Corruption
Corruption permeates all levels of Indian society. Bloated bureaucracies, constant payouts, and siphoned resources prevent many services from running properly—or running at all. Despite this, many work to ease the burden of corruption within the structures in place. The diffusion of the internet has enabled people to share information and join others in the fight against the normalization of corruption. India’s Right to Information Act, enacted in 2005, allows citizens timely access to government information and financial records. This has furnished citizens with a new capacity to speak out against institutional corruption. In this section, IndiaUnheard Community Correspondents report on corruption.
Corrupt Village Head demands bribes to release sanitation incentives
It has been a long wait for the residents of Ahimchak village of Katihar district in Bihar who had been looking forward to their incentives to start building their toilets. The Indian Government used to provide an incentive of Rs 10,000 (currently raised to 15,000), in installments, for each toilet...
Impact: Camera Unites Community to Fight Corruption
Khullaspur Village, Ambedkar nagar District, Uttar Pradesh | Gayatri 50 families in the community were being cheated by the local ration dealer in charge of the village public distribution shop. While some got rations lesser than the monthly quota, others got no ration at all. Through her video, Community correspondent...
Bihar’s MNREGA practises gender pay gap
While gender pay gap is blatantly present across the world, India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) was one scheme meant to ensure that all its participants are paid equally. The scheme also aims to bring women into the labour force, 1/3rd of the jobs are reserved for women. However,...
Corruption in Health center: Midwives made to pay INR 7000
Cases, where the common man has to pay bribes to get work done, is not uncommon in India. Here Community Correspondent Anul Guria documents testimonies of corruption that occurred at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Chainpur Block of Palamau district, Jharkhand. PHC’s are state-owned rural health care facilities in...
Impact: Procuring the Right to Food
Community Correspondent Arti Bai Valmiki’s report got the administration to improve the quality of Midday Meals for 237 students in the primary school of Batiagarh District of Madhya Pradesh. “We don’t get rotis to eat at home, so we come to school in hope of food,” a student of the...
Safe Motherhood scheme not safegaurding the rights of pregnant women in Uttar Pradesh
Pregnant women pay bribes to avail free maternal health service in Uttar Pradesh The staff of a Community Health Centre of Mirjapur village in Uttar Pradesh, have been demanding cash from pregnant women before providing service of any kind. As a result, they are forced to buy medicine from outside...
Failure of Total Sanitation Campaign in Bihar
As per Water Aid’s latest survey report, Bihar needs to build 6,900 toilets a day to keep promise of total sanitation. VV-PACS Community Correspondent Navita Devi from Katihar district, Bihar reports on the failure of the scheme in Gandhigram village. Toilets have been built but the villagers haven’t received any...