Economist and UPSC interviewer Saloni Khanna's argument that 'little bit of corruption is good for the economy' has gone viral on social media. In a podcast, Khanna touched upon the corruption in society and IAS officers and suggested that the current salary for officers is insufficient.
Khanna, who has been part of panels conducting mock interviews of UPSC aspirants, was asked why despite strict scrutiny during the interview process some corrupt people still slip through and become officers or whether this had anything to do with the system where a non-corrupt person becomes corrupt.
She said it was not just about screening. "You can't check everything about a person in a one-hour interview. And it's not like people don't fake it," she said while speaking to Raj Shamani.
Not everyone who goes into service is motivated to make an impact, she added. "Very few people have that motive. Most people's motives are selfish. Someone wants power, then power to get money, and then money to get more power. So, it's a vicious circle in itself."
Khanna then pointed to the salary structure for IAS officers, which she suggested should be revised upwards. "Tell me, today an IAS officer's salary is Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000. Can a household run from Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000? I'm not justifying corruption, but I am saying that we need to devise mechanisms to beat corruption, like increasing salaries to compensate for their true worth."
She said that even in the corporate sector, people might earn four to five times this salary. "And an IAS officer's job is much more demanding, it's a 24-hour job, so it's necessary to give them due compensation. This can be considered. And corruption is not just done by officers, society is doing it. It's the mindset of the entire society that is corrupt."
Highlighting how corruption works, she said if an officer is not corrupt, but the people above and below them are, or people approach them repeatedly, "it might happen that you are not corrupt for x amount, but you might be for x + 100, and then maybe you won't be for x + 100 but will be for x + 1000, or x plus a lakh, x plus a crore, so there is no end to it".
Khanna then argued that a little bit of corruption is good for the economy. "It's not morally good but as an economist, corruption is considered the grease of the economy," she said, adding that if there is no corruption in the economy, everything will move very slowly, businesses will be impacted, productivity will be impacted, GDP will be impacted, and thus the nation's overall output will be impacted. "So, in economics, we learn that a little bit of corruption acts as grease for the economy, so it should be there. Not that I am promoting it in any way."
As per the 7th Central Pay Commission, the entry-level IAS officer's salary starts from Rs 56,100 (basic pay) per month. With DA and other allowances, the pay can go up to Rs 1,32,000 per month. IAS officer's salary increases with each promotion and year of service. After 37 years of service, an IAS officer is eligible for the post of Cabinet Secretary, for which salary is fixed at Rs 2.5 lakh.