PUNE: A survey conducted of states by Transparency International of Berlin and Center for Media Studies, New Delhi, rated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Narendra Modi-ruled state of Gujarat, and the Vilasrao Deshmukh-led Congress government in Maharashtra as the ‘highly’ and ‘moderately corrupt’ states.
On the same lines are listed the states of West Bengal, Haryana and Punjab, the study has revealed. The Indian arm of Transparency International, the Center for Media Studies, New Delhi, had conducted survey of 20 states. The states had been divided into four categories — alarmingly corrupt, very highly corrupt, highly corrupt and moderately corrupt.
The survey, however, completely ignored northeast regions. It randomly selected a sample of 22,728 below poverty line households nationwide and they were studied to find out which were the most unhappy and “extorted lot” and in which state.
Along with Gujarat in the highly corrupt category are Delhi, Chattisgarh, Orissa, Kerala and Jharkhand. States like Maharashtra, West Bengal and Haryana have been placed in the “moderately corrupt” category. Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand also make it to the “moderately corrupt” list.
About Maharashtra, which is reeling under power cuts, the survey noted: “Mumbai pays huge taxes to the federal government. The state had a powerful mix of big industrial units, well-developed agricultural base, a flourishing services sector, a fairly free market economy, and a booming financial banking and insurance sector.”
Despite the ugly controversy over Tata Motors’ Singur plant, West Bengal has got a very favorable mention in the survey. “Being economically backward, the state has become a hotbed for corruption. Yet, the menace is not as debilitating, here as in some other — and richer — Indian states,” says the survey.
The survey took note of the fact that the Left-ruled state is trying hard to break through the shackles of anti-liberalization and aggressive workers’ unions. West Bengal is also going all out to attract investment in the industries and services sectors, the survey said.
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir make it to the worst category of “alarmingly corrupt,” while Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka find themselves the “very highly corrupt” category.
