THE HIGH rate of corruption in India has negatively affected the country’s economic growth. Economists and experts have been suggesting various solutions to this problem. N R Narayana Murthy, chief mentor of Infosys Technologies Ltd, is of the opinion that the best way of reigning corruption in India is legalisation of bribery. Murthy also agrees with economist Kaushik Basu’s proposal, which stipulates that bribe giving should be legalised, whereas receiving bribe should remain illegal. Basu believes that this would make it easy for the public to catch the corrupt red-handed.

Basu’s proposal falls in line with a legal bribe system created by national politicians in the US.

Expressing support for Basu’s proposal, Murthy said that it would help to unveil the faces of corrupt government officials. He added that he fully supported implementation of this plan. Had the government previously taken action against rising corruption, India would have already seen double-digit growth.

India is ranked 87 in the world on corruption perception index prepared by international anti-corruption body Transparency International. While the government is currently dealing with several high-profile corruption scandals, like the 2G scam, situation is no better in a common man’s life. They have to pay bribe for every little work they have at a government office.