Our nation today is passing through a terrible crisis of character; the ancient Indian edifice of moral and spiritual values is crumbling to pieces.  Everywhere corruption is rampant and there is hardly any sphere of our life -social, political, economic and religious that has remained untouched by it. Even the sanctimonious educational institutions have now become centres of rampant corruption. In reality, corruption, the deep-rooted social menace has eaten into the vitals of India’s social and public life.

This is the list of major scams- the biggest ever corruption cases in India. The scams were the biggest and most damaging to the country and its citizens alike. The total amount of money involved in various scams over the last 12 years, since 1992, is estimated to be over 80 lakh crore. The Top Scams in India are-

1) 2G Spectrum Scam:- We have had a number of scams in India; but the 2G spectrum allocation scam is by far the biggest scam in India. The incident saw former telecom minister A Raja being forced to resign after the CAG indicted him in the 2G spectrum scam that resulted in a loss of about Rs 176,000 crore to the national exchequer. At the heart of this Rs.1.76-lakh crore worth of scam A Raja has evaded norms at every level as he carried out the dubious 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw-away price which were pegged in 2001. Investigations in to the have come to light that how politicians, corporate lobbyists and business houses are involved in corruption. Recently Dayanidhi Maran, the former telecom minister also had to resign from Union Cabinet for his involvement in the scam.

2) Commonwealth Games Scam:- Another feather in the cap of Indian scams list is the Commonwealth Games (CWG) loot. Even before the long awaited sporting bonanza could see the day of light, the grand event was soaked in the allegations of corruption. It is estimated that more than 50% of the total Rs. 70,000 crore, officially spent on the Games, was consumed by the Chairman of the Games Suresh Kalmadi and his allies. The CVC (Central Vigilance Commission), involved in probing the alleged corruption in various projects of the Commonwealth Games has found discrepancies in tenders,  payment to non-existent parties, willful delays in execution of contracts, over-inflated price and bungling in purchase of equipments and misappropriation of funds.

3) Telgi Scam:-  Abdul Karim Telgi had mastered the art of forgery in printing duplicate stamp papers and sold them to banks and other institutions. The tentacles of the fake stamp and stamp paper case had penetrated 12 states and was estimated at a whooping Rs. 20,000 crore plus. Telgi clearly had support from government departments that were responsible for the production and sale of high security stamps.

4) Satyam Scam:- The scam at Satyam Computer Services by its founder chairman Ramalinga Raju shattered the peace and tranquility of Indian and foreign  investors and shareholders which was beyond repair.  Satyam scam is the biggest fraud in the corporate history to the tune of Rs. 14,000 crore.  Raju had kept everyone in the dark for a decade by fudging the books of accounts for several years and inflating revenues and profit figures of Satyam. Finally, Raju went to jail and the company was taken over by the Tech Mahindra.

5) Bofors Scam:- The Bofors scandal was a major corruption in India in the 1980s; when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime Minister of India. Rajivji and several others including the powerful NRI Hindujas were accused of receiving kickbacks from Sweden’s biggest arms manufacturer Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer. The Swedish State Radio had broadcast a startling report about an undercover operation whereby $16 million were allegedly paid to members of PM Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress.

6) The Fodder Scam:-Bihar’s fodder scam of 1996 popularly known as “Chara Ghotala” during the period of Chief Minister Lalu Yadav, was a corruption of worth Rs.900 crore. The scam was brilliantly done in supplying of animals’ food and medicine, and animal husbandry equipments.