Corruption In India: A Billion Dollar Industry

               It is a no brainer that Corruption In India is at its rampant best.There is not one section of the society that is spared from it.Corruption in the form of bribery takes the cake and given that it begins at the grass root level makes it even more difficult to monitor and control.The  Corruption and Bribery Report published at trak.in earlier , gives a detailed breakdown of the scale of the bribes and the reasons why bribes are given.

          The striking though well known findings of the report points out that close to half the bribes are requested by the Government Officials both at the state and national level.The same government personnel who are entrusted with the development of the nation are filling their own pockets.No wonder then the nation’s politicians are the most corrupt lot.

                     However, it it was only for the petty money minded officials filling their own pockets, the enormity of the bribery might be restricted to a certain level.What if corruption takes the shape of a billion dollar behemoth.According to Management Guru C.K.Prahalad , the cost of corruption to the country might as well exceed Rs. 250,000 crores.

                   The total spending for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is pegged at a whopping Rs. 10,000 crore.The breakup of this spending throws up some interesting insights too.

• Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) by the Election Commission
• Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) by the Centre and state governments
• Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) were spent by political parties and individual candidates

8000 crore spent by political parties and individual candidates ? Where do they get hold of this kind of money to spend. Again, it comes as a no brainer that it is hugely attributed to the Private Funding that political parties attract from big pocket industrialists.The reasons why private spending of this scale happens again is rather simple Favourtism.It is a well known fact that government support is crucial for industries small and large.One favourable swing in a huge tender or a favourable policy, and all the benefits can be reaped.
C.K.Prahalad fitting compares politicians with Venture Capitalists :-)

Given the risky nature of the investments in elections, politicians as venture capitalists, we can assume, will not settle for less than a 10-fold return.

                  More than spending by individuals and political parties, what i fail to understand is , Why is a 10,000 crore rupee spend needed for carrying out Elections.There can be infrastructure and operational costs, but they can never amount to such alarming numbers.
 
                  Now, when the government is well aware of crores of amount spent on election campaigns and product like advertisements with politicians selling themselves door to door, why cant regulations be implemented to stop all this waste of money.Why cant the regulatory bodies impose a maximum cap on the amount spent on election campaigns failing which the political party is banned to contest.However, accountability is something that leaves a lot for asking and barring which none of the measures to put a stop to corruption can reap rewards.

                    It is embarrassing that billions of dollars are being spent on electing leaders who do nothing more than succumbing to taking bribes after getting elected. The gory facts are for everyone to see but then a solution as usual is not in sight. Can you think of a possible solution to this massive problem? Do share your thoughts.