Abstract
Institutionalized corruption is pervasive in India. It requires individuals and businesses to negotiate bureaucratic mazes, pay off government servants, and break laws merely to acquire the basic elements of governance. With nearly half of India’s economic activity in the informal sector, ‘shadow economies’ permeate the lives of every citizen. What on the surface looks like a dysfunctional or broken system operates smoothly and beneficially for the politicians, businesses, and connected individuals who use it with ease. For the average Indian citizen, however, access is challenging, and corruption is a visible reminder of the failed promise of democracy. This article broadens the anti-corruption agenda in India by recognizing how corruption carries with it ingrained structural components that cannot be disentangled from the formal sector. In some cases, what is thought of as ‘corruption’ actually improves operational efficiency for citizens when compared to India’s overworked judiciary and extensive bureaucracy. Any serious attempt to ‘fix’ corruption must also account for the rationalizations of individuals and companies that engage in what are commonly seen as corrupt activities. n the surface, the presence of widespread corruption throughout India conjures notions that the country is inherently dysfunctional or ‘broken.’ But for the politicians, businesses and well-connected individuals who use the system with ease, it operates exactly as intended, with wellunderstood rules of engagement and mutually beneficial frameworks. The scale of graft over the past decade has surprised even those already jaded from depressing headlines: US $30 billion lost to government coffers in coal scams, US $25 billion forfeited in underpriced telecom auctions, and US $10 billion of smuggled conflict diamonds mark some of the bigger scandals that have splashed across newspapers and TV channels. It is not just the lost potential revenue, but the brazenness and seeming universality of these activities throughout the Indian government that drive frustration with sectors as varied as international adoption, real estate, and the medical
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