Ethics Prahaar

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RAHAAR
The final hit to UPSC Exam
Comprehensive, Integrated and Current Linked Notes for CSE Mains 2021
GS PAPER - IV
ETHICS,INTEGRITY & APTITUDE
ONE
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PRAHAAR- The final hit to UPSC Exam-2021
PREFACE
Dear aspirants, OnlyIAS team is ecstatic to present this book to you, which is certainly
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This book is an attempt to make your preparation to the point, relevant, based on UPSC
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OnlyIAS team wish you all the best for your preparation with all humility and
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Sumit Rewri and team
Note: Although our team has tried best, yet if any important issue we found
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released soon.

OnlyIAS Nothing Else PRAHAAR: Indian Polity
Ethics & human interface _______________________________________________________________6

introduction of ethics ___________________________________________________________________________ 6
Importance of ethics ____________________________________________________________________________ 6
scope of ethics _________________________________________________________________________________ 7
nature of ethics ________________________________________________________________________________ 7
DIAMENSIONS OF ethics _________________________________________________________________________ 8
Examples of applied ethics _______________________________________________________________________ 8
Normative ethics theories_______________________________________________________________________ 10
Utilitarianism_______________________________________________________________________________ 10
Deontology ________________________________________________________________________________ 10
Virtue Ethics _______________________________________________________________________________ 11
determinants of ethics _________________________________________________________________________ 11
challenges to ethics ___________________________________________________________________________ 12
Ethics – in private & public relationships ___________________________________________________________ 13
Ethics in Private Relationships _________________________________________________________________ 13
Ethics in Public Relationship ___________________________________________________________________ 13
Sir M Visvesvaraya _________________________________________________________________________________ 14
Nolan Committee: Seven principles in public life __________________________________________________ 14
Importance of Ethics in Public Relationship ______________________________________________________ 15
Relation Between Public and Private Ethics ______________________________________________________ 15
morals ______________________________________________________________________________________ 16
Why be moral? _____________________________________________________________________________ 16
Differences between Ethics & Morals ___________________________________________________________ 16
Human Values ________________________________________________________________________________ 17
Human Values ______________________________________________________________________________ 17
Role of family in value INCULCATing ______________________________________________________________ 18
Role of education institutions in value inculcating ___________________________________________________ 19
role of society ________________________________________________________________________________ 20
Reasons for erosion of values ____________________________________________________________________ 21
Key terms & their meanings _____________________________________________________________________ 23
Attitude____________________________________________________________________________25
Characteristics of attitude_______________________________________________________________________ 25
Factors which determine the degree of influence of attitude on behaviour are: ___________________________ 25
Categories of attitude __________________________________________________________________________ 26
Explicit attitude and implicit attitude ___________________________________________________________ 26
Opinion and attitude ________________________________________________________________________ 26
Belief and attitude __________________________________________________________________________ 26
Value and Attitude __________________________________________________________________________ 26
Structure/Components of attitude ________________________________________________________________ 27
Formation of attitude __________________________________________________________________________ 28
Relationship between attitude and behaviour ____________________________________________________ 28
Functions of attitude ___________________________________________________________________________ 28
Moral attitude ________________________________________________________________________________ 29
Social attitude ________________________________________________________________________________ 29
Prejudice ____________________________________________________________________________________ 30
Difference between prejudice and stereotype ____________________________________________________ 30
Political Attitude ______________________________________________________________________________ 31
Factors which affect our political ideologies are: __________________________________________________ 31
Significance of political attitude ________________________________________________________________ 31
Major types of political ideology _______________________________________________________________ 32
Behaviour in Indian Society _____________________________________________________________________ 32
Social psychology ___________________________________________________________________________ 33
Social influence _____________________________________________________________________________ 33
Persuasion _________________________________________________________________________________ 33
Administration and the public ___________________________________________________________________ 35
Public’s attitude towards the administrators _____________________________________________________ 35
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APTITUDE __________________________________________________________________________37
Relationship of aptitude with other qualities _______________________________________________________ 37
Aptitude and Skills __________________________________________________________________________ 37
Aptitude and Interest: _______________________________________________________________________ 37
Aptitude and Intelligence: ____________________________________________________________________ 37
Aptitude and Ability: _________________________________________________________________________ 37
Aptitude and Values: ________________________________________________________________________ 38
Aptitude, Proficiency and Achievement: _________________________________________________________ 38
Difference between Attitude and aptitude _________________________________________________________ 38
aptitude for civil services and its role ______________________________________________________________ 38
Foundational values for civil services__________________________________________________________39
Evolution of foundational values _________________________________________________________________ 39
Need of foundational values __________________________________________________________________ 40
Integrity _________________________________________________________________________________40
Types of Integrity: ___________________________________________________________________________ 41
Second ARC on Integrity: _____________________________________________________________________ 41
Difference between honesty and integrity _________________________________________________________ 41
Integrity pact _______________________________________________________________________________ 41
Impartiality and non-partisanship ____________________________________________________________42
Impartiality __________________________________________________________________________________ 42
non-partisanship ______________________________________________________________________________ 43
Difference between impartiality and non-partisanship________________________________________________ 43
NEUTRALITY ____________________________________________________________________________43
NEUTRALITY OF CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICES ____________________________________________________ 44
OBJECTIVITY ____________________________________________________________________________44
How to develop objectivity? _____________________________________________________________________ 45
Difference between objectivity and neutrality ______________________________________________________ 45
ANONYMITY ____________________________________________________________________________45
should civil servants be concerned about their public image? __________________________________________ 45
DEDICATION TO PUBLIC SERVICE _________________________________________________________46
TOLERANCE _____________________________________________________________________________46
Acceptance __________________________________________________________________________________ 47
Difference between tolerance and acceptance ____________________________________________________ 47
EMPATHY AND COMPASSION ____________________________________________________________47
Empathy _____________________________________________________________________________________ 47
Compassion __________________________________________________________________________________ 48
Difference between antipathy, apathy, sympathy, empathy and compassion _____________________________ 48
OTHER IMPORTANT VALUES _____________________________________________________________49
Discipline and Sincerity _________________________________________________________________________ 49
Perseverance _________________________________________________________________________________ 49
Courage _____________________________________________________________________________________ 49
Responsiveness _______________________________________________________________________________ 49
Prudence ____________________________________________________________________________________ 50
Confidentiality ________________________________________________________________________________ 50
openness ____________________________________________________________________________________ 50
selflessness __________________________________________________________________________________ 50
emotions and intelligence _____________________________________________________________51

Classification of Emotions: ______________________________________________________________________ 51
Characteristics of Emotions: _____________________________________________________________________ 51
Functions of emotions: _________________________________________________________________________ 52
Emotional intelligence _____________________________________________________________________52

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Components of emotional intelligence ____________________________________________________________ 52

Difference between EQ and Iq _________________________________________________________________ 53
Importance of emotional intelligence _____________________________________________________________ 54
Importance of EI in personal life _______________________________________________________________ 54
Importance of EI in civil services/administration __________________________________________________ 54
Qualities of emotionally intelligent person _________________________________________________________ 56
Qualities of an emotional intelligent person ______________________________________________________ 56
Qualities of an emotional intelligent administrator ________________________________________________ 56
Challenges for development of emotional intelligence in the administration ______________________________ 57
development of emotional intelligence ____________________________________________________________ 57
Development of emotional intelligence in personal life _____________________________________________ 57
Development of emotional intelligence in civil servants/administrators ________________________________ 58
Criticism of emotional intelligence ________________________________________________________________ 58
Threat to emotional intelligence in present time ________________________________________________59
social intelligence _________________________________________________________________________60
key elements of social intelligence ________________________________________________________________ 60
Moral thinkers & philosOPhers from india & world _________________________________________61

Western Philosophies and western thinkers ____________________________________________________61
NORMATIVE ETHICS ________________________________________________________________________________ 61
Virtue ethics ____________________________________________________________________________________ 61
Socrates: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 61
Plato ________________________________________________________________________________________ 62
Aristotle _____________________________________________________________________________________ 62
Deontology _____________________________________________________________________________________ 63
Emanuel Kant: ________________________________________________________________________________ 63
Teleologic approach______________________________________________________________________________ 64
Utilitarianism _________________________________________________________________________________ 64
Jeremy Bentham: _____________________________________________________________________________ 64
J S Mill ______________________________________________________________________________________ 64
Contractarianism ______________________________________________________________________________ 65
Thomas Hobbes: ______________________________________________________________________________ 65
John Locke ___________________________________________________________________________________ 65
Rousseau: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 66
Contemporary Contractarianism ___________________________________________________________________ 67
John RAWLS philosophy: ________________________________________________________________________ 67
Descriptive ethics __________________________________________________________________________________ 67
Applied ethics _____________________________________________________________________________________ 68
indian philOsophies _______________________________________________________________________68
Important schools of Hindu philosophy ________________________________________________________________ 68
Samkhya: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 68
Yoga: _______________________________________________________________________________________ 68
Nyaya _______________________________________________________________________________________ 68
Mimamsa: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 69
Vedanta: ____________________________________________________________________________________ 69
Essence of Ramayana and Mahabharata _____________________________________________________________ 69
Essence of Bhagavad-Gita _________________________________________________________________________ 70
indian philosophers _______________________________________________________________________70
Kautilya _____________________________________________________________________________________ 70
Thiruvalluvar _________________________________________________________________________________ 71
Swami Vivekananda ___________________________________________________________________________ 71
M K Gandhi __________________________________________________________________________________ 71
Amartya Sen _________________________________________________________________________________ 72
Rabindranath Tagore: __________________________________________________________________________ 72
Kabir ________________________________________________________________________________________ 73

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Administrators: ___________________________________________________________________________73
E Sreedharan _________________________________________________________________________________ 73
TN Sheehan __________________________________________________________________________________ 73
Conclusion _________________________________________________________________________________ 74
Administration and leadership _______________________________________________________________74
Administrator, Manager and Leader: ______________________________________________________________ 74
Difference between Manager and leadership _______________________________________________________ 74
ETHICS IN Public Administration ________________________________________________________74

Basic characteristics of Public Administration: ______________________________________________________ 75
Principles differentiating public administration from private administration ______________________________ 75
Need of ethics in public administration ____________________________________________________________ 76
Status and problems of ethics in Indian public administration __________________________________________ 76
Provisions for inculcating ethics in Indian administration____________________________________________ 76
Ethical issues in Indian administration ___________________________________________________________ 76
Problems of ethics in Indian administration ________________________________________________________ 78
Ethical dilemma in government and private institutions __________________________________________78
Ethical dilemma in Government __________________________________________________________________ 78
Ethical dilemmas faced by Public Servants are: ____________________________________________________ 79
Resolving Ethical Dilemma in Government: _______________________________________________________ 79
Ethical concerns in private institutions ____________________________________________________________ 79
Laws, rules, regulations and conscience as source of ethical guidance _______________________________80
Laws, rules and regulations as source of ethical guidance __________________________________________________ 80
Difference between Laws and Rules: ____________________________________________________________ 80
How Laws, Rules and Regulations are source of ethical guidance __________________________________________ 80
limitations of Laws, Rules and Regulations are source of ethical guidance __________________________________ 81
conscience as source of ethical guidance _______________________________________________________________ 81
How conscience is a source of ethical guidance? _______________________________________________________ 82
Is conscience an absolute guide to ethical behaviour? No __________________________________________________ 82
accountability and ethical governance ________________________________________________________83
Accountability _____________________________________________________________________________________ 83
Types of Accountability: __________________________________________________________________________ 83
Significance of Accountability in Governance: _________________________________________________________ 84
Governance, good governance and Ethical governance ___________________________________________84
Importance of Ethical Governance: _________________________________________________________________ 85
Ethical issues in international relations and funding _____________________________________________86
Significance of International Ethics __________________________________________________________________ 86
Ethical concerns in international relations ______________________________________________________________ 87
Ethical issues in international funding __________________________________________________________________ 88
Corporate governance _____________________________________________________________________88
Importance of Corporate Governance: _________________________________________________________________ 88
Issues of Corporate Governance in India: _______________________________________________________________ 89
Existing measures to ensure Ethical Corporate Governance in India _______________________________________ 90
Committees related to Corporate Governance in India: ___________________________________________________ 90
Kumar Mangalam Birla Committee Report (2000): _____________________________________________________ 90
Naresh Chandra Committee Recommendations (2002): _________________________________________________ 90
Narayan Murthi Committee Recommendations (2002): _________________________________________________ 90
Uday Kotak Committee Recommendations: __________________________________________________________ 90
Corporate social responsibility _______________________________________________________________________ 90
Significance for Corporate Social Responsibility: _______________________________________________________ 91
Issues with Corporate Social Responsibility ___________________________________________________________ 91
Probity in governance ________________________________________________________________________93
Probity _____________________________________________________________________________________ 93
Probity in governance _________________________________________________________________________________________ 93

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Philosophical basis of Governance and Probity ___________________________________________________________________ 93

