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>View discussions about this entry Country: India
Organization: Transparency International India (TI India)
Focus of activity: Advocacy
Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions
Description of initiative: 1. To combat petty corruption affecting the daily life and lives of the common man, our focus is on creation and expansion of the awareness and effective implementation of citizens’ charters, Right to Information Act, and e-Governance.
2. To combat corruption in public procurement and contracting - adoption of Integrity Pact and e-Procurement. 3. To combat political corruption - Enactment of Lok Pal (Public Ombudsman) Legislation as conceived in late sixties, curb on the political criminalisation as advocated by then Chief Election Commissioner of India Mr Krishnamurthy, and enactment of a legislation for the forfeiture of illegally acquired property, including Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly and others. Innovation: Most of the corrupt practices are in vogue due to weaknesses in the system. So our emphasis is on systematic changes through public forums, media, group discussions and seminars and also through personal interactions to convince the concerned quarters about the necessity of bringing change in the system while avoiding any confrontation with policy makers.
Delivery Model: Two studies (in 2002 and 2005) on Corruption in India have been undertaken during the last two years. The third one is already in the process. The focus of these studies will be to assess the extent of corruption affecting common men in the delivery of public services, which is their fundamental right, and provide an introspection opportunity to the concerned service providers. The 2005 Study covered 20-states in the country. Its Summary was released on June 30, 2005, and the complete report, in book-form, was released by the President of India on Nov. 25, 2005. The Study brings out the fact that corruption in public services affecting day-to-day needs of citizens is far more serious than generally realized. Among essential service providers the Police ranks highest on the Corruption Perception Index. While Kerala stands out as the least corrupt State Bihar occupies the highest position in the reverse order, as well as the worst in all the 11 sectors of service taken up for study. Jammu & Kashmir ranks next to Bihar. There has also been a mention of various initiatives taken by some states for improving governance.
The Study received wide coverage, both in electronic as well as print media in India and abroad. The summery of report had also been included in Ethics World and Wikipedia (free encyclopedia). Very recently its findings have been serialised by MINT in its issues from April 30 to May 5/6, 2007; and the Hindustan (Hindi) during May 1-6, 2007. With the object of dissemination of its findings and advocacy of the tools of Improving Governance, more than half a dozen Workshops were organized throughout India, besides a National Seminar, inaugurated by the Central Vigilance Commissioner in Delhi on August 24-25, 2005. The Consolidated Minutes of the deliberations of all the workshops are attached. There are immediate plans to undertake the next phase of the corruption study, focusing mainly on Rural India. Key Operational Partnerships: At present the net work of Transparency Int’l India (TI India) is spread in ten states which are known as State Chapters. Besides, there are a large number of like-minded NGOs as its partners. Among them, the following are significant to be mentioned – Servants of the People’s Society(SOPS)(established by Punjab Kesri Lala Lajpat Rai in 1921)
Lok Sevak Sangh CHETNA Parivartan Lok Satta, MKSS Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) Election Watch Citizens’ Forum Against Corruption Financial Model: TI India’s beneficiaries are the commoners. There is no charge for its services. It is a volunteer-based NGO, working from the SOPS campus. The day-to- day expenses are met out of small donations received from members – most of whom are retired civil and defense service officers. Among its 15 Board of Management Members, four are from Defence, two retired High Court Judges, two retired Vice Chancellors, two are retired from police services (DGPs), two Engineers and Chartered Accountants, and the rest are social activists.
Effectiveness: Though it is difficult to measure the impact of TI India’s programs it can be gauged from –
1. The various indices, like the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) released by Transparency International, Berlin, from time to time. According to 2006 CPI India’s ranking has improved from 88th to 70th and has scored 3.3 marks, against 2.9 in 2005, out of 10. Similar is the case of GCB. 2. TI India has attained certain degree of acceptability as one of the organisations capable of combating corruption, as being often quoted by the media. It is worth mentioning that the awareness against corruption generated so far and its involvement in various such activities, are attributed to TI India in a fair measure.
Scaling up Strategy: Besides the Citizens’ Charters, Right to Information, e-governance and Integrity Pact, TI India plans to repeat the next phases of its study on prevalence of corruption, focusing mainly Rural India. Its broad objectives are to estimate value of petty corruption in different services, ranking of States on extent of corruption, ranking of Services, particularly those, which are directly affecting the people in rural areas. These studies would have more representation of those having first hand experience of bribing the govt. officials for availing of legitimate services or 'Experienced Households' in the sample. It would also study the extent of impact of various tools of governance like citizens’ charters, e-Governance, RTI etc. in curbing corruption
Total estimate for the 2007 Study and its follow-up activities is Rs. 130 lakhs. We are now exploring the avenues to secure the required funds.
Origin of the Initiative: TI India was initiated on the invitation received by SOPS from Founder Mr Peter Eigen. To examine the credibility of the TI, Mr S D Sharma, a freedom fighter, a true Gandhian and a volunteer, was deputed. After his Study Report, TI India was set up in March 1997 under the Chairmanship of vertern journalist Mr Kuldip Nayyar. Thereafter, Admiral (Retd) R H Tahiliani became the Chairman. TI India was registered as a Society in 1998.
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up: Although there are people who would offer to work on voluntary basis but it is not easy to assess their motive. Since most of them are at fag end of their lives, having done well in their respective career with little or no liabilities left, money can not be said to be the the sole intention. They do want to serve the society but lack of adequate infrastructure dampens their spirit. More so when they were used to certain basic comforts because of having served in positions carrying lot of facilities. Therefore, absence of even bare minimum facilities like office space, supporting staff and equipment etc. does affect their performance. Lack of adequate financial backing is an other factor causing a negative effect. So is indifferent attitude of govt. functionaries, who are not very comfortable with our line of advocacy, that hampers our march towards the desired goal.
Main Financial Challenges: TI India’s current operating cost is about Rs 50,000/- per month. It is met by way of small donations. An investment from any institution willing to support the cause of movement against corruption without attaching any precondition or burdening the organisation with unavoidable compulsions would be welcomed. TI India is interested in credible donors, because it can’t compromise its policy of transparency, integrity and accountability.
As regards capital (Project) expenses, depends on the donors. But TI India is against the donor-driven projects. Main Partnership Challenges: The major challenges are the identification of transparent partners having credibility integrity.
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate? We recd the call from Ms Kalpana Kaul.
Contact Information:
Santosh Agarwal
Vice Chairman (Volunteer) Transparency International India (TI India) (NGO to Combat Corruption) Discussions about this entry |
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Consolidated Minutes - edited.doc |
Hello,
My name is Rich Gottbreht from Global Insights and I am one of the entrants in the competition. Our work centers on helping anyone concerned about corruption learn about the subject through my book, our board game and its associated seminars, as well as low cost consulting. To find out more about us please visit our website www.globalinsights.biz. From the home page, you can link to information about us, our products and what people say about our products and services. From the details in the initiative we submitted you should also note that some of the proceeds from our sales will eventually go to a high integrity leadership development foundation. Also, if you are interested, down the road we will be looking for alliances and contacts in every country.
Thanks,
Rich Gottbreht