries have different situations and different cultural backgrounds, (said) Gan Yisheng, head of the partys Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. We still execute people who have committed serious economic crimes on consideration of Chinas national condition and cultural background. (via Execution defended as graft trial nears The Standard).

After 30 years of sustained, public executions, all that the Chinese Government seems to have done is created a public appetite for more such killings and executions.

Justice that seems to have death and killings as its sole weapon. (Cartoon by Clay Bennett; courtesy -

An end in sight?

claybennett.com). Click for larger image.

How do the Chines see a solution to this situation? There is considerable disbelief in political re-education a hall-mark of Maoist system of criminal reform. If political education is the answer to rampant corruption, then all the propaganda courses we are constantly exposed to would have solved the problem by now. While so many people are beheaded, executives at all levels are still determined to brave death by trying to (benefit from) corruption (viaBlood, Justice and Corruption: Why the Chinese Love Their Death Penalty TIME).

Press, elections, democracy?

More Western ideas are more acceptable in China. It is thus obvious that the reason for corruption lies elsewhere, in the fact that there isnt enough control and supervision over public power, and in the lack of democratic elections and freedom of the press. (viaBlood, Justice and Corruption: Why the Chinese Love Their Death Penalty TIME). Some of Chinas commentators believe that

It is also time to rope the mass media into this war. The Zhejiang provincial committee of the Communist Party has made a good start by expressly empowering its local media to scrutinize and keep an eye on public officials. Educational ads should be telecast on TV, broadcast on the radio and published in newspapers, something that Hong Kongs Independent Commission Against Corruption has been doing for a long time. (via Opinion: Corruption has to stay capital crime). If democracy and free press were the answers, why is corruption so rampant in India. Not to mention the West?

People caught up between the State and gangs protected by the State. (Cartoon by Morparia). Click for larger image.

Echoes from India

China-style killing-and shooting has some admirers of in India. If the Chinese were successful at curbing corruption, it would be worth studying their approach. Have the Chines succeeded? Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev have captured the medias attention and possibly a significant part of middle-India also. What Anna-Baba are proposing to impose is a Hindu shariat in India. Cut of hands, legs, heads. Flog people. Nail them and jail them. The works. How can India remain backward? Chetan Bhagat, an admirer of Chinese style anti-corruption campaign, and another darling of middle-India has become a Hindu Shariat supporter. Since powerful politicians cannot be embossed or tattooed, Chetan Bhagat wrote on his forearm mera neta chor hai (My leader is a thief). He writes,

Contrast (India) with China where the punishment for the corrupt can be death by firing squad. Not only that, the family of the convict gets a bill for the bullets, just to emphasise the point that no one steals the nations money. (via Of Ravages And Kings Times Of India).

(Cartoonist - Kirk Anderson on the Enron Case). Click for larger image.

Root of corruption
The source of corruption is power. Raw, unbridled power. That the modern State enjoys. More laws, more corruption, more crime. More police, more crime. Any steps (like the Lok Pal) that empowers the State with more power will increase corruption. Reducing powers of the State reduces corruption. By eliminating monopoly, the Indian telecom sector saw a massive decrease in corruption. The opaque Indian railway ticketing system of the past encouraged corruption. That has been eliminated by bringing in transparency, through computerization. Like this Chinese commentator says To tackle corruption at the roots, prevention is more important than punishment. China needs to thoroughly review its institutional system for preventing and combating corruption and for identifying and plugging loopholes. Corruption in many cases has been the result of power abuse. So we have to think of ways to curb such powers. (via Opinion: Corruption has to stay capital crime). The three main areas where the State comes in is in land, wealth (as in gold), and people-topeople interaction. By injecting itself in the middle, the State creates abuse of power opportunities leading to corruption. By arrogating the power of law and justice to itself, the

State creates injustice. The end of corruption will be systemic change. End of Desert Bloc ideas. - Bharat-tantra has delivered corruption free regimes for centuries and can do it again. People get ready. Time for - Bharat-tantra.