Corruption Free India — A Far Cry
When we talk of “Corruption”, the first thing that pops into our head is bribing a Cop to get out of a traffic ticket. This is just one of the many instances of corruption that we see in India. Corruption, as defined by Google, is the dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. Corruption is not a new phenomenon in India and has been prevalent in the society since ancient times. If we look back at Indian history, we can find great scholars mention about corruption even during the Mauryan Period. This corruption reached new heights when the East India Company took control of the company. And if we take a closer look, we will realise that the reason why India became a British Colony was that of corrupt traitors that existed. In present-day India, corruption has become so common that in some places it has become a part of the daily lives of people.
Corruption is like termites eating into the Political, Administrative, Judicial and Economic system of the country and hollowing it from the inside. It is something that adversely affects the country’s economy and the credibility of the central, state and local government agencies. It has not only held the economy back from reaching new heights, but rampant corruption has also stunted India’s development. When Transparency International released its Corruption Index for 2016 in January this year, it stated, “India failed to effectively deal with petty corruption as well as large-scale corruption scandals.” In a nationwide survey, about 45 per cent people admitted that they have paid bribes to get their work done in the past 12 months.
The reason why corruption is so rampant in India is because a major part of the population is still unaware of their rights and responsibilities. Even though Corruption-free India is still a far cry, stringent measures need to be taken to root out corruption from the Indian society. A comprehensive code of conduct should be strictly enforced for politicians, legislatures and bureaucrats. Special courts should be set-up to take up such issues and the Judiciary should be given more independence on issues related to corruption. The Law and Order machinery of India should be kept free of any political interference. Awareness should be created and people should be educated about the evil that is corruption. Only then can we save the system from collapsing.
The system needs to undergo chemotherapy to cure the cancer of corruption in India. The young ignited minds are the greatest resource that our country has to fight this evil and free India from the shackles of corruption.
Originally published at The Dialogue.
