CORRUPTION HAS become part and parcel of the Indian administration. Corruption in the political field and in the administration seems to have become a general malaise within Indian society. The Andhra Pradesh state government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has came to the conclusion that only 10 per cent of the 14-lakh state government employees are honest. Others range between the totally corrupt and the fence sitters, meaning those who are not averse to bribes if they don’t get caught.

 

This rather bleak picture was painted by the ACB after an analysis which covered the last 10-year period. According to ACB Director General, RR Girish Kumar, 10 to 15 per cent of the employees were totally dishonest and could not be reformed. However, he felt that about 70 per cent are drifters and are discreet; they choose to be honest if there are chances of getting caught. Otherwise they will not. “But we can say that 10 per cent of the employees are non-corrupt,” he concludes.

 

ACB sleuths are able to book only one wrongdoer for every 2,000 corrupt employees. The ratio was arrived at after taking into consideration the number of officials caught for corruption every year. On an average, for every year since 2003, cases are being booked against 500 to 700 officials. “It is virtually impossible to book all corrupt officials,” said an ACB source. “We are trying to create a perception that they can be caught and punished.”

 

To create this perception, ACB has been registering more number of ‘disproportionate assets’ cases. While in 2004, nine cases of disproportionate assets were registered, it rose to 48 in 2005. In 2006 it was 61 and the number touched 77 in 2007. The number of surprise checks has also increased. The ACB analytical study also reveals that government employees have increased the quantum of bribe. In 1998, the average bribe taken by each corrupt employee was Rs 1,184 but it had increased to Rs. 4,902 and Rs. 16,000 in 2003 and 2007 respectively. Similarly, the average worth of disproportionate assets per official was Rs. 14.5 lakh in 1998; it rose to Rs. 50 lakh in 2003 and Rs 75.65 lakh in 2007. The revenue department emerged as the most corrupt in 2007 with 116 cases booked against its employees. The police department stood second, with 30 cases registered against its personnel.

 

In a bid to check the rampant corruption in government departments, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has decided to prepare a list of corrupt officials in each district and launch a special drive to detect assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. The watchdog agency will gather information about the officials from different sources before conducting raids. This was part of an action plan approved by the chief minister, Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy, to effectively control corruption among State officials. The Chief Minister held a review meeting with the ACB director general, R.R. Girish Kumar on December 30. He also approved a three-pronged strategy proposed by Girish Kumar which includes simplification of rules and procedures, creating awareness among people on Right to Information Act and stringent punishment of the officials who are proved guilty.

 

Convinced over the need to modernise the method of information-gathering, Dr Reddy has agreed to sanction Rs 25 lakhs for purchase of modern gadgets. He suggested a massive awareness programme to convince people that offering bribe is as good a crime as accepting it.