India languishes at 84th in Transparency index

Transparency International, the Berlin based watchdog, threw up few surprises in its annual Corruption Perception Index released yesterday. The usual suspects were in more or less their usual places, though New Zealand overtook last year's leader Denmark for the top post, the latter slipping to second position.

India languished at number 84 in a survey of 180 countries carried out by 13 independent organisations. India's 'integrity score' stands at 3.4, an indication that in terms of public sector corruption, the country continues to be perceived as highly corrupt by experts and business surveys. The integrity score is on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being the most corrupt and 10 the least.

India's ranking was a step up from last year, when it was 85th. But still it was considerably lower than its 72nd ranking in 2007. Scams like the Madhu Koda case have not helped India's cause – in five years as chief minister of the neglected but mineral-rich state of Jharkhand, Koda is said to have siphoned off Rs3,000 crore for himself and his cronies.

Transparency says the situation is worsening, with other corporate and political frauds coming to light recently. Its report said, ''Corruption in India is due to many factors, most important being the activities of politicians.''

''It is commonly perceived that politicians are spending too much on elections and that corruption prevails. India's performance for this year is not a flattering one and one can only draw comfort from the fact that it has not fared worse than last year," Transparency International India chairman R H Tahliani said.

Out of the various departments analysed, India's police department fares the worst in terms of corruption. The most corrupt state is Bihar, followed by Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh.