Elephant, Dragon in corruption race

India and China are not only competing for a larger share of the global trade, they are also in a neck-and-neck race to earn the dubious distinction of one of world’s most corrupt countries. Here, too, China is better off.

While is India is ranked 87th on Transparency International’s (TI’s) corruption perceptions index (CPI) with 3.3 points, China has been placed at the 78th position with 3.5 points.

Based on a compilation of 13 surveys and assessments by European Union, International Monetary Fund and World Bank, CPI measures the degree of perceived corruption in various public sectors in 178 world regions on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (clean).

Over 75% of nations included in the index scored below 5. The result signals that greater efforts are needed to strengthen governance across the globe.

With livelihoods of so many at stake, governments must act against corruption and ensure transparency and accountability.

“Good governance is an essential part of the solution to the global policy challenges governments face today,” says Transparency chair Huguette Labelle.

Here, it’s worthwhile peeping into native graphs. A TI survey conducted between November 2007 and January 2008 had revealed that millions of Indians lived below the poverty line (BPL), earning US$1 or less a day, and had paid an estimated US$220 million in bribe over a three-month period to get basic public utility services.

These bribes were paid for 11 types of services, including police, healthcare, revenue and education. Police were found to be the most corrupt, with two of every five people surveyed bribing them for help they otherwise should provide as duty.

Land record-makers took the second spot on the list of bribe-takers.

At least 4 million BPL families had to bribe staff in state-run hospitals. One estimate is that hospital employees were paid US$21.75 million in bribe over a 12-month period and nearly a million households were denied hospital services because they refused to pay bribe or could not afford it.

The ambitious National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme launched by the UPA government to alleviate poverty in 2004 too is plagued by corruption. 

Against this backdrop, it’s the duty of the government, lawmakers and the president to abide by the oath they took to serve the people. Right to life, livelihood and literacy are key rights.