Poll Analysis | A Global Pact To Contain Corporate Corruption
A handful of Indian corporate giants recently joined a coalition against corruption in the corporate sector. Companies such as Genpact, Infosys, Wipro, Godrej Industries and Bajaj Auto are a part of the global anti-corruption initiative headed by World Economic Forum (WEF). Other international companies that are party to this initiative are ABB, Siemens and Rio Tinto.
I Paid a Bribe conducted a poll asking its readers, “Do you think corporate backing of initiatives against corruption will speed up the decline of bribe-giving and taking culture?” 79% of the readers are positive about seeing a decline in corporate corruption whereas the remaining 21% of the readers are sceptical about witnessing any change or difference.
A report published in October 2011 stated that graft in the corporate sector had witnessed a decline during the financial year of 2010 to 2011. Owing the credit to the anti-corruption awareness raised by Anna Hazare’s fasts and protests, Kroll, a leading risk consulting company, suggested that citizens have become more receptive to rampant corruption in the country.
However, a report published by the Telegraph in the year 2012 suggests otherwise. Proliferating graft at the bureaucratic and political level has adversely affected the growth of the country’s corporate sector.
Satyam created waves when the chairman of the company was exposed in one of the biggest corporate scams the country had witnessed. B Ramalinga Raju pleaded guilty of being involved in a billion dollar scam in which he inflated his company’s profits by a billion US dollars.
Following these incidents, the government has been working on a new Companies Bill, 2011 that will help fill the loopholes that allowed the Satyam faux pas.