With a shameful 67% of respondents of a survey conducted by Transparency International (TI) admitting to having paid bribes to accomplish work in government offices, the state of Telangana leads south India in terms of corruption this year. This is followed by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
The India Corruption Survey 2019, carried out between October 2018 and November 2019, was conducted along with Local Circles, a social media firm. It had a total of 1.9 lakh responses from about 81,000 unique respondents in 248 districts across 20 states. Compared to last year, India’s overall ranking in the Corruption Perception Index has risen three places to 78 out of 180 countries. While an average of 56% of respondents admitted to paying bribes in 2018, the number has come down to 51% this year.
While Rajasthan and Bihar fared the worst in the country with 78% and 75% of the respondents admitting to paying bribes, Telangana topped the list in south India. The figures provided in the survey, however, vary largely from last year and the reasons for the same are clearly elucidated.
Telangana
According to the report, 67% of Telangana citizens who participated in the survey admitted to paying a bribe to get their work done, out of which 56% gave bribes several times (directly or indirectly) while 11% paid bribes once or twice (directly or indirectly). 11% said they got work done without paying a bribe.
In terms of the authority to which residents of Telangana gave bribes, 40% gave bribes for property registration and land issues while 33% paid bribes to the Municipal Corporation. 7% paid a bribe to the police and 20% to others (Electricity Board, Transport Office, Tax Office, etc.).
Last year, however, only 43% of the respondents alleged that they had paid bribes.
Karnataka
Meanwhile, 63% citizens of Karnataka who participated in the survey admitted to paying a bribe to get their work done, out of which 35% gave bribes several times (directly or indirectly) while 28% paid bribes once or twice (directly or indirectly). 9% said they got work done without paying a bribe.
In terms of the authority to which residents of Karnataka gave bribes, 40% gave bribes for property registration and land issues while 21% paid bribes to the Municipal Corporation. 23% paid a bribe to the police and 16% to others (Electricity Board, Transport Office, Tax Office, etc.).
In Karnataka last year, only 43% of the respondents had admitted to having paid bribes.
Tamil Nadu
In Tamil Nadu, 62% citizens who participated in the survey admitted to paying a bribe to get their work done, out of which 35% gave bribes several times (directly or indirectly) while 27% paid bribes once or twice (directly or indirectly). 8% said they got work done without paying a bribe and 30% did not have a need to pay a bribe.
In terms of the authority to which residents of Tamil Nadu gave bribes, 41% gave bribes for property registration and land issues while 19% paid bribes to the Municipal Corporation. 15% paid a bribe to the police and 25% to others (Electricity Board, Transport Office, Tax Office, etc.).
Tamil Nadu had led the south Indian states in terms of corruption last year, with 52% of respondents admitting to having paid bribes.
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh and Kerala were amongst the only south Indian states that saw bribes below the national average. 50% citizens of Andhra Pradesh who participated in the survey admitted to paying a bribe to get their work done, out of which 30% gave bribes several times (directly or indirectly) while 20% paid bribes once or twice (directly or indirectly). 30% said they got work done without paying a bribe.
In terms of the authority to which residents of Andhra Pradesh gave bribes, 43% gave bribes for property registration and land issues while 21% paid off the Municipal Corporation. 7% paid a bribe to the police and 29% to others (Electricity Board, Transport Office, Tax Office, etc.).
In Andhra Pradesh, the percentage of respondents who have admitted to paying bribes has risen from 38% last year.
Kerala
And finally, with only 10% of the respondents from Kerala admitting to have paid a bribe to get their work done, the state is at the bottom of this list of notoriety.
In terms of the authority to which residents of Kerala gave bribes, 29% gave bribes for property registration and land issues while 14% paid off the Municipal Corporation. 14% paid a bribe to the police and 43% paid bribes to others (Electricity Board, Transport Office, Tax Office, etc.).
This is a huge reduction from the 31% of respondents who admitted to paying bribes last year.
According to surveyors, despite CCTVs bribery still continues undeterred in government offices. Even computerisation is circumvented with cash mainly preferred as bribes. Property registration and land issues is a top area of corruption and a majority of people said they paid bribes due to coercion or inefficiencies prevailing in government offices.