Corruption and Poverty in India
Ask a foreigner to come up with a list of things they know about India,
and they will probably include plenty of good things: our rich cultural
and spiritual history, our world-famous cuisine and iconic architecture.
Most would also list two much less good things: corruption and poverty.
While these are certainly not all that India is known for around the
world, they are two of the things we are best known for.
Cycles of Corruption
As India’s economic stature grows, so the world takes a greater and greater interest in our country. American firm Wal-Mart has just named India as
one of the world’s most corrupt nations, based on their experiences
while doing business. Corruption seems to be endemic in India, and not
only does it create a poor image of the country abroad, it helps to keep
many Indians living in poverty.
Corruption
and poverty are inevitably linked. When someone extorts money, that
money could have been used to fill a hungry belly. It is impossible to
divorce poverty from corruption. It takes money from those who need it
and it makes it difficult to get things done well. A chain of corruption
develops, from the lowliest official to the government. If a
poorly-paid government official sees those above him taking or making
bribes, then he will more than likely think nothing of supplementing his
own income by deliberately ‘losing’ paperwork until someone pays up to
make him ‘find’ it again. Some of those junior officials move up through
the organisation, and they continue to run it the way they are familiar
with, and so the cycle continues.
Ending the Cycle?
Corruption
creates a society in which chaos reigns. People have little or no trust
in the government or in businesses. People see that they only way to
get ahead is for every man to work only for himself, and so they do the
same. While some self-interest is useful for economic growth, it must
not be at the expense of integrity. When people – from the poorest to
the richest – have some joint social capital and a shared interest in
making the society better, things improve. Those who hold political and
economic power begin to feel a sense of their own public liability and
position in the community. If some of that self-interest were to be
channelled into social interest, we would likely see the poverty rate
come down. If a business doesn’t have to pay others just to keep going,
then they might have more money to invest. They might improve working
conditions and pay their workers more. If they pay their workers more,
then their workers will spend more, and every business will benefit.
More jobs will be created, and poverty will lessen.
That
all sounds simple, but changing an ingrained culture is not easy.
Change has to come from the top. It also has to pervade throughout the
judiciary and the police. If people see that justice is not done in
society, then they will not have any reason to be just themselves. If
the wealthy know that they can get away with crimes (from simple traffic
offences to murder), then they will try and pay their way out. If an
official knows that they are likely to be able to make money through
bribery, then they will do.
What
practical solutions are there to stop this from happening? Corruption can be prevented if the penalties for being corrupt are likely to be
higher than the financial gains from corruption. If an official knows
they may lose their job if they take a bribe, they will probably choose
not to take a bribe. If change comes from the top, it will work its way
down. If the highest officials fear losing their jobs if they are
corrupt, so they will work to stop those beneath them from being
corrupt. Corruption can also be tackled through greater transparency.
Everyone knows that corruption happens, but that does not mean it is
done openly. However, computerisation provides a great opportunity to
increase transparency. Electronic files are much harder to ‘lose’ than
paper ones, and computerised systems can be monitored centrally.
Tackling
corruption could be done – not every country in the world is corrupt,
and the perception among some that it cannot be fixed is wrong. However,
for real change to happen there must be real leadership.
Ya this is the real news walmart had really mentioned India in one of the most corrupted nations.
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ReplyDeleteIf we seriously desire for a corruption-free society, decent political atmosphere, has to put genuine commitment at our own end, as you know most of the communities (such as Bengali or Tamil) in this sub-continent are covered by ‘Culture of Poverty' (hopelessness), irrespective of class or economic strata, lives in pavement or apartment. Nobody is ashamed of the deep-rooted corruption in this society at heart, decaying general quality of life, bad Politico-Governance, poor work place, weak mother language, continuous consumption of common Social Space. We love to become parents only by self-procreation (mindlessly & blindfold supported by lame excuses, driven by the very animal instinct) depriving their(the children) fundamental rights of a caring society, fearless & dignified living. Never search for other positive alternative gesture, adopting reasonable values for a passionate way of parenthood, deliberately stop giving birth to any child him/herself here till it improves up to the mark, co-parenting children those are born out of extreme poverty, instead. Introduce reasonableness in way of life among Commoners. If a pure freedom is desired, from vicious cycle of poverty, rotten capitalism need to involve ourselves in 'Production of space' movement, quality Politics would certainly come up. – SB, 16/4, Girish Banerjee Lane, Howrah -711 101.If we seriously desire for a corruption-free society, decent political atmosphere, has to put genuine commitment at our own end, as you know most of the communities (such as Bengali or Tamil) in this sub-continent are covered by ‘Culture of Poverty' (hopelessness), irrespective of class or economic strata, lives in pavement or apartment. Nobody is ashamed of the deep-rooted corruption in this society at heart, decaying general quality of life, bad Politico-Governance, poor work place, weak mother language, continuous consumption of common Social Space. We love to become parents only by self-procreation (mindlessly & blindfold supported by lame excuses, driven by the very animal instinct) depriving their(the children) fundamental rights of a caring society, fearless & dignified living. Never search for other positive alternative gesture, adopting reasonable values for a passionate way of parenthood, deliberately stop giving birth to any child him/herself here till it improves up to the mark, co-parenting children those are born out of extreme poverty, instead. Introduce reasonableness in way of life among Commoners. If a pure freedom is desired, from vicious cycle of poverty, rotten capitalism need to involve ourselves in 'Production of space' movement, quality Politics would certainly come up. – SB, 16/4, Girish Banerjee Lane, Howrah -711 101.
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