Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Want to see your newborn? PAY UP!
The thought of being bribed by people with just a tad more status than you, for every aspect of life , is a scary thought. Imagine being charged by your doctors aid/ nurse a personal fee of a couple of bucks to see the child that you just gave birth to. It does not seem as much of a big deal to the American ear, it is very similar to a co- payment after a doctors visit, but to the person from Bangalore, India a couple of bucks is the average monthly salary.
"The bribes vary from place to place and in the services affected, but stretch from cradle to grave, according to surveys and anticorruption investigators. People pay to give birth, and to collect their loved ones' bodies from mortuaries, and for everything in between: garbage collection, clean water, medicines, admission to public schools. Even policemen double as shakedown artists."
It did not surprise me that much that there was corruption in Bangalore; there is corruption in the United States, it is not a unfamiliar concept. What i found more surprising, was that in a country of so much technological advance, citizens are still making on average ten dollars a month. As stereotypical as my thought was about corruption in this third world country, i assumed from the knowledge of Bangalore as a country with a "booming high-technology industry" that at least the minimum wage ( if there is such a thing ) would be raised to at least an amount to survive these illegal bribes.
"Here in Bangalore, a city of 6.5 million known for its booming high-technology industry, pleasant climate and good private schools, local health managers commonly pay bribes to senior bureaucrats or elected officials to get good jobs, say investigators, civic leaders and senior civil servants. The health professionals then exact payments from subordinates and patients, emulating their bosses."
The most touching aspect of all of this , of course is the bribery that goes on in the hospitals; which is even ignored by important officials. And the fact that the poorest people get it the worse is even more horrible a thought.
"Shobha Rani, the doctor in charge, emphatically disputed such accounts in an interview earlier this year. "I've not come across even one patient who's come here and said I've been charged for anything," she said. "So many times, I've spoken to patients without the knowledge of my staff. I say: 'Tell me the truth. What did you face?' They always give me a good report." "
"The bribes vary from place to place and in the services affected, but stretch from cradle to grave, according to surveys and anticorruption investigators. People pay to give birth, and to collect their loved ones' bodies from mortuaries, and for everything in between: garbage collection, clean water, medicines, admission to public schools. Even policemen double as shakedown artists."
It did not surprise me that much that there was corruption in Bangalore; there is corruption in the United States, it is not a unfamiliar concept. What i found more surprising, was that in a country of so much technological advance, citizens are still making on average ten dollars a month. As stereotypical as my thought was about corruption in this third world country, i assumed from the knowledge of Bangalore as a country with a "booming high-technology industry" that at least the minimum wage ( if there is such a thing ) would be raised to at least an amount to survive these illegal bribes.
"Here in Bangalore, a city of 6.5 million known for its booming high-technology industry, pleasant climate and good private schools, local health managers commonly pay bribes to senior bureaucrats or elected officials to get good jobs, say investigators, civic leaders and senior civil servants. The health professionals then exact payments from subordinates and patients, emulating their bosses."
The most touching aspect of all of this , of course is the bribery that goes on in the hospitals; which is even ignored by important officials. And the fact that the poorest people get it the worse is even more horrible a thought.
"Shobha Rani, the doctor in charge, emphatically disputed such accounts in an interview earlier this year. "I've not come across even one patient who's come here and said I've been charged for anything," she said. "So many times, I've spoken to patients without the knowledge of my staff. I say: 'Tell me the truth. What did you face?' They always give me a good report." "
