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e-Governance didn't help poor - Transparency International

Computerisation of front-end government services, e-governance, citizen charters and social audits have made an impact in controlling corruption involving upper and middle classes but have not helped the poor - concludes a recent survey byTransparency International

This is one of the key findings of the India Corruption Study- 2007 brought out by the Transparency International India and the Centre for Media Studies.

Releasing the report at a function here, vice-president M. Hamid Ansari, with reference to this aspect, remarked: "Entitlement of BPL households to basic services provided by the government is meaningless without knowledge of and unhindered access to such services and universal awareness of grievance redressal mechanisms."

The 2007 edition of the report on corruption in India focused on corruption in government services targeted at BPL families and grouped states into four categories with regard to the level of corruption in each state based on the conclusions of the study.

The study covered 11 services - public distribution system, hospitals, school education, electricity and water supply under 'basic services' and NREG scheme, land records registration, forests, housing, banking and police under the 'need-based services'.

The top three ranks of highest corruption went to the police, land records registration and housing. While water supply services came fourth, the NREG scheme in the last year witnessed much corruption in its administration in rural areas and earned fifth position.

Similarly, among the four identified levels of overall corruption in states involving BPL households, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Nagaland are placed in the "alarmingly high" level. Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya and Sikkim are placed in the "very high" category. The study found "high" level of corruption involving BPL households in Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala and Orissa.

The study categorised states including AP, Harayana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Puducherry and Tripura as "moderate" in terms of corruption involving BPL households.