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© 2012 Sanjeev Sabhlok's revolutionary blog
The facts do not lie. Despite slight improvements in perceptions about Indian corruption over the past 15 years, India is still ranked on par with China in terms of corruption by the extensive surveys conducted by Transparency International. These two SOCIALIST countries have thus managed to account for most of global poverty and corruption over the past 60 years. While poverty has slightly reduced now due to (relatively) more economic freedoms than these countries gave their citizens in the past, corruption has not budged. Both countries take the cake for misgovernance.
This is a shame, since examples of (relatively) good governance exist in Australia and New Zealand – particularly in the latter. Good governance is not rocket science. My writings about the reforms needed in public administration and political systems in India (see chapter 5 of BFN) are partly based on the experiences of Australia and New Zealand.
Table: India's Transparency International rankings 1995-2010
|
Year
|
India index
|
India rank
|
China
index
|
Australia
index
|
New Zealand index
|
|
1995
|
2.16
|
8.8
|
9.55
|
||
|
1996
|
2.43
|
8.6
|
9.43
|
||
|
1997
|
2.88
|
8.86
|
9.23
|
||
|
1998
|
3.5
|
8.7
|
9.4
|
||
|
1999
|
3.4
|
8.7
|
9.4
|
||
|
2000
|
3.1
|
8.3
|
9.4
|
||
|
2001
|
3.5
|
8.5
|
9.4
|
||
|
2002
|
3.5
|
8.7
|
9.3
|
||
|
2003
|
3.6
|
8.7
|
9.4
|
||
|
2004
|
3.6
|
8.7
|
9.3
|
||
|
2005
|
3.5
|
8.6
|
9.4
|
||
|
2006
|
3.3
|
8.7
|
9.6
|
||
|
2007
|
3.2
|
8.8
|
9.6
|
||
|
2008
|
3.4
|
8.8
|
9.5
|
||
|
2009
|
3.4
|
8.6
|
9.5
|
||
|
2010
|
3.5
|
8.5
|
9.4
|
In BFN I wrote: "No other well-established democracy generates super-corrupt, even criminal political leaders like ours does. While leaders in democratic free countries command respect, and sometimes even inspire the world, our political leaders inspire utter contempt. Prior to the inception of Transparency International (TI) in 1993, it was widely acknowledged that India was an extremely corrupt country, but there were few systematic comparisons. Since then, using international benchmarking, TI has consistently found India among the most corrupt countries in the world. Between 2001 and 2007 we occupied somewhere between the 70th and 90th position in the world in TI rankings. Even communist China, drug-infested Columbia and genocide-ridden Rwanda have at times been ranked less corrupt than us. Therefore, whatever else we may be today, we are definitely not the world’s role model on ethical behaviour. "
I also offered numerous ways in BFN to almost entirely eliminate corruption from India. One of these was:
"For every ten ranks that India rises on a sustained basis of two years in Transparency International rankings, there will be a 5 per cent one-off bonus (for politicians)."
I guess I need to tighten up the performance indicator, but there surely must be a good way out there to link TI rankings to political remuneration.
NOTE THAT NONE OF THE REFORMS I HAVE SUGGESTED CAN POSSIBLY BE IMPLEMENTED BY CORRUPT CONGRESS AND BJP.
You will have to join and/or otherwise support FTI in order for these reforms to be implemented.
Addendum: An excellent article in The Economist, 27 Nov. 2010.
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Related posts:
- A simple test of FTI’s theory: A Lokpal (without abolishing socialism) will have NO EFFECT on corruption
- Lessons for India from one of the best countries in the world
- How to remove corruption from India – the ACTUAL solution
- Demystifying corruption: Catching and punishing the corrupt HAS NEVER WORKED
- Don’t rely on Chinese methods to “fix corruption” in India
- Macaulay’s vision: Transitioning India from the Old World to the New World
- How corruption works – a case study of BJP’s expertise in corruption
- I’m withdrawing my support for “India Against Corruption”
- Are you serious about removing corruption? Then follow the POSITIVE solution
- Let’s get this very clear. India is definitely a Third World country
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I think this whole ranking is on the "perception of corruption" rather than the actual corruption and only looks at the public sector.
Few details regarding the NZ issue. Am sure something similar can be found for Australia as well.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/natio…orruption/5/69130
The CPI measures perception of corruption and not hard data. We note that in April this year the Serious Fraud Office announced an investigation into serious allegations of corruption at a public entity"
The CPI only measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians in New Zealand. It does not take into account the attitudes of the private sector when conducting business here and overseas.
Transparency International NZ is very concerned about the apparent lack of awareness about issues of corruption amongst the private sector in New Zealand. In February 2010 we released a study into NZ private sector attitudes towards corruption. Key findings of the survey were:
Only 44% of companies on the NZX50 have policies prohibiting bribery & corruption (this compares with 72% in the UK and 68% in the US) Only 14% of companies listed on the NZX 50 have sought to control the way in which facilitation payments are made by adding restrictions into their codes of conduct Only 10% prohibit facilitation payments altogether.
Mr Tan says "When we look at the study results for the NZX50 and then factor in the 2010 CPI results of some of our major trading partners, for example China is 78th with a composite score of 3.5, we believe there is a real risk that New Zealand organisations do not take the risks of bribery and corruption seriously when operating offshore."
We also call upon the government to do more to strengthen our regulatory and legislative environment in respect of combating bribery and corruption. Although NZ signed the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2003, we are one of only 18 countries not to have ratified it. 122 countries have both signed and ratified UNCAC.
Not denying that there is no corruption in Indian Govt departments, but I dont think we could rely on these rankings really for the fact.
Dear Ravi
No study/survey, particularly of 180 countries, can possibly be perfect.
But there is one rule in this world: what gets measured gets done. If you have a better way to assess the level of actual corruption please come out with it.
In the absence of something better, TI’s work is best-practice today, and I’d like India to use it as ONE of the many indicators to remunerate its politicians.
Regards
Sanjeev