Objective of Probity in Governance _______________________________________________________________________ 94
Importance of civil services to Governance ________________________________________________________________________ 94
Approaches in Public Administration to improve quality of service delivery ______________________________________________ 95
New Public Service _________________________________________________________________________________________ 95
Development Administration _________________________________________________________________________________ 95
New Public Administration ________________________________________________________________________________ 95
New Public Management _________________________________________________________________________________ 96
Entrepreneurial Government ______________________________________________________________________________ 96
Social Contract __________________________________________________________________________________________ 96
Transparency ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 97
Mechanism to ensure probity in India ____________________________________________________________________________ 97
Right to information Act _____________________________________________________________________________________ 98
Problems with working of the act ________________________________________________________________________ 98
Recent RTI amendment ________________________________________________________________________________ 98
Arguments in support of the amendments _________________________________________________________________ 99
Arguments against the amendments ______________________________________________________________________ 99
RTI and the judiciary ___________________________________________________________________________________ 99
RTI and the political parties ____________________________________________________________________________ 100
Why the political parties need to be brought under the RTI act? ______________________________________________ 100
Impact of the act_____________________________________________________________________________________ 100
Whistle blowing _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 101
Arguments against whistle blowing ______________________________________________________________________ 101
Arguments in support of whistle blowing _________________________________________________________________ 101
Code of ethics ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 101
Codes of Conduct ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 102
Difference between Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct _________________________________________________________ 102
Citizen’s Charter ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 102
Significance of Citizen’s Charter _________________________________________________________________________ 103
Challenges with Citizen Charter _________________________________________________________________________ 103
Work Culture _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 103
Characteristics of healthy work culture. __________________________________________________________________ 103
Work ethics ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 104
Service Delivery _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 104
Challenges __________________________________________________________________________________________ 104
Suggestions for improvement __________________________________________________________________________ 104
Corruption _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 105
Types of corruption _______________________________________________________________________________________ 105
Coercive corruption __________________________________________________________________________________ 105
Collusive corruption __________________________________________________________________________________ 105
Corruption, ethics and values _______________________________________________________________________________ 105
Challenges posed by corruption______________________________________________________________________________ 105
Corruption Laws in India ___________________________________________________________________________________ 106
Institutions for dealing with corruption________________________________________________________________________ 107
Lokpal and Lokayukta _________________________________________________________________________________ 107
Chief Vigilance Commission ____________________________________________________________________________ 107
Central Bureau of Investigation _________________________________________________________________________ 108
How to bring probity in governance? ____________________________________________________________________________ 108
Why financial propriety is important? _________________________________________________________________________ 108
Social audit_________________________________________________________________________________________________ 109
CAG ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 109
Zero budgeting _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 110
Legislative Control over the administration _______________________________________________________________________ 110
Judicial Control over the administration _________________________________________________________________________ 110
Right to Service _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 111
E-Governance ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 111
Why e-governance? _______________________________________________________________________________________ 111
Issues with e-governance ______________________________________________________________________________ 111

5

ETHICS & HUMAN INTERFACE
• "A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world." - Albert Camus
• “In just about every area of society, there’s nothing more important than ethics”- Henry Paulson
INTRODUCTION OF ETHICS
• Ethics is a is a system of moral principles that is concerned
with human conduct. It studies the norms or standards of Origin of Ethics
right and wrong used to judge actions; it studies what is • Ethics originated from the Greek word
morally right or wrong, just or unjust. In simple words ethics ‘ethos’ and the Latin ‘mores’ which mean
refers to what is good and the way to get it, and what is bad ‘custom’, ‘ways of behaviour’, ‘human
and how to avoid it. character’.
• Mackenzie defines ethics as “the study of
• Religions, philosophies, cultures, human conscience and
what is right or good in human conduct”
intuition, role model, Family and Friends, Schools and
or the “science of the ideal involved in
Colleges, Rational thinking, Personal experience.
human life”.
Constitution, judiciary etc are some sources of ethics.
•
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS
• Provides Moral Map - Ethics provides us with a moral map, a framework that we can use to find our way
through difficult issues.
• Help to resolve moral issues - Ethics does provide good tools for thinking about moral issues. It doesn't always
show the right answer to moral problems, but it can eliminate confusion and clarify the issues. After that it's
up to each individual to come to their own conclusions.
• Ensures individual as well as social good - Ethics is an attempt to guide human conduct and it is also an attempt
to help man in leading good life by applying moral principles. It aims at individual good as well as social good,
the good of mankind as a whole.
• Resolves ethical dilemmas - Ethical values such as honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility help guide us along
a pathway to deal more effectively with ethical dilemmas.
• Frees from Bias and prejudices – Application moral principles and ethical values in our life helps to deconstruct
the wrong conceptions, attitude and helps to avoid bias and prejudices.
• Effective Decision making – Ethics guides us to make right, just and inclusive decisions aimed at personal as
well as societal interest.
• Absence of Ethics leads to -
o Individual Level – Abusing behaviour, domestic violence, casteism, selfishness, cheating behaviour,
unemphatic, bystander apathy etc.
▪ Ex – Abusing partner, passing castiest comments, cheating someone etc.
o Social Level – Acceptance of corruption, commodification of women, increased materialism, ends
surpass means, Drug addiction, violence, communalism, gender crimes, disrespect towards women,
elders and disables etc.
▪ Ex – Stalking and following girls, social boycotts etc
o Political Level – Criminalisation of politics and politicization of criminals, power abuse, power
concentration, defections, instability to government, violence, communalism, use of money and muscle
power, abuse of constitution etc

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▪ Ex – Campaigning on communal agenda, bribing voters, using goondas to create ruckus in rallies
or rioting etc.
o Bureaucratic level – Corruption, Nepotism, trust deficit, punishment postings, red tapism, poor
decisions, personal gain, favouritism, conflict of interest, abuse of power, neglect of public welfare,
poor implementation of schemes and welfare programmes etc.
▪ Ex - asking a bribe from rule breaker or bribing traffic police instead of paying penalty.
o International Level – ceasefire violation, encroachment at border areas, cross-border terrorism, drug
trafficking, human trafficking, organised crime, safe tax heavens, protectionism, Vaccine nationalism,
nuclearization, conflict-war, erodes legitimacy of international institutions etc.
▪ Ex – Illegal occupation Palestine territories by Israel, Pakistan’s support to separatist in Jammu
Kashmir etc
o Environmental Level – Illegal deforestation, encroachment of natural water bodies, animal torcher,
illegal mining and depletion of natural resources, wildlife crime etc.
▪ Ex- draining industrial waste into river or any other water bodies, tree cutting for the money,
illegally poaching and trading threatened species etc.
SCOPE OF ETHICS
• The scope of ethics indicates its subject matter. It includes whatever has reference to free human acts
(voluntary actions).
• We can distinguish between human actions and actions of human: human actions are those actions that are
done by human consciously, deliberately and in view of an end.
• Actions of human may not be wilfully, voluntarily, consciously and deliberately done but all the same they are
done by human (e.g., sleeping, walking, etc.). In ethics we deal only with human actions.
• Ethics is essentially related to all other branches of knowledge like sociology, political science, jurisprudence,
law and legal study, psychology, anthropology, culture study, ecology and environmental study, economics,
religion, aesthetics and other similar areas.
• Ethics is concerned with political, sociological, cultural, psychical, economic, environmental, religious problems
in pursuit of highest good. So, these problems have an additional place in the scope of ethics.
• With the emergence of new technology, the scope of ethics is widening to address new emerging issues related
to Artificial Intelligence, social media and OTT content regulation, Gene Editing etc
NATURE OF ETHICS
• Ethics exists in all human societies - Ethics arises in the course of the evolution of social, intelligent, long-lived
mammals who possess the capacity to recognize each other and to remember the past behaviour of others.
• Exclusively for human beings - Ethics relates to the behaviour of individuals and groups. The ethical norms do
not apply to the behaviour of animals, birds, and insects. Only human beings have the capacity to guide and
regulate their behaviour.
• Ethics standards differs from society to society - What is considered ethical behaviour in one society might be
considered unethical in another. For ex - abortion is a taboo in most of the Islamic countries. But it is fully ethical
in many other countries. Further ethics changes with time, situation, understanding, experience etc.
• Ethical principles are universal in nature -These prescribe obligations and virtues for everybody in a society.
Ethics is important not only in business and politics but in every human endeavour.
• Ethics is a science – Ethics is science as it aims at systematic knowledge. As a science it deals systematic
explanation of rightness or wrongness in the light of the highest Good of man.

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• Ethics is a normative science - Unlike positive science, ethics deals with values. It evaluates standard or norms
by which we can judge human action to be right or wrong.
• Ethics is not a practical science - Unlike practical science which is a means for the realization of an end or ideals,
Ethics only guides us to achieve a specific goal. It tries to see what the ultimate goal of life is and how this goal
can be reached.
DIAMENSIONS OF ETHICS
There are 4 branches of ethics and they deal with following types of questions:
1. Descriptive ethics - What do people think is right?
2. Meta-ethics - What does "right" even mean?
3. Normative (prescriptive) ethics - How should people act?
4. Applied ethics - How do we take moral knowledge and put it into practice?
Descriptive ethics Meta Ethics

• Descriptive ethics is the study of people's beliefs • Metaethics, the subdiscipline
about morality. It tries to explain the moral and ethical of ethics concerned with the nature
practices and beliefs of certain societies and cultures. of ethical theories and moral judgments.
• It aims to uncover people's beliefs about such things • Metaethics investigates the origin and meaning
as values, which actions are right and wrong, and of ethical concepts. It studies where our ethical
which characteristics of moral agents are virtuous. It principles come from and what they mean. It
also investigates people's ethical ideals or what tries to analyse the underlying principles of
actions societies reward or punish in law or politics. ethical values.
• Descriptive ethics is a form of empirical research into • It deals with a question like - ‘What do we mean
the attitudes of individuals or groups of people. It is by “freedom” and “determinism” etc.
value-free approach to ethics. It does not make
judgements about the morality of the practices and
beliefs but simply describe the practices observed in
the different groups or cultures.
Normative Ethics Applied Ethics
• Normative ethics is concerned with the norms, • The applied dimension of Ethics is known as
standards or criteria that define principles of ethical “Applied Ethics’ that falls within the broad field
behaviour. of Ethics.
• It examines standards for the rightness and wrongness • Evans and Macmillan (2014, p.27) define
of actions and it is more concerned with 'who ought applied ethics as “theories of ethics concerned
one be' rather than the ethics of a specific issue. with the application of normative ethics to
• The central question of normative ethics is particular ethical issues.”
determining how basic moral standards are arrived at • Applied ethics looks at controversial topics like
and justified. war, animal rights and capital punishment. In
• The most common examples of normative ethical applied ethics, using the conceptual tools of
theories are utilitarianism, deontology, metaethics and normative ethics, one tries to
consequentialism. resolve these controversial issues.
EXAMPLES OF APPLIED ETHICS

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Applied ethics refers to the practical application of moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world
actions and their moral considerations in the areas of private and public life, the professions, health, technology,
law, and leadership.
• Bioethics - Bioethics is the study of the ethical issues emerging from advances in biology and medicine. The
field of bioethics has addressed a broad swathe of human inquiry; ranging from debates over the
boundaries of life (e.g. abortion, euthanasia), surrogacy, the allocation of scarce health care resources
(e.g. organ donation, health care rationing), to the right to refuse medical care for religious or cultural
reasons. The scope of bioethics expanding with biotechnology, including cloning, gene therapy, life
extension, human genetic engineering, Astro ethics and life in space.
• Business Ethics - Business ethics refers to implementing appropriate business policies and practices with
regard to arguably controversial subjects. Some issues that come up in a discussion of ethics include
corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, social responsibility, and fiduciary
responsibilities.
o Its recent examples include Panama and Pandora papers which revealed how politicians and public
figures created offshore shell companies to hide money in tax havens.
• Environmental Ethics - Environmental Ethics deals with the ethical problems surrounding environmental
protection. It aims to provide ethical justification and moral motivation for the cause of global
environmental protection. Environmental ethics guides us for sustainable development, conservation of
biodiversity, mutual existence avoiding human-animal conflict, non-harming to animals etc
• International Ethics – It refers to upholding ethical values and application ethical principles in the
international relations. It directs us for making decisions and choices ethically in the international and global
sphere. International ethics helps to resolve some of the major international problems, issues, and provide
insight into international conflicts. It directs us in the direction of building an international community in
which every other community can actively and fruitfully participate and flourish.
o Recent examples – Refuge crisis across the world due to Conflict in Syria, Yemen, Congo, Myanmar
etc, Human Rights violations of Rohingya in Myanmar, Uyghurs in China - As of 2019, it was
estimated that Chinese authorities may have detained up to 1.5 million people, mostly Uyghurs.
• Media Ethics - Media ethics is concerned about the question of what is right or wrong, good or bad,
acceptable or unacceptable about the means and ways that the media collects and presents information
and news. Media ethics tries to prevent any monopoly over information diffusion; upholds pluralism
instead of the uniform gloss over media content that is typically brought on by authoritarian regimes;
maintains objectivity by providing different sides of an issue, which empowers audiences to formulate their
own judgments and increases levels of truthfulness in reporting.
o Recent TRP scandal involving some media houses/TV channels of rigging TRP via some of their
relationship managers, underscore the need of media ethics.
• Digital Media Ethics - Digital media ethics deals with the ethical problems and ethics issues of digital news
media. Ethical issues are emerging out of digital media Plagiarism, digitally altering images or video, Using
anonymous sources, Omnidirectional imaging, digital intrusion and violation of privacy, fake news &
rumours, deep fake etc.
• Artificial Intelligence ethics - According to the European Commission, ethics of AI focuses on the ethical
issues raised by the design, development, implementation, and use of AI. It involves issues like facial
recognition bias, prejudices etc.
o For ex many studies revealed discrimination against people of colour, women, and other minorities.

