General Studies Mains-2014 Paper-4 (Ethics and Integrity) Answer : Q-5-B

It is often said that poverty leads to corruption. However, there is no dearth of instances where affluent and powerful people indulge in corruption in a big way. What are the basic causes of corruption among people? Support your answer with examples.

Poverty is one of the causes of corruption but not the only one. Some other causes for corruption are:-

• Lack of accountability and transparency – if corrupt persons were held responsible for their actions, the fear of consequences would work as a deterrent. However, there is no fear of prosecution in India as the corrupt and powerful get away scot free. Thus, this enables corruption. This is being battled through judicial activism and via legislations such as the RTI
• System of governance – the form of government in India and the bureaucratic structure is full of loopholes that enable and ease the process of giving and accepting of bribes. A foolproof system of checks and balances and digitisation of processes would make it difficult for corrupt practices to take place.
• Lack of societal disapproval – many actions are avoided by people because of fear of social ostracization. We, as a society, do not look down upon corrupt people and corrupt practices, thus, giving such people free rein to continue their activities. If we ostracised corrupt persons, it would automatically act as a deterrent.
• Lack of proper compensation – when persons feel their salaries doesn’t serve as adequate compensation for their efforts, they tend to supplement their salaries by taking money on the side. Providing people with appropriate salaries that acknowledges their efforts will discourage corrupt practices.