Over half the Indians paid bribe to get their work done, reveals survey

Over half the Indians (51 percent) paid a bribe in the last 12 months to get their work done, a survey has revealed.

The India Corruption Survey 2019 conducted by social media platform LocalCircles and Transparency International India showed that although overall corruption levels have decreased, the practice of bribery is prevalent across the country. Around 19,000 Indians participated in the survey.

Further, the number of people who admitted to paying a bribe has fallen compared to 2018, when 56 percent of respondents admitted to paying a bribe. This is due to various factors ranging from the implementation of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2018, and awareness about existing state hotlines or helplines to report corruption, among others.

The data further revealed that property registration and land issues are a top area of corruption followed by police stations and public departments such as electricity board, transport office, and water department.

Rajasthan has emerged as the most corrupt state in the country as 78 percent of the respondents from the state accepted paying a bribe to get their work done, including 22 percent who paid bribe on multiple occasions.

Rajasthan was followed by Bihar where 75 percent of citizens admitted to paying a bribe, while Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand were joint-third with 74 percent residents admitting to paying bribe to get their work done. Telangana (67 percent), Punjab (63 percent), Karnataka (63 percent), and Tamil Nadu (62 percent) were next on the list.

Kerala emerged as the least corrupt state. Only 10 percent of the residents in the southern state admitted to paying a bribe. Half the people (50 percent) said that they got their work done without paying a bribe and 40 percent did not have a need to pay a bribe.

After Kerala, Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal, Odisha, Haryana, and Delhi emerged as the least corrupt states in the country.