NEW DELHI: Civil society members led by Anna Hazare have decided to shift the venue of

their day-long protest on Wednesday from Jantar Mantar to Rajghat (8 June,2011)

Top 10 Corruption Scams in India

“Want to get some work done; take something in your pocket”. These are the
words which must be stuck round everywhere. Yes, truly speaking about the
widespread corruption in India.
This is the season of scams and the biggest ever corruption cases in India have been unearthed more
recently. So, we decided to dig deep to see which scams were the biggest and most damaging to the
country and its citizens alike.

In our daily life, most of us must have been a witness to or a victim of the corruptionthriving in some or the
other part of the country. It could be in the form of a taxi-driver manipulating the meter to jack-up the
reading or a government officer taking bribery to promptly transfer your file to the next department or even
yourself offering bribe to a traffic police on breaking a signal.
An average Indian citizen is hard
working and diligent, but it is the people in charge of the system (The Babu’s) or with whom the power
lays, that act as a cancer spreading the venom, slowing down progress and what all not. But, somewhere
down the line, we ourselves are responsible for allowing and being taken for a ride by these people, aren’t
we?

However, it is during a multi-thousand crore scam, that a tax-payer actually realizes the heartburn of
being cheated from his valued contribution of funds towards the development and well-being of the
nation. But, that’s what a scam, be it big or small, means – the act of swindling by some fraudulent
scheme or action.

1) 2G Spectrum Scam(Rs.1.76-lakh crore)

We have had a number of scams in India; but none bigger than the scam involving the process of
allocating unified access service licenses. At the heart of this Rs.1.76-lakh crore worth of scam is the
former Telecom minister A Raja – who according to the CAG, has evaded norms at every level as he
carried out the dubious 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw-away price which were pegged at 2001
prices.
2) Commonwealth Games Scam(Rs. 70000 crore)

Another feather in the cap of Indian scandal list is Commonwealth Games loot. Yes, literally a loot! Even
before the long awaited sporting bonanza could see the day of light, the grand event was soaked in the
allegations of corruption. It is estimated that out of Rs. 70000 crore spent on the Games, only half the
said amount was spent on Indian sportspersons.
The Central Vigilance Commission, involved in probing the alleged corruption in various Commonwealth
Games-related projects, has found discrepancies in tenders – like payment to non-existent parties, will-ful
delays in execution of contracts, over-inflated price and bungling in purchase of equipment through
tendering – and misappropriation of funds.
"when one in three Indians lives below the poverty line and 40% of the hungry live in India, when 46%
of India's children and 55% of women are malnourished, does spending billions of dollars on a 12-day
sports event build national pride or is it a matter of national shame?"

3) Telgi Scam(Rs. 20000 crore plus)

As they say, every scam must have something unique in it to make money out of it in an unscrupulous
manner- and Telgi scam had all the suspense and drama that the scandal needed to thrive and be
busted.
Abdul Karim Telgi had mastered the art of forgery in printing duplicate stamp papers and sold them to
banks and other institutions. The tentacles of the fake stamp and stamp paper case had penetrated 12
states and was estimated at a whooping Rs. 20000 crore plus. The Telgi clearly had a lot of support from
government departments that were responsible for the production and sale of high security stamps.
4) Satyam Scam (Rs. 14000 rore.)

The scam at Satyam Computer Services is something that will shatter the peace and tranquillity of Indian
investors and shareholder community beyond repair. Satyam is the biggest fraud in the corporate
history to the tune of Rs. 14000 crore.
The company’s disgraced former chairman Ramalinga Raju kept everyone in the dark for a decade by
fudging the books of accounts for several years and inflating revenues and profit figures of Satyam.
Finally, the company was taken over by the Tech Mahindra which has done wonderfully well to revive the
brand Satyam.

5) Bofors Scam (400 million dollars, in 1980s)

The Bofors scandal is known as the hallmark of Indian corruption. The Bofors scam was a major
corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and several others including a
powerful NRI family named the Hindujas, were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning
a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer.

The Swedish State Radio had broadcast a startling report about an undercover operation carried out by
Bofors, Sweden’s biggest arms manufacturer, whereby $16 million were allegedly paid to members of PM
Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress. Most of all, the Bofors scam had a strong emotional appeal because it was a
scam related to the defense services and India’s security interests.
6) The Fodder Scam (Rs.950 crore)

If you haven’t heard of Bihar’s fodder scam of 1996, you might still be able to recognize it by the name of
“Chara Ghotala ,” as it is popularly known in the vernacular language.
In this corruption scandal worth Rs.950 crore, an unholy nexus was traced involved in fabrication of “vast
herds of fictitious livestock” for which fodder, medicine and animal husbandry equipment was supposedly
procured.

7) The Hawala Scandal ($18 million)

The Hawala case to the tune of $18 million bribery scandal, which came in the open in 1996, involved
payments allegedly received by country’s leading politicians through hawala brokers. From the list of
those accused also included Lal Krishna Advani who was then the Leader of Opposition.
Thus, for the first time in Indian politics, it gave a feeling of open loot all around the public, involving all the
major political players being accused of having accepted bribes and also alleged connections about
payments being channelled to Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Kashmir.

8) IPL Scam
Well, I am running out of time and space over here. The list of scandals in India is just not ending and
becoming grave by every decade. Most of us are aware about the recent scam in IPL and embezzlement
with respect to bidding for various franchisees. The scandal already claimed the portfolios of two big-wigs
in the form of Shashi Tharoor and former IPL chief Lalit Modi.

9,10) Harshad Mehta & Ketan Parekh Stock Market Scam (Rs. 4000 crore)
Although not corruption scams, these have affected many people. There is no way that the investor
community could forget the unfortunate Rs. 4000 crore Harshad Mehta scamand over Rs. 1000 crore
Ketan Parekh scam which eroded the shareholders wealth in form of big market jolt.
India, Republic of Scams
Scams by our politicians:-

 Ex Jharkhand Chief Minister, 1 billion dollars, (in more than 1800 bank
accounts worldwide, from mineral rich state) 2006-2009
 Mayawathi, UP CM, Taj Corridor scam up to 44 million dollars, 2002.
 Jain Hawala Scandal, 18 million dollars, 1996. Advani, Devi Lal, Yadav and
more.
 YSR/Jagan scam of 78,000 crores in 4.5 years Andhra CM (2004-2009)
 Karunanidhi family amassing millions in various businesses. One of them
even made it to Fortune magazine list of top billionaires!!
 Jayalalitha: Tamilnadu has dubious record of both main political parties well
known for corruption. Her party worker threw acid on bureaucrat’s face for
not falling in line.
 ruling family's (Gandhi's) financial net worth to be anywhere between
$9.41 billion (Rs 42,345 crore) to $18.66 billion (Rs 83,900 crore), most of it
in the form of illegal monies.
 Rahul Gandhi, who has no record to speak of (and who was arrested by FBI
for money laundering in US 2001) is foisted on the country without any
regard to eligibility. Rahul was partying while Mumbai was in flames during
26/11.

Plunder of India’s natural resources:-

 Natural resources that belong to all Indians are looted by private parties in collusion with
politicians and bureaucrats.
 Reddy Brothers looted 27 lakh tons of Iron Ore (in collusion with Congress in Andhra and BJP in
Karnataka) -Times of India, May 31, 2010
 Ambani brothers got exorbitant prices, tax exemptions tailored to benefit them and virtual
monopoly for Krishna Godavari basin exploration, benefitting billions of dollars from congress
Govt.
Tainted Judiciary

 Even Judiciary is severely tainted. Former Supreme Court Justice KG Balakrishnan’s son-in-laws
amassed fortunes during his tenure. During his tenure, he aggressively blocked any attempt to
bring judges into purview of declaring their assets.

Tainted Vigilance body head!

 Indian Government appointed tainted P.J. Thomas as head of Central Vigilance Commission
(CVC). He was the Telecom secretary under whom 40 billion dollar 2G scandal occurred and he is
going to investigate 2G scam!! When Supreme Court of India questioned , Government basically
told it is not their business.

