India most corrupt country in Asia: Says report

Berlin: Transparency International has said that India is rated as the most corrupt country in Asia with 69 per cent bribery rates.

According to Kashmir Media Service, in the study done by the Transparency International, a Berlin-based NGO working against corruption, Japan came out as the least corrupt nation, with a 0.2 per cent bribery rate.

Noticeably, India was found to be more corrupt than Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.

As far as fighting corruption goes, things don’t look well for India which was named the most corrupt country in Asia-Pacific region. Almost seven out of ten people had to pay a bribe to access public services, according to Forbes, which quoted the Transparency International report.

The NGO spoke to nearly 22,000 people across 16 countries in the Asia-Pacific to understand the level of corruption in the region.

The number of times bribes were demanded for accessing public education and healthcare facilities is also very high in India, the report shows. Around 58 and 59 per cent bribery rates were seen in the education and healthcare sectors in India, respectively.

Vietnam turned out to be the second-most corrupt country with 65 per cent bribery rates. Thailand showed 41 per cent bribery rates.

The report says that the Indian citizens do not believe that their governments at the Centre or in states are working to curb corruption.

The report also showed how poor sections of society are more affected by the menace of corruption. A whopping 73 per cent of the bribes paid in India came from low economy groups, who had to pay money due to unavailability of other options, or less influence to avoid paying bribes.