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Ethics guidelines for Trustworthy AI issued European Commission

1. Human agency and oversight - AI systems should both act as enablers to a democratic, flourishing and
equitable society by supporting the user’s agency, foster fundamental rights and allow for human oversight.
2. Technical robustness and safety - AI systems need to be resilient and secure.
3. Privacy & Data governance - Besides ensuring full respect for privacy and data protection, adequate data
governance mechanisms must also be ensured, considering the quality and integrity of the data, & ensuring
legitimized access to data.
4. Transparency - AI systems should be based upon the principle of explainability, encompass transparency
and communication of the elements involved: the data, the system and business models.
5. Diversity, non-discrimination and fairness - Involves avoidance of unfair bias, encompassing accessibility,
universal design and stakeholder participation throughout the lifecycle of AI systems apart from enabling
diversity and inclusion.
6. Societal and environmental wellbeing - AI systems should benefit all human beings, including future
generations. It must hence be ensured that they are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
7. Accountability - The requirement of accountability complements other requirements and is closely linked
to the principle of fairness.
NORMATIVE ETHICS THEORIES

Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is a form
of consequentialism.
• Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the
greatest number.
• Ex of Utilitarianism – Death sentence to terrorists – Killing other person is considered unethical in almost
all religions and its fundamental value which is taught us by our family and even in school, but as per
Utilitarian theory killing terrorist is ethical act because it would save lives of many innocent people and
ensures peace in the society and growth of nation.
Limitations
• It’s impossible to quantify, compare, or measure happiness or well-being.
• Utilitarianism ignores the welfare of minorities such as LGBQs communalities.
o For ex – if a particular act is enacted which is in interests of common people but at the same time
its impinging on rights of transgenders, Utilitarianism would defend it.
• It justifies ends even at the cost of means.
o For ex – stealing is unethical but if someone steals money to join a school or for health treatment
Utilitarianism considers it ethically correct action.
Deontology
• Deontology is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong. Deontology is often
associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws,
such as “Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t cheat.”
• Deontology is simple to apply. It just requires that people follow the rules and do their duty. This approach
tends to fit well with our natural intuition about what is or isn’t ethical.
• Unlike consequentialism, which judges actions by their results, deontology doesn’t require weighing the
costs and benefits of a situation. This avoids subjectivity and uncertainty because you only have to follow
set rules.
o Ex – As per the deontological approach a civil servant needs to follow the given rule and regulations
without thinking about the consequences.

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Limitations
• Rigidly following deontology can produce results that many people find unacceptable. For example,
suppose you’re a software engineer and learn that a nuclear missile is about to launch that might start a
war. You can hack the network and cancel the launch, but it’s against your professional code of ethics to
break into any software system without permission. Deontology advises not to violate this rule. However,
in letting the missile launch, thousands of people will die.
Virtue Ethics
• Virtue ethics is character-based approach to morality developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks. It
is the quest to understand and live a life of moral
Virtue and Vice
character.
• A virtue is a morally good disposition to think,
• Virtue ethics holds that an action is only right if it
feel, and act well in some domain of life. Similarly,
is an action that a virtuous person would carry out a vice is a morally bad disposition involving
in the same circumstances and a virtuous person thinking, feeling, and acting badly.
is a person who acts virtuously. • Virtues are not everyday habits; they
• According to Aristotle, by honing virtuous habits, are character traits, in the sense that they are
people will likely make the right choice when faced central to someone’s personality. A virtue is a
with ethical challenges. trait that makes its possessor a good person, and
a vice is one that makes its possessor a bad
• Virtue ethics helps us understand what it means to
person.
be a virtuous human being. And, it gives us a guide
for living life without giving us specific rules for resolving ethical dilemmas.
Limitations
• It doesn't provide a clear decision model for making moral decisions. No single & definitive answer to what
is to be done in moral dilemmas.
• Theory lacks focus when it comes to determining the types of actions that are morally acceptable and
permitted from the ones that should be avoided.
• Vast differences on what constitutes a virtue? Are the virtues the same for everyone? Different people,
cultures, & societies have different opinions on what counts as a virtue.
DETERMINANTS OF ETHICS
Following are factors/determinants which determines whether human action is good or bad, ethical or unethical,
just or unjust –
• Religion – Every religion in the world advocates ethical living and lay down some ethical principles or standards.
For example – Law of Karma in Hinduism, Golden rule in Christianity, charity and equality in Islam etc. The
source of religion-based ethics is attributed to the God. Ethics, however, cannot be confined to religion nor is
it the same as religion. For ex atheist person also can be an ethical. Also, Ethics differs religion to religion for ex
dowry or Purdah system are considered as a part of tradition and ethical but it can be unethical in the eyes of
other religion’s people, even within same religion many progressive people consider it unethical.
• Culture – Culture along with the ancient religious texts also influences the ethical principles of person. Culture
act as prescriptions for correct and moral behaviour. For ex – caring and respecting elders is considered ethical
in Indian culture.
• Society - In any society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical. But ethics is not doing
"whatever society accepts”. Standards of behaviour in society can deviate from what is ethical. An entire
society can become ethically corrupt. Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt society.

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• Law - law often incorporates ethical standards. But laws, can deviate from what is ethical, thus we cannot
equate ethics with the law.
o Ex – Good Smartian Law which ensures help to injured persons in accident also incorporates ethical
standards. Ex –Law in North Korea which prescribes capital punishment for a falling asleep in a
meeting while Kim Jong speaks is unethical. Similarly, Rowlett act during the British rule in India
was unethical.
• Family and Teachers – Any child is like a clean slate in the childhood. Its family and teachers play most important
role in shaping their attitude, behaviours, inculcating values in the children. But sometime children can deviate
from the family teachings.
• Conscience - Conscience is a person's moral sense of right and wrong, viewed as acting as a guide to one's
behaviour. The products of conscience are moral intuitions, which are the feelings that some acts are right and
others are wrong.
o For Ex- Gandhiji withdrew The Non-cooperation movement after the violence in Chauri Chaura
incident.
• Role Models – Role models also can influence ethical values of individuals.
o For ex – Lal Bahadur Shastri’s simplicity, honesty, integrity, compassionate behaviour appeals
followers even today.
• Constitution – Constitution provides broad principles that govern and limit what kinds of laws legislatures may
properly enact and what sorts of actions administrators can properly take. Fairness, Justice, equality, non-
discrimination, duty to protect environment are some ethical values provided in the Indian constitution.
• Judiciary – Judiciary also lays down ethical standards through the various judgements.
o For ex – In the Sabarimala temple case, The SC of India upheld right to equality and allowed women
to enter the temple and worship the deity.
CHALLENGES TO ETHICS
• Situation Ethics: It is the kind of approach to morality we might expect from an existentialist, who tends to
reject the very idea of human nature or any nature or essence.
• Moral Relativism & Moral Objectivism - Moral relativists are those who deny the existence of universal moral
principles. Whereas moral objectivism takes the position, that there are objective moral truths that some
actions are right for all people at all times and that others are wrong for all people at all times.
• Moral Subjectivism - Moral subjectivism argues that in the sphere of human behaviour what is true for one
individual is not true for everyone else or even for anyone else. In this view, right and wrong is a matter of
personal opinion. There is no way in which we can evaluate the views on moral questions held by people.
• Cultural & Ethical subjectivism - In one culture polygamy is viewed as right and moral; in another it is roundly
condemned. Sometimes within the same country or culture, there are splits: Some Indians disapprove of the
remarriage of widows, others have no problem with it.
• Psychological Egoism - It is a psychological theory according to which men are so constituted that they always
act in their selfish interest. It is not possible for them to act otherwise.
• Ethical Egoism - It is the view that people should in fact act according to their self-interest. This is a form of
hedonism which is a doctrine which proposes that one should maximise one’s happiness and minimise one’s
unhappiness.
• Doctrine of determinism – It holds that the decisions and actions of human beings are causally determined by
external forces. They have no free will; they cannot make conscious or deliberate moral choices. They cannot
choose between good and bad courses of action thus; they are not really responsible for their actions. Hence,
men cannot be morally held responsible for their actions.
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ETHICS – IN PRIVATE & PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS
Ethics in Private Relationships

• It refers to ethical values that a person follows/values in his/her personal life while dealing with various
relations such as family relations, friendship etc.
• There are not formal moral/ethical standards for private relationships, rather they are informal in nature
and varies with person to person.
• Following are some important values in private relationship.
o Care – caring means displaying kindness and concern for others, feeling loved and building strong
Relationships. Caring for others helps to develop empathy and strengthens the bonding, makes
another person responsible etc.
o Trust - Trust is that foundation upon which your relationship can survive the hardest of times. In
fact, without trust, you cannot sustain your relationship for a long time. Lack of trust is one of the
reasons for relationships to fall apart.
o Mutual Respect – It helps to remain compassionate, committed, truthful and honest. Makes
the relationship stronger and Treats each other equally.
o Tolerance and Acceptance- Tolerance is the level of ability that someone has to recognize
and respect other's values and differences. Being tolerant removes one's self-imposed
barriers and allows one to think more broadly and enjoy greater inner peace. Both Tolerance
and acceptance leads to less conflict and harmony in the society, especially in the country like
India where multiple religions, culture, ideologies exist.
• Ethics in private relationship are generally directed by individual virtues, universal human values, religion,
social norms and law of land.
Importance of ethics in private relationships
• Leads to living a good life - Enable individuals sail smoothly through the difficult time and lead a good life.
• Right decision making - Enable us to take right decisions especially in the situation of conflict of interest.
• Character development - Adherence to good values such as honesty, integrity, equality etc help in
character development.
• Ethical lessons for children - Ethical living in private relations especially within home influences the
behaviour of children, it works as first lessons of ethics for them.
• Acceptance in Public life - Ethics in personal relationship makes a personality more acceptable in public
life.
Ethics in Public Relationship
• Ethics in public relationship includes ethical values or moral standard followed by an individual in respect
of interactions and business dealings in his/her professional life. Ethics in public relationship are governed
by power.
• The core values such as advocacy, honesty, selflessness, expertise, openness, accountability, fairness etc
are necessary to guide human actions and are vital to the integrity of any profession.
• Any framework of ethical behaviour must include the following elements:
o Codifying ethical norms and practices.
o Disclosing personal interest to avoid conflict between public interest and personal gain.
o Creating a mechanism for enforcing the relevant codes.
o Providing norms for qualifying and disqualifying a public functionary from office.

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SIR M VISVESVARAYA
• Before accepting the position of Dewan of Mysore, he invited all his relatives for dinner. He told them
very clearly that he would accept the prestigious office on the condition that none of them would
approach him for favours. Such things are unheard of these days. It is said that he used to have 2 set of
candles. One privately purchased which he used for his private work and other, provided by the
government which he used only for the official work.
Lal Bahadur Shastri

• On a visit to a textile mill as Prime Minister, when the owner offered to gift him expensive sarees, Shastri
insisted on buying and paying for only those he could afford. He also had an undue promotion for his son
overturned. After the Ariyalur train accident in 1956, Shastriji tendered his resignation to the PM while
claiming the moral responsibility as a railway minister.
Nolan Committee: Seven principles in public life

The Committee on Standards in Public Life in the United Kingdom, popularly known as the Nolan Committee, has
outlined the following seven principles of public life.
1. Selflessness: Holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of public interest. They should
not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family or their friends.
Ex – Lal Bahadur Shastri, dedicated his life for the nation, he never took holiday when he was the PM. When
he died, he left only few rupees, a loan and things behind. Thus, he always believed in the Nation First and
lived so till the last breath.
2. Integrity: Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to
outside individuals or organizations that might influence them in the performance of their official duties.
Ex – U. Sagyam (civil servant from Tamil Nadu) - He has been transferred around 20 times in the 20 years
of his service. He is famous for fighting against corruption wherever he goes. He was also the first IAS officer
to make his assets public
3. Objectivity: In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts or
recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit.
Ex – Sam Manekshaw - One of the chief architects of India’s 1971 victory against Pakistan, Manekshaw is
most famously remembered for bluntly telling Prime Minister Indira Gandhi that the Indian Army wasn’t
ready for war in April 1971. Saying that his job was to fight to win, he asked for a few months’ time — a
request which Gandhi, to her credit, accepted. Manekshaw delivered India one of its swiftest and most
remarkable military victories.
4. Accountability: Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and
must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office. Ex – As Railway Minister under
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri tendered his resignation after a major railway
accident in Mahabubnagar, Andhra Pradesh, in August 1956 when 112 people died. Taking moral
responsibility and accountability, he resigned but Nehru persuaded him to do otherwise. By his actions,
Shastri set a high benchmark for public functionaries to be an accountable to the public.
5. Openness: Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions they
take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public
interest clearly demands. Ex- Vinod Rai, former CAG turned the office of CAG into a powerful force for
openness and transparency by unearthing 2G scam.

