Corruption and its deep impact on good governance

CORRUPTION AND ITS DEEP IMPACT ON GOOD

GOVERNANCE IN PAKISTAN AND

INDIA

In modern English usage the words corruption and corrupt have many

meanings:

Political corruption, the abuse of public power, office, or resources by government

officials or employees for personal gain, e.g. by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes.

Police corruption, a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain

financial benefits, other personal gain, and/or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not

pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest.

Corporate corruption

corporate criminality and the abuse of power by corporation officials, either internally or externally, including the fact that police obstruct justice.

Corruption (philosophical concept)

often refers to spiritual or moral impurity, or deviation from an ideal

Corruption Perceptions Index

published yearly by Transparency International

Putrefactionthe natural process of decomposition in the human and animal body following death

Data corruption an unintended change to data in storage or in transit

Linguistic corruption the change in meaning to a language or a text introduced by

cumulative errors in transcription as changes in the language speakers' comprehension

Briberyin politics, business, or sport

Rule of law governmental corruption of judiciary, includes governmental

spending on the courts, which is completely financially controlled by the executive in many transitional and

developing countries

Types of Corruption

1. Systemic corruption2. Sporadic (individual) corruption3. Political corruption4. Grand corruption5. Petty corruption 6. Legal and Moral Corruption

CORRUPTION AND ITS DEEP IMPACT ON GOOD GOVERNANCE

IN PAKISTAN AND INDIA

COMPARISON

CORRUPTION IN PAKISTAN

• • Pakistan 2008 Corruption

Perceptions Index Score is 2.5. Out of 180 countries, it is ranked as the 46th most corrupt country in the world.

• Corruption jumps 400% in Pakistan in 3 years ICC T 20 World Cup 2009 Corruption in Pakistan has surged by whopping 400 percent in the last 3 years, said National Corruption Perception Survey 2009 carried out by Transparency International.

CORRUPTION ON INDIA• India has slipped to 87th spot

in Transparency International's latest ranking of nations based on the level of corruption, with the global watchdog asserting that perceptions about corruption in the country increased in the wake of the scam-tainted Commonwealth Games Transparency

• International's 'Corruption Perception Index' report covering the public sector in 178 countries shows that India fell by three positions from its ranking of 84th in 2009.

• The National Corruption Perception Survey 2009 indicates that the overall Corruption in 2002 has increased from Rs 45 Billion to Rs 195 Billion in 2009.

• Police and Power maintained their ranking as the top two most corrupt sectors. Major Findings of Pakistan National Corruption Perception Survey 2009 are:   Police, Power, Health and Land are the most corrupt departments, and Judiciary, Customs & Taxation have improved their ranking since 2006.

• With an integrity score of 3.3, India is now ranked 87th in the world in terms of corruption. Neighboring China is ahead of India in the list at 78th place, with a score of 3.5.

• It was at 79th position in 2009.

• "India has gone down in the ranking as well as integrity score and this is a matter of concern and regret. It appears that the level of governance has not improved despite India having a skilled set of administrators.

Economically

• The world economic forum’s Global Competitiveness Report

• (2007-08) identifies corruption as the 3rd greatest problem for companies doing business in Pakistan after government bureaucracy and poor infrastructure.

• The report spells out the economic state of affairs, business environment and other factors in 139 countries and places Pakistan at 123rd position. Pakistan’s ranking is worsening at an alarming speed, it says.During the survey, business executives were asked to spell out 15 hurdles and problems confronting the business activities in the country.

Economically

• Increasing cases of corruption in India are becoming a threat to the country'seconomy and will affect the nation's aim to gain over 9 percent growth, says a survey.

•  • A consultancy firm KMPG

conducted the survey by questioning 100 top domestic and foreign businesses. It pointed out that corruption has increased to such an extend that that foreign investors are being deterred from the country.

• A majority of the respondents placed corruption on top followed by instability of the government. Inconsistency of the policies is the third problem and inflation stands at fourth place.

• The fifth hurdle that confronts the business activity in the country as determined by the report is an incompetent bureaucracy.

• At the sixth place is theft seventh position is seeking financing and the tax rate was placed by business executives as the eighth issue.

• A rise in the inflationary trend is directly proportional to speedy printing of currency notes. Its standing in this respect had touched the 137th position out of 139 leaving behind only Venezuela and Ethiopia.

• According to The BBC, the report pointed that Corruption poses a risk to India's projected 9 percent GDP growth and would result in a volatile political and economic environment.

• The reports said: "Today India is faced with a different kind of challenge",

• "It is not about petty bribes any more, but scams to the tune of thousands of crores that highlight a political/industry nexus which, if not checked, could have a far reaching impact."

• The silver lining is also there when we find the overall tax rate at 31.6, that is 37th in the world.

• In many European countries the tax rate is more than 40 percent.

• The country is 6th in the world on the basis of population but its share in the GDP is only 0.63.

