• UGI USER
  • Sep 05, 2023
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Q. Crises, humanitarian or economic, often create the perfect storm for corruption to thrive. Discuss with examples. What measures can be taken to mitigate corruption during a crisis?

Approach:

  • Giving a brief introduction on corruption during crises situations.
  • Discuss how the humanitarian and economic crisis create a perfect storm for corruption to thrive.
  • Also, suggest steps to be taken to mitigate corruption during the crisis.

 Answer:

  • Corruption and emergencies feed off each other, creating a vicious cycle of mismanagement and deeper crisis. The large sums of money required to deal with emergencies, the urgency in disbursing aid or economic stimulus packages and the risk of undue influence over policy responses form a perfect storm for corruption.
  • In such situations, the opportunities for corruption to occur increases, while the mechanisms to prevent them weaken. This, in turn, undermines fair, efficient and equitable responses to crises. Such a situation has recently been highlighted by the ‘Transparency Internationale’ in its Corruption Perception Index 2020.

Crises, both humanitarian such as COVID-19 or economic such as subprime meltdown leading to Global Financial Crises have revealed massive financial frauds and misconducts in areas, including:

  • Procurement: During the time of crises, the ‘emergency procurements” often ignore open and transparent contracting principles. Thus, the officials may find an opportunity for preferential treatment and nepotism in awarding tenders for procurement.
  • Bribery and favoritism: There may be limited availability of resources and in order to gain easy access or better deals during a crisis, firms may give bribes to the officials involved. Also, those who have been given discretionary power to decide upon allocation of essential commodities and services may show favouritism.
  • Black market and profiteering: A supply shock or perception of shortage of goods in future, leads to hoarding and emergence of black market which is fuelled by an increase in counterfeit and illegal goods.
  • Aids, funds and charity payments: Huge economic stimulus packages are provided to resolve the crises. In the presence of weak governance and absence of morality, the officials and even civil society may indulge in siphoning off funds for personal gains.

Following measures should be taken to control corruption during crisis:

  • Holding power-holders to account: Opposition, media and oversight bodies should maintain necessary checks and balances and ensure that ‘due process’ is being followed.
  • Transparency: This must be ensured by the government. For example, regular publication of factually correct information related to government steps, online allocation of tenders, etc.
  • Use of technology: It can also play an important role in checking corruption e.g., mapping emergencies through GIS, getting real-time feedback from victims, distribution of resources through biometrics, cloud computing to manage open data, etc.
  • Imbibing a culture of service: There must be a culture of service and empathy for the victims, amongst agencies or individuals entrusted with the task of disbursing humanitarian relief or resolving a crisis.

When the money aimed at welfare is lost due to corruption, ordinary citizens suffer the most. Corruption also has an impact on recovery and growth in the aftermath of the crisis. When corruption flourishes, it prolongs humanitarian crises and raises the social, human and economic costs with severe long-term implications. Thus, it is urgent to take steps to counter corruption during such situations.