How corruption and black money affects the poor

A 2008 study tells how much bribe BPL families paid in major public services

GN Bureau | November 18, 2016


#Black money   #corruption   #Bibek Debroy   #Laveesh Bhandari   #Corruption in India: The DNA and the RNA   #The India Corruption Study 2008  

It may not be wrong to say that a major part of the black money arises from corruption, and that it is usually the downtrodden who is affected the most.

A book published in 2011 by economists Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari titled Corruption in India: The DNA and the RNA talks about how corruption affects the general public. In the wake of ongoing debate on black money, it may come handy to re-look at the points made in the book.

At one instance, the publication refers to The India Corruption Study 2008 that focused on BPL households, mostly in rural India. The study covered 22,728 households across the country. As per the study, BPL households paid a total bribe of Rs 8,830 million in availing 11 key public services.

According to the authors, the table suggests that “those services that are associated with urgent need of the citizen are associated with the highest level of corruption”.

Services

Estimated total bribe paid in 2008 (in Rs million)

Public distribution system

458

Hospital

870

School education (up to class XII)

120

Electricity

1,040

Water supply

239

MGNREGS

72

Land records & registration

1,234

Forest

240

Housing

1,560

Banking

832

Police

2,148

Total

8,830

Source: India Corruption Study 2008

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