Article on menace of corruption
Answers
Explanation:
Everyone censures corruption at a societal stage but that does not mean that anyone has escaped from the flu of corruption. It is not an infection in one country. People worldwide are involved in the act of corruption. India is no exception to it. Corruption in India has even crossed the alarming stage. From the officials of the highest rank to a peon everyone is corrupt.
It is a term known to all of us precisely meaning an illegal, immoral or unauthorized act done in due course of employment. But literally it means “Inducement (as of a public official) by improper means (as bribery) to violate duty (as by committing a felony)".
Corruption is a termite in every system. Once it enters the system, it goes on increasing. Today it is rampant and has gradually become routine. Worldwide, bribery alone is estimated to involve over 1 trillion US dollars annually.
This shows how big a problem is corruption. It is indeed the biggest challenge in front of any government because the system itself is handicapped as its own employees are slaves of another. In the author's view view corruption is the root cause of all other problems that a country faces. Let us look at it with reference to India. Many big problems such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, pollution, external threats, underdevelopment etc. are posed in front of the Indian government. But having a glimpse at all these problems faced by India, one might notice that corruption plays an important role in making these problems even bigger. India is still facing poverty due to corruption.
The government and its employees all are corrupt so the schemes floated by the government for the betterment of poor are not properly implemented and just because corruption comes into play the grant advanced to the poor does not reach them and they remain the same and so does the problem of poverty. The same principle applies to the problem of external threats. India’s neighbouring countries are also a threat to the country and its sovereignty. Because of the officials or even citizens being corrupt either for their personal gain or enmity towards their home country the neighbours prove to be even more dangerous. Such officials may leak important information to the neighbours which gives them an upper hand. The same was hinted post 26/11 attack in India. According to the sources the attack couldn’t have been possible without the help of the insiders.
Corruption is not just limited to administration. It is very much prevalent even in legislation and judiciary so much so that it is probably the biggest challenge and needs to be eradicated from its grass root. For the same purpose the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has been enacted.
This Act incorporated the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1952, and sec. 161 to 165-A of the Indian Penal Code. The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, thereby widened the coverage, strengthened the provisions and made them more effective.
This Act in particular defines the act of bribery, prescribes its punishment and also deals with the intricacies of law such as appointment of special judges, their powers, summarily triable cases etc.