Forbes ranks India as most corrupt country; Pakistan ranks fourth

New Delhi: In a tight slap on the face of Indian government (if true), the Transparency International (TI) has ranked India as the most corrupt country in Asia.

It is worth mentioning that TI is an anti-corruption global civil society organisation. TI made the shocking allegation on the basis of a recent survey.

Showing how corruption is a big threat is in Asia, a list released by Forbes - Asia's Five Most Corrupt Countries – claims that India ranks first when it comes to bribery rate followed by Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and Myanmar.

The Forbes article, which has rated India as the highest in the list with 69 per cent bribery rate, says about India, "In five of the six public services - schools, hospitals, ID documents, police, and utility services - more than half the respondents have had to pay a bribe."

The article, however, praises Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his fight against corruption.

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"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fight against corruption has made a mark: 53 per cent of the people think he is going it fairly or very well. And it has led to people feeling empowered, as 63 per cent believe ordinary people can make a difference," it adds.

India is closely followed by Vietnam at 65 per cent bribery rate.

India's neighbouring country Pakistan has been ranked fourth in the list with 40 per cent bribery rate. The article describes Pak as, "In Pakistan, about three-fourths of respondents perceive most or all of the police to be corrupt. Of the people who encountered either the police or the courts, nearly seven in ten had to pay a bribe. Sadly, people don't feel things can change-only a third think ordinary people can make a difference."

Transparency International took 18 months to conclude the survey during which they interacted with over 20,000 people in 16 countries, regions and territories in the Asia Pacific.

Last year, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog had ranked India at the 76^th position out of 168 countries in its Corruption Perception Index last year.