Is corruption the biggest threat to India’s future?
Corruption, digital governance, and the weakening of transparency laws in India
- Digital governance does not automatically reduce bribery and can create new barriers for citizens without literacy or internet access.
- The Right to Information Act, 2005 remains one of India’s strongest transparency laws, but legal and administrative setbacks have weakened its effectiveness.
- Weak investigation, procedural delay, and poor enforcement reduce the deterrent effect of anti-corruption laws.
Corruption is presented in the interview as a structural governance problem rather than a single scandal. The discussion links corruption to alleged NEET exam leaks, the weak functioning of accountability institutions, and the claim that digital governance has not automatically reduced bribery or improved access for poor and marginalised citizens.
What the discussion argues
Anjali Bhardwaj argues that corruption exists from the highest to the lowest levels of governance. She says digitalisation is often projected as a cure-all, but field experience shows that online systems do not automatically eliminate bribery.
UPSC can frame corruption through the balance between transparency and privacy, the effectiveness of anti-corruption institutions, the limits of digital governance, and the need for time-bound grievance redressal and stronger institutional accountability.
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