Corruption refers to a form of criminal activity or dishonesty. It is defined as an abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Corruption breaks trust weakens democracy and hampers the economic development of a country. Corruption includes activities like embezzlement, extortion, fraud, and bribery and it can take place anywhere in the government, business, civil society, and even in schools and colleges basically, it can take place across all sectors. Corruption reflects greedy and selfish behaviour. It hinders social, political, legal, and economic progress. India was ranked 80th position out of 180 countries in the year 2019.
A study conducted by Transparency International in 2008 showed that about 50% of Indians had first-hand experience of paying bribes or using contacts to get services performed. Corruption includes many activities like fraud. It is an act of cheating somebody to get money, property, etc. illegally. Extortion is also a form of corruption. Extortion means forcing someone into giving something through threats.
Bribery is the most common form of corruption in society. It is an act of offering some money or something valuable to persuade someone to do something for them. Favouritism and nepotism is an old form of corruption still practiced. It refers to a person favouring one’s own relatives and friends to jobs and because of this many deserving candidates fail to get jobs. Abuse of discretion is another method of corruption. Here a person misuses one’s power and authority. There are many factors responsible for corruption. The most important one is human nature. People are greedy, they have great thirst for luxuries and comforts which result in activities like corruption.
We should try to bring transparency to the system because corruption directly affects the growth of a country. We all come together and fight against it.
