CONCERN ABOUT WIDESPREAD CORRUPTION:

Corruption in simple words can be defined as the action of making someone or something morally depraved or state of doing so. It means dishonest conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery or unfair favors. A corrupt person is termed immoral, dishonest and unscrupulous in his dealings. His disregard for honesty, righteousness and truth results in his alienation from society. In brief, anything that is below all standard norms of morality in a country, is called or defined as corruption and corrupt practices. Corruption is a worldwide problem. To restrict this lack of social control to the developing countries alone would be to take an unfittingly optimistic view of the pestilence. Corruption in the public service is not just a matter of 'a few black sheep' but an alarmingly everyday occurrence. Political, bureaucratic, corporate and individual corruption in India are major concerns. A 2005 study conducted by Transparency International in India found that more than 55% of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or influence peddling to get jobs done in public offices successfully. The recent scams involving unimaginably big amounts of money, such as the 2G spectrum scam, Commonwealth Game scam are well known. In 2011 India was ranked 95th out of 178 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Reality in many developing countries today is still shaped like this: relatively underdeveloped public institutions, small upper class elites, and huge differences in wealth and income-with the concomitant possibilities of wielding power and exercising authority. Under these conditions corruption has especially deplorable

effects. Where it spreads no bedrock remains in the long run; habituation to dishonesty destroys all sense of honesty. The disposition to corrupt and be corrupted rather than qualifications comes to determine relations between people. Corrupt conduct in office ends up as flagrant disregarding of community interests. Corruption is socially destructive. It saps the foundations of probity and leads to disregard of the public interest. In the markets it warps competition to the point of stultifying it, to the detriment of the economy. By thwarting rational ways of deciding things and getting them done it puts a further strain on the network of interaction, cumbersome enough to begin with in many developing countries. From the perspective of development policy it is particularly to be deplored that repercussions emanating from corruption hurt the underdogs of society worst because of its inherent tendency to twist decisions in favor of those who, thanks to their pocketbook or social position, can bring influence to bear. Small businesses and poor people lack the resources to prod the decision-making mill to work in their interest; they are helplessly at the mercy of capriciousness and corruption. So they must try to make a go of it in the outlaw zone of the shadow economy, living in constant fear of criminal prosecution or forced to protect themselves by greasing the palms of the servants of the state. The business world as well can only view corruption as an evil. For one thing it undermines every effort to do business with the customer in mind, aiming to achieve the optimal customer satisfaction that translates into market success. A business that can flourish merely by greasing has no incentive to strive for quality. In a climate of corruption the quality and competitive price of products

and services do not determine market success, but rather how much bribe-money changes hands; not the reliability and integrity of a company, or other gauges of genuine competence, but rather the unscrupulousness of corrupt individuals. This game does not deserve the name of competition: its true name is fraudulent competition. Corruption can tie up sizable financial and organizational assets indefensible in any normal climate of operations. Without the impediment of corruption those resources could be employed elsewhere or used to improve profitability. Last, it is too much to expect of employees that they should perform corrupt acts and submit to making payments. Especially employees of multinational corporations who do so can run a high personal risk, for it is probable that even though two people may be doing the same thing it will not be considered quite the same. A bribe passed to a government employee by a countryman is generally looked at in a different light than the identical act with an expatriate doing the bribing. In the long term no society can subsist as an orderly whole if corrupt mores dictate the tenor of economic, social and political life. It always comes down to shady practices used to procure an unfair advantage for one side at the expense of someone else. According to a report by KPMG, "high-level corruption and scams are now threatening to derail the country's credibility and [its] economic boom

PREVENTIVE STEPS AGAINST CORRUPTION IN INDIA: Right to Information Act The Right to Information Act (2005) and equivalent acts in the states, that require government officials to furnish information requested by citizens or face punitive action, computerization of services and various central and state government acts that established vigilance commissions have considerably reduced corruption or at least have opened up avenues to redress grievances. The 2006 report by Transparency International puts India at the 70th place and states that significant improvements were made by India in reducing corruption.

Ombudsmen The Lokayukta is an anti-corruption organization in the Indian states. These institutions are based on the Ombudsman in Scandinavian countries. An amendment to the Constitution has been proposed to implement the Lokayukta uniformly across Indian States as a three-member body, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or high court chief justice, and comprise of the state vigilance commissioner and a jurist or an eminent administrator as other members. Social welfare worker Anna Hazare has led to a movement to compel the Indian Government to notify the Committee for the implementation of the Lokayukta against corruption as an independent body and also giving enough powers to the Lokayukta to also receive corruption complaints against politicians, bureaucrats and even sitting judges. Anna Hazare is currently pursuing an agenda to pass a bill called Jan Lokpal bill, and he has gathered the support of many citizens residing in

metropolitan cities of India. He was on an indefinite fast at the Ramlila Grounds, Delhi, in order to campaign for the cause.

Whistleblowers Whistleblowers play a major role in the fight against corruption. India currently does not have a law to protect whistleblowers, which was highlighted by the assassination of Satyendra Dubey. Indian courts are regularly ordering probe in cases of murders or so-called suicide of several whistle blowers. One of the latest cases of such murder is of V Sasindran Company Secretary of Palakkad based Malabar Cement Limited, a Government company in Kerala and his two minor children, Kerala High Court ordered CBI probe on 18 February 2011. Initially, CBI showed its unwillingness for probing into such cases citing over-burden as a reason.