Showcasing an awful precedent that Tamil Nadu is becoming a 'Bribe' Nadu, a survey has shockingly revealed that bribe is pervasive through thick and thin across the state and dreadfully becoming a criterion to avail the government services. The results of the survey had highly alarmed the government mechanism to take measures towards curbing such appalling practice. The survey, which was done online, had shown that nearly 93 per cent of the participants had said that they were forced to pay the bribe either directly or indirectly to avail the government services. 

The survey was conducted by the Chennai based corruption watchdog Arappor Iyakkam and it was conducted for a week and reached out to more than 2,000 people and covered various issues concerning access to government services. The survey was made public on Wednesday and while 93 per cent of the people who were surveyed said they were victims of the forced bribe, 48 per cent said bribery was the biggest problem they had faced when accessing such services. 28.7 per cent had said that long delay caused by the government officials is their problem. 

The survey has further shown that more than 81 per cent of participants said that they were dissatisfied with the service provided of late and 77.6 per cent had blamed the poor service of the officials, their intent of seeking bribes, and no option to act against the officer. Nearly 83 per cent had said they preferred to file complaints against the delays caused and rejection of services with an autonomous body, instead of moving those complaints to the higher officials of the concerned department. 

On the front of the departments that take more bribes, the survey has revealed that Revenue and registration offices had topped among departments where the participants were forced to pay a bribe. Police Stations and Regional Transport Officers follow Revenue and registration offices where the findings had revealed that nothing moves in these offices without bribes. Jayaram Venkatesan of Arappor Iyakkam has said that 22 per cent of participants were from Chennai. 

While addressing in a press meet in Chennai on Wednesday, Jayaram Venkatesan has said that the implementation of 'Right to Service' would make sure that services are provided transparently within a stipulated time and government officials in the respective services must be held accountable. By highlighting that the act of bribery results in inappropriate delay, Venkatesan has said that the officials should clearly mention the reason for rejecting an application and the state government must install an independent body - Tamil Nadu Right to Service Commission, akin to the Tamil Nadu Information Commission, to overview and act on the appeals on the rejection of services. 

He said that the Chief Minister, Opposition Leader, and Chief Justice of the Madras High Court should be part of the panel to appoint the Chief Commissioner for the Tamil Nadu Right to Service Commission. Arappor Iyakkam has also released the 'Tamil Nadu Right to Service Model Draft Bill, 2021' and urged the state government to initiate the measures on implementing the Right to Service. According to reports, as per the model draft bill of Arappor Iyakkam, an applicant can go for filing an appeal against the rejection of service or refusal to receive the application or denying to provide acknowledgement receipt by the government offices. 

The appeal should be allowed to be filled to the first appellate authority within thirty days and the appellant can track the status of the first appeal through the same portal using the same unique acknowledgement receipt number. The model draft bill says that an appeal should be disposed of by the first appellate authority within 15 days of its receipt and the first appellate authority must be directed to provide written communication of the order to the applicant and designated officer through an online portal and post. Following the order from the first appellate authority, the designated officer must provide the service within five working days of receipt of the order. 

Giving and receiving Bribe is an offence - If you want to complain about bribery in Tamil Nadu, you can reach out to the following numbers,

044 -22310989, 044- 22321090, 044- 22321085, 044- 22342142 

Website: https://www.dvac.tn.gov.in/