Corruption in Public & Private Sector in India

There are many different ways that corruption can be defined but arguably the best working definition is an action of a public official for private gain. Corruption can broadly be divided into petty and big-ticket and both of these appear to be endemic in India. A large part of the corruption in India is associated with the delivery of public services and is spread throughout the hierarchy, it has high frequency but each case is characterized by a relatively low amount. Much more apparent and played up by the media is the big-ticket corruption and the recent 2G spectrum example is only one among a long history of such examples that have come up in the public domain. Corruption is not a cultural phenomenon but an administrative one. Improper allocation of discretion, not backed up by adequate monitoring, poor enforcement of laws, and lack of punishments all add up to create an environment where corrupt behavior has become more a norm rather than an exception. Add to that the inadequate use of technology within the government – IT systems, meters, and testing apparatus, etc. But clearly the critical element has to do with a surfeit of laws, rules and regulations that reduce economic freedom on the one hand and create incentives for side payments on the other. Many such laws and rules hail from pre-independence times when discretion was allocated to government functionaries without adequate controls on their functioning. But states within India are reforming, and efforts are on across the country to reduce corruption – these efforts are coming in from the political system as it is now in the self-interest of the political parties to reduce corrupt behavior by public officials.