CORRUPTION

“Corruption is the misuse of public power (by elected politician or appointed civil servant) for private gain”.

The term corruption is commonly used in modern society to refer to unethical or dishonest behaviors undertaken by someone who has been entrusted with authority. Such people may be elected or appointed officials, clergy, or corporate executives. Corruption exists in every nation of the world, and is generally undertaken for personal gain. To explore this concept, consider the following corruption definition. Corruption has many effects on society, costing people their hard-earned money, their freedom, their health, and sometimes even their lives.

India is the 81 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Rank in India averaged 75.57 from 1995 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 95 in 2011.

Corruption in India is a result of the connection between bureaucrats, politicians and criminals.  Corruption has become something respectable in India, because respectable people are involved in it. Social corruption like less weighing of products, adulteration in edible items, and bribery of various kind have incessantly prevailed in the society.

In present time:

In today's scenario, if a person wants a government job he has to pay lakhs of rupees to the higher officials irrespective of satisfying all the eligibility criteria. In every office one has either to give money to the employee concerned or arrange for some sources to get work done. Earlier, bribes were paid for getting wrong things done, but now bribe is paid for getting right things done at right time. In the assessment of property tax the officers charge money even if the house is built properly according to the Government rules and regulations.

Political corruption is worst in India. The major cause of concern is that corruption is weakening the political body and damaging the supreme importance of the law governing the society. Nowadays politics is only for criminals and criminals are meant to be in politics. Elections in many parts of the country have become associated with a host of criminal activities.

Recently, the Government increased the salary of the M.P.'s from Rs.16, 000 to Rs.50, 000, that is 300% increase to the existing salary. But many of them are unhappy with rise and want the Government to increase the salary to a much more extent. This clearly shows how the politicians are in constant thirst for monetary benefits and not caring about the welfare of the people.

Major Factors Responsible For Corruption:

• The most important factor is the nature of the human being. People in general, have a great thirst for luxuries and comforts and as a result of which they get themselves involved in all unscrupulous activities that result in monetary or material benefits.
• Moral and spiritual values are not given utmost importance in educational system, which is highly responsible for the deterioration of the society.
• The salary paid to employees is very less and as a result of which they are forced to earn money by illegal ways.
• The punishments imposed on the criminals are inadequate.
• The political leaders have spoiled the society completely. They lead a luxurious life and do not even care about the society.
• People of India are not awakened and enlightened. They fear to raise their voice against anti-social elements prevailing in the society.

Measures To Control Corruption:

• The Right to Information Act (RTI) gives one all the required information about the Government, such as what the Government is doing with our tax payments. Under this act, one has the right to ask the Government on any problem which one faces. There is a Public Information Officer (PIO) appointed in every Government department, who is responsible for collecting information wanted by the citizens and providing them with the relevant information on payment of a nominal fee to the PIO. If the PIO refuses to accept the application or if the applicant does not receive the required information on time then the applicant can make a complaint to the respective information commission, which has the power to impose a penalty up to Rs.25, 000 on the errant PIO.
• The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) was setup by the Government to advise and guide Central Government agencies in the areas of vigilance. If there are any cases of corruption or any complaints thereof, then that can be reported to the CVC. CVC also shoulders the responsibility of creating more awareness among people regarding the consequences of giving and taking of bribes and corruption.
• Strong and stringent laws need to be enacted which gives no room for the guilty to escape.
• In many cases, the employees opt for corrupt means out of compulsion and not by choice. Some people are of the opinion that the wages paid are insufficient to feed their families. If they are paid better, they would not be forced to accept bribe.

The one thing that needs to be ensured is proper, impartial, and unbiased use of various anti-social regulations to take strong, deterrent, and timely legal action against the offenders, irrespective of their political influences or money power. Firm and strong steps are needed to curb the menace and an atmosphere has to created where the good, patriotic, intellectuals come forward to serve the country with pride, virtue, and honesty for the welfare of the people of India.

Thanks...