India ranked 79 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index

Transparency International on 25 January 2017 released the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2016. The Index measured the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 176 countries and territories across the world.

While Denmark was adjudged as the most corruption-free country among the surveyed countries, Somalia in Sub Saharan African Region was placed at the bottom of the CPI.

The CPI 2016 declared India as the 79th cleanest country among the 176 countries surveyed.

Compared to the CPI 2015, which was released by the Transparency International (TI) on 27 January 2016, India bettered its position by 3 ranks. The CPI 2015 placed India at the 76th position.

Some of the measures initiated by the Union Government to curb corruption in public life are –

• The Government decided to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1 July 2017 onwards. It is considered as the biggest taxation reform in independent India.

• The GST is expected to break the unholy nexus between the corrupt bureaucrats and businessmen.

Positive impacts of demonetisation we must know

• In November 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced demonetization all  Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes.

• A series of measures were announced by the Union Ministry of Finance and the RBI to encourage digital financial transactions and to track money laundering activities.

About Corruption Perceptions Index

• It is prepared by the Transparency International (TI), a global coalition against corruption. The TI is based in Berlin, Germany.

• The CPI 2016 is the 22st edition of the annual index. The CPI is based opinions of experts on public sector corruption.

• The CPI ranks countries on the basis of the corruption perception score, which is measured on the scale of 0 – 100.

• A score of 0 means highly corrupt country, while a score of 100 means very clean country.