New Delhi: A recent study in 13 states revealed that corruption has not only increased during Modi’s tenure, but Indians also believe the PM Modi is not serious about fighting corruption.
The study, which covered 13 states (including six which are ruled by the BJP) and 11 public services, concluded that 75% of Indian households think that that the level of the corruption in public service has either increased or remained the same during the last 12 months. The states covered in the study include Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
India has the highest rate of bribery and use of personal links to access public services such as healthcare and education in Asia, according to a survey released by global civil society Transparency International.
Water projects have been at the centre of corruption in India. Decades ago, in Bihar, the irrigation mafia was “nourished and institutionalized” mainly under Jagannath Mishra’s tenure as the Chief Minister of the state. It is estimated that during those times, Bihar government used to spend between Rs250 and 300 crore annually on construction and repair work.
Of the total, 60 percent was pocketed by the politician-contractor-engineer nexus. After doling out the fixed percentages of money, contractors took around 25% of the sanctioned amount. So there is little surprise that 30 years later, nothing much has changed.
People still live in fear of annual floods, which affect around 8 million people in Bihar. In Maharashtra, some activists who were fighting corruption in dam projects, revealed flaws in the tendering process in 2012. They found that costs were spiked manifold in the case of four dams: Kondhane (from initial Rs56 crore to Rs328 crore), Balganga (from Rs420 crore to Rs1,320 crore), Kalu (from Rs640 crore to Rs1400 crore) and Shai (from Rs410 crore to Rs1,139 crore).
Then, in 2014, in a letter to the then chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, a Pune-based contractor revealed that almost 22% of dam costs are paid as bribes. Everyone – from a clerk to a politician – has a share in the bribe. Dam builders used “corrupt practices” to capture reservoir sites preserved for indigenous people. On 15 August 2022, Indian Prime Minister Modi underlined the need to fight against corruption and nepotism.
However, Prime Minister did not speak about one sphere that remains dogged by corruption and scams – dams and hydroelectricity projects. A recent case of corruption, which jeopardized the lives of people, is from BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
In August, the lives of over 10,000 people from 18 villages in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh were put in danger after a dam built on the Karam river could not withstand the massive rain in the region. Karam dam project was rife with accusations of corruption and scams. In 2021, State government informed the assembly that the dam was one of the projects under investigation by the Economic Offence Wing because of corruption charges in the e-tender process. Web Desk
Please visit our website London Institute of Peace Research for latest peace news
