Corruption Perception Index 2020

• 16 Feb 2021

Why in News

India’s rank has slipped six places to 86^th among 180 countries in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released by Transparency International.

• India was ranked 80^th out of 180 countries in 2019.

Transparency International

• Transparency International is an international non -governmental organisation founded in 1993 based in Berlin, Germany
• its non profit purpose is to take action to combat global Corruption with civil societal anti-corruption measures and to prevent criminal activities arising from corruption.
• Its most notable publications include the Global Corruption Barometer and the Corruption Perception Index.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • The index ranks 180 countries and territories by the perceived level of public sector corruption according to experts and business people.
  • It uses a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
  • CPI 2020 paints a grim picture of the state of corruption worldwide. While most countries have made little to no progress in tackling corruption in nearly a decade, more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of just 43.
  • Moreover, corruption not only undermines the global health response to Cover-19 but contributes to a continuing crisis of democracy.
• Top Performers:
  
  • The top countries on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) are Denmark and New Zealand, with scores of 88, followed by Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland, with scores of 85 each.
• Poor Performers:
  
  • South Sudan and Somalia are the bottom Countries with scores of 12 each, followed by Syria (14), Yemen (15) and Venezuela (15).
• Regional Specific:
  
  • The highest scoring region is Western Europe and the European Union with an average score of 66.
  • The lowest scoring regions are Sub-Saharan Africa (32) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (36).
• India Specific:
  
  • In 2020, India's score is 40 (41 in 2019).
  • India experienced slow progress in anti-corruption efforts, with several government commitments to reform not yet materialising effectively.
• Corruption, Health & Covid-19:
  
  • Corruption shifts public spending away from essential public services. Countries with higher levels of corruption,regardless of economic development, tend to spend less on health.
    
    • Higher levels of corruption are associated with lower universal health care coverage and higher rates of infant and maternal mortality and deaths from cancer, diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
  • Corruption is one of the key barriers to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the covid-19 pandemic is making those goals even more difficult to attain.
  • Covid-19 is not just a health and economic crisis, but a corruption crisis as well, with countless lives lost due to the insidious effects of corruption undermining a fair and equitable global response.
  • The Covid-19 response exposed vulnerabilities of weak oversight and inadequate transparency. Countries with higher levels of corruption tend to be the worst perpetrators of democratic and rule-of-law breaches while managing the COVID-19 crisis.
    
    • Governments exploiting the pandemic to suspend parliaments, renounce public accountability mechanisms, and incite violence against dissidents.
• Recommendations:
  
  • Strengthen oversight institutions  to ensure resources reach those most in need. Anti-corruption authorities and oversight institutions must  have sufficient funds, resources  and  independence  to perform their duties
  • Ensure open and transparent contracting to combat  wrong doing, identify conflicts of interest and ensure  fair pricing.
  • Defend Democracy, Promote Civic Space by enabling civil society groups and the media to hold governments accountable.
  • Publish relevant data and guarantee access  to information to ensure the public receives easy, accessible, timely and meaningful information.

Source-IE