People think that we may catch scam after scam and this country will not change. There must be a sense of urgency and restlessness because we need and want to make a corruption-free India. The other name of ‘just the way things are in India’ is corruption. Corruption is the misuse of power or public property for personal gains, like taking bribery. We see that even the simplest daily- routine administrative tasks cannot be performed without a bribe to the civil servant in charge of the paperwork. If you need your work done, don’t forget your bribe money. This situation leads to many issues, but there are two significant issues in it.

Firstly, if we get our work done through bribery, that means we are not paying our taxes rightly, and the person who is receiving it is also not paying taxes. It generates black money. Some people cannot afford bribe. When their work doesn’t get done, and some person with money gets his job done, the divide between have, and have-not widens. This exercise is also contagious. Others get influenced, and they decide that paying a little bit more will get their work done, and so they jump on the bandwagon. It creates a big chain of people who give rise to corruption and black money.

Secondly, we are developing a habit of getting our work done on our own and not informing an authority about something wrong in administration. After this becomes a habit, any new policy will face resistance because we deal with things in our way. So, subsequent procedures or instructions for the collective goodwill not work and so everyone who is connected with that system suffers.

Luxury, convenience and comfort are some offerings that lure us into becoming corrupt. The government allocates let’s say anti-poverty funds, resources for infrastructure development. Why is it that a minor percentage of the entire sum reaches us? It is because, throughout the channel of resource distribution, people are sitting who want an extra taste of all these offerings. The force of this desire is so immense that they snatch money without considering people for whom it was destined.

Corruption in India worsens poverty. A good portion of our taxes gets collected in few hands when it is meant for everyone. Corruption also gives rise to inflation. Since people have black money now and their purchasing power has increased, they demand more for things. When there is a huge demand for materials and objects due to surge in black money, pressure comes on supply which creates inflation. People with money will consume resources since now they have additional money (all thanks to black money and corruption) and ultimately the poor will be deprived of things that he deserves. There is more poverty which leads to a deficit of public trust in government and law.

“India’s goal to transform itself into a market for foreign companies and attract investment is increasingly being challenged by corruption and red-tape”.[1] The culture of bribery creates uncertainty for foreign investors. They don’t know if their investment is safe anymore and so become reluctant. Why isn’t everyone alarmed about it and doing something required at own level? Indeed, we Indians are a ‘low arousal’ people. We endure injustice and unfairness. The poor suffer inhuman conditions, and we say ‘that is how it works here’. We must stand up peacefully and resist corruption. It is an epidemic tearing into India’s foundation and economic wellbeing. We can only fix it by real Indians. There is only one-step- we must do it at our level.

[1]Siddharth Chatterjee, Corruption- An Epidemic of Epic Scale in India, The Huffpost, April 4, 2014, available at: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/corruptionan-epidemic-of-_b_5083293.