India has emerged as the nation with the highest bribery rate of 39% in the Asian region, according to a survey by global civil society organisation Transparency International. According to the survey, India has the highest number of people who use ‘personal connections’ to gain access to public services.

‘India has the highest overall bribery rate (39%) and highest rate of citizens using personal connections (46%),’ the report tiled Global Corruption Barometer – Asia revealed.

‘Following India, Indonesia and China have the second and third highest rates of people using personal connections (36% and 32% respectively),’ the survey said.

Roughly 50% of people who paid bribes in India were asked for it, and 32% who used personal connections said that they would not receive the services without it.

Meanwhile, only 4% of people who accessed public services in Japan used their personal associations, and the rate stood at 6% in Cambodia.

‘While results show that the police have the highest bribery rate (23%) and are the public service most likely to demand and receive bribes, our report shows that courts have a higher use of personal connections,’ the report reveals.

Out of those surveyed in India, 42% paid bribes to the police, 42% used money to get documents, and 38% paid money for court related issues.

The report also mentioned that at least 63% of the participants said they feared retaliation while reporting corruption.

Six main public services were covered in the survey- courts, the police, public medical facilities, and acquiring identification documents.

Last year, the survey revealed that fewer Indians had paid bribes in one year. The percentage of respondents who accepted that they paid a bribe was 51% in 2019, as compared to 56% in the 2018 survey. However, the figure for 2019 was higher than that for 2017, when it stood at 45%.

In August, the Supreme Court had decided to initiate a probe into the circumstances under which a person can make public allegations of corruption against the judiciary.

In September 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured a ‘corruption-free government’, and had promised to launch a massive crackdown on corruption.

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