The list of scams does not end, 73 lakh crores looted

 (1948)Jeep Scandal.[61][62] Haridas Mundhra Scandal ( 1957).[63][64] K D Malaviya-Sirajuddin
Oil Scandal.[61][65][66] 1971 Nagarwala Scandal.[67][68] 1975: Declaration of Emergency.[69]
Sukhna Land Scandal.[70][71][72][73] Oil for Food Programme Scam.[74][75] Barak Missile
Scandal.[76][77] Palmolein Oil Scam.[78][79] Initial Public Offer(IPO) Scam.[80][81] Mining
Scams.[82][83] Bitumen Scam.[84][85] Cement Scandal.[86][87] IPL Scam.[88][89] Animal
Husbandry Scam.[90][91] Satyam Software Services Scam.[92][93] Tansi Land Scam.[94][95]
ULIP Insurance Scam.[96][97] Cash For Votes Scandal.[98][99] RBG Resources Scam.[100][101]
Bangalore - Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Fraud.[102][103] Bofors Scam.[104][105] Haji
Scams.[106][107] Animal Fodder Scam.[107][108] Human Trafficking Scam.[109][110] Churhat
Lottery Scam.[111][112] Telgi Stamp Papers Scam.[113][114] Urea Scam.[115][116] St Kitts
Forgery.[117][118] Anantnag Transport Subsidy Scam.[69][119] Yugoslav Dinar Scam[120][121]
Kargil and Coffin Scam.[122][123] Uday Goyal Arrow Global Agrotech Scam.[124][125] Emaar
Scam.[126][127] Spiritual Guru Scams.[128][129] HDW Submarine Scandal.[130][131] Kashmir
Sex Racket Scam.[132][133] Babri and Ram Mandir Scam.[134][135] Land Acquisition Scams on
name of SEZ with harassment false cases.[136][137] Profident Fund Scam with Current
corrupted Judges in both Supreme Court and High Court.[138][139] Ketan Parek Stock Market
Scam.[140][141] Bansali Scam.[142][143] Cobbler and Shoes Scam.[144][145] Nagarjuna Finance
Scam.[146][147] Dalmia DSQ Software Scam.[148][149] UTI Scam.[139][150] Uday Goyal
Scam.[124][151] Letter of Credit (LOC) Scam.[120][152] Sanjay Agrawal Home Trade
Scam.Scam.[153][154] LIC Insurance Scam.[155][156] Harshad Mehta Stock Market
Scam.[157][158] Suflam Sujalam Scam.[159] Madhavpura Mercantile Cooperative Bank (MMCB)
Scam.[160][161] Hawala Transaction Scams.[120][162] Global Trust Bank Scam and
Bankruptcy.[163][164] Charminar Cooperative Urban Bank (CCUB) Scam and
Bankruptcy.[165][166] Vasavi Bank Scam and Bankruptcy.[167][168] Krushi Cooperative Urban
Bank (KCUB) Scam.[169][170] Prudential Bank Scam and Bankruptcy.[171][172] Nagpur District
Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB) Scam.[172][173] 2010 housing loan scam.[174][175] Sugar
 Import Scam.[176][177] Preferential Allotment Scam.[178] Meghalaya Forest Scam.[178]
Fertiliser Import Scam.[178][179] Telecom Scam.[180][181] SNC Lavalin Power Project
Scam.[182][183] Teak Plantation Swindle Scam.[184][185] Scorpene Submarine Scam.[186][187]
Taj Corridor Scam.[188][189] Army Ration Pilferage Scam.[190][191] State Bank of Saurashtra
Scam.[192][193] Flood Relief Scam.[194][195][196] Rice Export Scam.[197][198] Bulletproof
Jackets Scam.[199][200] MCD Pension Scam.[201][202] AICTE Scam.[203][204] Medical Council
of India(MCI) Scam.[205][206] Rail Recruitment Scam.[207][208] NREGA Scam.[209][210]
Siachen Scam.[211][212] J & K Milk Scam.[213][214] Gorshkov Scam.[215][216] MPLAD
Scam.[217][218] Public Distribution System(PDS) Scam.[219][220] Rajya Sabha Vote
Scam.[221][222] Cash for Questions in Parliament Scam.[223][224][225] City Limouzine &
Realcom Scam.[226][227][228] Common Wealth Games(CWG) Corruption.[229][230] Adarsh
Housing Society Scam.[231][232] 2G spectrum scam.[233][234]

What is country losing?

Just one 2G Scam, 40 billion dollars loot mean following loss for the country

It is 3% of country’s GDP in just one scam!!! 2. It is 20% of the money needed to create a
National Grid (connecting all rivers in India). Such a grid would ensure perennial water-supply
to every one of 6 lakh villages and to create 9 crore acres of land assured irrigation. 3. This one
scam alone is believed to exceed the colonial loot of 200 years!!

