Corruption and development: an inquiry into nature and causes and suggested remedy

Recognition for corruption as one of the main obstacles in the way of economic development is a rather recent development in the discipline of Development Economics. Due to wide-spread corruption only a small portion of development money reaches to the public. The reasons behind the corruption culture are numerous such as rejection of moral and spiritual values, greed and lust of money, rising election expenses, no belief in accountability to God or responsibility to the masses. With these states of character, the new policy of liberalization, privatization and globalization provided a golden opportunity to money maximizing culture. The remedy lies in inner purification and fear of God the all-knowing and all-seeing, and propagation of ethical and moral values. The strengthening of democracy and freedom of judiciary, right to information, and freedom of press should also be ensured to dislodge the corrupt politicians and public officials. A country caught in corruption and crimes is like a sick person. If timely and effective measures are not taken, it may result in collapse and disintegration of the whole system.