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6. Honesty: Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties
and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest. Ex- Ashok
Khemkha is known as crusader of honesty.
7. Leadership: Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by leadership and
example. Ex - Indira Gandhi, resisted all suggestions to remove her Sikh body guards after Operation Blue Star
as it would create communal divide. Despite all the investigating agencies in the country urging the late prime
minister to remove the two body guards from her security, she was reluctant as she felt the move might create
a communal divide.
These seven principles are most comprehensive statements of what constitutes ethical standards for holders of
public office and are of general applicability in every democracy.
Importance of Ethics in Public Relationship

• Moral Compass to resolve conflict of interest - Developing a moral compass for navigating ethical
dilemmas and resolve conflict of interest.
• Responsible advocacy and communications - Translating personal values into responsible advocacy and
communications.
• Social wellbeing - To sustain authority, develop and enhance confidence among people about the system,
and to accomplish social wellbeing of society.
• Effective and balanced decision making - Helps for more fair and balanced decision making.
• Credibility of the office/institution/organization - Ethical public relations call for upholding transparency
when dealing with any information, sensitive or not. Blurring fact and fiction can cause a serious rift in
credibility and tarnish a reputation of office/institution/organization.
• Trustworthy relationship with people - An organization can build solid relationships with different
stakeholders through trust, which can be gained by always opting for the ethical approach. Following
the Code of Ethics can help to build the much-desired trust between organizations and the public.
Relation Between Public and Private Ethics

• Public ethics and private ethics cannot be distinguished. Individuals in public life or private life are governed or
guided by similar ethical standards and values. Ethics promote virtuous life in both private and public life.
• Generally, a person who is ethical in his personal relationships is also a ethical in public life. For ex – a person
who is respectful towards women and believes in gender equality in his personal life may treat his
wife/daughter/colleagues without any gender bias.
• Similarly, a person who is unethical in his public life can hardly be expected to be ethical in his private life. For
ex – Misogynistic person in public life is likely to show his similar conservative behaviour in his personal
relationships.
• Ethics in public and private relationships are not in conflict with each other. Both of them conform, shape and
reinforce each other.
Conclusion
• There is need for ethics in every profession, voluntary organization and civil society structure as these entities
are now vitally involved in the process of governance. Finally, there should be ethics in citizen behaviour
because such behaviour impinges directly on ethics in government and administration.

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MORALS
Morals
• Morals are the social, cultural and religious beliefs or values of an individual or group which tells us what is right
or wrong. They are the rules and standards
made by the society or culture which is to be Constitutional Morality
followed by us while deciding what is right. Ex • Constitutional Morality means adherence to or being
- Do not cheat, always tell the truth etc. faithful to bottom line principles of the constitutional
values. It includes commitment to inclusive and
• Moral refers to what societies sanction as
democratic political process in which both individual
right and acceptable. Most people tend to act
and collective interests are satisfied.
morally and follow societal guidelines. People • Constitutional morality is the soul of the constitution
or entities that are indifferent to right and which is to be found in the preamble of the
wrong are considered amoral, while those constitution.
who do evil acts are considered immoral. • The major elements of the constitutional morality in
• Morals are the principles that guide individual the context of Indian constitution are – Rule of law,
right to equality, rule of law, social justice, unity and
conduct within society. And, while morals may
integrity of nation, social justice, secularism, individual
change over time, they remain the standards liberty and freedom of expression etc.
of behaviour that we use to judge right and • The SC had relied on constitutional morality to
wrong. allow entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala
temple under a 4-1 majority verdict. In the Navtej
Why be moral? Singh Johar vs Union of India the SC struck down the
• Attainment of what is best for a person - In archaic provision of Section 377 and upheld
every human person there is a deep desire for constitutional morality.
good. Each man/woman desires what is best
for himself/herself. The ethical principles and moral practices help one to attain what is best. It helps a person
to perfect himself/herself as a moral being.
• Helps to live a better life - Morality is a lot like nutrition. While nutrition focuses on our physical health, morality
is concerned about our moral health. It seeks to help us determine what will nourish our moral life and what
will poison it. It seeks to enhance our lives, to help us to live better lives.
• Broader consensus - Morality aims to provide us with a common point of view from which we can come to
agreement about what all of us ought to do. It tries to discover a more objective standpoint of evaluation than
that of purely personal preference.
• Morals leads to Stability of society – Morality helps to wear out differences between individuals and various
groups by promoting tolerance and acceptance of different viewpoints/ideologies etc It results into harmonious
relations between difference sections of society. Thereby morality reduces conflict and ensures peace and
stability in the society.
• Morals and ethics form grounds of laws – Laws often includes prevailing standards of ethics and morality in
the society. Based on society’s ethics, laws are created and enforced by governments to mediate our
relationships with each other, and to protect its citizens.
Differences between Ethics & Morals

• Ethics and morals relate to “right” and “wrong” conduct. While they are sometimes used interchangeably, they
are different: ethics refer to rules provided by an external source, e.g., codes of conduct in workplaces or
principles in religions. Morals refer to an individual’s own principles regarding right and wrong.
Ethics Morals

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Origin • Greek word "ethos" meaning "character". • Latin word "Mos" meaning "custom".
What they are? • The rules of conduct recognized in respect • Principles or habits with respect to right
to a particular class of human actions or a or wrong conduct. While morals also
particular group or culture. prescribe dos and don'ts, morality is
ultimately a personal compass of right
and wrong.
Where do they • Social system – External • Individual – Internal
come from?
Flexibility • Ethics are dependent on others for • Usually consistent, although can change
definition. They tend to be consistent if an individual’s beliefs change. For ex -
within a certain context, but can vary views of homosexuality, cross cousins
between contexts. marriage changes individual to
• Ethics largely stays universal for ex - truth, individual.
compassion, non-violence etc
Acceptance • Ethics are governed by professional and • Morality connects with cultural norms.
legal guidelines within a particular time
and place.
• Morals often describes one's particular values concerning what is right and what is wrong. While ETHICS can
refer broadly to moral principles, one often sees it applied to questions of correct behaviour within a
relatively narrow area of activity. Both morality and ethics loosely have to do with distinguishing the difference
between “good and bad” or “right and wrong.
HUMAN VALUES
Human Values
• Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of actions or outcomes. As
such, values reflect a person's sense of right and wrong or what "ought" to be.
• Values are individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another. These values can be
ethical/moral values, religious values, political values, social or aesthetic values etc.
• Generally, people are predisposed to adopt the values that they are raised with. People also tend to believe
that those values are “right” because they are the values of their particular culture.
• Ethical decision-making often involves weighing values against each other and choosing which values to
elevate. Conflicts can result when people have different values, leading to a clash of preferences and
priorities.
• Values are not born in nature. They are acquired and inculcated. The family, it's environment and traditions
play an important role in value development.
Types of values
• Relative and Absolute values - Relative values differ between people, and on a larger scale, between
people of different cultures for ex- materialistic values are individual specific and society specific. An
absolute value can be described as philosophically absolute and independent of individual and cultural
views, as well as independent of whether it is known or apprehended or not. For ex – non-violence, equality,
non-discrimination etc.

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• Protected values - A protected value is one that an individual is unwilling to trade off no matter what the
benefits of doing so may be. For example, some people may be unwilling to kill another person, even if it
means saving many other individuals.
• Sacred Values - Some values are considered sacred and are Constitutional Values
moral imperatives for those who believe in them. Sacred values • Justice, Liberty, Equality, Non-
will seldom be compromised because they are perceived as discrimination, secularism,
tolerance, fraternity, compassion
duties. For example, for some people, their nation’s flag may
towards weaker sections etc
represent a sacred value. But for others, the flag may just be a
piece of cloth.
• Intrinsic & Extrinsic Values - The intrinsic value is the value “in itself,” or “for its own sake,” or “in its own
right.” Examples of intrinsic values - love, truth, and freedom. Extrinsic value is the value of
something based on such things as appearance or what it could be sold for, which may not be its real value.
Ex – wealth, Fame etc
• Personal & Community Values - The values that are prescribed by the individual alone, irrespective of his
or her social relationships, are termed as personal values — e.g., Dignity of Labour, Sensitivity, Cleanliness,
Politeness, Honesty, etc. The values which are regarded in the whole community are called community
values. Ex – caring & respecting elders.
Importance of Values
• Guides Human Behaviour - Values are the principles and fundamental convictions which act as general
guide to behaviour. Values tend to influence attitudes and behaviour.
• driving force in ethical decision-making - Values are universally recognized as a driving force in ethical
decision-making. They are the basis of their intentional activities and influence the choices made by an
individual.
• Internal reference for good living - Personal values provide an internal reference for what is good,
beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable and constructive.
• Differentiate what is right and wrong - All values are effective, cognitive and directional aspects, they guide
us shape our priorities in deciding what is right and wrong.
• Promotes Peace and stability - Human values are a tool to manage human relations and a tool for
peace when the tension is high. Values permit us to live together in harmony, and personally contribute to
peace.
ROLE OF FAMILY IN VALUE INCULCATING

• First school of value learning for children - Values are generally received through cultural means, especially
diffusion and transmission or socialization from parents to children. Family and parents act a first school of
value learning for children. Values such as honesty, truth are passed on to children by them. In the Indian
traditional families’ grandparents often tells ethical/moral stories from religious texts such as Mahabharat
& Ramayana to the children. Further they share life experiences and life lessons with them. Thus, children
learn first lessons of values from them.
• Role Model for Children - Parents and family members are role model for children and they often imitate
actions, behaviour of them. For ex – If a father beats his/her mother then child is likely to develop a similar
value about women, whereas if family members treat women equally and respect them, children also are
likely to do same in the future.
• Both constructive and Destructive role - Family can play both constructive and destructive role in
inculcating values in children. Ex. of constructive role – action of helping senior citizens or blind persons to
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cross the road stems from the value of respecting elders, taught by parents in the childhood. Ex. of
destructive role - In our country, most of the people learns and develop sense about caste system in the
childhood in their families.
• Change in values taught by the parents - Another trend we can notice is change in values taught by the
parents. They are focusing more on competition rather than cooperation, on individualism rather than
family and collectivism, on consumerism rather than gratification and sacrifice.
• Divergence between Family and individual values - In the recent time due to disintegration of traditional
families, necessity of working of both parents, technological explosion, peer influence, the role of family as
a first value provider is declining. Further due to education, critical thinking, media, awareness, children
may discard and deviate from the family values.
ROLE OF EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN VALUE INCULCATING

• Important role in inculcating a good value system - Imparting values is the primary responsibility of
parents. But teachers and schools also play a big role in
• "If a man carefully cultivates values in his
it as Students spend more time in the school and conduct, he may still err a little but he
colleges. It is in schools and later in the colleges that won't be far from the standard of truth."
students learn how to behave in the society. - Confucius
• Education is the most powerful agent of inculcating • “Education without values, as useful as it
human values - Education is capable of developing is, seems rather to make man a cleverer
strong and abiding values. At all times, education has devil.” - C.S. Lewis
built on value-system, conducive to the development of
physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual life.
• Overall personality development - Education plays important role in Inculcating compassion, truth, mutual
coexistence between diff culture, team spirit, courage, empathy through visits to old age home, unity in
diversity, constitutional morality, lessons from philosophers like Gandhi.

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Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s quotes on education/teachers

“The aim of the teacher should be to build character; human values enhance the learning capacity of children
through technology and build the confidence among children to be innovative and creative which in turn will
make them competitive to face the future."
“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there ar three key
societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.”
Recommendations for value education

• Value-based education - Value education must be integral to the whole process of education. Education
should mould the personality of an individual. Education should be a light of knowledge which should lead
the world in a right path. Basic human values need to be • “A serious defect in the school
encouraged in the classroom teaching. system is the absence of
• Deconstructing wrong values - Apart from inculcating values, provision for education in
educational institutions and teachers can play important role in social, moral and spiritual
deconstructing wrong values learned by the students. For ex – values”. - Kothari Commission
gender bias, hatred, communalism or casteism learned by (1964-66)
• “Every effort must be made
students can be deconstructed inculcating rational approach.
therefore to teach students
• Teachers as a role model for students – After home students true moral values from the
spends a lot of time in schools, thus Like parents, teachers are earliest stage of their
also role models for their students. Hence teachers also can educational life”. - Sri Prakasha
directly or indirectly inculcate moral values in students by Committee on Religious and
practising those values. A Teacher has to set a high standard of Moral Instruction
moral behaviour before the child. The teacher is expected to
function not only as facilitator for acquisition of knowledge but also as inculcator of values and transformer
of inner being.
• Playful learning for inculcating values - Teacher educator can involve students in active games in the
classroom to inculcate the values of fair play, honesty, courage, cooperation; respect and love are best
learnt through interaction with peers having diverse cultural, ethnic and personality traits among teacher
trainees.
• The National Institute of Educational Research of Japan has figured out twelve moral values to inculcate
in students.
o Caring for others; Concern for the welfare of the society, Nation and the international community;
Concern for the environment; Concern for cultural heritage; Self-esteem and self-reliance; Social
responsibility; Spirituality; Peaceful conflict resolution; Equality; Justice; Truth and freedom.
• “Psychology of the child and curriculum” published by NCERT 1983 has listed the following important moral
qualities which need to be developed in children.
o Honesty in words and deeds
o Truthfulness
o Self-respect and a desire to respect others
ROLE OF SOCIETY
o Self Control
• The society is a place of informal learning that guarantees inheritance to its members. It caresses the child with
o Duty - Consciousness Comparison
love and sense of possessiveness and the child learns to value the social patterns and its philosophy.
• The social tradition carries values of intimacy, language, love, equality, wishes to live, action, conduct, morality,
unity, attachment and jealousy. These are the obvious traits, which a child borrows from the members of the
society.