What could India do with 73 lakh crores (1.4 trillion dollars)?

 India’s poverty can be wiped out.

 Build: 2.4 crore primary healthcare centres. That’s at least 3 for every village, at a cost of Rs 30
lakhs each.
 Build: 24.1 lakh Kendriya Vidyalayas at a cost of Rs 3.02 crore each, with two sections from
Class VI to II.
 Construct: 14.6 crore low-cost houses assuming a cost of Rs 5 lakh a unit.
 Set up: 2,703 coal-based power plants of 600 MW each. Each costs Rs 2,700 crore.
 Supply: 12 lakh CFL bulbs. Thats enough light for each of India’s 6 lakh villages. Construct: 14.6
lakh km of two-lane highways. That’s a road around India’s perimeter 97 times over.
 Give: Rs 56,000 to every Indian. Even better, give Rs 1.82 lakh to 40 crore Indians living BPL
(Below Poverty Level).
 Clean up: 50 major rivers for the next 121 years, at Rs 1,200 crore a river every year.
 Launch: 90 NREGA-style schemes, each worth roughly Rs 81,111 crore. Announce: 121 more
loan waiver schemes. All of them worth Rs 60,000 crore.
 Hand out: 60.8 crore Tata Nanos to 60.8 crore people. Or four times as many laptops.
 Grow the GDP: The scam money is 27% more than our GDP (Rs 53 lakh crores).
 80% of India is poor (less than 2$ per day) and every second child is malnourished. One third of
global poor live in India
  The looted money is used to hoard food supplies to increase prices and make more. This is
making life hell for poor in India with 17% inflation. A mother has to chose between sending her
child to school or to work.
 Impoverishment of millions 100 million Indians live in slums surrounding cities in depraved
conditions with no toilet or hygiene.
 Lack of development is causing insurgency. One third of India’s districts are affected by Maoist
insurgency.

Since 1997, 199,132 farmers committed suicide in India. In 2004, in just one week 62 cotton farmers have
committed suicide in one place called Vidarbha in Maharashtra state. (From where our Rastrapati
Pratibha Patil ji belongs)
Fact India, based on newspaper reports

Terrorism

Transfer of loot to tax havens and to countries harboring terror groups. For e.g,
transfer of Swan telecom 2G loot to Elisalat, a Dubai based group with ISI
involvement. Also, the brokers who do the hawala transfers for the looters also
do for the terrorists (Jain Hawala scam).

Poor infrastructure even to save food grains causing food prices to soar

The cut in every project left India with little infrastructure of drinking water,
electricity, roads, canals and sewage systems making life miserabale. Worse, it is
costing 50,000 crores of agriculture loss each year with thousands of tons of food
grains rotting when millions do not have 2 meals a day.

Severe Internal and External Security Challenges

India’s police does not have proper equipment to fight terrorists and insurgents.
The shoddy bullet vests could not protect our police during Mumbai terrorist
attack.

The wheeling dealing (cut to politicians) with every military procurement left India
with sub standard equipment. Not only that, more seriously it destroyed
indigenous development of weapons. It is now believed India will not win a
determined war with its neighbors.

Wide contrast between rich and poor

The rich and poor contrast is so telling in Mumbai where Ambani build 1 billion
dollar home (most expensive home in the world with 3 helipads and underground
parking for 160 vehicles) versus Mumbai Dharavi slum where nearly half of
Mumbai population live without sanitation, drinking water (18,000 people per
acre). Ambani gave a jet plane as a birthday gift to his wife which Dr. Swamy says
is used by Sonia Gandhi as private jet for Italy trips.

India is a rich country that breeds poor people to make rich richer.
- Editorial, People Democracy

What are the solutions?

