A study released by a private think tank on Thursday has revealed that the southern state of Karnataka is the most corrupt state in the country. According to the study conducted by Centre for Media Studies, 77% people in Karnataka said that they faced corruption while availing public services.
The study done by Delhi-based Centre for Media Studies (CMS) was part of its 11th round of the the annual corruption study called CMS India Corruption Study 2017.
PTI reports that the study was conducted in 20 states in the country over a period of one year covering more than 3000 households. In terms of corruption in public services, Andhra Pradesh came second with 74% people saying that they faced corruption, Tamil Nadu came third with 68% people saying so.
Maharashtra, Jammu Kashmir and Punjab followed, with 57%, 44% and 42% respectively. Dipak Dash reports for The Times of India that Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Chattisgarh are the three least corrupt states according to the findings of the study.
Deccan Herald reports that while only 57% of the people in Karnataka said that they had to pay bribe to avail public services in a similar study conducted in 2005, the state topped the list in the study conducted 12 years later.
TOI published an excerpt from the study:
“Among public services, households reported experiencing corruption was relatively higher in police (34%), followed by land and housing (24%), judicial services (18%), tax (15%) and public distribution system (12%),“ it claimed. The study added while the more often the bribe amount ranged between Rs 100 and Rs 500, there were instances of people paying as much as Rs 50,000 in bribe for school admission in Maharashtra. “The key reasons for paying bribe in public service are similar in most of the states. These reasons for corrupt practices could be broadly categorized as procedural, documentation-related, payment evasion and dependency on service provider,“ the report said.