Indian bureaucracy is worst in Asia, report says

India's bureaucracy is the worst in Asia, according to a new report that will have Anna Hazare's anti-corruption activists tripping over themselves to say, “I told you so!”

The report by Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy ranks bureaucracies across Asia on a scale from one to 10, with 10 being the worst possible score.

India scored 9.21, reports the BBC.

It blamed bureaucrats for chronic Indian failings like the lack of infrastructure and corruption, and, natch, said that Indian bureaucrats are rarely held accountable for making incorrect decisions.

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Interestingly, those findings suggest that the civil service, who aren't accountable to the public in elections, are as much to blame for India's problems as corrupt politicians — the principal target of public ire this year.

So why do the pols get all the blame?

Perhaps it's a matter of style. Bureaucrats may indeed line their own pockets in the course of doing their jobs, but they keep their heads down while they're doing it.

So what about the competition?

Singapore remained the country with the best bureaucracy, with a rating of 2.25. It was followed by Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, the Beeb said.

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