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• The child encounters with many behavioural patterns and makes common causes with the peer groups; learns
the value of neighbourhood, unity in diversity, service to man is the service to God, co-operation and virtues
comprehensively.
• The school is an important receiver to the society. It helps the member in choosing and distinguishing the values
for which the nation aspires to achieve- democracy, socialism and secularism.
• Aesthetic senses, neighbourly relationship, emotional quotient and spiritual values are swiftly declining. The
national goals, democracy, socialism and secularism are side-tracked. Thus, the role of school, society and the
teacher need to be assigned afresh in the inculcation of values.
Constructive role of society – Society can play an important role in development of individual’s personality. By
widely upholding ethical values it can encourage individuals to be an ethical. For example, community serving
during COVID, Langar (food serving) in Gurudwara strengthens the ethics in the society.
Destructive role of society – Similarly society may play a deciding role in developing a crime as a sub cultural
phenomenon. If it does not disapprove the unethical behaviors/acts, it may lower the standards of ethics in the
society and it may result into increase in criminal activities. For ex- supporting extra judicial killings/encounters
for fast justice paves way for mob lynchings.
REASONS FOR EROSION OF VALUES

• Materialism - Twenty first century witnesses’ maximum erosion in individual, social, national, moral, ethical
and spiritual values. Growing obsession with materialistic gains
coupled with rapid commercialisation is eroding values and ethics in Examples of Value Erosion
society. • Vaccine hoarding & booking
• Vacuum in the social cohesion and stability - The vested interests, beds in advance without need
during the COVID pandemic.
terrorism, disruption and access attachment to worldly life have
• Chinese expansionism
created vacuum in the social cohesion and stability. Values are thus
• Fake news and sensationalism
affected and eroded gradually. • Drug Abuse
• Moral degradation - The growing cynicism, gulf between rights and • Disrespecting elders and
duties, materialistic tendency, moral degradation and violence have women
affected the powers of man’s wisdom. • Greenwashing
• The failure of religious leaders - Authorities tend to ignore
environmental issues linked with religion, fearing that they might hurt the religious sentiments. In the
September 1998 incident in Vadodara, the officials and the authorities reportedly shied away from the problem
because the issue had to do with religion.
• Post truth era - In the post-truth era, publication/promotion of false results, their dissemination via new
social media is also diminishing the importance of values.
• Disappearing sources of values – Disintegration traditional joint families, promotion of bigotry, unworthy
rituals, dissemination of communal ideas in the name of religion are the some reasons for the disappearing
sources of values and eroding values in the society.
• Social media and its evil – Misuse of social media platforms, propagation of fake news, deep fake are spread
through social media and is among the reason for erosion of values.
• By standers apathy - The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from
intervening in an emergency situation. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is for any one of
them to provide help to a person in distress.
• The decline in values has led to increased greed and corruption, exploitation and degradation of the
environment. It is thus important to contain erosion and distortion of social values. Chasing for materialistic

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achievements only will not be sustainable in the long-run. Without human dignity and social harmony, higher
economic growth can't bring peace and prosperity.
Conclusion
Values and value education have become a concern for parents, teachers and society at large. For the development
of any society or nation, values play a very important role because values are guiding principles that shapes our
world outlook, conduct and attitudes. The values such as truth, love, non-violence, honesty, punctuality, integrity,
self-discipline, equality, courage, cleanliness, democratic, self-reliance is required to be inculcated in the young
mind. These values are required not only in personality development of an individual but it is a key factor for the
survival of entire humanity.
Conclusion to whole chapter

• Today, more than ever, the importance of ethics is felt in every sphere of human living. The situation in the
present world is characterised by an increasing rate in crime, violence, conflict etc. Along with it, the power
of traditional religions to inspire moral conduct continues to decline. Terrorism, civil wars, environmental
pollution, misleading advertising, unfair wages, illegal gambling, forced prostitution, match-fixing so many
are plaguing the society. There seems to be hardly a few areas in life remain untouched by growing
demoralization. Thus, the relevance and need of ethics is felt more than ever in our society today.
Previous year question on this topic

• Discuss the role of ethics and values in enhancing the following three major components of
Comprehensive National Power (CNP) viz. human capital, soft power (culture and policies) and social
harmony. - 2020
• “Education is not an injunction; it is an effective and pervasive tool for all round development of an
individual and social transformation”. Examine the New Education Policy, 2020 (NEP, 2020) in light of the
above statement. - 2020
• Distinguish between laws and rules. Discuss the role of ethics in formulating them. - 2020
• What are the basic principles of public life? Illustrate any three of these with suitable examples.
(150words) – 2019
• What is meant by the term ‘constitutional morality’? How does one uphold constitutional morality? -
2019
• State the three basic values, universal in nature, in the context of civil service and bring out their
importance. (150 words) – 2018
• What is meant by public interest? What are principles and procedures to be followed by the civil servants
in public interest? (150 words) – 2018
• With regard to morality of actions, one view is that means are of paramount importance and the other
view is that the ends justify the means. Which view do you think is more appropriate? Justify your
answer. – 2018
• The crisis of ethical values in modern times is traced to a narrow perception of the good life. Discuss. –
2017
• Explain how ethics contributes to social and human well-being. – 2016
• Law and ethics are considered to be the two tools for controlling human conduct so as to make it
conductive to civilized social existence.
o Discuss how they achieve this objective.
o Giving examples, show how the two differ in their approaches. - 2016

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KEY TERMS & THEIR MEANINGS
• Moral muteness - Moral muteness occurs when people witness unethical behavior and choose not to say
anything. It can also occur when people communicate in ways that obscure their moral beliefs and
commitments.
• Moral Myopia - Moral myopia refers to the inability to see ethical issues clearly.The term, coined by
Minette Drumwright and Patrick Murphy, describes what happens when we do not recognize the moral
implications of a problem or we have a distorted moral vision. An extreme version of moral myopia is called
moral blindness.
• Cognitive Bias - People generally believe that they are mostly rational in their thinking, decisions, and
actions. But even the smartest and best educated people often commit cognitive errors as they make
financial, medical, personal and ethical decisions. These errors in thinking, also called cognitive bias, affect
all people in virtually every situation.
• Bounded ethicality - Bounded ethicality is the idea that our ability to make ethical choices is often limited
or restricted because of internal and external pressures. For example, outside pressures, such as the
tendency to conform to the actions of those around us, can make it hard to do the right thing. So can
internal biases, such as the self-serving bias, which often causes us to subconsciously favor ourselves at the
expense of others.

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• Conformity bias - The conformity bias is the tendency people have to behave like those around them rather
than using their own personal judgment. For ex- When we see others succeed by cheating, it makes us
more likely to cheat as well.
• Ethical Fading - Ethical fading occurs when the ethical aspects of a decision disappear from view. This
happens when people focus heavily on some other aspect of a decision, such as profitability or winning.
• Moral cognition – It is the study of the brain’s role in moral judgment and decision-making. As a social
science, it involves understanding the rationalizations and biases that affect moral decision-making. Moral
cognition also involves the scientific study of the brain that is evolving along with technology.
• Role morality – It is the notion that people sometimes fail to live up to their own ethical standards because
they see themselves as playing a certain role that excuses them from those standards. For example, say a
person views herself as a loyal employee of a company. In that role, she might act unethically to benefit
her employer in ways that she would never do to help herself.
• Moral absolutism - Moral absolutism asserts that there are certain universal moral principles by which all
peoples’ actions may be judged. It is a form of deontology.

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ATTITUDE
Attitude is an evaluation people make towards persons, objects, ideas or events. For eg., attitude of
reverence towards religion makes one to follow its doctrine.
“Attitude is a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree
of favour or disfavour.”
-Eagly and Chaiken
CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTITUDE
➢ Learnt- it is learned and is not innate.
➢ Abstract construction- is a tendency to evaluate things in a certain way.
➢ Form of expression- is an expression of favour or disfavour towards a person, place, thing or event.
➢ Not constant- can vary from time to time.
➢ Example- In a patriarchal society, a child (Harsh) learns from his family and society that females
are inferior to males. Harsh gets married and begets one daughter and a son. Since his resources
are limited, the abstract construction towards his daughter is to get her admitted in a government
school (form of expression) while he gets his son admitted in a private school. But when he learns
that girls are equally capable and are earning in various jobs, he changes his attitude and gave
equal opportunities to both her son and daughter.
Influence of attitude on behaviour
• Attitude is defined as tendencies to behave in certain ways in social situations.
• But most recent researchers have found that not always people behave according to their attitude
i.e there is mismatch between attitude and expected behaviour.
FACTORS WHICH DETERMINE THE DEGREE OF INFLUENCE OF ATTITUDE ON BEHAVIOUR ARE:

• True Vs Expressed attitude: An expressed attitude may not be a person’s true attitude because of
the influence of other factors.
• Example- people in India may have negative attitude towards China but still they buy
Chinese products as they are cheap.
• One Instance Vs Aggregate: An individual act may be different from aggregate behaviour.
• Example-A mother who is usually nice to her children may become rude sometimes.
• Attitude Behaviour specificity: Attitudes can be general or specific.
• For eg, attitude of a student towards all the teachers in the school is general attitude and
attitude towards science teacher is specific attitude.
• For specific attitude, specific behaviour can be predicted.
• Self-awareness: If a person is not aware of his attitudes, attitude will influence the behaviour more
intensely. But, if a person is aware of his attitudes, he may be conscious of it and try to hide his
behaviour.
• Attitude strength: Stronger attitudes influence behaviour more intensely. Attitudes formed
through personal experience are stronger.
• Attitude accessibility: The more accessible attitudes directly influence behaviours.
• Attitude formation: Formed by own experience or by other sources.

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CATEGORIES OF ATTITUDE
Explicit attitude and implicit attitude

Explicit attitude Implicit attitude
A person is aware of his attitudes. A person in unaware of implicit beliefs.
It is formed consciously. It is subconscious attitude.
It is less spontaneous. It is more spontaneous.
It reflects values, beliefs and desired responses. It reflects experiences based on social conditioning.
Example- positive attitude towards a product Example- positive attitude towards products used by
because it was manufactured in an environment parents during childhood days.
friendly manner.
Opinion and attitude

Opinion Attitude
It is the expression of judgement. It is predisposition to act in a certain way.
It is restricted to verbal expression -spoken or Attitude is inferred from both verbal & non-verbal
written. expressions.
Example- An author expressing positive opinion Example- The author having positive attitude about
on democracy through an article. democracy by studying various forms of government.
Belief and attitude

Belief Attitude
It is an idea that a person holds as true. It is a mental disposition that result in a particular
behaviour.
It can arise from past experience, cultural & It arises out of values and beliefs, we hold internally.
societal norms or education.
Changing belief can change attitude. Changing attitude can also lead to change in belief.
Example- A person may have belief in a Example- The person will regularly pay obeisance to
particular God. that God.
Value and Attitude

Value Attitude
It helps to guide our behaviour. It is the response that is the result of our values.
It helps in deciding what is right and wrong. It is our likes, dislikes for things, people and objects.
It is derived from social and cultural conventions. It is more of personal experience.
Example- A civil servant possessing the value of Example- The civil servant will have positive attitude
openness. towards RTI act.

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Flow diagram showing relation between:

belief, emotions, behaviour and attitude.
STRUCTURE/COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE
Attitude has three components viz.
Cognitive, Affective and Behavioural,
generally called CAB.
Cognitive
✓ It consists of thoughts and beliefs
based on information about
attitude object (things, people,
object).
✓ It relates to the process of
acquiring knowledge through
reason, intuition and perception.
✓ Judgement or opinion is formed
on the basis of available
information.
Affective
✓ It refers to feelings or emotions like fear, hate, pleasure etc.
✓ It is a common component in attitude change, persuasion, social influence and decision making.
Behavioural
✓ It consists of the manner in which attitude influences a person’s behaviour.
✓ It is the predisposition to act in a certain manner.
• Example- A fresh college graduate is inspired by a movie showing the challenges and opportunities of
an IPS officer. He aspired to become such an officer to improve law and order situation. Finally, he
decided to prepare for the examination to get into the service.
In the given example, the cognitive component is the knowledge about the service. The affective
component is the positive feeling of becoming an officer and finally the behavioural component is the act
of preparing for the exam.
• Example- Portugal’s football player Ronaldo sat down for his first pre-match press conference of the
tournament before Portugal's clash with Hungary, and noticed that two bottles of Coca-Cola were
sitting directly in front of him. He promptly removed the soft drinks from the view of the cameras and
replaced them with a water bottle.
In the given example, the cognitive component is the knowledge of Ronaldo that Coca Cola is bad for
health. The affective component is the feeing of disgust towards Coca Cola and behavioural component
is the removal of the Coca Cola bottles. It is also seen in the case of Ronaldo that all the three components
of attitude are in sync and as such his dedication is reflected in his behaviour.