 Massive awakening to force laws that have teeth and are not subjected to
political interference.
 India against Corruption with well known activists has come up with such
bills and organizing rally to support them (
http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org )
 Reduce corruption for Govt services by use of Technology such as E-
Governance and reduction of Government control. Transparency in
Government contracting etc.
 Encourage people to vote. Educate the poor that the freebies given during
elections are stolen money. Encourage citizens to say ‘No’ to bribes.
 Several activists/NGO’s are springing up in India to tackle the issue.
Janaagraha recording of bribes (I paid a bribe) prompted Karnataka Govt to
take action. 5th Pillar has addressed 600 colleges/universities, formed
human chains protesting corruption and created a brand of zero rupee
notes. India Against Corruption,
 Bring the looted funds back.
 Work with US Department of Treasury, USA Financial Action Task Force to
track down the money transfers into tax havens and the rerouting back into
stock markets through participatory notes and other hawala routes.
 Get familiar with this highly acclaimed book that started the well known
organization ‘Global Financial Integrity’ fighting the dirty money in the
world. It shows the kind of methods used by Gandhi’s, Karunanidhi’s,
Ambani’s and others to save the stolen wealth of India in different foreign
havens and impoverish millions.
 Develop Indian identity.
 Indians should transcend religion, region, caste, ideology (leftists etc) and
identify as Indians first. Foreigners and dregs of the society rule us because
it is very easy to divide us.
 GET INVOLVED
  India Against Corruption, Janaagraha, Save India From Corruption, 5th
Pillar, and many such organizations, spiritual leaders, activists, experts are
fighting valiant battle.

Do not lose heart

 It happened in Hong Kong, 1974 when mass awakening established ICAC

 (Independent Commission Against Corruption)
 It happened in Peru in 2009 when people & supreme court overthrew
President Fujimori
 It happened in Tunisia in 2010 when mass awakening overthrew President
Ben Ali It is happening NOW in Egypt against President Mubarak
 It is going to be happend in India
 Save your country from disintegrating like impoverished African nations.
 Thousands of freedom fighters did not give up their life for nothing
 Spread the word. Sign up and place this video and pdf on your websites

Maybe most of us feel that God is also a deal maker and your corruption is
balanced of by doing Haj, Kar Seva, Hail Mary or Mata ki Chowki. We all know the
doctor who orders unnecessary tests, the policeman who harasses the poor, the
Safai Karamchari’s who do not work, the teacher who even if he/she shows us up
is a pathetic teacher, the person who takes a cut of NREGA money, adulterates
petrol or diverts PDS food grains. A joke making the rounds is that a 60 year old
Pakistani asked God how long it would take to eliminate rampant corruption in
Pakistan and God said 60 years. The Pakistani started crying because that would
not happen in his life time. A 40 year old Taliban person started crying when God
told him that Afghanistan would take 80 years. Then God saw a young man in his
teens and asked him where he was from and when he said India, God started
crying because rampant corruption would not be eliminated in India.

In corruption it is often said it takes two hands to clap and the bribe giver is as
guilty as the bribe taker. This is wrong. In daily grassroot cases except the large
scams the bribe giver is like a domestic violence victim with no real choice except
to be really brave. I have heard comments about honest senior cops or
government servants where juniors complain “Saala khud be nahin khata or
khane bee nahin deta” The picture looks bleak. So is there no hope? We all know
that is darkest before the dawn but is that just an empty philosophical nice
sounding statement. History suggests there indeed can be a dawn. Hongkong in
1973 was as bad as or worse than India

A few good men Bhushan, Hegde, Kejriwal helped by many people around the
globe who wish India well have drafted a Jan Lokpal Bill (now in its eighth
revision) which if improved and enacted will be a necessary but not sufficient
condition to eliminate rampant corruption. We can come to sufficient later but
let’s get the necessary done.

I have read the government Lokpal Bill and the Jan Lokpal Bill and to me the
government bill is an eyewash.

However, reading the government version of the Jan Lokpal bill made by blood
boil and it became clear to me that unless there is a mass movement there will be
no effective deterrent against corruption. The Lokpal in the Jan version has full
powers while in the government version it is only advisory. In the Jan version the
Lokpal must provide speedy justice and can recover the ill gotten gains with
penalties. None of that happens in the government version. In the Jan version
tackling day to day corruption is an important priority while that is missing from
the government version? The list goes on and on. The bottom line is politicians of
all parties want corruption to continue and keep justifying it by saying we need
state funding of elections and so on. The more an effective deterrent gets delayed
the better. It is upto the masses to make the government give meaning to
corruption is being tackled on a war footing. Why cannot legislators burn
midnight oil and along with the brightest minds in India get a bill passed and
notified between 60-120 days. A deadline like 120 days to get an outcome is
definitely not business as usual. A two page bill the Delhi Defacement Act of 2007
was notified only in 2009. However, does not war footing mean we need to
compress timelines from two years to 120 days or less.
Impact of Corruption on Indian Businesses: Survey
Until a year ago, it was of common knowledge that corruption is deeply rooted in India. However, it was
the scandalous year 2010 that established this perception into fact. All the major scams – be
it Commonwealth games fiasco, 2G spectrum allocation scam or bribe for housing loan scandal – were
unearthed during previous year.
Even equity markets crumbled by 15% as the year ended on a sagging note. Some analysts attributed
this weakness in markets to uneven inflation-growth dynamics, while others blamed it on India’s lost
credibility with regard to governance issues.

