Delhi Polls: Corruption Issue on Centre Stage

By Deepak Parvatiyar

January 13, 2015

(An edited version was published in elections.in)

Delhi shares a distinct bond with Ulaanbaatar. While both rank high on corruption, politicians of both the Indian and Mongolian capital cities swear to combat corruption! While both remain among the most corrupt places in the world as per the latest indices, in recent times both cities have improved their positions, either through legislations or through mass movements, on corruption perception Index of the rating agencies.

Yet Ulaanbaatar is different from Delhi in more than one ways. It is the city where more than fifty per cent of the entire population of Mongolia resides. Delhi in comparison, despite being world’s second most populous city with about 25 million citizens, is at the most the nerve centre of Indian politics and there are other big cities that play almost similar big roles in the nation’s development.

When it comes to corruption though, what insulates Delhi more than Ulaanbaatar is the fact that despite being the seat of the national government, it also has its own federal government for the city state. In 2013, riding high on an anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare, Delhi voted for a change and preferred a new party of political greenhorns in the assembly elections – becoming the first state to see an election fought on anti-corruption plank in the country!

Delhi Ranks Fourth among the Most Corrupt Cities of India

While India still ranks a lowly 85 in the list of 175 countries (though a marked improvement from 94 out of 177 countries in 2013)on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, studies done separately by different rating agencies do not show Delhi as the most corrupt city in the country.  A recent study by an anti corruption  website (ipaidbribe.com) showed Bengaluru – India’s IT capital – leading the pack as the country’s most corrupt city that was followed in that order by Chennai and Mumbai -- the country’s commercial capital. Delhi was placed fourth behind them. This obviously had been a marked improvement from the earlier figures when different agencies rated it as the most corrupt city in India.

Often Corruption Charges against Delhi government Flow from Centre

The question thus arises on whether the corruption at the Centre be associated with the Capital city or Delhi be viewed from the prism of our federal structure. Yet, it is pertinent to note that Delhi is still not accorded the full statehood and the quasi state status does not do justice to the city’s potential even in terms of combating corruption. 

Just consider these facts -- In 2002, based on the Corruption Perception Index system developed by Centre for Media Studies then, Delhi was rated as the most corrupt city in the country. Similarly in 2010, the Delhi police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi -- the two departments which have the maximum interface with the public – had the most number of corruption cases against them by filed by Delhi's Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) over the period of 2007-2010. (While the MCD is an autonomous body, the Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Central Government and is hence not directly accountable to the elected government of Delhi).

It may be mentioned that most of the recent corruption charges against Delhi’s state government were rooted in the Central government’s scams – primarily the Commonwealth Games scam of 2010. However, there were many more scams involving the Central Government that came to light in the national capital in the last few years and Delhi earned the notoriety because of these scams.

To be fair to ordinary Delhiites, they did show the resolve to break the shackles of corruption in their backyard by voting for a change in the 2013 elections – a feat emulated by the rest of the country in the 2014 general elections and subsequent assembly elections in a few other states.

However, being the national capital, Delhi cannot escape being dragged into the incontrovertible debate over being a corrupt city either. Its fight against corruption makes it bond with Ulaanbaatar. However the greasy palms in the corridor of power at the National Capital makes New Delhi worse than Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, where  “bribery and corruption are everywhere and in every ministry”!

While U4, a Norwegian anti-corruption study group, pointed out that Lebanon loses about five per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to illicit outflows every year, another Washington D.C based advisory firm, Global Financial Integrity recently suggested that India figured among top five nations along with China, Russia, Mexico and Malaysia that saw the most illicit outflows between 2003 and 2012!

Everything from avoiding traffic laws to getting government jobs and even securing political office can be bought and sold in Beirut. Delhi is no exception either. This despite the fact that both India and Lebanon signed and ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) respectively in 2008 and 2011!

Will February Assembly Polls Change Delhi’s Image as a Corrupt city?

There are many other capital cities – the list keeps growing – that join Delhi and Beirut in such list. However, electoral politics has changed a big way ever since Anna Hazare’s indefinite fast at Delhi’s Ramlila Ground in 2011. Call it the Anna impact, the anti-corruption crusader’s success lies in the mass rising against corruption. Though the line between corruption and expediency is still blurred, it was Anna’s chosen city for his agitation – Delhi,  that took the lead in shunting out tainted politicians  and  put a new party of political greenhorns on the saddle in the 2013 assembly elections.

Isn’t it time for Delhi to get rid of the stigma of being a ‘corrupt’ city? The onus is on the citizens to keep up the good work of recent times and show the way in the ensuing state elections. The entire nation’s eyes are on Delhi on February 7 and 10, the days of polling and announcement of results!