Indians bribe 21,068 crore Rupees in 2004

Hindustan Times, 19 January 2006

For those who believe that corruption in India is almost an industry, here’s proof.

A survey conducted by Transparency International India (TII) says Indians paid bribes amounting to Rs 21,068 crore in the past year. And no one would have guessed it, but the biggest chunk of this money goes to schools till the Class XII level.

“The money was paid for either getting admission or certificates,” said Navin Sarangpani of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), which carried out the study. The police (crime/traffic) were second in terms of collecting bribe money, accounting for Rs 3,899 crore.

This is not to say that schools are the most corrupt. That honour goes to the police who have been ranked the most corrupt according to a ‘corruption index’ prepared by the CMS. The reason schools receive the biggest chunk of bribe money is that “(the) proportion of citizens interacting with schools is much more than the police or municipalities,” said Sarangpani.