By Kamlesh Tripathi

To hell with Transparency International, who cares, hum se zamana hai, zamane se hum nahi … must have been, the guiding-star of conman, non-engineer Yadav Singh who always believed in doing what he was not qualified to do- to be that quack engineer, in that; all powerful office of NOIDA authority. Only, because he believed in those famous lines of film Kaaliya, dialogued by millennia star Amitabh Bacchan “Hum jaha pe khade ho jaate hein, line wahi se shuru hoti hai”

And, so, with such devious crooks in the cupboard what could ‘Mother India’ do to save, her reputation. But prestigious ‘Global Watchdog Transparency International’ has brought some cheer to her.

In spite of such sustained overwhelming efforts to malign India by crooks like Yadav Singh; after about two decades India has ranked less corrupt than China in an annual corruption survey carried out by GWTL. So let us call it the ‘consolation prize’ as India beats China in something, something noble or ethical to be precise, and that is something, that should be cheered.

In its recent survey of 175 countries, India ranks an otherwise depressing 85^th, and has improved in the index by jumping 10 places. On the other hand China has fallen 20 places to rank 100^th despite mighty Chinese President Xi Jinping, considered by some the most powerful man on earth. More powerful than even the President of the US; who has unleashed a massive countrywide campaign against corruption, arresting a number of high profile military and political leaders. Something, unseen and unheard in India.

While both India and China around 2006-07 were at the same levels, this is the first time since rankings commenced in 1996 that India is now perceived less corrupt than China. But then what is this all about and how is it done. Well the corruption perception Index is compiled by experts like banking institutions, big companies and their organizations based on their view of corruption in public sector.

METHODOLOGY USED

GWTI’s annual report measures perceptions of various kinds of corruption by using a scale where 100 is the cleanest and 0 most corrupt. India’s score moved up to 38 from 36. But despite a slightly better showing by India, its contemporaries on the index are countries like Burkino Faso and Benin, nothing to boast about.

This Berlin based organization published its Corruption Perceptions index of 175 countries on Wednesday wherein Turkey and China showed the biggest drop in the index.

MASS MOVEMENTS DON’T GO FOR A WASTE, THEY ARE RECALLED AND REMEMBERED

India’s perception improvement is said to have triggered off to a heightened awareness and public antipathy on corruption from the time of Anna Hazare’s agitation in2012. This was followed by the first ever Lokpal bill being passed in parliament. India’s reputation has also seen to improve somewhat by the anti-corruption bills wending their way through the Parliament. Corruption was a major issue in the recently concluded general elections where fortunes swung for BJP, dumping Congress. And, even Arvind Kejriwal treaded to the corridors of power for a short while but could not sustain, all because of the anti-corruption movement.

CONCLUSION

The top performer in the chart is Denmark, at 92. So, “when will India be there or will India ever be there, is the bogging question. But, be that as it may; where is India heading to, with the ilk of ‘Yadav Singh’ as one of the prime pedigrees is the nagging question.

Transparency International announced it is campaigning for countries to adopt a procedure called “Unmask the corrupt,” urging the EU, US and G20 countries to follow Denmark’s lead. India too needs to join the bandwagon.