75% Indians do not believe corruption, bribery will reduce in two years: Survey

Close to 75% of Indians do not believe that corruption and bribery will not slide down from the current state in the next two years before the country celebrates 75 years of Independence, according to a survey.

The survey of around 62,000 responses from over 280 districts claimed only 26% of the respondents felt that they are witnessing the situation improving with the incidents of corruption decreasing.

However, the survey by Local Circles claimed, 44% felt that the situation would remain as it is while 28% were of the view that it would further "deteriorate".

"When compared to survey results from the last two years, it looks like a larger number of Indians have turned pessimistic about India’s ability to reduce bribery and corruption before it turns 75," it said.

In the 2018 survey, only 29% people felt that the situation would remain the same while it was 31% last year as against 44% this time.

The survey findings come against the backdrop of the Centre preparing a vision document for creating a new corruption and poverty-free India by December 2022. India has slipped two spots and stood at the 80th position in ‘Corruption Perception Index 2019’ by the Transparency International.

"This portrays a worrisome situation in the country which needs immediate attention," the survey report said.

However, people are still optimistic about the growing clout of India in the world with 69% believing that they see an improvement in the next two years while 11% said they see it declining and 16% feeling that it will stay the same as it is currently.

Here too, the positive response has declined "a bit" compared to 79% each believing a rise in India's influence in 2018 and 2019.

With Covid-19 battering the economy, the survey asked whether they foresee a recovery from the impact of Covid-19 by 2022. Only 37% said they feel the economy would recover completely and surpass the pre-Covid-19 GDP level, while 17% said the economy will recover completely but will not surpass it.

The survey said 27% felt the economy will recover significantly but not completely and 16% said the recovery will be limited while 2% said the economy will not recover at all.

"This means that 54% citizens foresee India recovering completely from Covid-19 economic impact in the next two years. Among other indicators, GST collection in July 2020 were lower than those in May 2020, indicating that the economy could take longer than expected to come back to pre-pandemic levels. With multiple rounds of economic measures announced, the Government is however optimistic that the country’s economy would make a full recovery sooner as they continue to announce various new policies and fiscal
support," it said.

To the question on social stability, the survey said 26% said it will improve, 43% felt it will stay the same and 28% believes it will deteriorate.

The survey results showed a sharp dip in the proportion of people believing an improvement in social stability when compared with the 2018 and 2019 figures. The percentage of people who said social stability in the country would improve, stood at 43% and 42% in 2018 and 2019, respectively.