The government of India did not participate in any exercise related to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), and took various measures to combat graft in pursuance of its commitment to “zero tolerance against corruption”, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

The assertion came in response to a question whether the “government is aware that India’s score on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2024 declined to 38 points, ranking 96th out of 180 countries, as per the Transparency International report”, and reasons behind it, among others.

In a written reply, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said, “No such surveys were conducted by any agency at the behest of the government of India.”

Further, the government of India did not participate in any such exercise related to the Corruption Perception Index,  Jitendra Singh said.

However, the government of India, in pursuance of its commitment to “zero tolerance against corruption”, has taken several measures to combat corruption, which include systemic improvements and reforms to provide transparent citizen-friendly services and reduce corruption, the minister said.

He cited the disbursement of welfare benefits directly to the citizens under various schemes of the government in a transparent manner through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode, implementation of e-tendering in public procurements, introduction of e-governance and simplification of procedures and systems besides the introduction of procurement

through the government electronic-marketplace (GeM), as measures to check corruption.