"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

It is not easy to define corruption. But in a narrow sense, corruption is mostly concerned with "bribery" and it takes several forms. Corruption today is a world-wide phenomenon and India is one of the most corrupt nations in the world.Corruption is an indication of decadence. A corrupt person is termed immoral and dishonest. Only a person with greatly eroded values indulges in corruption.The problem with corruption is that it threatens the very existence of the society . Corruption is like a leech draining the blood of the society. The worst part is that it affects every part of human life: the flourishing black market in essential commodities, adulteration of even food, bribe, fraud and economic, political and administrative manipulations etc have made the people feel greatly miserable and helpless.We can trace corruption to ancient times. Kautilya, the author of the Arthasastra pointed out corruption of his times. He also talked about the inevitability of corruption. He had said, "Just as it is impossible not to taste the honey or the poison that finds itself at the tip of the tongue, so it is impossible for a government servant not to eat up at least a bit of the king's revenue. These in the postwar world became only bolder while eating up government money and accepting bribes.Today, although India is free, the government officials have enslaved the general public with their corruption. Most of them are hand in gloves with businessmen and thus the whole system is corrupt. What starts at the top percolates down to the lowest rungs of the society. It has thus become widespread even in villages.The situation is so bad that it looks like India will never get rid of corruption.