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FORMATION OF ATTITUDE
The following theories are used to explain the formation of attitude.

1. Classical or Pavlovian conditioning: It involves pairing a previously neutral stimulus with an
unconditioned stimulus to elicit conditioned response. Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning
a) He paired previously neutral stimulus (sound of bell, which did not elicit any response from
dogs) with unconditioned stimulus (dog’s food) to elicit conditioned response in dogs. Because
of conditioned response, dogs produced saliva just by ringing bells.
b) Example- citizens develop positive attitude towards civil servants who consistently works for
the betterment of people.
2. Instrumental conditioning: According to this theory, positive outcomes strengthen behaviours while
negative outcome supresses them.
a. Example- a person who is continuously ostracized for smoking, eventually will quit smoking by
developing negative attitude towards it.
3. Observational learning: This theory says that a person modifies his behaviour/thought by observing
the rewards or punishments that others get.
a. Example – best employee awards are given in companies so as to change the attitude of the
employees.
4. Genetic factors: It plays important role in shaping some attitudes than others.
a. Example- preference for certain food is more influenced by genetic factors.
Relationship between attitude and behaviour

Our behaviour is not always determined by the attitude we possess.
1. Attitude strength: Attitudes differ in strength. Attitude strength involves dimensions such as
certainty, intensity & extremity, attitude origin etc. Strong attitude is often related to important
values.
a. Example- a person with strong attitude against open defecation will always use personal
latrine while a person with weak or negative attitude may sometimes avoid it.
2. Attitude accessibility: It is the ease with which attitude can be retrieved from memory. Attitudes that
are more accessible are better predictive of behaviour.
a. Example- civil servants are prescribed to visit field frequently, so that attitude towards the
weaker section is easily accessible. Oath taking ceremonies are conducted for the public
representatives to make attitude more accessible.
3. Attitude ambivalence: It means that attitude towards attitude object can be often mixed. It consists
of both positive and negative reactions.
a. Example- a person may have ambivalent attitude towards his MLA because the MLA’s efforts
had led to development works but at the same time the MLA is facing corruption charges.
FUNCTIONS OF ATTITUDE
Following are the main functions of attitude.
1. Utilitarian/Instrumental function: Utilitarian attitude leads to behaviour that optimizes one’s
interest. Positive attitude towards objects that are associated with rewards and negative attitude
towards those associated with punishment.

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a. Example- Awards such as Bharat Ratna, Padma Bhusan, Padma Vibhusan etc are bestowed by
the government to develop positive attitude in the citizens towards their respective works and
social service.
2. Knowledge function: It enables one to understand the environment and be consistent in one’s ideas
and thinking.
a. Example- a person avoids visiting countries like Syria as he has knowledge that his life will be
in danger there.
3. Ego defensive function: It protects an individual from acknowledging the basic truths about himself
or harsh realities of life. It helps an individual to psychologically isolate him from groups perceived as
hostile or threatening.
a. Example-as civil servant appealing to villagers that as loving fathers (ego defensive) they
should not expose their daughters to the ill effects of early marriage.
4. Value expressive function: It helps to demonstrate one’s self-image to others. It expresses our basic
values. It helps in securing social approval for an individual
a. Example- standing in solidarity with victims of injustice (even if one is not directly related to it)
serves the value expressive function.
5. Social identity function: It helps in displaying the information of attitude of an individual to others.
a. Example- celebrating Independence Day demonstrates the patriotic image to others.
MORAL ATTITUDE
• It is based on the moral conviction of what is right and wrong. It is associated with strong emotions.
• Activities like altruism, volunteerism, social service etc emanates from moral attitude.
• On the negative side, moral attitude can be used to justify violent acts of terrorism.
• It is shaped by family, society, religion, education etc.
• Examples – Positive attitude for honour killing is justified on the grounds of saving pride of the
family.
• Positive attitude towards live-in relationship is justified on the grounds of individuality and
freedom.
Qualities of moral attitude
Moral attitude is neither permanent nor universal. There are many factors which shape moral attitude.
They are:
1. Reverence: It is the attitude of great respect towards other. It is important in realizing justice
towards others, in consideration for the rights of another, in limiting one’s lust for power.
2. Faithfulness: It is the virtue of remaining loyal to someone or something and putting this loyalty
into consistent practice. The more faithful and consistent a person is, the more substantial he is.
3. Veracity: It implies truthfulness, fidelity or constancy and the awareness of responsibility. A person
who lacks truthfulness is crippled in his personality.
4. Goodness: It flows from conscious response of love. It is the basic attitude which helps in practising
benevolence and generosity.
SOCIAL ATTITUDE
• It is behaviour pattern, a conditioned response or anticipatory tendency towards a social stimulus.
• Example- attitude of mainstream society towards the LGBTQ community.
Attitude towards the weaker sections
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• A positive attitude towards poverty, deprivation, discrimination etc implies empathy and caring
nature of the person
• It signifies compassion towards the weaker and marginalised section.
Significance for civil servant
• Compassionate attitude towards the weaker section is a desirable characteristic in a civil servant
as they exercise immense power for the betterment of marginalised section.
• Tolerance is yet another essential requirement in a civil servant to meet the needs of weaker
sections.
• He must be aware of the fundamental rights of the citizens, especially the marginalised.
• He should work in the spirit of Sarvoday through Antyodaya.
• He must develop a proactive attitude of empathy towards the weaker sections.
• He should avoid the risks of stereotyping individuals and harbouring prejudices.
• Example- IAS officer Amit Gupta’s initiative daliya jalao helped in the elimination of manual
scavenging in Badaun district of UP.
PREJUDICE
▪ It involves prejudgements that are usually negative about members of group.
▪ It is baseless and often negative attitude towards members of group. It has strong influence on
how people behave.
▪ People holding prejudicial attitude paints every member of the group as same. It often translates
into discrimination.
▪ Examples: Prejudice that women can’t drive, Dalits don’t have merit, tribals are unhygienic etc.
How to counter prejudice?
• Cause and source of the prejudice should be found out.
• Opportunities for learning prejudices should be minimised.
• Emphasize on considering broader social identity than narrow social identity. For eg, we should
consider ourselves first an Indian and then belonging to particular state or region.
• Tendency towards negative behaviour among the victims of prejudice should be discouraged.
• Increasing inter-group contact to remove mistrust. Eg., community gatherings are held to instil
fraternity among different groups.
• Education and information dissemination.
Difference between prejudice and stereotype
Stereotype Prejudice
It is a thought about a person or group of people. It is attitude and feelings about a person or
group.
It is both positive and negative. It is negative attitude.
Example- Stereotype about Indian community in Example- Prejudice against the black community
America that they are intelligent and good in maths. in America that they are drug addict.

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POLITICAL ATTITUDE
➢ It refers to the attitude of a person or group towards persons/institutions/events/issues related
to political ideology.
➢ It is important as people examine issues with particular angle because of their ideological
predisposition.
Traits which influence our political orientation are:
1. Extraversion: It is the energetic approach to social and material world. It includes traits such as
sociability, activity, assertiveness & positive emotionality.
2. Agreeableness: It is a pro social trait. It includes traits such as altruism, tender-mindedness, trust
and modesty.
3. Conscientiousness: It facilitates task and goal-oriented behaviour such as thinking before acting,
following norms & rules, planning, organising etc.
4. Emotional stability: It implies even temperedness
5. Openness to experience: It describes breadth, depth, originality and complexity of an individual’s
experiential life.
Factors which affect our political ideologies are:
1. Religion: Religion shapes the moral attitude which in turn shapes our political attitude.
a. Example- khilafat movement in pre-independence India.
2. Age: In the general sense older people are conservative and young people are liberal and as such
subscribe to particular ideology.
a. Example- Young people are more likely to back political parties who support individuality
and freedom.
3. Economic status: Poor people align towards socialistic ideology and rich people align towards
capitalistic ideology.
a. Example- Poor people are more likely to vote for parties who promise them subsidised
food, healthcare, education etc
4. Family: Children tend to emulate their parent’s ideology.
5. Education: School’s ideology and syllabus plays an important role in shaping the ideology of
students.
a. Example- Chinese system of education supports communist ideology and hence they
loathe democratic countries.
6. Caste: A person is likely to adopt the ideology which is supported by his caste.
a. Example, elections in India are still fought on caste lines. A political is more likely to give
ticket to a candidate belonging to a caste which has majority in a given constituency.
7. Ethnicity: People are often moved the political ideology which supports their ethnicity.
a. Example- Parties like DMK, Siromani Akali Dal etc base their political ideology on ethnicity.
8. Social media: In the age of IT, social media has become a prominent tool of propaganda influencing
the political ideologies of the people.
Significance of political attitude
• It determines how people participate in the political process, whom they vote for and what
political parties they support.
• It represents a part of moral attitude.
• It determines the system of values in the society.

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Major types of political ideology

1. Anarchism: It is against all forms of authority and rejects forceful notions of hierarchy. It calls for
abolition of state, which it holds to be unnecessary and harmful.
2. Authoritarianism: It rejects political pluralism. It employs strong central power to preserve its
political status.
3. Communism: The main objective of communists is the formation of society where there is
common ownership and means of production are owned by the common masses without the
presence of social classes. It is based on Marxist theory.
4. Conservatism: Conservatives feel that men are neither good nor rational. They think that
traditional political and cultural institutions are needed to curb men’s base and destructive
instincts. They feel that social welfare policies are making the recipients dependent upon
government.
5. Liberalism: Liberals aim at protecting and increasing individual’s freedom. They fear government’s
overreach and hence seeks to restrict government’s power. Based on the right of individual choice,
liberals promote contraception, divorce, abortion and homosexuality.
6. Fascism and Nazism: It is characterized by authoritarianism, ultranationalism, forcible suppression
of opposition, rigidity of society and economy. Nazism is a form of fascism with disdain for liberal
and parliamentary democracy.
7. Environmentalism: It is concerned with environment protection and improvement of ecology so
that both humans and animals can live peacefully in their environment.
8. Feminism: It aims to establish political, economic, personal and social equality of the genders.
BEHAVIOUR IN INDIAN SOCIETY

It is said that behaviour in Indian society is difficult to change. It is due to the following reasons:
1. Rigid beliefs and practices- These practices have been shaped over centuries and as such are
difficult to change. For eg, toilets are not constructed in the house as it is considered clean.
2. Cultural evil has perpetuated the hierarchical system.
3. Stereotypes and prejudices- such as subjugation of women in the family.
4. Lack of emotional connect with the government- creates a barrier between the government and
the citizens, as such citizens resist change.
Changing behaviour to make government programs successful. What needs to be done?

Following can be done for changing behaviour of Indian people.
o Cultural and societal conventions must be used in the campaign- For eg, for successful
implementation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, reference to our scriptures can be taken where
women are worshipped as embodiment of shakti.
o Reflection sessions- where government agents can pre-commit people to certain goals. For eg, it
can be used in Swachha Bharat Abhiyan where Swachagrahis will pre-commit people to sanitation
goals.
o Making people to realize tangible outcomes- by showing examples of people who have benefited
from program.
o Creating emotional connect between the citizens and the government- by relinquishing the ivory-
tower and corrupt attitude of the government officials.

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Social psychology
▪ This field helps us in understanding why atypical behaviour in humans like racism, war, ethnic
cleansing, terrorism, genocide, religious intolerance etc occur.
▪ According to social psychologists, human behaviour is function of both person and the situation
Social influence
It refers to how individual thoughts, actions and feelings are influenced by social groups.
Ways in which individuals respond to social influences are:
1. Compliance: An individual is not fully convinced with the other person but shows agreement at
the surface level.
- Example- In a conversation a person makes a racist comment. The other person is offended
but says nothing. Here, the other person merely shows compliance.
2. Identify: In this case an individual idolizes the other influential person.
- Example- a college student drinks Pepsi because his favourite celebrity endorses it.
3. Internalize: Here two individuals share the same belief system. In the example made for
compliance if the other individual too makes racist comment, it is the case for internalization.
Types of social influence
1. Normative influence: An individual follows the crowd in order to be liked and accepted. By
agreeing on common beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviour, an individual increases his chance
of acceptance and survival possibilities.
2. Informational influence: An individual goes along with the crowd because he thinks that crowd
knows more than him.
- Two types of situations produce informational influence. (i) Ambiguous situations- when
individual don’t know what to do. (ii) Crisis situation- when individual doesn’t have time to
think what to do. For eg., during stampede.
Principles of social influence
1. Reciprocity: People tend to give back what was received. Example- reciprocating smile between
individuals.
2. Consistency: Generally, people try to be consistent with their previous actions, opinions and
assertions.
3. Social proof: People often decide what to do by looking what similar others have done.
4. Liking: People are often influenced by the those they like.
5. Authority: People with power and authority tend to influence others.
6. Scarcity: Items and opportunities become more desirable when they are less accessible.
- Example- use of slogans like limited edition or last week for sale have immediate effect.
Norms
o These are group held beliefs about how members should behave in a given context.
o These are informal understandings that governs society’s behaviours.
o Example- touching feet in Indian society is considered as sign of respect.
Persuasion
It is an attempt to change a person’s attitude. Example- Swachha Bharat Mission focused on persuasion
to change the behaviour of people regarding cleanliness.
Three things are important in persuasion.

