Guest Post by Sivakumar Surampudi, Shiv’s Third Eye

When Sanjay asked me to write a guest post for “No Bribe” on its first anniversary, ironically, I wished I could write an obituary instead. Yes, an obituary for corruption, fulfilling the vision of his blog!

Buoyed by the recent economic growth, all of us have an aspiration to see India as a developed country soon. Investment in infrastructure is considered the best bet to get there. Probably, we will get some distance with that strategy; but, I submit, only rooting out corruption can actually get us to the finishing line. For, corruption has the evil ability to destroy the nation before any benefit of progress reaches the common man.

But corruption is neither a new nor a simple phenomenon to conceive of its ending! In fact, Vedas called corruption a hydra-headed monster! Its heads are bribery, exploitative profit, vested interest, naked selfish desires, hypocrisy in the form of false promises, pride, false ego and calumny. It also takes the other forms like, officiousness, sycophancy, treachery, wickedness etc. If not controlled with true knowledge containing permanent truths, it spreads very fast in politics, economics and various organs of the state and institutions of the society.

With such an overwhelming description, it is not possible to start exploring end of corruption. So, I chose a simpler definition articulated by Transparency International “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. Looking at it this way, the solution has just two components. Deal with power. Deal with gain.

One can deal with “power” by improving transparency and increasing accountability. Information Technology can improve transparency. We have experienced that from every day examples like railway ticket reservations to mega illustrations like public monitoring of Government projects. Media can play a key role in diffusing the power by raising awareness of people through investigative journalism. This helps instill fear among the corrupt, and also build courage among common people to fight corruption. Media can also show case ordinary people who fought and achieved extra ordinary things. Instead of feeling cynical and helpless, common man will then start blowing whistles! The common man could also be aided by novel tools of expression viz. our own examples such as Gandhigiri and Zero value currency notes or the famous Citizen Initiative for Constant Light from Turkey. Ultimately, the problem will be solved when democracy deals with corruption; after all Kahlil Gibran did say many years ago, “so the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all”…

Turning to dealing with “gain”, paying more to those in power is an obvious solution, whether it is done as is by raising pay levels, or hedge through performance based pay that is commonly used in business! In effect, what could be lost if caught while taking bribe, should be more than what one gains through that bribe for a job done. In reality, the playing field is more complex than that. The minds of some of the greedy Wall Street executives became corrupt not because they were underpaid. Nor do many positions of power operate as “markets” to design pay per performance. We need to invoke the social norms to deal with this more complex situation. Ethics & Values must find more emphasis in education. After all that’s where it all begins.

How do we deal with systemic corruption, that is deep rooted; almost institutionalised? Sequence and eliminate corruption sector by sector, start with education and taxation? Two sectors with potentially the biggest impact!

With three cheers to “No Bribe” on its first anniversary in accomplishing its mission….

Sivakumar

There are two main types of Corruption  based on its quantum – Petty Corruption faced by common man in his day to day life and Grand Corruption which takes place at higher levels. While the former is based predominantly on duress, the latter is more consensual and is driven by expectations of mutual gain. Out of the two, Grand Corruption is more difficult to measure as both parties have an interest in keeping things under cover.

Measurement of Corruption thus far, has been limited to measuring perception of Corruption (CPI). This is an indirect measure of Corruption where a sample of population is polled about their perception of the level of Corruption present in a region or service. Since the queries are general and have no reference to specific instances of Corruption, people are more forthcoming and the data is easier to collect. However as the data may or may not be based on ’self experience’, it is likely to vary wildly between real and imaginary. Also since there is also no correlation between when the bribe was paid and when the question was asked, so the responders are more likely to adjust their responses along expected lines with the passage of time. Hence  Perception while being an important indicator can not replace direct measurement of Corruption.

Direct Measurement of Corruption is a daunting task because of the cloud of secrecy and fear associated with it. The victims fear retaliation and the perpetrators have a vested interest in secrecy, leading to a quiet burial of the incident. So most often, any direct corruption data is difficult to obtain and its also more likely to be intentionally tampered . Yet this is an exercise that needs to be indulged into if only to form one of the several indicators in measuring Corruption.

Various approaches to measure Corruption directly may be suggested based on how other intractable quantities are measured.  One such model to measure petty Corruption based on Inflation, is discussed below:-

Inflation Model: As Inflation is measured on the basis of prices of a basket of goods and services, similarly a basket of public services that suffer from rampant corruption may be surveyed on a regularly basis to measure Corruption trends. The basket of services may consists of common services like a) Driving License b) Registration of new Company c) New Vehicle Registration d) Registration for Sales Tax e) Passport Application f) Issuance of ‘C’ Forms etc. Survey questionnaire should cover both the cost of obtaining the service (including legal fee, bribes paid and agent commission etc.) as well as the time taken to obtain the services. Those to be surveyed may be chosen randomly from the list of people who recently availed those services (example- A Harvard Study on Corruption in Driving Licenses). Such surveys should should be undertaken at regular intervals across various regions for each of the services in the basket. Data for the same service across various regions should be compared to find out if there are any location specific bottlenecks. The time duration for obtaining the services may act as an alternate indicator of Corruption trends. The collected data should be aggregated over time to yield a Corruption trend. While this model may fall short of giving an indication of the overall quantum of Corruption, it may be useful in determining the trends as well location specific anomalies.

