Corruption in Nagaland.

Corruption in Nagaland: Causes & consequences

Nagaland boasts a rich cultural heritage and breathtaking landscape. However, beneath the surface beauty lies the pressing concern that has plagued the State for decades. Like any part of the world, the practice of Corruption is widespread in Nagaland. It is like a Cancer in public life, which has not become too rampant and perpetuated overnight, but in course of time. Corruption has been defined in many different ways, but the most popular and the simplest definition of corruption is given by the World Bank. According to this definition, corruption is “the abuse of public office for private gain”.
Corruption is omnipotent and has progressively become rampant in Naga society. As the State grows, the corrupt also grow to invent new methods of cheating the public. The followings are some of the major causes of corruption:

1. Corruption at the high level are usually the politicians, because these people are generally well-off and a lot more privileges associated with their high office as compared to others. So, their corrupt behaviour is not attributed to meet the needs of their families, but rather to quench their thirst of greed and self-interest.
2. Insufficient checks and balance of public servant, law enforcement bodies, and lack of transparency in public offices creates opportunities for public officials to engage in malpractices.
3. In a high inflation economy and an insufficient salaries for government servants, corrupt practices are driven by necessity to meet the expenses of their families.
4. The negligence and remiss behaviour of government servants is another factor, which often compels the public to bribe/pay a certain amount to get their work done.
5. With the rising number of educated unemployed youth each year and the lack of job opportunities, the level of competition to get a government job rises to a whole new dimension. And as such, biased selection of employees for jobs through illegal means like bribery, favouritism and nepotism is involved.
6. Corruption has increased unceasingly, and the old ideals of honesty, service, morality and ethical values and qualities are regarded obsolete.
7. Election is perhaps the biggest cause of corruption. funding of election campaigns, Bribery to politicians buys influences and bribery by politicians to buys votes is perhaps the root causes of corruption.
8. And finally, the tolerance of people towards corruption, complete lack of public outcry against corruption and the absence of strong public forum to fight against corruption allow corruption to continue as it is.
   Consequences of Corruption:
   Corruption in Nagaland, like any other State of India, is as much a moral and ethical issues. It can slant the entire mechanism of allocation of resources meant for development, investment projects, commercial transactions, economy, political and election system, etc. Funds meant for the public like healthcare, infrastructure, education often ends up in the pockets of the corrupt leaders which in turn, results in poor quality of service and infrastructure. It thus, contributes to a large fiscal deficit for the State, making it more difficult for the State government to have an efficient fiscal policy.
   Corruption also play a huge role in income inequality. The rich become richer and the poor poorer. The modus operandi of those in well positioned individuals is simple. They exploit and take advantage of their office for personal gain, at the cost of the common public in the society.
   Despite active participation by the Election Commission, Church bodies and different Organizations in ‘Clean Election Movement’, the illegal and unethical practices such as proxy voting and voting in return for bribes is again, another huge impact of corruption.
   With the increase in political and bureaucratic non-accountability, sometimes even the individuals tends to take part in corrupt and unethical practices and transactions. And that frustration often leads to let individuals think that “If everybody is doing it, I might as well do it”.
   We often see many new emerging leaders with their determination to eradicate corruption, but sooner or later, they themselves become amassing huge wealth through malpractices. They become materialistic and money-oriented.