Having said above, I still feel that the FIIs have still not yet fully discounted the negativity arising out of
corruption issues. The theory that is still doing the rounds among the institutional investors is that the
India is still on growth track irrespective of the recent scam instances.

However, the same optimistic sentiment has not been reflected when it comes to insight from corporate
India – i.e. those who are directly involved in dealing with the challenges faced on account of corruption
issues.

To keep a tab on what India Inc feels about corruption issues, KPMG India surveyedleading Indian
companies to keep a tab on sentiment and perception of how corruption is corroding economy as well as
corporate environment.
Key Highlights of the Corruption Survey:
Over 2/3rd of the survey respondents perceive that India can touch 9% GDP growth if corruption is
controlled. Otherwise, it would result in volatile political and economic environment.

Impact of corruption on India’s GDP growth

Half of those surveyed felt that India corruption may hit the investment sentiment and render India less
attractive destination for foreign investment.
Respondents to the extent of whopping 90% felt that corruption would also translate into increased stock
market volatility and prevent institutional investors from making long-term commitments.

99% of respondents opined that the biggest impact of corruption on business is its tendency to skew level
playing field and attract organizations with lesser capability to execute projects. This could create
inefficiencies in the system and hence increase the cost of operations.

Impact of corruption on business

Now, take this! Well, it’s a no shocker, but certainly a bit surprising. Almost 68% people attribute
corruption to be induced by the private sector; even as wide majority of us put the blame on the
government enterprises.

India has seen stupendous growth in mergers and acquisitions. But, here could be a small hump in the
tale. Nearly 37% of respondents felt that corruption could impact the valuation of a company thereby
denying shareholders a fair price.

Needless to say, real-estate industry has remained as the most corrupt industry, as told by 32%
respondents, which is highest quantification going industry-wise.
 Perception of most corrupt industries

So, any take on which industry is most corrupted after real-estate? Well, no points for guessing, its
telecommunications sector – especially, after recent 2G spectrum allocation scam, 17% of those
surveyed felt this sector is fraught with corruption issues.

Most significantly, when it comes to anti-corruption measures, a majority 84% of those surveyed opined
that Indian government failed to effectively enforce anti-bribery and corruption laws.

How will corruption scenario in India change in the next 2 years?

Interestingly, when asked as to how will corruption scenario in India change in the next 2 years – 46% felt
that corruption is here to stay in the system, while 15% opined that corruption shall continue to thrive and
increase irrespective of the legislation.

Certainly, we cannot take the above survey findings with a pinch of salt. There is lots of reality
behind above survey outcome. Can India come out winner out of such trying circumstances?
 Everyone holding foreign bank accounts or asset overseas directly or indirectly must declare
them, including the source of funds. Non- reporting should result in prosecution and seizure of
assets.

The integrity commission should lead periodic anti-corruption media campaigns through
newspapers and TV. There should be awards for journalists, social workers and ordinary citizens
doing outstanding work in exposing and fighting corruption.

Electoral reforms, including campaign finance reform, mandatory declaration and publicity of political
candidates’ assets and income, criminal charges or convictions, if any and complete bio data.

According to Management Guru C.K.Prahalad , the cost of corruption to the country might as
well exceed Rs. 250,000 crores.

The total spending for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is pegged at a whopping Rs. 10,000 crore.
The breakup of this spending throws up some interesting insights too.

* Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) by the Election Commission

* Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) by the Centre and state governments

* Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) were spent by political parties and individual candidates

For 2010, India was ranked 87th of 178 countries in Transparency International's Corruption
Perceptions Index. As of 2010, India is amongst the most corrupt governments in the world,
though one of the least corrupt in South Asia.

