Corruption and poor governance as a major deterrent to investment and economic growth is well known. Yet in many spheres we have accepted corruption as a way of life. However, with the growing public awareness on the subject, the issue of corruption is now being discussed more openly.

The unprecedented public response to public agitations over corruption is indicative of the public wrath over corruption prevalent in both the higher and lower echelons of government in the country.

India’s performance as is well known and also reflected in the Global Corruption Perception Index 2018 indicates the huge gap between anti-corruption policies and practices. In a list of 180 countries, India is ranked 78 in terms of Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The index ranks countries on the basis of perceived levels of public sector according to experts and business people. The Corruption Perception Index of 2018 highlights two worrying trends-

• First, more than 2/3^rd of the countries score below 50, with an average score of 43. As India gears up for its upcoming election, there has been some improvement in the CPI score from 40 in 2017 to 41 in 2018, yet it is far below the global average of 43.
• Secondly, majority of the countries have made little or no progress in ending corruption. Moreover, journalists and activists in corrupt countries risking their lives every day in an effort to speak out. Clearly, the public mobilisation in India in 2011, where citizens demanded the government to take action against corruption and advocated the passage of the comprehensive Jan Lokpal Act had little or no action on ground.

Though a well-developed legal and institutional framework exists, with institutions including the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Central Vigilance Commission. Evidently the effectiveness of these organisation in combatting corruption has been far from adequate. Despite some successes ranging from a tough stance on practitioners of corrupt practices by some elements of the judiciary, and the institution of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the control on corruption seems to have withered away.

Complexity of the problem increases, as the extent and spread of corruption is difficult to measure. However, from all recent events and evidences, there is little doubt on the increasing corruption in the country.  In fact, India is far away from controlling corruption, what appears to be in its exponential growth.

Looking at just one aspect of corruption, i.e., frauds in banking operations, it is evident that the economic loss due to corruption in the recent years has increased manifold. Number of cases reported under fraudulent banking operation have increased by almost 17% in just 1 year from FY 17 to FY18. Amount lost due to fraudulent operation have increased by almost 72% amounting to almost 0.24% of GDP.

Corruption is not only a hurdle to the development path of the economy, but it is the worst form of exploiting the hard-earned money of the common people. The more worrying part is the massive growth of scams, fraudulent practices in all spheres-social, political, economic and even religious.

It is disheartening that despite several waves of public agitation, very little is done to eliminate corruption. Can we- each one of us, take a step before it gets all pervasive in our day-to-day life?