Corruption, Is Corruption really bad?

Introduction:

Everybody thinks the World is a cesspool now. Corruption was a sensitive issue in the past, It is a sensitive issue now. Even today every parliamentary session new laws are lined up to curb  this menace, yet, it was never actually achieved, ever. Every time the bodies make some laws, The harbingers of corruption just change their way to something else. Earlier people who used to make a direct cash support now look for safer alternatives such as equities, bonds and what not.

So, Is the present Aam Aadmi Party successful with their new Corruption helpline number. If we look at the statistics, then after pouring crores of public money they are just able to highlight only 30 officers who can be called as corrupt. But, the civilians out there know that there are more of them. Even if there were only 30 corrupt officials they why did not they just went there and caught them, at least it could have saved a lot of money of the tax payers.What does this suggest? Do they people have learnt to live with it or Do they not mind the presence of corrupt officials amongst themselves. Nobody wants to come out of their niche and tell the world.

Is corruption really a problem?

 If you think it this way I do not think, concede to the fact, i.e., Corruption is a problem in any State as long as the state functions without anarchy. Corruption causes a problem in the provision of basic goods and  services in a society. Its mere presence accentuates to the fact the State is not working in a decorous way. It is a by-product of the society, not of the present time, but whose presence has been felt for a long time now. It also evinces the financial or the monetary system (SALARY/WAGE) under which the workers work is not enough to sustain the world in which they live in. We all are aware of the unpredictability of prices, So in such a situation, how can you think a person who earns so little would be able to take care of those who are dependent on him. He will need some financial assistance if he has to meet the expectation of his family. So, if he accepts an offering by someone who can afford, I do not think it should that big deal.

Is Incentive bad?

The whole argument, whether Corruption is good or bad simmers to the question, Is giving incentive for work bad?  Well! A lot many people call it as ‘bribe’. Let us put it this way bribing is the incentive which is given to a player which is generally a government official by any other player who can be a private player who wants to get his work done. Most of the time the bribing is a willful act sharing similarities with charity. A private player himself makes an offer which the other player can’t refute. So, this can be seen as sharing of the surplus wealth of one person which can bring equity and bring down the inequality in the society.

Justification of Bribing:

The act of bribing can be justified from the point of the delaying mechanism of the State. The very presence of State ensures a proxy mechanism by which it can function without the delay. Bribing is just another way to get your work done faster. Delaying mechanism stands for the time taken by the state to process the request of the civilians, which is usually long if you live in a populous country. Different incentive structures are formulated to deal with this problem. Under delaying mechanism of the State, people are willing to trade some of their wealth to get some work done under time. This is similar to the labor supply curve, which says when you start getting more money for your work than you tradeoff that wealth for more leisure. As long as people feel that some work is going to cost time, then they are going to offer some monetary stimulus to the official sitting on the desk. This act is generally called as ‘Corruption’.

The need:

What needs to be done? Suspending the officials from work is not going to win this battle against Corruption. However, if we deal with the basic problem of their existence, we may actually end up eradicating it from the root. First, we will have to understand that corruption exists in many forms and it will be a difficult war. Immediate reforms such as enhancing the conditions of employees can be taken  in the government sector. Give them good residential facilities, good schools for their kids, Medical facilities for their families, holidays, cheaper loans. Keep them happy since they are your pawns in the war. These are some basic problems for which people accept the bribe and become corrupt.From the side of government, transparency, speeding up of processes in the government agencies would keep the private players happy thus questioning the very existence of the alternative Incentive structure in the society.When every single resident is the society would be better off, the need for monetary incentive era would surely come to an end.