India needs to deal with the malice of corruption and improve governance in Asia's third-largest
economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on 18 March 2011. Now what he is doing you
know very well

Independent reports have recently calculated India's traditionally ruling family's (Gandhi's)
financial net worth to be anywhere between $9.41 billion (Rs 42,345 crore) to $18.66 billion (Rs
83,900 crore), most of it in the form of illegal monies. Harvard scholar Yevgenia Albats cited
KGB correspondence about payments to Rajiv Gandhi and his family, which had been arranged
by Viktor Chebrikov, which shows that KGB chief Viktor Chebrikov sought in writing an
"authorization to make payments in US dollars to the family members of Rajiv Gandhi, namely
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Paola Maino, mother of Sonia Gandhi" from the CPSU in
December 1985.
It is estimated that more than trillion dollars are stashed away in foreign havens, while 80 percent
of Indians earn less than 2$ per day and every second child is malnourished.

Despite this, India is sitting on unused foreign aid of over 100,000 crore (US$22.2 billion)
reflecting inadequate planning by ministries like urban development, water resources and energy,
a report by government auditor Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said. “As
on March 31, 2010, unutilised committed external assistance was of the order of Rs.1,05,339
crore,” the CAG said in its report tabled in Parliament on 18 March 2011. In fact, the Indian
government has paid commitment charges of 86.11 crore (US$19.12 million) out of taxpayer-
money during 2009-10 in the form of penalty for not timely utilising the aid approved by
multilateral and bilateral lending agencies.

Areas of Corruption
1. Politics (Criminalization of Indian politics is a problem. )
In July 2008 The Washington Post reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members
faced criminal charges, "including human trafficking, immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even
murder". At state level, things are often worse. In Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2002, candidates with
criminal records won the majority of seats.

2. Bureaucracy
A 2005 study done by Transparency International (TI) in India found that more than 50% of the people
had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office. Taxes
and bribes are common between state borders; Transparency International estimates that truckers pay
annually US$5 billion in bribes. A 2009 survey of the leading economies of Asia, revealed Indian
bureaucracy to be not just least efficient out of Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan,
Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines and Indonesia; further it was also found that working with
India's civil servants was a "slow and painful" process..

3. Land and property

Officials often steal state property. In cities and villages throughout India, Mafia Raj consisting of
municipal and other government officials, elected politicians, judicial officers, real estate developers and
law enforcement officials, acquire, develop and sell land in illegal ways..

4. Tendering processes and awarding contracts

Government officials having discretionary powers in awarding contracts engage in preferential treatment
for selected bidders and display negligence in quality control processes. Many state-funded construction
activities in India, such as road building, are dominated by construction mafias, which are groupings of
corrupt public works officials, materials suppliers, politicians and construction contractors. Shoddy
construction and material substitution (e.g. mixing sand in cement while submitting expenses for cement)
result in roads and highways being dangerous, and sometimes simply washed away when India's heavy
monsoon season arrives.

5. Medicine
In Government Hospitals, corruption is associated with non availability of medicines (or duplicate/fake
medicines), getting admission, consultations with doctors and availing diagnostic services. There have
been cases of diversion of medical supplies from government hospitals and clinics as well as supply and
distribution of medicines of inferior quality Some hospitals are charging extra amounts from rich people.
In India there is an unfair co-operation for medi-insurance companies and hospitals.

6. Birth or Death Certificates

Grieving families are often asked in Government-run offices to pay bribes to obtain the birth or Death
Certificate.

7. Transport
Officials who oversee transportation regulations, safety norms, traffic violations engage in rent seeking
activity. Typically a lenient treatment for an offending driver or vehicle is accompanied by expectation of
a bribe. India has multiple jurisdictions for vehicular laws as well as overlapping laws at the central
government and state government level which worsens bureaucratic complications. This leads to
facilitation payments to accelerate normal government processes.

8. Income tax
There have been several cases of collusion of officials of the income tax department of India for a
favorable tax treatment in return for bribes.[

9. Preferential award of public resources

As detailed earlier, land in areas with short supply is relatively common with government entities
awarding public land to private concerns at negligible rates. Other examples include the award of mining
leases to private companies without a levy of taxes that is proportionate to the market value of the ore.

