Bureaucracy
and corruption in India are closely connected.
A non-government organization with the name of Transparency
International conducted a survey and studied various aspects of behavior of
bureaucracy, the common citizens, politicians etc. and concluded that more than
half of the Indian population had actually given or taken bribes and had
required pressure tactics that were applied by means of bribery, to see that a
legitimate or illegitimate work in a public department was done.
The
connection between Bureaucracy and corruption in India is so strong that the
same NGO surveyed several countries of
Asia such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, China, Taiwan,
Philippines, Indonesia and India and found that India was at the bottom of the
list and also that it was very difficult
to work with the Indian Bureaucracy.
Land
And Property
The
nexus between the Bureaucracy and corruption in India is evident in villages, towns
and cities of India where several scams come to light and several others happen
but are not known to the public, about public land being stolen for personal
use or illegally sold or occupied by officers from all strata of the
bureaucracy.
Tendering
Processes And Awarding Contracts
The
Indian Government needs many things for its smooth operation which are acquired
from private entrepreneurs through a system of tendering. Public Tendering
processes are supposed to be fair and transparent so that the products bought
are of the best quality for the best price. The Bureaucracy is in charge of
initiating and going through the whole process of tendering, negotiating and
awarding contracts to enterprises who bid in the tenders. The discretion to
choose one vendor over another lies with the officers of the concerned
Government department and more often
than naught, unfair and illegal preference is shown to some bidders for a
consideration without giving weightage to
quality and delivery time etc.
The
nexus between corrupt officers of the bureaucracy and politicians and big
infrastructure developers, contractors and suppliers has resulted in poor and
sub-standard construction of roads and highways that are damaged within no
time.
Medicine
Even
in essential services such as health care and supply of medicines etc. the bad
connection between the Indian bureaucracy and corruption in India is seen. Government-run Hospitals and clinics that are
supposed to give free or highly subsidized health care services to the
under-privileged are found without medicines or doctors and getting treatment
in these Government run hospitals is sometimes impossible without bribing the
medical staff through touts.
Income
Tax Department
The
Income tax Department is most susceptible to corruption because evasion of
income tax is rampant among the tax-payers of India who would rather bribe the
income-tax officials than pay the taxes due. This department is well known for
corruption as the class of people that are offering the bribes for favors is
the tax-paying elite. No wonder large sums of money are given as bribes at the
cost of the Exchequer.
Preferential
Award Of Public Resources
The
connection between Bureaucracy and corruption in India is strong wherever the
government officials have the authority to grant or apportion public land or
some such resources of the country. When granting large contracts for mining or
drilling oil or licenses of 2G spectrum, corruption of a very high degree is
common because the private enterprises would benefit greatly from getting these
public contracts and the bribes are proportionate to the projected earnings.
The beneficiaries of these contracts get favorable working conditions and other
benefits in return of bribes given.
Driver
Licensing
Agents
and touts and intermediaries abound in the proximity of the offices of Licensing Authority that grants driving
licenses. The process of getting a
driver’s license which should be based on the driver’s ability to drive a
vehicle safely and know all the traffic rules is completely subjugated and for
a paltry sum paid as bribes through touts, incapable drivers are granted
driving licenses. The result is clearly seen on Indian roads which have a very
high rate of accidents and fatalities.
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