Guest Column | By Maj. Gen. Mrinal Suman (retd)
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Malady of Corruption
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Corruption in the defence sector can be combated through a self-assessment process
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By Maj. Gen. Mrinal Suman (retd)
According to 2011 Yearbook of the Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute (Sipri), corruption in the arms trade contributes roughly 40
per cent of all corruption in global transactions. It identifies two important
systemic features of the arms trade that encourage corruption — one, deep and
abiding link to matters of national security obscures many deals from oversight
and accountability, and two, the rubric of national security facilitates the
emergence of a |
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small coterie of brokers, dealers and officials with appropriate security clearances. It cites the South African arms contract of 1999, wherein a corruption-free deal would have saved up to 30 per cent expenditure.
Global Bribe Payer’s Index of Transparency International (TI) rates the arms and defence sector as one of the three most corrupt business sectors. TI has been leading a concerted campaign to reduce corruption in the defence sector, especially in defence procurements and offsets. As a result of its persistent efforts, India has included the provision of Integrity Pact for all procurements exceeding Rs 100 crores in its Defence Procurement Procedure. It is a binding agreement in which the procurement agency promises that it will not accept bribes during the procurement process and bidders promise that they will not offer bribes. It also includes an undertaking by each bidder to disclose all payments made in connection with the contract in question to anybody (including agents, middlemen and others).
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