Corruption: Causes, Consequences and Cures

The current campaign against corruption provides a golden opportunity to Dr Manmohan Singh to lead from the front. There is an urgent need for speeding up the process of economic, administrative and judicial reforms, not only to push the economy to a higher growth path, but also to help reduce the scope for corruption. Being the Prime Minister of India, he must spell out the options before the country. Then it would be for the people to decide in a democracy.

Typically, corruption, or rent seeking, is a consequence of the gulf that exists between supply and demand for any goods or services due to regulatory interventions. Despite, two decades of economic reforms, the regulatory and policy environment in many areas of the economy continue to be quite restrictive, and discretionary powers prevail. It is particularly in those areas where corruption continues to prevail.

The current focus on corruption should help us investigate these details and come up with systemic reforms. Any anti-corruption agency has to be a part of this overall architecture, rather than being yet another body to monitor, investigate and prosecute those involved in corrupt practices. Otherwise, the Lok Pal, or any such agency, will inevitably become a Joke Pal, it wouldn’t matter which version of the bill gets passed in Passed in Parliament.

 The complete analysis is available here, "Cleaning up Corruption: An agenda for India"