NEW DELHI: Bihar has been rated as the most corrupt State, according to a study by Transparency International India and the Centre for Media Studies. Delhi, the capital, is ranked the 10th most corrupt State.

The least corrupt State, according to the study, is Kerala where all the 11 public services considered for the study were ranked as the least corrupt. This has been attributed to extensive "decentralisation" and the "more aware" citizen.

Next on the list after Bihar is Jammu and Kashmir, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan.

But corruption has plagued the entire country as the total monetary value of petty corruption is estimated at a whopping Rs. 21,088 crores.

The study, `Indian Corruption Study 2005 to Improve Governance,' released on Thursday, covered 11 services — Police (Crime and Traffic), Subordinate Judiciary, Land Administration, Municipal Services, Government Hospitals, Electricity (Consumers), Public Distribution System (Ration Card/Supplies), Income Tax (Individual Assesses), Water Supply, Education (up to Class XII) and Rural Financial Institutions (Farm Micro-Credit).

It claims to be the "largest corruption survey" ever undertaken in the country and the sample size includes 14,405 respondents, spread across 20 States, 151 cities and 306 villages. The study used both the perception and the actual experience of paying bribes.

Police high on index

The police rank the highest on the corruption index. This is followed by the judiciary (lower courts) and land administration. However, in monetary terms, schools are ranked as the highest.

"This is because more people access the facility of schools compared to other services. Citizens approach the police only when it is needed. But schools are an essential service and so more people are dependent on it," said Naveen Surapaneni from CMS.

The study observes that replacing public services with private monopolies is not necessarily the answer. "We have noticed that States where private monopolies have replaced public government monopolies have fared only marginally better in our study. So this is definitely not the solution," said Mr. Surapaneni.

"With the release of the report, the aim is to spread awareness among citizens in order to ensure a decline in the rate of corruption. Citizens should know about the Right to Information Act and the Citizen's Charters. We are going to conduct workshops in Delhi and other States," said R.H. Tahiliani of Transparency International India.

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