MM: India rank in graft index up 18 spots : Nov 7, 2006

Corporate honchos praise improvement in India’s rankings , but say that a
lot more needs to be done.

WILLIAM CHARLES D’SOUZA AND NARENDRA KAUSHIK

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The Berlin-based Transparency International, a watchdog that ranks nations on a corruption index annually, has placed India at 70th position with 3.3 points – up from last year’s 88th rank with 2.9 points.

The rankings are on a scale from 10 to 0 with less points indicating
greater levels of corruption.

Iceland, Finland and New Zealand have maintained their lead in this
year’s edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index, while Haiti has been
ranked at the bottom of the list as the most corrupt nation on the planet.

“But reducing corruption is not enough. We have to eradicate it
completely,” stressed Kiran Karnik, President of India’s apex IT body,
Nasscom. He, however, said these rankings do matter as foreigners look at
them. “You see, business is all about predictability and transaction costs.
And corruption does add to the latter,” he explained.

‘REDUCE STEPS NEEDED TO INTERACT WITH GOVT’

Captain G R Gopinath, the managing director of no-frills airline Air Deccan,
called for reducing the number of steps a citizen has to go through to
interact with the government. “This is needed as a system that breeds
delays, breeds corruption,” he said.

What may be of some consolation to India is that the United States of
America has slipped in the CPI from spot 17 (2005) to 20. India’s
not-so-friendly neighbour Pakistan at 142 and Bangladesh at 156 have also
fared much worse. India shares the 70th position with China and Brazil.

Kapil Wadhawan, chairman and managing director, Diwan Housing Finance
Limited, said he is happy with the improvement India has registered. “The
improvement is brilliant. Let’s face it, there is corruption even in the US.
In fact, the US ranking has actually declined, while we have jumped up. So
we could actually be heading towards bridging the gap,” he said.

Kishore Biyani, chief of Future Group (formerly Pantaloon), said the
jump in the ranking could be a result of the general positive mood about
India, both within and without. “The happy sentiment could have extended to
the corruption index,” he said.

However, there are some who are not impressed. “We’re still far too low
on the list. More than 40 countries recorded over 5 points,” said Admiral
(retired) R H Tahliani, chairman, Transparency International India, who
released the report at the India International Centre in New Delhi on
Monday.

Tahliani hopes the positive trend would continue and strengthen with
implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and introduction of
technology in more departments.

The average score for 25 Asian countries in the CPI, meanwhile, remains
alarmingly low (4.6 out of 10) with only Singapore scoring over 9 (9.4).

COALITION POLITICS: A BIG BREEDER OF BRIBES?

S D Sharma, working chairman of the Lok Sevak Sangh, which set up
Transparency International India, identified coalition politics as the
biggest reason for corruption in India. “There are compulsions of
coalition,” Sharma said referring to inclusion of controversial ministers
like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Shibu Soren and Mohammad Taslimuddin in the Manmohan
Singh cabinet.

[NOTE: CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen
by business people and country analysts and ranges between 10 (highly clean)
and 0 (highly corrupt), the numbers inside the brackets represent the points
awarded, while that outside is the rank]

KIRAN KARNIK, NASSCOM Reducing corruption is not enough. We have to
eradicate it completely

KISHORE BIYANI, FUTURE GROUP “The happy sentiment about India could have extended to the corruption index”

KAPIL WADHAWAN, DIWAN HSG We could actually be heading towards bridging the gap with the United States!

Voices

GHANSHYAM VAISHNANI, THANE RESIDENT Across the world and India, it’s the departments which deal with revenue that are the most corrupt. And there’s
no question of it coming down. This is proved by the scams were hear of
everyday. Cash seizures from even junior employees now run into several
lakhs. In fact, I would say corruption has increased.

GAURANG VORA, PATHOLOGIST I think that there is some error in this survey.
It does not represent the true picture at all. Citizens like me and many
others have noticed that there is a gross misuse of power by the
law-enforcers and our elected representatives. The widening gap between the
rich and the poor and the farmers’ suicides are just some examples.

NARAYAN VERMA, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT I don’t think the survey accurately reflects the current state of affairs. We are all witness to the same level
of corruption as it was earlier. Some of my clients and colleagues have even
said that, whether an official is from Service Tax, Professional Tax or
Income Tax, the same level of corruption persists everywhere!

BHASKAR PRABHU, BUSINESSMAN I think this survey is nothing but an eyewash! Look at the many, many issues that are still troubling the common man on the street. Life has not become any simpler for him. He is still forced to bribe
officials for every second thing in life. How can we then say that
corruption has gone down in our country?

HEMA SAMPAT, TEACHER I think that corruption still remains at the same level
it always was – high! And bureaucrats do not wish to part with any kind of
information. There is no transparency in the system. Anyone can see that
corruption exists at the same level in any government department. There is
nothing to authenticate that corruption has gone down.

ASHRAF SHAIKH, SOCIAL ACTIVIST & STUDENT Yes, it has gone down. But not the way it should have as the Chief Information Officers are not functioning the
way they should. Lack of awareness about how to use the RTI is also one of
the reasons for corruption not reducing. In fact, the concerned officers
give vague and ambiguous answers to any queries under RTI.

ASHOK JAIN, SOCIAL WORKER