Maldives is the least plagued by bribery in South Asia: TI

Bangladesh is most plagued by bribery in South Asia, Transparency International says. 

TI, an anti-corruption watchdog, said on Friday that 66 per cent of their Bangladeshi survey takers reported paying bribes to public institutions, mostly just to gain access to services that people should already be entitled to. 

Across South Asia, more than one in three people who deal with public services had told TI they pay bribes. 

The report, Daily Lives and Corruption, Public Opinion in South Asia, surveyed 7500 people between 2010 and 2011 in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 

TI said South Asians had told them they pay bribes regularly when dealing with their public institutions, be it to speed up paperwork, avoid problems with authorities such as police, or simply access basic services. 

In previous surveys of this nature, only Sub-Saharan Africa had a higher rate of bribe-paying, TI officials said after releasing the report. 

South Asian nations lie in the top half of Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, in which they all score less than 3.5 out of 10. 

Political parties and the police are perceived to be the most corrupt institutions in all six countries, according to the survey, followed closely the parliament and public officials. 

The survey says India and Pakistan follow Bangladesh in bribery. Fifty-four percent of the Indian survey takers said they had to pay bribes for accessing any one of the basic services. The percentage is 50 in Pakistan. 

The Maldives is the least plagued by bribery in the region with only six percent of the people surveyed there reporting payment of bribes. The percentage is 32 in Nepal and 23 in Sri Lanka.

The report says none of the six South Asian countries surveyed is in the first section of the TI corruption perception index. In the world, only the Sub-Saharan countries are more corrupt than South Asian countries. 

Police are perceived to be the most corrupt institution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In India and Nepal, the most corrupt institutions are political parties and in the Maldives, it is parliament.

Seventy-five percent of the Bangladesh survey takers reported that they paid bribes to the police last year. The percentage is 64 in India, 63 in Pakistan, 32 in Sri Lanka, 24 percent in Nepal and 2 percent in the Maldives. 

In Bangladesh and Pakistan, the second top bribe takers are public servants. 

Among the service sectors in Bangladesh, judiciary is in the second position to handle bribes. Sixty-four percent of the people surveyed reported payment of bribes while accessing services in judiciary. 

Judiciary is followed by registration and renewal (registry and permit service) where 49 percent of the survey takers paid bribes. 

Forty-eight percent of the Bangladeshis surveyed reported paying bribes to access services at land administration. The percentage is 40 in tax and revenue, 36 in water and power, 18 percent in health, 15 percent in education and 12 percent in customs services.

People in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka said they believe political leaders could play the most effective role in combating corruption. Indians and Nepalese said the mass media is the main tool to fight the menace while Pakistanis believe none is effective for it.