By Barry Gardiner MP

Discussions continue today between United Progressive Alliance government ministers and civil society representatives about the creation of a new anti-graft or ‘Lokpal’ bill in New Delhi. The two sides look set to find a compromise this week on a bill which has stirred tension between the government and anti-corruption campaigners throughout 2011.

Originally published by Left Foot Forward

Last week a 20,000 strong protest in support of a hunger strike by yoga guru Baba Ramdev ended after police clashed with protestors, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd. Ramdev and his followers had been protesting against corruption and for the return of black money banked abroad.

Ramdev himself was hospitalised following an eight day hunger strike. His protest has garnered support and sympathy across India. The government agreed to create a new Lokpal Bill following a week-long hunger strike in April by another anti-corruption campaigner, the Ghandian Anna Hazare.

While there are no official figures for the scale of India’s black money problem, unofficial estimates put the figure at around $1.4 trillion (£0.86 trillion). The majority is held in Switzerland, where according to the Swiss Bankers Association, India has more black money than the whole of the rest of the world combined.

In the 2010 Corruption Perception, India was ranked 87th out of 178 countries for its level of corruption, down one place since last year. India was given a score of 3.3 on a scale from 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt).

While corruption is not new in India, according to a report by KPMG:

“High-level corruption and scams are now threatening to derail the country’s credibility and its economic boom.”

Corruption is also frequently cited in the UK by those critical of the DFID India aid programme, as a reason for stopping the £295.1 million programme which targets health, education, rural poverty and trade development in the country, which is home to a third of the world’s poor.