In the integrity index of Transparency International, India stands very low. Discuss briefly the legal, political, economic, social and cultural factors that have caused the decline of public morality in India.

India scored 38, ranking 96 out of 180 countries, in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2024 — persistent evidence that public morality, the shared norm of honesty in public life, remains under strain.

Factors behind the decline

• Legal: weak and delayed enforcement — low conviction rates, corruption trials stretching over years, a Lokpal operational only since 2019, and prior-sanction requirements under the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018 that can shield wrongdoing, while whistle-blower protection remains weakly enforced.
• Political: criminalisation of politics — ADR reported that 46% of Lok Sabha MPs elected in 2024 declared criminal cases; opaque election funding, with the electoral bonds scheme struck down by the Supreme Court in 2024; patronage-based appointments and transfers.
• Economic: discretionary state control over land, minerals and contracts; a large informal cash economy; black money and crony intermediation that raise the returns to corruption.
• Social: corruption normalised as 'the system'; social status measured by wealth rather than the means of acquiring it; weakening community sanction against the corrupt.
• Cultural: the gift-giving tradition shading into bribery; erosion of value-based education; celebration of shortcuts and jugaad over rule-abiding conduct.

Reversing the decline needs the whole integrity chain to work together: time-bound trials and empowered Lokpal and Lokayuktas, transparent political finance, reduced discretion through DBT, GeM and faceless assessments, citizen vigilance through RTI and social audit, and ethics education that restores the dignity of honest public service.