Employees replaced their jackets with white tees imprinted with “India Against Corruption” slogan. On 24 August 2011, Bangroleans formed a 17-kilometer human chain on outer ring road to protest against corruption. Finally, the middle class Indians have discarded their cloak of apathy. Passion, enthusiasm and commitment to change the system is replacing cynicism, skepticism and disillusionment.
Indian public supports Anna Hazare’s fight for a strong Lokpal Bill. The bill when implemented will hopefully reduce demand side of corruption. In the din, we are forgetting that demand and supply are two sides of the same coin in corruption. We need similar efforts to curb supply i.e. stop the bribe givers, specially the corporate world. If organizations are willing to give bribes, there will always be politicians who are willing to take bribes. Hence, we need an equal focus on supply side.
Escalating corruption is severely damaging India’s growth story. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2010 published by Transparency International rates India at 3.3 level at 87th position from the 178 countries in the population. The financial loss due to corruption is huge. Financial Times reported last year that in 2010, the value of scams (2G Telecom, CWG, IPL, Adarsh etc.) could well be over Rs 200,000 crore (USD 43. 24 billion). As the investigation reports show the private sector was hand-in-glove with the politicians and bureaucrats. Hence, implementing anti-bribery policies is the need of the hour.
Much more at Implement Anti-Bribery Policies to Stop Supply Side of Corruption « Sonia Jaspal’s RiskBoard, 8/27/2011.
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