India scores a stinking, low rank of 95 in the list of most corrupt nations, released by Transparency International.  This comes against the backdrop of a series of scandals and the heated debates over Lokpal.

“India is perceived to be getting worse … more and more people are willing to speak out against it,” said the report released on Thursday. However, there were more stains to India’s name because of the alleged graft in the allocation of the 2G spectrum and organisation of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in 2010.

India’s overall score for 2011 is 3.1 (on a scale from zero to 10). Last year, India fared a little better with score 3.3.

Data for the report was collected by conducting business surveys, inputs from economists and data from other sources. A total of 183 countries were studied during the process of preparing survey of 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index.

India’s neighbours like Pakistan and Bangladesh fared even worse. Pakistan was ranked at 134 and Nepal at 154 in the list where New Zealand came first with Denmark and Finland tying for second place in the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog’s ranking.

Sri Lanka (Rank: 86) and Bhutan (Rank: 38) were placed better than India. Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan were ranked most corrupt. China stands at 75.

The report also took note of the Arab Spring movement. “Corruption played a key role in the political upheaval in the West Asia and across the world in 2011,” it said. “Most Arab Spring countries rank in the lower half of the index,” the report added. "Nepotism, bribery and patronage were so deeply engrained in daily life that even existing anti-corruption laws had little impact."

The report asked governments around the world to be more accountable to the people. “Whether in a Europe hit by debt crisis or an Arab world starting a new political era, leaders must heed the demands for better government.”

Read the report

See corruption perception Index 2011