Dear Members of Canadiandesi
I had a little concern about the corruption that is taking place at the immigration clearance while we immigrants come to this new country.
I have noticed that the no. of incidences of asking for money to leave the country has increased a lot and was wondering what we all here can do to prevent such things in near future.
I would just like to quote an example that one of my friends was asked for police clearance certificate in the passport. Whereas he had the police clearance cetificate on one piece of paper provided by the local police stations. He had to pay a bribe of 1000 Rs for getting through the immigration clearance.
If you have any suggestions please let me know as if how can we try to reduce this kind of things happening in near future ?

this should be an interesting topic. Actually corruption was one of the main reasons I left India. Not that it does not happen here. However, it is less prevalent here than back home. I personally think that the only way out of this is to start at the individual level. People should be willing to say no to paying bribes...be it for something as trivial as a faster telephone hook up or jumping the queue in the passport office.

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Bringing corruption under control (you can never end it) will be a mammoth task, but has to be started somewhere. I think with all the economic development and progress India has seen lately, the time is now ripe for concerned citizens to organize a grassroots movement to fight corruption.

I agree totally that it will have to start at an individual level and will involve a fundamental change in people's thinking. Right now, paying small bribes is almost the norm, and most people see nothing wrong with this. Both the bribe givers and bribe takers will have to understand that whether you're paying 100 bucks or a crore, a crime is still being committed.

Having said that, it is impossible to fight corruption in India at an individual level alone, people will usually end up frustrated and give up. The right approach would be for people to organize into powerful groups that are able to raise a furor when an individual takes a stand against corruption. It will take big sacrifices from some very brave individuals to make this happen.

And don't expect the govt. or the police to help you. Although there are some very honest officers, they're an exception to the rule. Most others feed off the same system they're supposed to fight.

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