Abstract

Corruption in India is a pervasive predicament in the health sector, with depressing effects on health status and social welfare. The blight of corruption at the service delivery point is universally present. This not only puts a financial strain on the poor patients, who are the principal users of the public health system, but is also a major factor for the poor performance indicators (e.g., low immunization coverage, high malnutrition rates etc). The question remains: should corruption be measured by bribes alone, or should it also include the costly efforts made by citizens to influence the design or application of laws in their own self-interest? This might include contributions by interest groups to politicians, or costs incurred by citizens to evade laws. (1) Shouldn’t corruption also include forms of political corruption, where some special groups use unusual forms of influence over policy makers to receive preferential treatments? Much information possessed by citizens helpful in evaluating government officials is not verifiable, thus cannot be used to control the behavior of officials via contractual means.(2) Local democratic means then become the best way for citizens to evaluate the performance of officials. It is clear that problems exist at the policy or macro level as well as the service or micro level. Both must be explored and researched if a full understanding of the problem is to be realized. Transparency International- India, commissioned the ‘India Corruption study ’ that revealed that,