The report underlined that nearly seven out of ten people in India paid bribe to access public services. In the education and healthcare sectors, bribes are paid in about 58 per cent and 59 per cent respectively. People had to pay equally high bribe to get the services of police, identification documents and basic amenities. According to the report, 73 per cent of the bribes in India were paid by the lower economic groups.

In Pakistan, about three-fourths of respondents described the police to be corrupt. Of the total people covered under survey, nearly seven in ten had to pay bribe when they tried to get the services of either the police or of the courts.

When it comes to business and corporate sector, India ranks ninth among 41 countries in the bribery index while and Pakistan fourth. The previous survey had put India at the sixth position in 2015. The marginal improvement is perhaps due to better regulatory scrutiny and emphasis on transparency and governance.

The startling revelations regarding bribery were made by Transparency International (TI), an anti-corruption global civil society organization, which surveyed nearly 22,000 people across 16 countries in Asia-Pacific to understand the levels of corruption in the region.

Perusal of the list of Asia’s Five Most Corrupt Countries, released by the organization, revealed that India was at the top, followed by Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and Myanmar in bribery rate in the service sector. With 69 per cent bribery rates, India remained the most corrupt country in this region, while Japan with a 0.2 per cent, was found to be the least corrupt nation. Vietnam turned out to be the second-most corrupt country in the region, followed by Thailand with 41 per cent and Pakistan with 40 per cent.

In the field of business and corporate sector, nearly 78 per cent respondents in India said that bribery and corrupt practices widely happened in businesses, ranking the country at the ninth position among 41 countries.

When asked about the governments’ initiative to curb corruption, 51 to 53 per cent of the people spoke positively about the Narendra Modi government, saying that the government was moving in right direction to check the menace. Similarly, 45 per cent people in Pakistan said their government is working effectively to curb corruption. About 72 per cent respondents in Thailand expressed faith in their government's anti-corruption initiatives.

The study showed that people in India are speaking up against corruption, as 63 per cent Indians felt empowered to fight against the menace.

According to separate reports published recently, 38 per cent of land and property deals in India involve bribes, 60 per cent of road stops for trucks are for extorting money, 60 per cent of people got their driving licence without taking the driving test and 62 per cent of law enforcement officers take bribes.

The monetary value of petty corruption in basic services in government, such as education, healthcare and the judiciary amounts to about Rs. 3,19,72 crore annually. The 2G spectrum scam involved $30 billion. (IPA Service)