380 Words Essay on Corruption in India (free to read)

by Shekar Kumar
Corruption is not a new phenomenon in India. It has been prea!ent in so"iety sin"e
an"ient times. #istory reea!s that it was present een in the $auryan period. %reat
s"ho!ar Kauti!ya mentions the pressure of forty types of "orruption in his
"ontemporary so"iety. It was pra"tised een in $u&ha! and Su!tanate period. When
the East India Company took "ontro! of the "ountry' "orruption rea"hed new hei&ht.
Corruption in India has be"ome so "ommon that peop!e now are aerse to thinkin&
of pub!i" !ife with it.
Corruption has been defined arious!y by s"ho!ars. (ut the simp!e meanin& of it is
that "orruption imp!ies perersion of mora!ity' inte&rity' "hara"ter or duty out of
mer"enary moties' i.e. bribery' without any re&ard to honour' ri&ht and )usti"e. In
other words' undue faour for any one for some monetary or other &ains is
"orruption. Simu!taneous!y' depriin& the &enuine!y deserin& from their ri&ht or
prii!e&e is a!so a "orrupt pra"ti"e. Shrinkin& from one*s duty or dere!i"tion of duty
are a!so forms of "orruption. (esides' thefts' wasta&e of pub!i" property "onstitute
arieties of "orruption. +ishonesty' e,p!oitation' ma!pra"ti"es' s"ams and s"anda!s
are arious manifestations of "orruption.
Corruption is not a uni-ue!y Indian phenomenon. It is witnessed a!! oer the wor!d in
dee!opin& as we!! as dee!oped "ountries. It has spread its tenta"!es in eery
sphere of !ife' name!y business administration' po!iti"s' offi"ia!dom' and seri"es. In
fa"t' there is hard!y any se"tor whi"h "an be "hara"terised for not bein& infe"ted with
the i"es of "orruption. Corruption is rampant in eery se&ment and eery se"tion of
so"iety' barrin& the so"ia! status atta"hed to it. .obody "an be "onsidered free from
"orruption from a hi&h rankin& offi"er.
/o root out the ei! of "orruption from so"iety' we need to make a "omprehensie
"ode of "ondu"t for po!iti"ians' !e&is!atures' bureau"rats' and su"h "ode shou!d be
stri"t!y enfor"ed. 0udi"iary shou!d be &ien more independen"e and initiaties on
issues re!ated to "orruption. Spe"ia! "ourts shou!d be set1up to take up su"h issues
and speedy tria! is to be promoted. 2aw and order ma"hinery shou!d be a!!owed to
work without po!iti"a! interferen"e. .%3s and media shou!d "ome forward to "reate
awareness a&ainst "orruption in so"iety and edu"ate peop!e to "ombat this ei!.
3n!y then we wou!d be ab!e to sae our system from bein& "o!!apsed.
A thesis on corruption
By 4andy +aid
5hi!ippine +ai!y In-uirer
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Een if on!y ha!f of the a!!e&ations a&ainst her turn out to be true' 0anet 2im1.apo!es' the supposed brain behind the
mind1bo&&!in& pork barre! s"am that is the sub)e"t of on&oin& In-uirer reports' wou!d easi!y -ua!ify as the "ountry*s
foremost e,pert on "orruption. /he e!aborate s"heme attributed to her presumes an intimate &rasp of the workin&s of
the po!iti"a! system that no ?i!ipino s"ho!ar has eer fu!!y do"umented. .apo!es appears to hae e,p!ored the
weakest !inks of &oernment and seen the u!nerabi!ities of offi"ia!s at arious !ee!s. (ut' instead of writin& a do"tora!
thesis or book on the topi"' she has used this know!ed&e to bui!d a !u"ratie business.
Shou!d she eer !and in prison and need a beni&n inte!!e"tua! pursuit to keep her a"tie mind at work' I wou!d
re"ommend that she "onsider writin& a parti"ipant1obserer a""ount of the so"ia! system of "orruption. I wou!d be
happy to offer adi"e on the theoreti"a! framework. < workin& tit!e for her thesis mi&ht be7 D5o!iti"s and the fun"tion of
"orruption7 #ow the pork barre! works.E /he aim of the study wou!d be to brin& out the ba"k&round assumptions
imp!i"it in the way the 02. &roup of "ompanies nai&ated the murky waters of &oernment. Su"h resear"h wou!d he!p
transitiona! so"ieties !ike ours find effe"tie antidotes to the s"our&e of "orruption in pub!i" seri"e.