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1. The source
2. The message
3. The audience
• Source Credibility: A source can be credible because he is expert and can be trusted.
o Example- Randip Guleria, AIIMS Director (a credible source), was seen on TV persuading
people to take COVID-19 vaccine.
• Source Likeability: A source is likeable if he is similar and attractive. There is an implicit assumption
that attractive people are also intelligent.
o Example- advertisements rope in people with attractive personality to make their products
appealing.
Functions of persuasion
1. Weaken the current attitude: When the audience has contrasting attitude, persuasion can help in
making the audience less comfortable with the current attitude
2. Minimise resistance: When the audience has moderately opposed ideas, persuasion can move the
audience towards neutrality.
3. Change attitude: When the audience has no committed attitude, persuasion can help in changing
the attitude.
4. Intensify attitude: When the audience has same attitude, persuasion can amplify the current
attitude.
5. Gain behaviour: When the audience is strongly in sync with the persuader, the final objective is to
make the audience act.
Ways to resist persuasion
1. Attitude inoculation: Just like a person who has been exposed to weak virus becomes resistant to
a disease, similarly a person who has been exposed to counter argument develops resistance to
persuasion.
2. Forewarned: When a person is being forewarned of persuasion attempts, he develops
psychological reactance that motivates them to resist such attempts. Forewarning gives an
opportunity to come up with counter arguments.
3. Boomerang effect: When a person develops a psychological reactance towards an attitude object,
an attempt of persuasion is countered with equally strong response.
a. Example- during the COVID-19 pandemic medical staffs were assaulted by the people as
they had developed negative attitude towards disease treatment.
4. Stockpile: A healthy person who is well read and is equipped with cognitive and social resource is
able to resist persuasion better.
How to make persuasion effective?
1. Establish a positive rapport- by establishing a common ground.
2. Emphasize the advantages- Instead of trying to push for change, persuader should point out the
advantages.
3. Turn objections into opportunities- Persuader should agree with the audience’s objections and
then illustrate them how it can be overcome with proposed changes.
4. Commitment- Prospect should be persuaded to commit to small action first. Once committed the
prospect is most likely to agree to a larger idea.

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5. Reciprocity- When the prospect does something, it should be rewarded for changed
behaviour/attitude. Example- political party in power releasing jobs vacancy just before the
elections.
6. Bandwagon effect- It involves showing the target population, the benefits which people have got
by adopting the change.
7. Scarcity- It involves letting people know what they are going to lose by not availing the
opportunity.
ADMINISTRATION AND THE PUBLIC

Administration’s attitude towards the masses
➢ Wide cultural gap between the administrators and the masses- as the administrators largely come
from upper middle class who deal with rural masses who are poor and illiterate
➢ Bureaucracy points that people are unaware of their rights
➢ Administrators feel that people don’t have adequate knowledge of rules and regulations
➢ Civil servants complain that people try to pressurize them through politicians.
➢ They also complain that citizens don’t co-operate with them to bring change in the society.
Public’s attitude towards the administrators
➢ Public complain against the administrators regarding corruption, delay in disposal of cases,
exploitation, favouritism etc.
➢ Public is suspicious about integrity of public officials.
➢ They feel that public officials are devoid of any human considerations
➢ They create scope for middle men who in turn exploit them.
Way forward:
How to improve the relationship between public and administration?
➢ Creating public relations agency in the administration-to serve as conduit between the public and
the administration. (C P Bhambri)
➢ Public should shed away its negative role and adopt a positive role- citizen’s support and co-
operation is essential for the success of any government program.
➢ Administration should maintain constant contact with the public, especially those
from the rural areas. (Hota committee)
➢ Social audit, which involves auditing of the project from the beneficiaries.
➢ Increasing accessibility to civil servants by making public meetings compulsory.
➢ E-governance which helps in making the government reach the doorstep of the citizens.
➢ Citizen’s charter to make the citizens aware about the quality of service they receive and
grievance redressal mechanism.
Previous Year Questions

1. What factors affect the formation of a person's attitude towards social problems? In our
society, contrasting attitudes are prevalent about many social problems. What contrasting
attitudes do you notice about the caste system in our society? How do you explain the
existence of these contrasting attitudes?
2. Two different kinds of attitudes exhibited by public servants towards their work have been
identified as bureaucratic attitude and the democratic attitude.
3. How could social influence and persuasion contribute to the success of Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan?

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4. Our attitudes towards life, work, other people and society are generally shaped unconsciously
by the family and the social surroundings in which we grow up. Some of these unconsciously
acquired attitudes and values are often undesirable in the citizens of a modern democratic and
egalitarian society. (a) Discuss such undesirable values prevalent in today’s educated Indians.
(b) How can such undesirable attitudes be changed and socio ethical values considered
necessary in public services be cultivated in the aspiring and serving civil servants?
5. Young people with ethical conduct are not willing to come forward to join active politics.
Suggest steps to motivate them to come forward.
6. Hatred is destructive of a person’s wisdom and conscience that can poison a nation’s spirit?
Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer.
7. A positive attitude is considered to be an essential characteristic of a civil servant who is often
required to work under extreme stress. What contributes to a positive attitude in a person?
8. What are the main factors responsible for gender inequality in India?
9. “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy.
And if they do not have the first, the other two will kill you.”- Warren Buffet. What do you
understand by this statement in the present-day scenario? Explain.
10. “A man is a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.” M K Gandhi. Explain.

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APTITUDE
Previous Year Question on this Topic

Ques. The current society is plagued with widespread trust-deficit. What are the consequences of this situation
for personal well-being and for societal well-being? What can you do at the personal level to make yourself
trustworthy? (150 Words) (2014)
Aptitude refers to the natural or acquired abilities that indicate an individual’s ability to develop proficiency in
certain areas. It indicates an individual’s i.e. potentialities for future.
Example: Sachin Tendulkar became a great cricketer because he has aptitude for cricket and was provided
necessary training. Other batsmen are not as good as him even after similar training because of lesser
aptitude than him.
Categorisation of Aptitude:
• Physical aptitude: Physical characteristics for performing some tasks successfully. E.g. armed forces require a
specific set of physical features, like physical stamina etc.
• Mental aptitude: Mental characteristics for performing some tasks successfully. E.g. a civil servant is required
to have mental ability, magnanimity, rationality, compassion etc.
RELATIONSHIP OF APTITUDE WITH OTHER QUALITIES
Aptitude and Skills

Aptitude is raw native talent that can be worked upon. On the other hand, Skill is acquired through training and
constantly upgraded. Aptitude is not skill but what is already there that can be nurtured.
Example: A person can acquire certain cricketing skills by training but will find it hard to become a successful
cricketer unless he has aptitude for the same.
Aptitude and Interest:

Interest is an individual’s preference for engaging in one or more specific activities relative to others while aptitude
is the potential to perform that activity.
Example: Sushant Singh Rajput had interest in cosmology but aptitude for acting.
Aptitude and Intelligence:

Intelligence is generic and refers to a broad range of mental
Interest Aptitude Potential
abilities, such as comprehension etc., whereas Aptitude has
narrow scope involving personal strengths & weaknesses
and reflects specialised nature of that intelligence that is directed towards something.
Example: Two people may have same intelligence quotient (IQ) but may have different aptitude, i.e. one
to become doctor and another to become engineer.
Aptitude and Ability:

Aptitude indicates an individual’s potential, i.e. what an individual will be able to learn/do, whereas ability presents
the evidence of what the individual is able to do now.
Example: A person might have a good aptitude for acting, but presently able to find roles as supporting
artist only.

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Aptitude and Values:

In ethical perspective, aptitude represents desired
value in a person with respect to a specific Aptitude Achievement Ability
requirement.
Aptitude, Proficiency and Achievement:

Proficiency is the ability to perform an activity with ease and precision. Achievement looks at the past - what has
been done, accomplished.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ATTITUDE AND APTITUDE

Parameter Attitude Aptitude
Definition It is positive or negative or indifferent It is competency to do certain kind of work.
feeling towards a person, object, event or
idea.
Function It defines how do you work or proceed It defines how much potential do you have to learn
towards a goal. specific skills to achieve a goal.
Association Associated with character or virtues and Associated with competence or talent, e.g.
can be negative, positive or neutral. quantitative aptitude, mental aptitude etc.
Nature Largely mental Mental as well as physical
Abilities and It is related with existing abilities and skills It is the potential ability to acquire skills, abilities
skills with certain perceptions. and knowledge.
Change Relatively permanent Changed and developed
Components Components of attitude include cognitive, Components of aptitude include attitude, skills,
affective and behavioural. knowledge.
Example: An administrator may have a good aptitude in resolving the communal issues (aptitude part) but
may have a negative attitude towards a particular community (attitude part) which will naturally influence
his/her overall decisions.
Aptitude without attitude is blind; and attitude without aptitude is lame. — Richard Marcel I.
APTITUDE FOR CIVIL SERVICES AND ITS ROLE

Aptitude in civil services helps to understand the role, its associated responsibilities and institutional environment
easily.
Broadly following kind of aptitude is desired in a civil servant:
• Communication skills – A civil servant need to have good communication and interpersonal skills as he/she will
have to bring different stakeholders on one platform for decision making.
Example: Vikas Kumar Ujjwal, a Divisional Forest Officer in Jharkhand, took along the local community and
transformed the Maoist hit area into a tourist destination.
• Stewardship– Since India is a resource deficit country, a civil servant needs to be effective manager and
responsible protector of state resources.
Example: Purnea (Bihar) District Magistrate Rahul Kumar arranged for medical oxygen and restarted broken
down oxygen plant in the city with his smart planning during second wave of COVID-19.
• Leadership skills – Civil servants need to have leadership, organisational and collaboration skills as they are
entrusted with diverse set of responsibilities such as decision making, policy implementation etc.
Example: J Meganatha Reddy, district collector in Tamil Nadu started Project Udhayam to build toilets for
differently-abled persons in their homes.

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• Professionalism – High level of professionalism is required to maintain high standards of public administration
as they are backbone of administration.
Example: Debo na Nebo na (won’t give won’t take) initiative by District Administration Cachar, Silchar
provides drop-boxes outside all government offices to stop corruption.
• Persuasive skills– Skills of persuasion and negotiation with others are required as there might be resistance in
the society against changes or any new initiative.
Example: Kiran Naik, a government college lecturer in Andhra Pradesh, visits remote villages and persuades
parents to get their children educated.
• Innovation– Since civil servants face diverse problems every day, they should be able to find innovative solutions
these problems, challenges.
Example: The authorities in East Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh roped in religious leaders, NGOs
and local influencers to counter vaccine hesitancy.
• Adaptability – because of focus on e-governance and ever-changing nature of digital world.
Example: SVAMITVA scheme aims to use Drone Surveying technology and a civil servant must have a basic
understanding of this technology.
• Inclusivity – India is a diverse country in terms of social status, income etc. and civil servants should be able to
work for every section of the society.
Example: Recently, Chhattisgarh police inducted transgender persons as Constables in the State Police
Force.
• Optimism – Civil servants need to be optimistic which brings positivity and self-confidence in them to function
under extreme stress.
Example: ‘Lunch With Collector’ initiative by IAS Officer Saurabh Kumar in Dantewada counters the
problems by helping local students to make right career choice.
FOUNDATIONAL VALUES FOR CIVIL SERVICES
Previous Year Question from This Topic
Ques. What are the basic principles of public life? Illustrate any three of these with suitable examples. (150
words, 10 marks) (2019)
Values are individual principles or qualities that guide judgment and behaviour of a person or a group.
Example: Mother Teresa regarded empathy as highest value.
Foundational values are those values that are basic and fundamental in nature, determines the core identity of a
civil servant and are essential to achieve the objectives or goals, such as integrity, compassion etc.
Example: The foundational value of compassion led IAS Officer Prashant Nair to start Compassionate Kozhikode
project.
EVOLUTION OF FOUNDATIONAL VALUES

• In India, civil service values have evolved over years of tradition.
• Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and the All-India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 mentions values
like integrity and devotion to duty.
• The Draft Public Service Bill, 2007 enumerated values like allegiance to the ideals of the Constitution, good
governance to be the primary goal, apolitical functioning, objectivity, impartiality, accountability and
transparency in decision-making, merit-based selection of civil servants, avoidance of wastage in expenditure,
etc.

