INTRODUCTION
Corruption is a global problem and no country in the world is free from its menacing grip. It refers to a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted with a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one’s personal gain. It is the level of its prevalence on the one hand and the honest committed readiness of the people in eradicating it on the other hand that differentiates one country from another in the scale of corruption perception index. This prevalence of corruption betrays a latent decay in our ethical values and orientation. The effect of this pervasive corruption stares mockingly at our faces. We see them in the bad state of our roads, hospitals, school systems, poor infrastructure, increasing crime wave, looting of the government treasury etc.
Corruption has a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access to services, including health, education and justice. Corruption in the procurement of drugs and medical equipment drives up costs and can lead to sub-standard or harmful products. The human costs of counterfeit drugs and vaccinations on health outcomes and the life-long impacts on children far exceed the financial costs. Unofficial payments for services can have a particularly pernicious effect on poor people.
Empirical studies have shown that the poor pay the highest percentage of their income in bribes. Some studies have suggested that the poor may even be preyed upon since they are seen as powerless to complain. Every stolen or misdirected dollar, euro, peso, yuan, rupee, or ruble robs the poor of an equal opportunity in life and prevents governments from investing in their human capital.
Corruption erodes trust in government and undermines the social contract. This is cause for concern across the globe, but particularly in contexts of fragility and violence, as corruption fuels and perpetuates the inequalities and discontent that lead to fragility, violent extremism, and conflict.
Much of the world’s corruption could not happen without institutions in the corrupted nations: the private sector firms that give large bribes, the financial institutions that accept corrupt proceeds, and the lawyers, bankers, and accountants who facilitate corrupt transactions. Data on international financial flows shows that money is moving from poor to wealthy countries in ways that fundamentally undermine development.
THE BASICS
Corruption can take many forms, and can include behaviors like:
- public servants demanding or taking money or favors in exchange for services,
- politicians misusing public money or granting public jobs or contracts to their sponsors, friends and families,
- corporations bribing officials to get lucrative deals
Corruption can happen anywhere and in any sector: in business, government, the courts, the media, police, military, within labor unions and in civil society, as well as across all sectors from health and education to infrastructure and sports. Corruption has many ways: in the form of bribery, embezzlement, theft, fraud, scams, grafts, extortion, blackmail, influence peddling, networking, abuse of discretion, favoritism, nepotism, clientelism etc. Corruption can involve anyone: politicians, government officials, public servants, business people or members of the public. Corruption happens in the shadows, often with the help of professional enablers such as bankers, lawyers, accountants and real estate agents, opaque financial systems and anonymous shell companies that allow corruption schemes to flourish and the corrupt to launder and hide their illicit wealth. Corruption adapts to different contexts and changing circumstances. It can evolve in response to changes in rules, legislation and even technology.
India is one of the countries that has faced huge economic loss in scams. Corruption is usually followed by scams, a type of dishonest and fraudulent way of business, mainly robbing large numbers of people or the country of its money by creating a facade and deceiving everyone. Anything which is gained by deception and illegal means is termed as a scam. Most common of all is the financial scam. It is commonly known as the ‘white collar crimes,’ which is a form of non-violent offence committed by the people of higher social status. These offences go unreported in majority of the cases because it is difficult for the prosecution to detect where the fault lies. There are seven types of financial scams; money laundering, embezzlement, credit and fraud, securities and investment fraud, identity theft and phishing, counterfeiting, and mail fraud.
CONCLUSION
One of the worst social issues of India is corruption. No matter if the briber is a government official or a common man, corruption has its roots spread in every corner of the country. Ultimately, it’s the money of the tax-payers who pay their hard-earned money to the government for the welfare of the society. With a world routing for equality, harmony, financial stability, and so on, corruption and scams have time and again looted and deceived people causing a loss of huge amounts of money. Corruption has turned out to be a great burden on our society with it existing along with every aspect of our lives. There are ways and laws to combat it, but most of the time the people combatting can get on with their greed and get involved in the vicious cycle of corruption. Incidents occur in ways supporting the existence of the cycle of giving and accepting bribes. It almost seems like laws are made and amended in ways to suit the possibility of letting the system of corruption exist.
Most of the politicians especially the ones in power pave the way for laws favoring themselves. Several irregularities and political inclinations give rise to corruption cases, which makes it difficult to convict the offender. Historical resources like Kautilya’s Arthasastra also showcased the existence of corruption since 2400 years ago. Our society and nation over the years have faced several scams and scandals, half of which haven’t been released to the public.
REFERENCES
Aishwarya Says:
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