Shivani Bothra
Many respondents had expressed their frustration and stated that corruption is prevalent at all levels of social, economic and political life. For example, one has to bribe the officers to get a passport or ration card, to get a loan approved, to reduce taxes, and in almost any official interaction from hospitals to school admissions to permits for driving. However, I came across a few people, both Anuvrati and non-Anuvrati, who persevered through several obstacles and were delayed in getting their work done, but never paid bribes. Nevertheless, such examples were rare. The bribery question asked: "How many times have you offered a bribe in the past five years?" The subsequent question asked the reasons for offering bribes.
The first set of data, presented below, was significant in the same way as the dowry data. While the overall numbers of Anuvratis who had given bribes were slightly lower than the number of non-Anuvratis, the interesting point was that despite having taken vows not to participate in bribery, still 34% of the respondents said they had participated. I will note also that because a large number of my participants were women, who have far fewer opportunities to engage in bribery, the overall percentage of Anuvrati men who engage in the behavior may be even higher. This again reflects the strength of the social pressures in India to conform to such a practice.
Table 5. "Have You Accepted or Offered Bribery in the Past Five Years?"
None
2-5 Times
6-10 Times
11-20 Times
Regularly
Total
Anuvrati
70
17
7
1
11
106
66%
16%
6.6%
0.9%
10.4%
100%
Non-Anuvrati
36
12
6
2
8
64
56.2%
18.8%
9.4%
3.1%
12.5%
100%
Total
106
29
13
3
19
170
62.4%
17.1%
7.6%
1.8%
11.2%
100%
The second set of data, presented below, demonstrates a clear trend in that the higher the socio-economic status, the higher is the rate of engaging in bribery.
Table 6. Household Income and Bribery in Five Years
Household Income
None
2-5 Times
6-10 Times
11-20 Times
Regularly
Total
20,000 or Less
34
77.3%3
6.8%4
9.1%0
0%3
6.8%44 100%
20,00135,000
16
661.5%6
23.1%0
0%0
0%4
15.4%26 100%
35,00150,000
15
68.2%3
13.6%2
9.1%1
4.5%1
4.5%22 100%
50,00175,000
7
58.3%2
16.7%1
8.3%0
0%2
16.7%12 100%
75,000+
14
46.7%8
26.7%4
13.7%1
3.3%3
10%30 100%
Rather Not
Say21
55.3%9
23.7%2
5.3%1
2.6%5
13.2%38 100%
Total
107
62.2%31
18%13
7.6%3
1.7%18
10.5%172 100%
