Corruption has become a world phenomenon and it’s even a bigger challenge for under-development countries like India to handle it. In simple words, corruption can be defined as “illegal or dishonest behavior, especially by the people in power”. Corruption affects the government is all levels from central to the district.
Former Prime Minister Late Rajiv Gandhi once said “only 15 paise of every rupee for the welfare of the downtrodden reaches them” and we all know that this magic happens because of corruption. Here the irony is that Mr. Gandhi said this in 1990 but still, the situation is the same.
Indian people are now so used to this corruption practice that they take it easy and use it as a tool to get their things done without any hassle. Many people believe that Indian politicians are the root of corruption in India but in reality, the network of corruption is too vast and it has following main towers; politicians, bureaucrats, and criminals.
Causes of Corruption in India
Corruption is present in all spheres of our life; politics, judiciary, public, administration, and all the services. Almost all the departments, connected with the welfare of common Indians are infected with the virus of corruption. When we dig down to know the reason for corruption in India we find some common reasons like weak management and lack of control system.
These reason wee behind the birth of corruption at a smaller scale. Lack of good leadership let the corruption flourished at a larger scale. In India, there is a famous saying according to that if the character is gone then everything is gone but still most of Indians are involved in giving and taking the bribe. To know the more causes behind the rise of corruption in India we have to look back in 1947 when India saw the dawn of independence.
Indians were really poor at that time, government employees used to have really low salaries. From here only a few people start to take a bribe to fulfil their necessities. At the lower level, the corruption flourished but it was absent at the higher level of administration. Due to the lack of a control system, it spread at every part of Indian society.
The complex rules of government give the right atmosphere for corruption to grow. The common Indian man could not keep roaming around the government offices so he started to offer a bribe in order to get his work done, which has become a tradition later on.
That people who are not in favor of offering bribe could not get any forum where they can complain about it so this practice of corruption couldn’t be controlled by the government at its initial stage.
Government officials and many political leaders have their share in the bribe. So instead of stopping the corruption, the powerful people of the country support it. Lack of literacy, lack of transparency in government job recruitment, lack of jobs and low salaries are the other reasons that forced a common man to accept and offer the bribe.
Consequences of Corruption in India
Corruption leads to the loss of national wealth. Black money is the biggest headache of the government and this black money is actually the bribe. Corruption is like a speed breaker of India’s Growth.
When the corruption gets high the economy of the country touches the bottom of the graph. The effects of corruption can be seen on the daily based commodities as with high corruption rate these commodities become out of reach from poor citizens of the country. Corruption creates an imbalanced society where rich people become richer and the poor become poorer.
The country loses some taxpayers when corruption is present in its economy. And the money those taxpayers who pay the tax land in the pocket of corrupted people. Corruption is the key factor behind the lack of development in several parts of the country.
To get some extra money, service providers use some cheap quality stuff and as a result, the place could not develop properly.
Presence of corruption in our system will not let us become a developed and self-sufficient nation.
Many development projects unnecessarily get delays due to the corruption of evil. The money of taxpayers gets into the vein when a piece of Rs 10 is purchased in Rs 100 due to corruption in the system.
Since independence, the government of India is launching many schemes to throw the poverty out from the country but it still shows its present here and it’s happening because of corruption only. As Mr. Rajiv Gandhi said 15 paise out of 1 rupee the needy person gets. So the poor become poorer and corrupted become richer.
Bribe in government recruitment is the most horrified face of corruption. This practice let the unskilled person land on a responsible chair which is not good for the future of the country. This practice increases the bribe culture in the government office as the one, who got a job by paying money, will recover it from the common person in the form of bribe.
Cures for corruption in India
Corruption is a cancer of the Indian society and to cure it the Indian government and India’s citizens with having to come together. The first thing we as a responsible citizen of India can do is to teach the moral values to our children. Today’s children are tomorrow’s citizen so they need to understand the importance of honesty.
Strong administration is today’s need to cure corruption. Most of the time person on a powerful position ignores the corruption at the lower level. To throw the corruption out from the system people at a higher level will have to be more strict on corruption.
The government is working towards to cut the corruption from the country. For that government has launched RTI and many another forum where the common man can ask questions or post their experience with a corrupted government official. At many forums, the department takes immediate and stick action. But not all the people are aware of these forums. The government needs to tell people about them.
Like government and its officers at the powerful post, it’s the responsibility of a common man to say no to bribe. Media works very intelligently to highlight this type of cases. Indian citizens will have to enlightened about their rights.
Conclusion
We all will be agree that corruption needs to throw out from our country as its one of the biggest hurdle in the development of our country. Every common Indian will have to be alert about his rights and he should have zero tolerance for any type of corruption.
It’s a common man’s reasonability to wipe out the corruption from Indian politics. Do not give your vote to a corrupt candidate. If a corrupt candidate will get some powerful position then only corruption will grow not nation.
The government also need to make all its processes more transparent as transparency is the only way to wipe out the corruption from the system. Politicians with suspected background should not get a ticket as a candidate in the election. The remedy to cure corruption is expensive but the government and the society together can buy it for a healthy nation.
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