• According to the WEF, Pakistan occupies the 117th position as far as corruption and maladministration is concerned, and 127th in organised crime but at the 91st position as far as trust in politicians is concerned

Black money

• India tops the list for black money in the entire world with almost US$1456 billion in Swiss banks (USD 1.4 trillion approximately) in the form of black money. 

• According to the data provided by the Swiss Banking Association Report (2006), India has more black

• money than the rest of the world combined. Indian Swiss bank account assets are worth 13 times the country’s national debt. Indian black money is sometimes physically transferred abroad.

Corruption in taxes

• According to the Transparency International Pakistan National Corruption Perception Survey 2010, tax administration is ranked as the eighth most corrupt public sector, out of ten assessed public sectors in Pakistan, and its ranking has improved in comparison to the previous surveys. Nevertheless, still more than half of the household respondents to the survey report having encountered corruption when dealing with the tax department.

• This corruption includes paying bribes to reduce tax assessments and to reduce tax.

Corruption in taxes

• None of the Government department in India is corruption free. No of corruption cases also registered against Income Tax Authorities. The corrupt systems are developed by the authorities.

• People have to pay money to avoid harassment’s per Anti Corruption Law, if an officer is caught with red handed is termed as corrupt. No officer will demand the money in writing or will give receipt of money received.

•  A man is so much harassed, he is helpless to pay money. If he will complaint, there will be further lot of harassment to him.

LAND AND PROPERTY

• Corrupt practices within real estate commissions, industrial allotment commissions and land revenue offices are not uncommon.

• According to an International Federation of Surveyors study, Corruption and Land Administration 2006, there are numerous cases where high-level officials have illegally accumulated land (both agricultural and industrial) and property for themselves and their relatives.

• Furthermore, property rights are not completely guaranteed. Both the state and the military have on numerous occasions violated property rights.

LAND AND PROPERTY

• At the root of India’s corruption epidemic is the business of land allocation.

• India does not have a rigorous framework of property titles.

• For historical reasons, much of the land in this country is government owned by default.

• Further, archaic, 19th century laws allow state governments to expropriate farm property and redistribute it to private entities, citing a decidedly bogus “public interest”.

• • The military-owned Fauji Foundation

is the country's largest corporation and land owner.

• The Transparency International Global Corruption Report 2008 reports that the Defence Housing Authority regularly encroaches on private and provincial lands to replenish its stocks without negotiation or payment.

• One example of property rights violation was the suppression of the farmers' movement by the military.

• when tenant farmers protested against military land-grabbing initiatives. The protesters were detained for weeks, and some were unlawfully arrested and tortured.

• This leads to a scarcity of land available in the free market. As such, it becomes very valuable. Real estate prices in India’s cities, for example, are astronomical. With the commodity of land being so prized, cash deals and a black-market property economy are inevitable.

• Unless this system is broken, corruption in India will never be seriously challenged.

• A strong Lokpal law may focus on big-ticket swindles at the very top — by Union ministers and Commonwealth Games organisers, for instance — but the fount of crony capitalism will not run dry.

• According to the Association for Progressive Communications, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), the regulatory authority of Pakistan's Internet, issued orders in August 2008 to block 6 websites,

• as the content supposedly posted on these links was exposing Admiral Afzal Tahir, Pakistan's Naval Chief, as a land grabber and how he had been misusing his power.

• The situation can be best explained with a case study.

• The office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) recently released its report on Maharashtra government public sector undertakings for the year ending March 31, 2009.

• It makes an interesting reference to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), set up in 2002 to develop a “multi-model international passenger and cargo hub airport” in Nagpur.

Religious institutions

• Still worse is its impact on religious circles who sell fake degrees to the needy politicians with impunity; show fake entries of students get more Zakat money and sell religion edicts on need basis.

• At times it appears that the whole structure has been soiled and has replaced scholarship as it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a genuine religious scholar from any quarters.

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.

Armed Forces

• In the PAC meeting held at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Audit officials informed the committee that the Pakistan Army had been using government land falling in A-1 category, worth Rs 120.767 billion, for commercial purposes.

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 modernizing the armed forces. 

•

• The audit report for Financial Year 2010-11 revealed that the relinquishment of the land of Fortress Stadium would be based on at the rate of Rs150,000 per square yard, while the recovery to be effected as in the case of a private treaty arrangement would be amounting to a sum of arrears, already worked out in the special audit report, up to Rs 1.386 billion, excluding cost of land referred to above, which would be equal to Rs 122.154 billion.

• A recent report of the Controller of Auditor General (CAG) paved way for the action against Lt. General(R) SK Sahni.

• The report revealed that soldiers were supplied wheat, rice, pulses and edible oil after 28 days of their expiry date. In this respect, food items

• were bought at cheaper rates by the contractors and then supplied to various army units, while rations worth of Rs. 1.92 crore were untraceable in the Northern Command as of March 2008.

•  

• Nonetheless, almost every month, we see some odd case of corruption in the Indian armed forces, but involvement of the senior ranked army officers like Major Generals, Lieutenant Generals and full Generals in corruption cases is a matter of concern for the whole Indian Army.

