Preventing corruption in sanitation : a case from Kerala, India

Prevention of corruption in the supply of drinking water and sanitation is of great importance, because so many – mostly poor – people still have no access to these basic necessities. Halving the proportion of people with no access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation is one of the Millenium Development targets that form 8 MDG goals. Meeting the target is beneficial, but it also increases the possibility for corruption,
given the (quasi)-monopolies of the public sector, the large amounts of financing for construction, the opportunities for concessions, the weakness of the institutions and public control and the institutionalization of corruption in the public and private sector. Corruption opportunities exist in three locations: within the public sector itself, where positions and promotions must often be paid for and corrupt investments are earned back afterwards; at the interface between the public and private sector, with bribes paid to get contracts and illegal cuts taken during procurements and installments, and at the interface between the public or private sector and the consumer, e.g. in accessing subsidies for which consumers are not entitled and paying bribes to speed up service delivery. Reducing corruption is crucial to avoid that a large proportion of funds gets diverted and fewer people are served than the available funds allow. It is also an important means to demonstrate the potential and impact of good governance in a sector in which it is possible to quantify results on access, sustainability, water and land pollution and use. [authors abstract]