India seems to have improved on the corruption front globally, with a slight rise in its Corruption Perception Index ranking this year conducted by Transparency International.
According to TI, India was ranked 85 out of 175 countries with a score of 38, an improvement over last year’s ranking of 94 with a score of 36. The Corruption Perception Index ranks countries and territories based on corruption in its public sector, which is accountable to the government. The scale is determined on the basis of a numerical value between zero meaning highly corrupt and 100 meaning very clean.
According to a blog on their website, Asia Pacific region has a total of 28 countries that fall in the index and account for 61% of the world’s population. A majority of these nations are still fighting corruption in the public sector as 18 nations including India have scored less than 40 out of 100.
Both globally sought-after nations, India and China are being led by leaders who are currently running anti-corruption drives.
According to a report on ibtimes, China recently launched an anti-corruption agency in an effort devised by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. This agency will function under the country’s top prosecutor and will focus on helping SPP handle major cases. This move will be a part of President Xi Jinping’s agenda towards uprooting corruption in the government and private sector.
India deals with corruption through organizations like Lokayukta, which is an anti-corruption ombudsman organization. Apart from that, the Right to Information Act also allows citizens to understand working of government from the outside.
According to TI, The low CPI scores reveal the inadequacy displayed in India in terms of law enforcement, corruption watchdogs and protection of whistleblowers. The low scores also signify the ineffectiveness of our new leaders to counter corruption which in turn pose a threat to sustainability of economies and protection of a fragile democracy.