• It is due to this fact that over the years, the confidence of the soldiers over their military leadership has been dwindling because of their mall-practices, raping women, involvement in sex scandals, becoming party to land mafia groups and involvement in financial embezzlements.

•  

Judiciary

• Corrupt politicians are out to curtail the judiciary to gag the voice it has been raising for the betterment of the country and the people.These views were expressed by Ahsan Rasheed, President Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaf Punjab chapter, on Monday.

• He said every institution in the country was depreciating due to the corruption of the rulers who were striving only to ensure their power rule when the fact, courts were overburdened with the files of their corruption cases.

Judiciary

• The people of the country have been relegated to the status of the nobodies. The paid servants of the state have cornered all the powers, privileges, and prerogatives. The people have been left high and dry.

• The legislature is answerable and accountable to the people. The executive is accountable and answerable to the people but not the judiciary. I fail to comprehend why the members of judiciary want unbridled and unlimited powers.

• Whenever, there is a talk of judicial reforms in the country the CJI and others start screaming from the rooftops that the judiciary’s independence and freedom would be compromised if reforms were introduced. 

• He said when the supreme court took notice of the corruption, the rulers used delaying tactics. He said judiciary was giving the politicians a chance to mend their ways in order to save the system but they were exploiting even court’s sincere instructions as well. 

• PTI leader said the nation was facing gas, electricity crisis, price hike, unemployment, increasing crime rate and other countless problems but these politicians were somersaulting on every issue to ensure their own rule as welfare of the common man was not their priority. 

• According to a 2002 survey, 96 percent of respondents in Pakistan

who had contact with the lower courts had encountered corrupt

practices.

• The constitution of India has pampered the judiciary to the extent that judges of the higher courts think themselves to be Gods or angels. They are neither.

• They are as human as anybody else is. Is it their case that hey can do no wrong just because they have been appointed judges to the high courts and the Supreme Court? They have an approach of “Holier than thou” and preach and sermonize all and sundry. Look at their performance.

• Look at the administration of justice as delivered by the unbridled and irresponsible judiciary. Millions of cases are pending in various courts including the Supreme Court of India. The conviction rate is hardly 30%. It takes anything from 10 years to 30 years in deciding a case. The justice is a luxury and comes with a price tag.

Police • Police has maintained its

distinction of being at the top of corruption list followed by Revenue and local government departments, while education department has slightly improved its corruption rating by coming at number five. 

• The Transparency Interntional (TI) released a report on the International Anti-Corruption Day, 9th December. According to the report Pakistan Police is at the top in corruption.

• The rest two top corrupt institutions of Pakistan are the Political Parties and Parliament.

Police

• Three out of four Indians believe political parties and the police are extremely corrupt. Almost half the people who had any contact with the police department in the past year said they had to pay a bribe to get their work done.

• This is among the findings of a report released by Berlinbased watchdog Transparency International. India, however, fared better than Kosovo, Cameroon, and Albania, which were the worst offenders, with around three quarters of respondents surveyed saying they paid a bribe in the past 12 months. Around the world, one in 10 people paid a bribe in the past year, with the police and judiciary seen to be pocketing the most money.

• It is not a hearsay but statement of Director General Anti-corruption Establishment Punjab Tariq Saleem Dogar who himself is a senior police officer and has joined ACE on deputation basis. 

•He revealed this while addressing a Press conference at his office here on Friday. He said that total 9,179 inquiries were started during last six months from May 1st 2008 to November 30, 2008, out of which only 3,773 were against police, 590 against employees of Revenue, 773 Local government, 506 Irrigation and Power, 381 education, 258 C&W, 89 E&T, 98 Agricultural and 2,711 inquiries were against different department of the Punjab government. Similarly 1,597 cases were registered within this period out of which 571 against police, 491 Revenue and 111 against local government department. 

• The prognosis for India is not good. Compared to the 2006 edition of the study, most utilities and departments have fared worse in terms of public perception of corruption.

• The only exception is the armed forces where public perception of corruption has declined from 1.9 in 2006 to 1.8. Political parties score 4.6, and the police 4.5.

PAKISTAN CORRUPTION STUDY

•  CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

“Poor governance leads to, and encourages and breeds, corruption in a number of ways, for instance through

bribery and extortion, nepotism and fraud and embezzlement, It reduces the efficiency on which an

economy depends, and by increasing the cost of investment, lowers the potential Return. It also reduces the

government’s resources and hence its capacity for investment”

 (a) Improving predictability and consistency between fiscal and human

resources and the mandates of reformed judicial and publicInstitutions at the federal, provincial and local level.

 (b) Ensuring greater transparency and accountability in the performance

of the judiciary, the police and administration justice institutions. 

(c) Providing a legal basis for judicial, policy and administration

Reforms. 

(d) Improving the efficiency time lines and effectiveness in judicial and

Police services. 

(e) Supporting greater equality and accessibility in justice services for

The vulnerable poor.