Other models for measurement of Corruption may be built around Exit Polls or Confession Boxes.  Those who have recently paid bribes or are  likely to have paid a bribe, should be encouraged to anonymously disclose their bribes. Exit polling may be attempted discreetly near the places of service delivery.  Each of these models would require a lot of tweaking before they deliver credible results. Much of this initiative will have to come from the Private sector with the help of academics, media and corporates to make it work. Measuring corruption is also a lot about collective intent.  It will depend upon how serious we are we as a society to uproot this menace.

While searching for information on the scale of Corruption in India, one is struck by the amazing dearth of any credible information.

There are a whole host of scales and indexes for everything under the sun including the esoteric Business Confidence index, Human Development index, Happiness index to the more mundane such as Inflation, GDP, Government Approval ratings etc.
But for an all important issue like Corruption, the sole measure that exists is the Corruption Perception index maintained by an international NGO, Transparency International. While the index has done immense service to the anti-corruption cause, it is primarily meant for a broad level comparison among countries and is based on perception rather than actual ground level data. Its utility in managing our country’s internal affairs is limited. Apart from that, there are no meaningful studies on the geographical spread of Corruption, nor any information on its time line trends, no best practices, not even a common place commission of inquiry on the spread of Corruption.

Overall there are no credible estimates of the quantum or cost of corruption in India. This has led to a situation where a feeble improvement on the Corruption Perception Index off late has hidden an astounding growth in the quantum of Corruption as evident from recent disclosures – Koda scam, I.A.S. raids, 300 Crorepati babus. The monetary estimates of Corruption normally vary from billions of dollars annually to trillions of dollars in accumulated figures. The figures are either based on very broad rules of thumb or are completely a figment of one’s imagination. The higher the estimate, the higher is the air of invincibility around it. Most of these figures have a hollow ring to them and are unable to mobilize public opinion to force the hands of the government. We continue to live in a hazy daze where everyone knows that Corruption exists but there is no official confirmation of the same. It allows the government to put their blinkers on and go about their work ignoring the existence of Corruption completely while continuing to bring out new schemes & policies that benefit the intermediaries more than their intended recipients. There is another school of thought that believes that growth in economy will itself deal with Corruption, so we may choose to ignore it till such time we are riding the growth tiger. In the process however, Corruption has grown stronger and stronger. Most importantly, it has led to a situation where Corruption has become a low risk, high return game and is feeding on itself to grow monstrously.

There are strong reasons for developing new metrics to measure Corruption despite its underlying difficulties. Some of them are enumerated below:

1. Primary reason for measuring Corruption is that measurement is the first step towards a cure. We need to measure something to be able control it.

2. The monstrous growth in Corruption can only be dented by a committed public opinion. Such a public opinion can only be built around a systematic measure of Corruption.

3. Behind the facade of anti-corruption, there is a growing tolerance for corruption in our society. It is undesirable, everyone says, but inevitable. Inevitability blunts public opposition. The inevitability stems largely from our inability to measure and track Corruption.

4. The smokescreen of impossibility of measuring Corruption because it is secret is often used to prevent probing on this front. However secrecy hasn’t stopped us from probing several other clandestine issues such as Sexual preferences & Political inclinations( Election Surveys, Exit Polls).

5. Corruption has always been treated as aberration of individuals who need to be exposed & punished. Hence very little effort has been made to check institutionalized Corruption which needs measurement on an ongoing basis.

6. Most of our present knowledge of Corruption levels is perception based. Even those perceptions are limited and shaped by new disclosures in scams. We have never pro actively sought to measure Corruption, which alone can deal with the fast mutating problem.

We have come a very long way from a Rs. 62 crore Bofors scam which shook the Central Government and led to a Prime Minister loosing election, to a Rs. 4,000 crore Koda scam where another tainted politician was sworn in as state Chief Minister soon after the scam came to light. How much farther do we need to travel before we act? The time to act is now!!

Corruption is silently eating into the vitals of our nation like termite. Bit by bit, it is denting our dignity and compromising our soul. Not only does it affect individuals like you and me but alarmingly it affects our nation as a whole. Imagine our nation slowly transforming into a nation of scoundrels and imbeciles. The odds, that next person you meet on the street, having either asked for or having paid a bribe, are getting higher by the day. India’s ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index too has slipped from 72 to 85 in 2008. All this exhibits a problem that is not going anywhere soon and mocks the high moral ground that we aspire to occupy in the international arena.

Corruption has afflicted all the organs of our society including the polity, bureaucracy, judiciary, police, businessmen, and even  public at large. It has rendered our governance apparatus hollow and ineffective. Countless efforts to combat corruption have not made any significant dent into this hydra headed monster. It simply keeps growing bigger & bigger, consuming new and old alike. Things have come to such a pass that it is much more difficult for an honest person to survive in the system while the dishonest are clearly made to feel at home. Such a system forces even fresh recruit to quickly fall in line and creates a vicious circle that promotes corruption.

So how do we break this vicious circle? This blog aspires not just to become a forum for discussion to vent pent up anger. It also aims to become a means for gauging the level of corruption in society. One of the primary reasons for corruption to flourish is the utter secrecy associated with it. Everyone knows it is there but no one talks about it. Everything has got a price, they say. What if the price becomes known and the veil of secrecy is lifted? How about a live rate chart for bribes fuelled by nationwide personal experience. Let us bring to bear the might of Social Media to unravel the corruption conundrum in India.