It is a sad reflection that we must celebrate a week to be made aware that corruption is bad and needs to be weeded out. That corruption causes enormous damage to the country is well accepted. 

Nothing exemplifies this more than the very candid statement in the very first line of the mandatory pledge prescribed by CVC: “I believe that corruption has been one of the major obstacles to economic, political, and social progress of our country.” 

The idea of a vigilance awareness week was first mooted by the then Chief Vigilance Commissioner in his letter dated 23 June 2000. Quoting from the UNDP Report on Human Development 1999 on South Asia, the letter highlights that if the corruption level in India goes down to that of Scandinavian Countries, the gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 1.5% and foreign direct investment (FDI) will go up by 12%. 

The letter goes on to say that corruption is anti-national, anti-poor, and anti-economic development. As per the same letter of the year 2000, Transparency International had ranked India 73 out of 99 countries in the Corruption Perception Index.

Has Anything Changed?

It would appear that very little has changed. 

The UNDP report on Human Development 1999 ranked India at 110. As per the latest report, India is ranked at 130 out of 193 countries. Transparency International has, in 2025 (the latest report), ranked India at 91 in the corruption perception index out of 182 countries.

So yes, it would appear that we do need to keep reminding ourselves about the dangers of corruption, about the need to fight it, about the need to eliminate it.

A Committee under freedom fighter, politician, and journalist Santhanam had been tasked in 1963 to examine the prevalence of corruption in the country and suggest measures to tackle the problem. The Report, while highlighting large-scale corruption, has defined corruption as "behaviour by officials in the public sector, whether politicians or civil servants, in which they improperly and illegally enrich themselves or those close to them, or induce others to do so by misusing their position."

In other words, corruption is abuse of power for private gain. Incidentally, it is this committee’s recommendations that paved the way for the setting up of the CVC.

Loss To Economy

Corruption hurts societies, organisations, and the country. It increases costs; it creates inequalities.

As per the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), corruption, bribery, theft, tax evasion, and other illicit financial flows cost developing countries US$ 1.26 trillion per year.

Arun Kumar, who has written extensively about black money in India, has suggested that the extent of the black economy in India is estimated to be 62% of the GDP, generating at 2016-17 prices about ₹93 lakh crore of revenue. To put matters in perspective, this is larger than the income generated by agriculture and industry put together, which is about 39% of the GDP.

Again, as per Arun Kumar, because of its existence, the country’s economy has been losing on an average 5% growth for the past four decades - this translates to an economy of US$ 15 trillion as against US$ 2.2 trillion as of now. The damage the black economy does is enormous - corruption is one of the major contributors to the black economy.

Evasion of taxes or an acceptance of bribe is nothing but a lack of integrity and corruption at its basic level. At its most basic, corruption means lack of integrity. The dictionary will tell you integrity means adherence to moral and ethical principles. Where there is a lack of integrity leading to corruption, you are in effect not being committed to the nation. Our aim to become self-reliant gets seriously eroded. 

As an entrepreneur you cut corners. As a government official, you look the other way when corners are being cut. Processes become cumbersome. Costs go up. Efficiency goes down. You aim to harass the ordinary citizen, not help them. And more importantly, the lack of integrity acts as an impediment to economic development. It hurts competition, entrepreneurship, investment, environment, personal health, and safety - in short, every aspect of life in a civil society.

Tackling Corruption

How then do we tackle the problem?

I again quote from the 2000 CVC letter: “War, it is said, is too dangerous to be left to the Generals. Fighting corruption is too important an activity to be left only to the Central Vigilance Commission. It impacts every citizen and needs the cooperation of all stakeholders. Fighting corruption is a shared responsibility that requires cooperation among many stakeholders. Policymakers, prosecutors and police; judges and journalists; regulators, investigators and scholars all have a role to play.”

Laws need to be clear, unambiguous, and easy to understand. Processes, compliance requirements, and, more importantly, procedures should be simplified. Technology, which is simple, citizen-friendly and does not require any physical interaction, is a key ingredient in the fight against corruption.  Every organisation should assess corruption risks and put in place measures to curb it. Procurement is another area where all institutions should ensure rigorously defined procedures.

While these are measures to curb possible misuse, it is also essential that we develop integrity  -in ourselves and in others. Self-awareness is the key. You must define what you want to be - a person who can be trusted, where trust comes only because you are a person of values, of integrity. 

Education is helpful. Religious values also contribute to a resolute strong-willed individual, a person who will not stray from the right path. The family plays a key role – in these matters, a child learns more from his parents than what any school can possibly teach her.

On a larger macro level, transparency and democracy are vital antidotes against corruption.

As the preamble to the Right to Information Act, a major weapon against corruption, states: “And whereas democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed.”

What democracy and transparency ensure is accountability. It empowers the citizen to question, to know, and through a democratic process change their governments if they do not measure up. Neither of these are panaceas, silver bullets that will ensure there is no corruption.  It is just that it makes being corrupt a little bit difficult.            

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to which India is a signatory, specify the need to focus on cutting down bribery and corruption across public and private spheres. This is critical if we are to achieve our goal of Viksit Bharat. 

So, it is that the theme for this year’s Vigilance Awareness Week is most appropriate: Probity for Progress. The President, in her message on the occasion, has expressed the hope that the theme will inspire public servants to uphold the highest standards of ethical values. The earlier that happens, the better it is for the country.

(The writer is the Chairman (Retired) of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs)