Corruption in Public Works - Addressing it

6 people were killed and 40 injured as a foot over bridge collapsed in Mumbai few days ago. Such accidents keep happening frequently across India are very typical of how public works are poorly executed and more so not checked upon and maintained in India. Local body officials are unconcerned about public safety. Some of you have called out corruption being the root cause of such accidents. Below are the key issues, root causes and solutions for Corruption in Public Works that were identified in 2018. Kindly review and share any additional specific inputs you may have. We will be compiling this soon and making it available to State Government stakeholders for review and actions.

Corruption in Public Works - Solutions

1. The tendering system in public works department should be completely computerized
2. Very strict rules should be enacted to deter employees from indulging into bribery
3. Construction quality should be high on the priority list while allotting contracts
4. People should also refrain from paying bribes
5. The quality assurance team should pay special attention to the concrete/tar mix used in building roads/bridges
6. Contractors should be fined if they are not able to complete the project in the promised time frame
7. Companies once blacklisted should never be given a contract again
8. Along with the company, their promoters should also be blacklisted
9. Public should be encouraged to report cases of corruption in public works department through something like a circle where others can see and comment
10. Every city should have a public works circle which is an accountable community space between PWD and citizens
11. While awarding a contract, a condition should be added that the contractor will be liable to be penalized in any faulty in his work appears in a certain number of years.

Corruption in Public Works – Root Causes

1. Public works employees are used to easy work and easy money
2. Many tenders are still awarded manually leading to corruption
3. Politicians use their influence to get tenders awarded to their known
4. Contractors pay huge bribes and hence make up the money by compromising on the construction quality
5. People who get contracts outsource the actual work to 3rd parties and take commissions
6. Engineers think that it is their right to take bribes
7. No big contacts are awarded without political patronage
8. Corruption has been institutionalised in the public works department
9. People are okay with bribing as they want their work to be done quickly.

Corruption in Public Works - Issues

1. All employees get their salary and other benefits but work only when they are paid extra i.e. bribes
2. Public works tenders are given after accepting bribes
3. Roads are laid without the right amount of tar in it
4. Bribes are given to the department right from the time of giving advertisement till the completion of projects
5. Bad quality material is used to complete projects
6. Engineers are bribed to pass the low grade material for use
7. Bribes are given to get the timeline of project completion extended
8. Politicians use their influence/bribes to get contracts allotted
9. Contractor builds cost of bribery into contract pricing ultimately leading to increased cost to the Government and Tax Payer.
10. Blacklisted companies are repeatedly used because of the contractor-political-bureaucrat nexus with kickbacks at its core. more