India No 1 in corruption in Asia: Transparency

ISLAMABAD: India has emerged as a country having the highest bribery rate of 39% in Asia and the highest rate of people (46%) who use personal connections to access public services, according to a recent survey report released by the Transparency International.

Nearly 50% of those who paid bribes were asked to, while 32% of those who used personal connections said they would not receive the service otherwise, reports the international media.

In an earlier report, issued by the Transparency International in January at the World Economic Forum at Davos, India was ranked 80th among 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index.

For the survey report titled ‘Global Corruption Barometer – Asia,’ the Transparency International surveyed 20,000 people across 17 Asian countries – largely between June and September this year, seeking their perception of and experiences with corruption in the past twelve months.

Six key public services are covered in the report, viz: police, courts, public hospitals, procurement of identity documents and utilities. Of the people surveyed in India, who came into contact with the police, 42% had paid bribes. Use of bribes was also rampant (41%) to obtain official documents such as identity papers.

Use of personal connections was also largely made in dealings with the police (39%), procurement of identity documents (42%) and in relation to courts (38%).