I wou!d be&in with the hypothesis that the pork barre!' whi"h &oes by the pretentious name 5riority +ee!opment
<ssistan"e ?und (5+<?)' is rea!!y nothin& more than a bribe to the !e&is!ators who ho!d the power to approe the
nationa! bud&et. /his "on"ession "an take many forms and &o by other names !ike D"on&ressiona! initiaties.E (ut the
basi" idea is the same7 to proide "on&ressmen and senators the means to "ater to the spe"ifi" needs of their
"onstituen"ies' and' if they wish' to re"oup part of what they spend durin& e!e"tions.
/his seemin&!y irrationa! feature of the po!iti"a! system pro"eeds from the re"o&nition that in a so"iety where materia!
depriation and !a"k of a""ess to seri"es "ontinue to be the !ot of the many' !e&is!ators find themse!es hain& to
attend to the persona! needs of their "onstituents. /his is not their fun"tion yet it is what makes runnin& for offi"e ery
"ost!y. /he !a"k of differentiation between &oernment and po!iti"s per se pre"ise!y "asts them in the ro!e of oera!!
patrons' we!! beyond the fun"tion of !awmakin&. 2awmakin& be"omes' for many of them' no more than a periphera!
"hore. In su"h settin&s' one mi&ht as we!! rep!a"e Con&ress with a sma!! "ommission of fu!!1time professiona! e,perts
on po!i"y and !aw to work on !e&is!ation. (ut that wou!d &o a&ainst the tenets of representatie demo"ra"y.
<s I hae preious!y said in this "o!umn' oters' in &enera!' are not aerse to the idea of &iin& their representaties
the ri&ht to identify pet or priority pro)e"ts. What they ob)e"t to is the waste and misappropriation of pub!i" funds that
typi"a!!y resu!t from the e,er"ise of this power. /he pork barre! s"am to whi"h the .apo!es network is !inked shows
that "orruption thries where dis"retion is broad and no "!ear assi&nment of a""ountabi!ity e,ists.
<s e,pe"ted' !e&is!ators who were amon& the "!ients of the 02. &roup of "ompanies deny any responsibi!ity for the
imp!ementation and monitorin& of the pro)e"ts they identified for fundin&. /he imp!ementin& a&en"ies' on the other
hand' "!aim they are on!y the "hanne! for the re!ease of the funds and point to the !o"a! &oernments as the
answerab!e units. /he !atter' in turn' assert that the responsibi!ity !ies with the .%3s who are "ommissioned to de!ier
the &oods and seri"es. ?or their part' the .%3s "!aim they de!iered the &oods to the !isted benefi"iaries' but it is
not their fau!t if these are fi"titious.
3ne "an ima&ine how mu"h &rease money is dispensed at eery point in this "hain of "orruption. Fet' no one "an
easi!y be he!d a""ountab!e' e,"ept the !owest "!erks in the totem po!e of &oernment who re"eied the pro)e"t
proposa!s. /he profitab!e business mode! that .apo!es has e,p!i"it!y desi&ned for this enironment is easy to
rep!i"ate' but dee!opin& the key "onta"ts in eery offi"e may take more time. It is thus not a surprise that it was the
.apo!es asso"iatesG(enhur K. 2uy and $er!ina 5. SuHasGwho emer&ed as the whist!e1b!owers in this "ase.
.apo!es says that they turned a&ainst her after she stopped them from strikin& out on their own.
3bious!y' this prob!em wi!! not &o away with the e!imination of one syndi"ate. It*s a!most "ertain there are other
operators out there that are !yin& !ow for now' waitin& for the issue to die down. /heir modus operandi is woen
around the same assumptions about our po!iti"a! system' name!y7 that there is bi& money to be made from
&oernment' that eery pub!i" offi"ia! has a pri"e' that eeryone is on the take or "omp!i"it' and that een as
inesti&ations are !aun"hed to p!a"ate pub!i" an&er' no one a"tua!!y &oes to )ai! un!ess they pose a po!iti"a! threat.
/he main ar&ument of this ima&inary thesis wou!d be that a po!iti"a! system !ike ours in"orporates "orruption into its
operations as a "ondition for its maintenan"e. In short' "orruption is fun"tiona! to the system. /he system*s defau!t is
to reprodu"e itse!f. .othin& wi!! "ompe! it to "han&e e,"ept persistent pressure from outside the system. If the other
institutiona! systemsGthe mass media' the Chur"h' the e"onomi" system' the !aw' et".G"an &enerate enou&h noise
and irritation oer its performan"e' the po!iti"a! system wi!! hae no "hoi"e but to pause' ref!e"t and reform.
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