Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021

In News

• Transparency International has ranked India at 85 among 180 countries in its Corruption Perception Index report released recently.

Key Findings

• World: 
  • Overall, two-thirds of the 168 countries on the 2015 index scored below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).
  • Denmark took the top spot for the 2nd year running.
  • North Korea and Somalia turned out to be the worst performers, scoring just 8 points each.
  • Among those with weak scores are some of the world’s most populous countries such as:
    • China (45) and 
    • India (40), and 
    • Indonesia (38), 
    • Pakistan (28) and 
    • Bangladesh (26)
  • In the Asia Pacific area, the common rating stays 45 for the third 12 months in a row. Over 70% of the area’s nations rank beneath 50. 
  • Pandemic: 
    • The pandemic, supplied an excuse for Bangladesh, Pakistan and Singapore governments to “tighten control and weaken accountability.
• India:
  • In 2021, India ranked 86th with the same CPI score of 40. This year, it has improved one position, 85th.
  • Issues:
    • Stagnant score:
      • While the country’s score has remained stagnant over the past decade, some of the mechanisms that could help reign in corruption are weakening. 
    • Democracy:
      • There are concerns over the country’s democratic status, as fundamental freedoms and institutional checks and balances decay
    • Risk to journalists:
      • The report highlighted concerns over the risk to journalists and activists who have been victims of attacks by the police, political militants, criminal gangs and corrupt local officials.
    • Right to Speak:
      • Civil society organisations that speak up against the government have been targeted with security, defamation, sedition, hate speech and contempt-of-court charges, and with regulations on foreign funding

Image Courtesy: TI

Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

• It is prepared by Transparency International.
• The index covered perceptions of public sector corruption in 168 countries.
• It ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, using a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
• It is a composite index that draws from 12 surveys to rank nations around the globe.

Image Courtesy: TI 

Transparency International

• About: 
  • Transparency International is a global movement working in over 100 countries to end the injustice of corruption.
  • It is an international non -governmental organisation founded in 1993 based in Berlin, Germany
• Focus:
  • The focus is on issues with the greatest impact on people’s lives and hold the powerful to account for the common good. 
• Way of working:
  • Through advocacy, campaigning and research, work is done to expose the systems and networks that enable corruption to thrive, demanding greater transparency and integrity in all areas of public life.
• Mission:
  • To stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society.
• Definition of Corruption:
  • Corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.
  • Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis.
  • Exposing corruption and holding the corrupt to account can only happen if we understand the way corruption works and the systems that enable it.

Sources: ET + IE