HOW CORRUPTION CAN BE REMOVED BY TECHNOLOGY?

Created By,

Manthan Mevada (15CE14)

Guided By,

Prof. Megha B. Patel

Computer Engineering (C41)

WHAT IS CORRUPTION?

• Corruption means “The misuse of entrusted power for private gain”

• India is the 79 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.

• So Corruption is a major issue in our country but it can be solved by little collaboration and with the use of technology advancements.

• There are technological changes happening in our country which include the “Digital India” in which we can use E-Wallet or UPI (Unified Payment Interface) for banking or challan, we can use online services for visa or any other government documents, etc.

CAUSES OF CORRUPTION

• Absolute authority

• Ineffective/antiquated and overburdened legal system

• Ineffective anti-corruption mechanisms

• In adequate enforcement

• Lack of employment

• Privatization, Liberalization and Globalization

THERE ARE 6 WAYS WHERE TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED TO REMOVE CORRUPTION

1. Digitization of Service

2. Preventing corruption in social security entitlements through data

3. Beating corruption by going human-free

4. Currency-free banking and cashless transactions

5. Preventing corruption in state procurements and recruitments

6. Crowdsourcing corruption information

1. DIGITIZATION OF SERVICE

• In service deliveries like issuing a passport, driving license, gas connection, birth certificate, and others, digitizing processes and systems will improve the exchange between government, service providers, and citizens.

• Online service delivery mechanisms do away with unnecessary job positions and eliminate power-wielding touts and agents, thus eliminating bribery opportunities.

• Success cases like the online appointment systems for U.S. visas, the change we are seeing in passport systems.

2. PREVENTING CORRUPTION IN SOCIAL SECURITY ENTITLEMENTS THROUGH DATA

• Leakages in entitlements like old age pension, unemployment doles, benefits like food coupons, healthcare, and more happen because of the lack or inaccessibility of social sector data.

• In this case, corruption takes place in two ways:

1)When public sector officials keep a cut for giving what is rightfully due.

2)Where citizens bribe officials or work around the system to avail more than what is due.

• The Indian Government’s Unique Identification Number initiative of gathering biometric and demographic data of all Indian residents and linking it with social benefits like public distribution system entitlements is a good example to plug such leakages.

3. BEATING CORRUPTION BY GOING HUMAN-FREE

• Reducing human contact, especially discretionary power, can drastically bring down petty corruption.

• Activities like renewals of licenses (for shops, establishments and vehicles) is a major source for bribery, with public officials pocketing money every time a license is up for renewal.

• Middlemen are totally removed in this system because people would be renewing their documents and doing their government work with their smartphones and via Internet.

4. CURRENCY-FREE BANKING AND CASHLESS TRANSACTIONS

• While effective e-governance can beat retail corruption, large scale corruption such as black money and laundering across entities and nations can be checked through premise-less, currency-less, futuristic banking systems.

• Corrupt transactions are typically done through cash to make them untraceable.

• E-banking, concept of cashless transactions like PayTM and BHIM App are the recent examples which makes the transactions and payments more clear and transparent.

• Corrupt transactions are typically done through cash to make them untraceable.

5. PREVENTING CORRUPTION IN STATE PROCUREMENTS AND RECRUITMENTS

• Similarly, internet and data-aided applications can provide much needed transparency in the ever-growing recruitment scams. Indian states like Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka have shown the lead in curbing corruption in teacher recruitments and transfers in government schools by publishing teacher data online.

• Surplus teachers, posts, vacancies, and shortages are published for everyone to see, and the tool automatically makes matches according to set criteria (besides making applicant credentials available for scrutiny).

• In Government Jobs, too; There should be a fixed criteria and in which the candidates should fulfill it and then all the information and qualifications of a candidate should be put online which can provide transparency in to government recruitments.

6. CROWDSOURCING CORRUPTION INFORMATION

• Websites that crowdsource citizen reports of retail corruption act as behavioral change agents by breaking the acceptance of bribery as a way of life.

• Corruption-reporting websites like IPaidABribe may not have any teeth or may risk getting embroiled in litigation, but they work well as a deterrent through awareness generation and naming-and-shaming features.

www.ipaidabribe.com

“Technology Transforms People’s Lives. From Reducing Poverty To Simplifying Processes, Ending Corruption To Provide Better Services, Technology Is Omnipresent. It Has Become Single-most Important Instrument Of Human Progress.”

- Narendra Modi