Inside the machine where lucrative government postings are effectively bought and sold — and the bribe is paid back with interest.
When a posting can be bought, the officer who pays for it must earn the price back through bribes — turning each ‘wet’ desk into a small business.
Not all government posts are equal. Some control revenue, contracts, licences or land — these are called ‘wet’ postings. Others have little money flowing through them: ‘dry’ postings. A wet posting can generate informal income many times the official salary.
Where transfers are not protected by rules, these posts are effectively sold — through money, political pressure or sifarish (connections).
The cost of the posting is built into every bribe the public pays.
| Posting type | Examples | Why it is sought / avoided |
|---|---|---|
| Wet (sought) | Excise, customs valuation, land/revenue, SHO of a busy area, procurement | Heavy money flow → high informal income |
| Dry (avoided) | Archives, training wings, remote backwater offices | Little money → often used as ‘punishment’ |
This is the engine room of everyday corruption: it decides who sits at the desks where the public meets the state, and why they extract money there.
This report is an educational explainer. It describes how this form of corruption generally works and how it can be reduced. It is not an allegation against any specific person or institution. Figures are illustrative unless cited.