Relevance: GS-4: Probity in Governance: Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption.

Relevance: GS-2: Transparency & Accountability, Important International Institutions

Key phrases: Corruption perception index, Transparency International, democratic status, fundamental freedoms, probity, authoritarian, UNGASS 2021.

Why in News?

• India's rank improved by one place to 85 among 180 countries in a corruption perception index (CPI) of 2021, according to a new report by Transparency International which, has raised concern over the country's democratic status.

Key findings of Corruption Perception Index:

• Denmark, Finland, New Zealand and Norway topped the list with the highest score.
• Among those with weak scores are some of the world's most populous countries such as China (45) and India (40), and other large economies such as Indonesia (38), Pakistan (28) and Bangladesh (26).
• India's rank improved by one place to 85 in 2021 from 86th in 2020, according to the index. Except Bhutan, all of India's neighbours are ranked below it. Pakistan dropped 16 spots in the index and was ranked at 140.
• While corruption takes vastly different forms from country to country, this year's scores reveal that all regions of the globe are at a standstill when it comes to fighting public sector corruption.
• At the top of the CPI, countries in Western Europe and the European Union continue to wrestle with transparency and accountability in their response to COVID-19, threatening the region's clean image.
• In parts of Asia Pacific, the Americas, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, increasing restrictions on accountability measures and basic civil freedoms allow corruption to go unchecked. Even historically high-performing countries are showing signs of decline.

Corruption and human rights:

• Corruption is rightly called one of the most insidious social phenomena. It erodes trust in public institutions, hinders economic development and has a disproportionate impact on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly by people that belong to marginalised or disadvantaged groups such as minorities, people with disabilities, refugees, migrants and prisoners. It also disproportionately affects women, children and people living in poverty, in particular by hampering their access to basic social rights such as healthcare, housing and education.
• CPI results shows that upholding human rights is crucial in the fight against corruption, with countries who violate civil liberties generally scoring lower on the CPI.
• Corruption undermines the ability of governments to guarantee the human rights of their citizens. This affects the delivery of public services, the dispensation of justice and the provision of safety for all. In particular, grand corruption committed by high-level officials usually combines the large-scale, transnational theft of public funds with gross human rights violations.
• Human rights are not simply a nice-to-have in the fight against corruption. Authoritarianism makes anti-corruption efforts dependent on the whims of an elite. Ensuring that civil society and the media can speak freely and hold power to account is the only sustainable route to a corruption-free society.
• Human right and Fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and access to justice guarantee public participation and keep corruption in check.
• Corruption enables human rights abuses, setting off a vicious and escalating spiral. As rights and freedoms are eroded, democracy declines and authoritarianism takes its place, which in turn enables higher levels of corruption.
• The past year has brought disturbing examples of this, from the killing of human rights defenders and the closing of media outlets, to government spying scandals like the Pegasus Project. Increasingly, rights and checks and balances are being undermined not only in countries with systemic corruption and weak institutions, but also among established democracies.

Way forward:

To end the vicious cycle of corruption, human rights violations and democratic decline, people should demand that their governments:

• Uphold the rights needed to hold power to account. Governments should roll back any disproportionate restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and assembly introduced since the onset of the pandemic. Ensuring justice for crimes against human rights defenders must also be an urgent priority.
• Restore and strengthen institutional checks on power. Public oversight bodies such as anti-corruption agencies and supreme audit institutions need to be independent, well-resourced and empowered to detect and sanction wrongdoing. Parliaments and the courts should also be vigilant in preventing executive overreach.
• Combat transnational forms of corruption. Governments in advanced economies need to fix the systemic weaknesses that allow cross-border corruption to go undetected or unsanctioned. They must close legal loopholes, regulate professional enablers of financial crime, and ensure that the corrupt and their accomplices cannot escape justice.
• Uphold the right to information in government spending. As part of their COVID-19 recovery efforts, governments must make well on their pledge contained in the June 2021 UNGASS political declaration to include anti-corruption safeguards in public procurement. Maximum transparency in public spending protects lives and livelihoods.

Source: The Hindu BL

Mains Question:

Q. Corruption destroys the faith of the common man in the legitimacy of the politico-administrative setup in a country. What are the ways in which corruption can be reduced? Analyse (250words)