India's poorest paid Rs 883 crores as Bribe

NEW DELHI: The level of corruption is "alarming" in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, says a new survey based on experience of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in availing various public services last year. The 'India Corruption Study 2007', brought out by NGOs Transparency International India (TII) and Centre for Media Studies (CMS), found that about one-third of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in the country bribed officials to avail a total of 11 services -- from police to PDS. According to the survey, which covered 22,728 households in all states and Union Territories, Rs 8,830 million (Rs 883 crore), in all, was estimated to be paid as bribe by BPL households last year. The report grouped states into four levels on extent of corruption -- alarming, very high, high and moderate. While five states come into the "alarming" category, the corruption level is "moderate" in states like Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and West Bengal, the survey found. Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu fall into the "very high" group, according to the report that took into account corruption experienced by poor families while availing basic services like PDS, hospital, electricity and water supply as also need-based services like land records and registration, housing, banking and police service. Among the smaller states and UTs, in Nagaland and Goa, most of the 11 services had high or very high or alarming level of corruption whereas it was moderate in Chandigarh and Tripura.