International Anti-corruption Day: Tackling the plague affecting millions of lives

Corruption has been plaguing the entire world for many years. Corruption and black money have been the major obstacles in the progress of many beneficial schemes and programs. To tackle this plague affecting millions of lives around the world the United Nations decided to celebrate International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9 every year from 2003 onwards.

So this year it completes 20 years since the United Nations Convention adopted this day. As of today, there are more than 90 signatories that are partnering against this Corruption Initiative.

How to minimize corruption in India?

When a person is prompted to dishonesty or illegal behavior for deriving some personal benefit, corruption sets in. It is nothing new and has been there since ancient times. From bribery to gratification, all forms of corruption existed before and even now. People even today and in ancient civilizations paid money or gave expensive gifts to get things done and that is how corruption still exists.

Government and leaders have taken many steps to discourage corruption by adopting strict punishment measures. But even then instances of corruption have not lessened. Here are some steps that should be taken to minimize corruption:

• Enforcing strict laws for people engaged in corruption so that they are afraid to take or offer bribes.
• Instances of corruption and the names of people engaged in such activities should be highlighted in newspapers and on official portals, and social media platforms. It will discourage people from taking or giving bribes.
• Cameras at the workplace can surely discourage corruption and corrupt practices.
• The officials must keep a close tab on people who have been previously involved or accused of being involved in corrupt activities. Being corrupt is a tendency and it does not go away easily and the same person might try to indulge in corruption once again.