Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Illicit India
Corruption is ruining India. It pervades Indian society and government at all levels, un-
dermining the authority of those responsible for running the country, crippling institutions,
and frequently leading to bad decisions. The individual whims and wishes of politicians
and bureaucrats, often corrupt and maybe also vindictive or vengeful, override laws and
regulations. Distrust in public life has developed to such an extent that officials are often
assumed to be guilty until proved innocent, which now impedes decision-making and ulti-
mately, slows economic growth. The international image of India is suffering because what
used to be regarded as relatively harmless 'baksheesh' is now seen as criminal fraud, de-
ception and extortion, fed by personal greed and a lack of respect for the law.
Bribes, fraud and deception have become accepted as a way of public life, with the re-
wards far exceeding the minimal risk of detection and even rarer risk of punishment. People
at all levels of society feel they have to fall in with much of it, whether or not they are ac-
tually motivated to do so. But it leads to bad decisions, increased costs, poor-quality work,
project delays, and plundering of national assets. It is practised at all levels of society, par-
ticularly among politicians who, once their caste or social group moves into the mainstream
of the country's political and economic life, begin to emulate those who arrived earlier.
For them, corruption has become a get-rich-quick option that suddenly generates enormous
and irresistible wealth while they are in power and the going is good. This is demonstrated
by the massive unaccountable wealth declared at election time by established politicians,
though there must be much that remains hidden.
'Corruption rules over the country with its stranglehold in every aspect of the state and
consequently in all aspects of the life of citizens,' says Bibek Debroy, an economist, in
the best recent book on the subject. With co-author Laveesh Bhandari, he points out that
corruption and bribery have become 'a universally recognised medium of interaction and
levels of politics and bureaucracy, the judiciary, and publicly owned enterprises. 'The para-
site has eaten into the edifice of the state. Lower level bureaucracy and police thrive on
bribes and baksheesh, higher level on grease money and scams.' Such criticism, of course,
also extends to financial services, where India has had major stock market and other scan-
dals, the corporate world and sport.
Debroy and Bhandari stress the role of administrative problems that are caused by 'im-
proper allocation of discretion not backed up by adequate monitoring, poor enforcement of
