Corruption is a Contagious Disease IAS Essay : It is a well said quote that all luxury corrupts either the morals or the state and to add to this fact the people who get into touch with such corrupt person and corrupt practices get enamored by the lucre and good quality of life of such persons and their family members. A sense of frivolity and indemnity from adverse action is felt by them because nothing tangible has happened expeditiously to such corrupt persons even when a few of them are caught by default. Thus corruption has taken an epidemic form of communicable disease which needs multimodal therapy.
Corruption is a Contagious Disease IAS Essay
It is a well said quote that all luxury corrupts either the morals or the state and to add to this fact the people who get into touch with such corrupt person and corrupt practices get enamored by the lucre and good quality of life of such persons and their family members. A sense of frivolity and indemnity from adverse action is felt by them because nothing tangible has happened expeditiously to such corrupt persons even when a few of them are caught by default. Thus corruption has taken an epidemic form of communicable disease which needs multimodal therapy.
Communicable disease is an epidemic which is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community transmissible from person to person by direct contact with an affected individual or the individual's discharge or by indirect means by a vector, for example flu, plague, cholera etc. Likewise corruption has reached the form of communicable disease making every individual of the society sick.
Corruption can take many forms that can include graft, bribery, embezzlement and extortion. Its existence reduces business credibility and profits when professionals misuse their positions for personal gain.
Corruption affects the poorest the most, in rich or poor nations, though all elements of society are affected in some way as corruption undermines political development, democracy, economic development, the environment, people's health and more.
Around the world, the perception of corruption in public places is very high.
But it isn't just in governments that corruption is found; it can permeate through society.
At a national level, people's effective participation and representation in society can be undermined by corruption, while at local levels, corruption can make day to day lives more painful for all affected. When asking why poor countries are poor, it is quite common to hear, especially in wealthier countries that are perceived to have minimal corruption that other countries are poor because of corruption. Yet, corruption is not something limited to third world countries. Rich countries too have been involved in corrupt practices around the world.
When a child is born he/she experiences corruption through parents in hospital as even for getting admitted to a government hospital in general ward they need to grease the palm of the concerned officials. They have to pay for the medicines used and diet provided though it is supposed to be provided free by the government. Normal childbirth through labor pain is converted to a caesarean operation which is a costly proposition for poor persons and they are directed to the private nursing homes of the attending doctors.
While dealing with Hospitals and Health Care we find in Government Hospitals, corruption is associated with non-availability/duplication of medicines, getting admission, consultations with doctors and availing diagnostic services. Another health care-related government program, i.e. NRHM has been subject to large scale corruption allegations.
No public health program can succeed in a setting in which scarce resources are siphoned off, depriving the disadvantaged and poor of essential healthcare. Quality care cannot be provided by a healthcare delivery system in which kickbacks and bribery are a part of life. The medical profession, historically considered a noble one, and the bioethics community cannot evade their moral responsibility in the face of this sordid reality.
When a child needs admission for study he/she experiences corruption through parents in school. The schools invent such a system of admission process where it is difficult to get through. So what is left is to pay donation and capitation fee to get admitted in the school. The course books, uniform, etc. are to be bought from the school itself whether you want it or not. The teachers have their own private tuition centers charging exorbitant prices so that child gets good numbers in his exams.
When anyone needs admission in college/university for professional courses/ higher study he/ she experiences corruption in the form of direct admissions through management quota and agents who charge fees for getting the student admitted to these premier colleges. The system of high cut off marks and 3 to 4 rounds of admission counseling is not a very transparent process and seats are managed by private players in favor of those who pay for remain unfilled till the last.
When anyone needs birth, caste/income/domicile, marriage and death certificates he/she experiences corruption at block/tehsil /district level. There is a plethora of agents sitting outside the offices which make the process easier and faster for additional fee. Otherwise, if you go directly to the department then you are made to run from pillar to post in vain.
When anyone goes to pay electric/water bill, etc, he/she experiences corruption at different levels. You are dismayed to find exorbitant and wrong billing done in your bill. If want to get it corrected in the department then no one listens to your reasoning and penal interest goes on increasing month by month. You are made to pay bribe for genuine correction of bill, to get a new connection or to get your bills reduced to a lower level in case of high volume consumers of electricity.
When anyone goes for driving license (DL) he/she experiences corruption at different levels. The RTO is not interested in real tests of driving and knowledge of rules and regulations. It is more important that agents sitting outside get the overhead money in addition to actual fee. It naturally is done for the benefit of departmental officials. A study conducted between 2004 and 2005 found that India's driver licensing procedure was a hugely distorted bureaucratic process and allows drivers to be licensed despite their low driving ability through promoting the usage of agents. Individuals with high willingness to pay make a significant payment above the official fee and most of these extra payments are made to agents, who act as an intermediary between bureaucrats and applicants.
When anyone deserves for promotion in Govt. services he/she experiences corruption at different levels because it is not based on merit and hard labor put in by the officer. His Annual confidential report and final selection in the panel of the promotion depends on portion of bribe transmitted to higher ups. In fact they are given targets for collection of illegal gratification from their jurisdiction which has to be given to the top bosses in lieu for plum postings and promotions.
In the matter of Land and property the Officials are alleged to steal state property. In cities and villages throughout India, 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.
Income tax department has several cases of collusion of officials for preferential tax treatment and relaxed prosecutions in exchange for bribes which gives leverage to defaulting businessman who can avoid the tax net and penalties by not showing their real income.
Corruption at the level of Bureaucracy has been evident in 2005 study in India that more than 62% of the people had first-hand 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 the billions in bribes. Government regulators and police share in bribe money, each to the tune of 43% and 45% respectively. The en route stoppages including those at checkpoints and entry-points take up to 11 hours in a day.
In the fields of Business Public servants have very wide discretionary powers offering the opportunity to extort undue payments from companies and ordinary citizens. The awarding of public contracts is notoriously corrupt, especially both at the Centre and the state level, for e.g. coal block at Centre and an iron ore mining scandal in 2011 in Karnataka. There are scandals involving high-level politicians have highlighted the payment of kickbacks in the healthcare, IT and military sectors.
Corruption at the level of Judiciary 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.” Over the year there have been numerous judges who have faced allegations of corruption, however in 2011, Soumitra Sen, a former judge became the first judge in the India to be impeached for misappropriation of funds.
When we talk of Armed forces, it has witnessed corruption involving senior armed forces officers from all three wings. A number of scandals in the 2000-2010 periods damaged the military's reputation; such scandals included skimming of armed forces money, re-selling of government property, and faking combat missions.
On the topic of corruption at political level, as of December 2009, 120 of India's 524 members of parliament (MPs) members were accused of crimes, under India's First Information Report procedure wherein anyone can allege another of committing a crime. Many of the biggest scandals since 2010 have involved very high level government officials, including Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers. The politicians, Ministers, CM and PM are allegedly involved in corruption directly for benefiting in cash or indirectly by favoring someone in assigning some projects in kinds, for examples: Fodder Scam in Bihar, Commonwealth Games and Coal mines allocation at Centre, etc.
From the above discussions on the various facets of corruption in our country we may conclude that corruption has spread its roots in nearly all walks of life and has assumed the form of an epidemic a communicable disease as corruption starts before birth of a child and not last after death of a person when his/her death certificate is required.
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