9. Judiciary
Corruption is rampant in the judicial system of India. According to Transparency International, judicial
corruption in India is attributable to factors such as "delays in the disposal of cases, shortage of judges
and complex procedures, all of which are exacerbated by a preponderance of new laws".

10. Armed forces

The Indian Armed Forces have frequently witnessed corruption involving senior armed forces officers
from the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. Many officers have been caught for allegedly
selling defence stores in the black market in the border districts of Indian states and territories. Recent
sukhna land scandal involving four Indian Lieutenant Generals has shaken public faith in the country's
growing military at a time when large sums are being spent on modernising the armed forces. A string of
eye-popping fraud cases has damaged the institution in recent years. The latest Adarsh land scam is
another example of the nexus between the armed forces , bureaucracy and the politicians in the
embezzlement of government property.

11. Police
Indian Police remains amongst the most corrupt departments of government. Even basic functions like
lodging a F.I.R. or reporting a theft cannot be done without paying bribe to police officials. Cases are
firstly not registered, victims are encouraged, even threatened for not filing an official complain. If a case
somehow gets registered police doesn't takes any actions.The corrupt politicians and policemen go like
hand in glove, often resulting in exploitation of the masses. Despite State prohibitions against torture and
custodial misconduct by the police, torture is widespread in police custody, which is a major reason
behind deaths in custody. The police often torture innocent people until a 'confession' is obtained to save
influential and wealthy offenders. G.P. Joshi, the programme coordinator of the Indian branch of the
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi comments that the main issue at hand concerning
police violence is a lack of accountability of the police.

12. Religious institutions

In India, the corruption has also crept into religious institutions. Some of the Church of North India are
making money by selling Baptism certificates. A group of church leaders and activists has launched a
campaign to combat the corruption within churches. The chief economic consequences of corruption are
the loss to the economy an unhealthy climate for investment and an increase in the cost of government-
subsidised services. The TI India study estimates the monetary value of petty corruption in 11 basic
services provided by the government, like education, healthcare, judiciary, police, etc., to be around
21,068 crore (US$4.7 billion). India still ranks in the bottom quartile of developing nations in terms of the
ease of doing business, and compared to China and other lower developed Asian nations, the average time
taken to secure the clearances for a startup or to invoke bankruptcy is much greater.

Causes of corruption

The causes of corruption are many and complex. Following are some of the causes of corruption.

· Emergence of political elite who believe in interest-oriented rather than nation-oriented

programmes and policies.

· Artificial scarcity created by the people with malevolent intentions wrecks the fabric of the
conomy.
· Corruption is caused as well as increased because of the change in the value system and ethical
qualities of men who administer. The old ideals of morality, service and honesty are regarded as
an achronistic.

· Tolerance of people towards corruption, complete lack of intense public outcry against
corruption and the absence of strong public forum to oppose corruption allow corruption to reign
over people.

Vast size of population coupled with widespread illiteracy and the poor economic infrastructure
lead to endemic corruption in public life.

· In a highly inflationary economy, low salaries of government officials compel them to resort to
the road of corruption. Graduates from IIMs with no experience draw a far handsome salary than
what government secretaries draw.

· Complex laws and procedures alienate common people to ask for any help from government.

· Election time is a time when corruption is at its peak level. Big industrialist fund politicians to
meet high cost of election and ultimately to seek personal favour. Bribery to politicians buys
influence, and bribery by politicians buys votes.

Dr. Abdul Kalam once visited a school and being a chief guest had an active
conversation with the students. There he raised a topic of ambition and asked the
students about their aim. As expected, many aspired to be an engineer, doctor, actor,
etc. but none responded for political leadership. Highness Kalam on listening these,
suggested students to change the way of viewing politics, better have an optimistic
view of it. Today India can be saved from this poison of corruption only through
entering into politics. So, we the young generation of the country must strive hard for
eradicating corruption and other problem to make country prosperous.

We Have Tolerated Corruption For So Long

The Time Has Now Come To Root It Out From Its roots.
Yours

Ranbir Singh
ranbir.nain@gmail.com

http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/

http://5thpillar.org
http://www.TruthAbout IndiaCorruption.org

Email: contact@TruthAboutIndiaCorruption.org

nobribe.org Etc

SO GIVE some time FOR THE SAKE OF OUR COUNTRY. ... please forward this mail to
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