Majority say bribery, corruption a local problem

A survey participated in by more than one lakh people across the country showed that corruption is largely a local problem with the majority saying they had paid bribes for local issues ranging from the municipalities, police, local tax compliance and property registration.

The results of the survey conducted by citizen engagement platform LocalCircles revealed that 45 per cent of citizens paid a bribe to get their work done.

As to where bribes were paid, 84 per cent respondents said that most of them were to departments at the local level.

The participants of the survey from over 200 cities responded to questions in the polls touching upon the issue of corruption.

About 51 per cent citizens said their local or state authorities has not taken any steps in the last one year to reduce corruption.

Only 9 per cent citizens said that their state had a functional helpline to report corruption.

Around 36 per cent citizens said that they were forced to and paying a bribe was the only way to get their work done.

In one of the other polls, 30 per cent citizens said that bribery continues even after the local departments were computerised and the majority said CCTVs were one of the deterrents against corruption.

State level polls were also conducted in 12 states to understand which states according to citizens have made progress in reducing corruption.

Uttar Pradesh turned out to be on top for reducing corruption and West Bengal came last.

--IANS

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