Raise salaries to lower corruption levels: UN

While India remains low in terms of control over corruption, scoring -0.21 points according to the World Bank's Control of Corruption Index, the UN report, "Tackling Corruption Transforming Lives," highlights several positive examples in India of the media and civil society exposing corruption.

It cites the Central Vigilance Commission, set up to corruption, among the institutional strengths of the country.

It also speaks highly of NGO MKSS, led by Magsaysay awardee Aruna Roy, which went from village to village asking people about the funds they were entitled to under various government programmes and thus creating awareness and information that led to public hearings.

The report also cites technology as the biggest ally in the fight against corruption and points out the example of e-governance in Karnataka, where most government departments can now be accessed online. Computerisation of land records and opening them to public examination has reduced corrupt practices, it says.

In the past, it says, farmers who needed a bank loan were usually required to show a copy of the record of rights, tenancy and crops. For this, they often had go to village accountants as records were not open to public scrutiny and bribes to ensure delivery of records ranged between $2 and $50, it said. Karnataka's successful anti-corruption pilot in this regard has been extended to other states, it says.

It also cites the example of Sewa Mandir, an NGO in Rajasthan which fought absenteeism in schools by making it mandatory for teachers to get photos clicked with time and date functions, both at the beginning and the end of the work hours.

It, however, says that an increase in salaries is urgently needed. It says civil service posts should be filled on merit and the services should follow business codes of conduct matching international standards. It also seeks use of e-governance and technology for more transparency.

It refers to a study of 100 developing countries which shows that corruption lowers human development. The study, it said, confirmed that corruption reduced expenditure, especially on education, health and social protection, and affected the quality of services.