Culture is defined as the entire sum total of beliefs and social behaviour. It is not only the behavioural fountainhead for the society but also a binding force which determines and regulates the individual and collective behaviour. A peep into culture provides the glimpses of the individual and social behaviour of the people. It determines what desirable conduct or behaviour is of or the members of the society. It is expressed through the medium of language and art, philosophy and religion, education and science, films and newspapers, radio and T.V., social habits and customs, political institutions and economic institutions, industry and sports. The administrative culture of the any country is the product of the,peculiar social, cultural, economic and political milieu of which it is a part. Governance problems of India including corruption are deeply rooted in its cultural milieu. Institutions of public administration and its system and processes can be better understood if the cultural environment is understood properly. History of India is divided into 3 phases for the purpose of study: Ancient India: From earliest times to 1206 AD, Medieval India: From 1206 AD to 1757 AD and Modern India. In the ancient Indian literature available from the Indus Valley civilization (2500BC-1750BC) reveals that small kingdoms dominated the political scene and there is no mention of corruption during that era. In the medieval India, India was invaded by foreign rulers who settled here after capturing the throne. The mixed culture fostered a culture, of acceptance of the practices which might not have been termed as corruption during those days, but are considered as corruption in the modern world. In the modern India, during the rule of the East India Company and the British Raj, corruption was rampant. The situation in this era was so grim that Pitt's India Act of 1784 made acceptance of any gift by the company's servant a cognizable offense punishable with imprisonment. In the independent India corruption has become institutionalized there is scarcely any area of governance free from this malaise. What is alarming is the extent of the corruption both in its magnitude and it is apparent in all pervasiveness as also the highest levels of governance to what it has reached. It has become our supreme task to find the ways to strengthen the representative institutions and prevent democratic polity from sinking further into the muck of corruption. In the transparency international report on corruption of (2012) India is ranked at 94th position out of 176 nations. The supreme court of India in (March 2013) in a recent judgement stated that corruption has spread like an epidemic making people believe that unless bribe is given, the work may not be done. According to latest information 162 of 543 M.P.s of the current Parliament (2009-14) have been charge sheeted by courts of law. After defining the corruption the first part of the paper makes an attempt to present. a succinct review of corruption in India during ancient, medieval and modern times. As the corruption has been ubiquitous; so the author in the second part of this paper will enumerate major causes of corruption in India, followed by the implications and consequences of corruption for governance. The later part deals with a blue print to contain corruption.
