New Delhi: India needs to adopt a long-term
strategy and provide higher pay packages to civil servants to
combat corruption, the visiting Mayor of Germany's Stuttgart
city, Wolfgang Schuster, said here on Monday.
"All our civil servants are well-paid. There is no
question of corruption. All kinds of corruption are a real
criminal act. You (India) need to have a long-term strategy to
change this mentality. We see corruption in Germany (also),"
Schuster said at an interactive session organised by industry
body PHD Chamber.
Schuster, who has served as Mayor of Stuttgart since
1997, is on a week-long visit to India along with 25 German
delegates from sectors like education, infrastructure and the
media.
He said corruption is not just restricted to bribes, it
can be non-payment of taxes. "You have to structure quality of
civil servants, education and training and payment of taxes.
Tax payment is very small. Revenue is a huge problem...," he
said.
Schuster is working with 23,000 employees at his office
to turn Stuttgart -- the sixth-largest city in Germany -- into
the most child-friendly city in the country.
On the quality of services provided by public
institutions, like airports, he said they can only improve if
citizens pay taxes.
"If you want to provide education, you need public money.
Public money is a critical issue for India. It's normal for us
to pay taxes. India has to decide... where to go. You have to
think about what's the right way," he said.
Local governance depends upon tradition, he said, adding,
"India is different from Germany. Germany is different from
Europe. I can't give recipes."
PTI
First Published: Monday, January 16, 2012, 21:09