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