Distrust against political institutions continues in the country, according to the Global Corruption Survey

Politicians once again voted as the most corrupt individuals

Political parties are perceived to be the most corrupt institution by the Indians, according to 2009 Global Corruption Barometer. The Barometer, a global public opinion survey, released today by Transparency International (TI), found 58 per cent of the Indian respondents identified politicians to be single most corrupt individuals. 45 per cent of the people sampled feel that the government is ineffective in addressing corruption in the country.

Civil servants /public officials were rated by 13 per cent of respondents as the second most corrupt institution in the country. Other institutions that were polled included the parliament/legislature , the private sector, media and the judiciary.

The survey in India, conducted at the national level between October and November last year also indicated that the perception of government effectiveness in relation to addressing corruption had improved from 2007. Forty two per cent of people analysed, said that government’s actions in the fight against corruption was effective.

The Barometer, now in its sixth edition, surveyed 73,132 people in 69 countries including 12 countries from Asia Pacific. In India, the survey was conducted in five metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore. The main findings for India are as follows :

· 10 per cent of the respondents feel that Parliament and law making bodies are corrupt

· 9 percent of those surveyed consider business and private sector to be corrupt

· 8 per cent consider that corruption in media affect the lives of people, and

· 3 per cent consider the judiciary to be corrupt.

Petty bribery and economic crisis : Poor punished twice

The 2009 Barometer shows the poorest families continue to be punished by petty bribe demand. Across the board, low-income respondents were more likely to be met with bribe demands than high-income respondents. While only nine per cent of the respondents reported having paid bribes, Transparency International India’s (TII) India Corruption study 2008 that surveyed corruption in the below poverty line sector shows that the poor are forced to cough up about Rs 9000 million as bribe to avail basic and need based services. Petty corruption denies people their entitlement to basic and need based services, as a result of which the poor find themselves at the losing end of corruption” said TII Chair Admiral (Retd) R H Tahiliani.

Government anti corruption efforts seen as ineffective

45 per cent of those polled felt that the existing channels for making corruption-related complaints were ineffective. Very few lodge formal complaints, demonstrating serious defects in the perceived legitimacy and effectiveness of channels for reporting and addressing bribery. “ The institutional anti-corruption framework generally suffers from the lack of coordination, overlaps and conflicting mandates between the myriad of institutions fighting corruption in the country” said Anupama Jha, Executive Director of Transparency International India. “ Key institutions often lack the staff and resources to fulfil their mandate adequately and struggle to protect themselves from political interference. Influential politicians and senior officials are rarely convicted for corruption, eroding the public confidence in the political will to effectively tackle corruption at the highest levels, she added.

Findings from other countries

Echoing the findings of past editions of the Barometer,68 per cent of the respondents, worldwide, saw political parties as corrupt, and 29 per cent saw them as the single most corrupt institution in their country. The civil service and parliament trained political parties , perceived by 63 and 60 per cent of respondents respectively as being corrupt. The media, while not being perceived as clean, scored best with just over 40 per cent of respondents labeling the sector as corrupt. The private sector uses bribes to influence public policy, laws and regulations, believe over half of those polled for the survey. The business related findings of the Barometer send a powerful signal to the private sector to prove that they are clean and to communicate this clearly to the public.

The role of the government and civil societies

Anti corruption tools such as RTI, Social audit, Citizens’ Charters and use of the technology are wonderful tools to check corruption, but majority of the population in the country are not aware of these instruments. Transparency International has also devised tools such as Integrity Pact and Development Pact to check corruption in areas of procurement and political institutions, respectively. We are advocating for the adoption of these tools.

Ratification of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is also important, as it would help in recovering stolen assets, prevent money laundering, pursue corrupt foreign companies and individuals, prohibit bribery of foreign public officials, and enhance accounting and auditing standards in the private sector. The Convention creates obligations on everything from protecting whistleblowers and denying criminals safe haven to codes of conduct for civil servants. It contains tools to fix many of the problems that the Barometer identifies, which affect a broad range of institutions and the citizens that depend on them.

Transparency International India (TII) is the India chapter of Transparency International, a civil society organization leading the global fight against corruption.

For more information, please contact us at :

Transparency International India

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New Delhi – 110024

Ph.: 011-26460826