Viksit Bharat needs a clean system

Tales of corruption from almost every part of India appear regularly in both mainstream and social media. Consider a few examples:

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A retired chief financial officer of a prominent public sector enterprise had to pay bribes at every stage for an ambulance - for filing an FIR, at the crematorium, and even for the death certificate - after losing his 34-year-old daughter to a brain haemorrhage.

From the police officer to the clerk in the municipal office, everyone demanded money for performing their basic duties. This was in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

A sub-inspector in Lucknow was caught taking a ₹2 lakh bribe to remove the name of an accused in a gang rape FIR. He had reportedly demanded ₹50 lakh for the task and this was a part payment for the job.

An entrepreneur recounted how he finally closed his operations in India because of the bribes he needed to pay the Customs officers at the Chennai Port Trust each time his shipment arrived, even if his papers were in order. In response to his post on X, social media was soon flooded with businessmen and common citizens recounting their own experiences with bribes sought by Customs officers across the country as well by officials dealing with goods and services tax.

Corruption is not a new phenomenon in India. Nor is it unique to India - indeed corruption can be found across the world. However, as countries move up the development ladder, corruption typically reduces. And with India aspiring to become a developed nation by the time it celebrates its 100th birthday, it will need to tackle this endemic problem. The damage it is causing to the country's development aspirations is too great to ignore.