Corruption: Of USA, Pakistan, India & the World Bank
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I have always believed that once you accept political corruption as a universal phenomenon, you are finished. Be it Pakistan, the USA or India. I was quite disturbed to read that the US administration has allowed billions of dollars of unaccounted aid to flow into Pakistan. Now we have the World Bank chief pulling up India for the misuse of loans meant for the health projects for the poorest of the poor. What a shame!!!
Lesley Wroughton of the Reuters writes: “The World Bank said on Friday it had uncovered ‘serious incidents’ of fraud and corruption in a review of five health projects in India and Bank President Robert Zoellick pledged he and the government would get to the bottom of it.
“Evidence of problems was found in a just-released Detailed Implementation Review launched by the World Bank in 2006, with the support of the Indian government. It looked at the five World Bank-supported projects, some dating back to 1997, for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
“The review’s findings are likely to further highlight concerns about corruption in World Bank-financed development projects and increase pressure on Zoellick to tackle shortcomings in the bank’s oversight of projects.
” ‘The probe has revealed unacceptable indicators of fraud and corruption,’ Zoellick said in a statement. ‘The government of India and the World Bank are committed to getting to the bottom of how these problems occurred,’ he added.”
Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ordering the countries of the world according to ‘the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians’. The organization defines corruption as ‘the abuse of entrusted power for private gain’. More here…
I have been writing on and off about the tentacles of corruption. Nearly six years ago I wrote an article in The Tribune, a 125-year-old newspaper where I worked for 14 years as a senior editor until 1993, titled “Taste of Official ‘Honey’.” Please click here to read the full article… (at that time I used to spell my name as Swaraj and not Swaraaj as I do now)
Is it true that moral decline and political corruption pose a greater threat to world peace and prosperity rather than terrorism?
I quote from wikipedia: “Corruption poses a serious development challenge. In the political realm, it undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and in legislative bodies reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the unfair provision of services.
“More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance.”
(Cartoon courtesy www.cartoonstock.com)
2 Responses to “Corruption: Of USA, Pakistan, India & the World Bank”
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“I have always believed that once you accept political corruption as a universal phenomenon, you are finished.”
AMEN! Corruption breeds cynicism, which is the first step in laying the groundword for acceptance. When people are able to maintain their clarity of vision and view corruption as unacceptable, rather than unavoidable, then they have a greater ability to fight it and create acountability. This is not idealism, it is common sense. The moral high ground begins and ends with the individual.