STILL ROTTEN AT THE CORE

Despite the government’s much-touted drive to remove black money from the system, corruption persists

When the Narendra Modi-led government came to power, many expected it to put in place stringent measures to regulate election funding, a known source of corruption, and to keep crony capitalism at bay. New electoral bonds were introduced this January, which donors could buy from the State Bank of India, and political parties could encash via a designated bank account. But the donors would remain anonymous and the process therefore still opaque. The Law Commission, in its 255th report in March 2015, noted that over 75 per cent of donations to parties came from unknown sources. Of Rs 4,894 crore, only Rs 435 crore was through known sources of income, the rest being black money. Fifty-six per cent MOTN respondents feel there should be more electoral reform, up six percentage points from January.

Despite the government initiating extradition proceedings against fugitive businessmen Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi, and enforcement agencies chasing diamantaire Nirav Modi, only 42 per cent feel the NDA government is doing enough to bring them back. Perhaps that follows from the fact that people consider politicians themselves as the most corrupt (49 per cent), followed by the police (24 per cent). Businessmen, at 6 per cent, are a distant third. In general, 76 per cent think corruption in daily life has not decreased; 48 per cent say it has increased, especially in government offices, where there is day-to-day public interaction.