A new website called “bribes.fyi” has emerged as a platform where users can anonymously report details of bribes they were asked to pay, including the role, amount and department involved. It is India’s first crowdsourced bribe registry that is completely anonymous and permanently public, according to the website.
Government’s outreach to Gen Z
In a bid to sway the sentiments of Gen Z and young people towards the government after the CJP student protests, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has planned to engage more with students and young adults to reset the narrative, HT reported earlier. The departments mentioned on the website include the Police, RTO, Revenue/Land Records, Passport Office, Municipal Corporation, GST Office, Electricity Board, Income Tax, and Food and Drug Administration. However, the figure is based on just one report, with no average bribe amount listed. “Going forward the Yuva Morcha will be more active, there will be more programmes and events to connect with the youth.
A total of 617 bribe reports have been submitted across 253 cities, according to the data available on the website. The website also states that 37% of the people who reported being asked for a bribe refused to pay it but still got their work done. Assam has the highest refusal rate among the states and Union Territories listed, with 100 per cent of reported bribes being refused, according to the data.
“The party has identified some gaps in our communication and outreach that could have exacerbated the students’ unrest and created a perception that the concerns of the youth were not addressed… There will be more engagement with students and young adults,” said a BJP lawmaker, requesting anonymity. We will also reach out to the younger lot in schools, who may be young, but are clued in and active on social media,” said a second senior party functionary. “Both in Bankipur and Datia we failed to counter a particular narrative, which hurt the party… We felt some issues did not merit a response, but in hindsight we should have been more forthcoming in tackling those.”
