Crime and Corruption in India

Corruption is the central fact of Indian life today. After 50 years of independence and the free play of democratic forces, the cancer of corruption has creeped into every aspect of political and social life. Criminalization of politics has led to the mushrooming of criminal gangs who are financing and fighting elections along with politicians with a relatively clean track record. The stranglehold of the underworld over politicians has been so menacing that despite a democracy formally in existence, political rulers have abdicated their responsibility to criminal gangs. What do we understand by corruption, what are the factors that have led to the mushrooming of corruption and what are the likely consequences for the stability and future of the Indian state? As the runup to the General Elections begins, these are some of the fundamental questions raised in this book and with some tentative answers of what could be done within a democratic framework. Is there any hope to stop the juggernaut of corruption that is taking us down a oneway road to disaster? If so, what is the solution? Do we have the political will to do so when the politicians are so corrupt and have begun to behave like criminals? These, and other critical questions, have been examined against a background of the growing corruption of the Indian state in the past few decades.