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• The 10th Report of Second Administrative Reforms Commission in addition to upholding the constitutional
spirit recommended values such as the highest standards of integrity and conduct; impartiality and non-
partisanship; objectivity; dedication to public service; and empathy and compassion towards the weaker
sections.
Need of foundational values

• Constitutional values: Civil servants are given discretionary and wide-ranging powers under the laws, rules and
in the absence of foundational values, there are chances of corruption and abuse of power defeating the
objectives of the Constitution.
• Public interest – A welfare state can only be established when civil servants keep public interest priority and
function upholding values such as objectivity, integrity, impartiality etc.
• Filling the gap– Actions of civil servants based on these values fill the gap left by the laws and make
administration more effective.
INTEGRITY
Ques. What do you understand by the following terms in the context of public service? (5 terms x 3 marks each,
15 marks, 250 words) (2013)
1. Integrity
2. Perseverance
3. Spirit of service
4. Commitment
5. Courage of conviction
Ques. “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, but knowledge without integrity is dangerous and
dreadful.” What do you understand by this statement? Explain your stand with illustrations from modern day
context. (150 Words) (2014)
Ques. One of the tests of integrity is complete refusal to be compromised. Explain with reference to a real life
example. (150 Words, 10 marks) (2017)
Ques. “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they do
not have the first, the other two will kill you.” – Warren Buffett (2018)
• Integrity means adopting similar standards or moral principles in similar situations across time and interested
parties.
• It is a four-step process: Right course of
Consistency
1. Choosing a right course of conduct;
conduct
2. Acting consistently with that choice, even if that is inconvenient;
3. Openly declaring where one stands; and
Integrity
4. The results of one’s actions.
Results Open stand
Example: Senior IAS officer, Ashok Khemka has shown professional
integrity with consistency in his thought, actions and has chosen a right course of conduct.

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Types of Integrity:
• Moral integrity: It refers to consistency and honesty in the application of standards of morality or right and
wrong; used for judging others as well as ourself.
Example: Buddha emphasised on the purity of ‘thoughts, words and deeds’ and showed unconditional
commitment to this ethical principle.
• Intellectual integrity: Intellectual integrity is defined as recognition of the need to be true to one's own thinking
and to hold oneself to the same standards one expects others to meet. It requires one to overcome self-
deception and temptation and act in accordance with one’s truthful conscience.
Example: Gandhi revoked Non-Cooperation Movement after Chauri-Chaura incident etc.
• Professional integrity: It refers to acting in accordance with professional values, standards and norms with
consistency and willingness; even in the face of criticism or allurements.
Example: Sanjiv Chaturvedi showed professional integrity during his tenure as the Chief Vigilance Officer of
AIIMS, Delhi and uncovered several large scams.
Second ARC on Integrity:
A Person must not A Person must

• Misuse official positions by using • Fulfil his duties and obligations responsibly
information acquired in the course of his • Act in a way that is professional and deserves and retain
duties. public confidence
• Accept gifts or hospitality which might • Make sure public money and resources are used efficiently.
compromise his judgements. • Be transparent and open in his public dealings.
• Disclose information without the authority. • Comply with law and uphold the administrative justice
Other Examples of Integrity:

• S.R. Sankaran (1934-2010) was Chief Secretary of Tripura and known for his contributions for the enforcement
of Abolition of Bonded Labour Act of 1976, while facing severe pressure from different groups.
• Abraham Lincoln was a man of high Integrity and adhered to his principles even when he faced opposition. He
said “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the
light that I have I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with
him when he goes wrong.”
• Satyendra Dubey lost his life in fighting against corruption in NHAI.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONESTY AND INTEGRITY
Honesty Integrity
Honesty is merely being truthful or standing by Integrity is about consistency in conduct governed by an
what one says. active adherence to one’s values and promises.
Honesty without integrity is possible. Integrity without honesty is not possible.
Example: Honesty means a person can lie and be Example: Integrity demands that a person should not lie at
honest when he says he lied. first place and show high standard of behaviour.
Integrity pact
• Integrity Pact is a vigilance tool that envisages an agreement between the prospective vendors/bidders and the
buyer, committing both the parties not to exercise any corrupt influence on any aspect of the contract.

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• Its implementation is assured by Independent External Monitors (IEM) who are people of unimpeachable
integrity.
Significance of Integrity Pact:

• Faster processing of contracts
• Improvement in the image and general perception of the company
• Reduced lawsuits
• Smoothens the procurement process, avoids litigation and arbitration
Recent changes in the SOP by CVC:

Recently, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has amended the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on
adoption of “Integrity Pact” in government organisations for procurement activities.
• Restriction on IEM:
o IEM should be officials from government and PSUs who have retired from positions of the level of Secretary
to central government or equivalent pay scale.
o Retired armed forces officers from the rank equivalent of General may be considered.
• Appointment of IEM: The Ministry, department or organisation concerned has to forward a panel of suitable
persons to the CVC.
• Tenure: Tenure of IEM will be three years in an organisation.
IMPARTIALITY AND NON-PARTISANSHIP
Ques. Why should impartiality and non-partisanship be considered as foundational values in public services,
especially in the present-day socio-political context? Illustrate your answer with examples. (150 words, 10 marks)
(2016)
IMPARTIALITY
Impartiality refers to the fact of not supporting one person or a group more than the other. It holds that decisions
should be based on objective standards, instead of on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the advantage to
one person or another for unsuitable reasons.
Example:
• A judge cannot presume a person guilty simply because he/she belongs to a particular community or based on
the social media reports and has to follow due process of law.
• If a police officer favours a wealthy person in a case against him/her by a poor person then this action of the
police officer would not count as impartial.
Impartiality for Civil Servants: For civil servants, impartiality works • Political executives: They derive their
at two different levels:
authority from the people, by virtue of
• Political impartiality: It implies serving governments of
election. Their role is policy making.
different political persuasions equally well, irrespective of civil
• Permanent executives: They derive
servant’s own personal opinion.
authority from technical and
• Public impartiality: It implies that a civil servant carries out his
administrative expertise. Their role is
responsibilities in fair, just, objective and equitable manner
to implement policies and act as
without discriminating against a particular individual or interest.
advisors to ministers.

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NON-PARTISANSHIP
• Non-partisanship infers that the officer is to do his task without any fear of, or favour to any political party. The
values of the administrator will flow from the constitution not from the philosophy of any political party.
• Although the primary concern for the public service is “political partisanship”, other types of partisanships such
as support for an interest group etc. are also included in this.
Example:
• TN Seshan is remembered for his non-partisan role as Chief Election Commissioner.
• Former President of India, Mr. K. R. Narayanan underscored his non-partisanship by declining the United Front
Prime Minister’s recommendations to dismiss the BJP government of UP.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IMPARTIALITY AND NON-PARTISANSHIP
Non-Partisanship Impartiality
It is a kind of attitude. It is a kind of behaviour in a particular situation.
It deals with relationship of civil servants with It deals with relationship of civil servants not only with
political executives and thus a narrower concept. It political executives, but people as well and thus a broader
is political neutrality. concept.
Significance of Impartiality and non-partisanship:

• Ensures objective and evidence-based advice to ministers.
• Ensuring legal and constitutional transition when democratic process results in new administration
• Upholds credibility and trust in public with respect to the functioning of the public service.
• Brings courage along with capability in the civil servant
• Ensures equality and justice among different sections of the society and thus effective service delivery
NEUTRALITY
Neutrality is with specific reference to political neutrality, i.e. relationship between the civil servants and the
political executives.
Neutrality refers to not being biased in providing facts, feedbacks, opinions etc. to the political executives and
diligently carrying out tasks ordered by the political executives, irrespective of which political party is in power.
Types of Neutrality:
• Passive neutrality: The civil servants will do anything that the political executive orders, but then he may end
up violating some legal/constitutional provisions. Hence it is undesirable as it leads to the idea of committed
bureaucracy.
• Active neutrality: Officer will do what Constitution, laws, rules and office manuals say, without following any
particular party. Excess of this, sometimes might lead to civil services activism.
Committed Bureaucracy:
• Negative perspective: It implied politicized bureaucracy, where administrative system functions serve only
the narrow interest of the political party in power, e.g. administrative system of Nazi Germany.
• Positive perspective: It implies that civil servants are committed to the objectives of the State, the
Constitution, the laws etc. and have faith in the programmes of the political executives, if they are aligned
with the objectives of the State, Constitution etc. Here they give technical advice to the political philosophy
of the ruling party.

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NEUTRALITY OF CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICES

Recent context: In the recent times, neutrality of various constitutional offices such as Governor (e.g. Maharashtra,
West Bengal), Speaker in the State Legislative Assemblies have come under the scanner of the Supreme Court on
the ground of ‘Doctrine of Political Neutrality’.
Significance of Doctrine of Neutrality in the case of Constitutional Offices:

• Upholding constitutional trust that require neutrality in actions
• The tilt of power vested in Constitutional offices in favour of any political party can disturb the political fairness
in the democracy
• Presently, cooperative federalism is needed and absence of neutrality of constitutional offices creates conflict
between States and Centre, e.g. West Bengal and Central government.
Way forward:
The political neutrality casts responsibility on the Constitutional offices to uphold the democratic principles of
fairness, toleration and independence of opinion and the conduct of person holding these offices be such that there
is no political interference.
OBJECTIVITY
The principle of objectivity implies that the decisions and actions should be based on observable phenomena and
should not be influenced by emotions, biases or personal prejudices.
Example: Drugs Controller General of India ensured

Truth
sufficient data for approval of COVID-19 vaccine
Facts
against public pressure.
Relevance
Importance of objectivity: (by Nolan committee and Basis of
Objectivity
2nd ARC) Balance/Non-
Partisanship
• Building consensus among stakeholders on various Impartiality
issues. Example: Convincing slum dwellers near Neutral
coastal areas during cyclone to relocate to safer Presentation
place.
• Helps in maintaining situational awareness while discharging duties. Example: the objective during communal
riots is to stop the riots first.
• To avoid interference of emotions into the judgment. Example: to avoid nepotism and favouritism in decisions.
• Helps in taking right decisions when confronted with ethical issues. Example: rescuing vulnerable people during
a disaster would be priority.
• Helps in inculcating honesty and impartiality among personnel. Example: in delivering ration under PDS decision
would be based on the eligibility.
Objectivity must Objectivity must not

• Provide information and advice based on • Ignoring inconvenient facts or relevant
evidences, presenting facts and options. considerations when providing advice or making
• Decision based on the merit. decisions.
• Taking due account of expert and professional • Avoiding actions that flow from the decisions taken.
advice.

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HOW TO DEVELOP OBJECTIVITY?

• Transparency with better implementation of RTI Act, which will ensure that the decisions are based on facts
rather than whims and fancies.
• Information Management System: It will ensure that any organisation keeps proper record and documents of
incidents, decisions, information etc. It will act as a check as well as provide vital input for decision-making.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBJECTIVITY AND NEUTRALITY
Parameter Objectivity Neutrality (Passive neutrality)

Basis of decision Based on strong evidence May or may not be based on evidence (but
based on political executive’s order)
Functions Helps maintain equity and inclusivity Sometimes, may have to implement
appeasement policies of government,
despite knowing it.
Impact Will instil confidence in public and Particular section of the society might not
ensure public cooperation approach civil servants (facing issues due to
policies of the govt.)
Policies of past Policies beneficial for larger sections of Policies might find a backseat
governments the society will be implemented
irrespective of govt of the day.
Implementation of Might lead to poor implementation of Ensures effective implementation of
policies policies in case of civil servant’s policies.
disagreement with the govt of the day.
ANONYMITY
It means that the civil servants work from the behind the screen and avoid media limelight and public gaze. Civil
servants do not get credit for the success and nor blamed for the failure. It is the responsibility of the political
executive.
Example: In the Mundhra deal scam (1957): Chagla commission held that “Minister T.T. Krishnamachari is
constitutionally responsible for the actions of his secretary (H.M.Patel) and he can’t take shelter behind them or
disown reasonability.” Consequently, Minister resigned.
SHOULD CIVIL SERVANTS BE CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR PUBLIC IMAGE?
Should be concerned Should not be concerned

• Public image keeps them motivated to keep working • Concern for public image may divert them for some
for larger good. other short-term goals and gains.
• They are idealised by youth and should become • Too much concern for public acceptance may lead
moral leaders. to decisions in favour of public sentiments, ignoring
• Good public image ensures acceptance and rationality, objectivity.
appreciation from public in service delivery. • Might lead to ignorance of hierarchies and
• Good public image creates a favourable working disturbing the work culture.
environment among colleagues to serve for • Undue heroism might dilute their neutrality and
betterment. expose them to vulnerabilities.

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• Public image brings courage and ensures • Against the features of anonymity and views
whistleblowing against corruption. expressed might be political in nature, e.g. Shah
• Public image is sometimes useful for perception Faisal case
management and information dissemination, e.g.
during COVID-19
Way forward:
Civil servants of modern India cannot remain in the “ivory towers” but they have to make their presence felt. A
good public image might help them in removing negative apprehensions towards them, such as corruption, red
tapism; but at the same time too much concern for public image might lead to misplaced priorities.
DEDICATION TO PUBLIC SERVICE

Dedication is the quality of being able to give or apply one’s time, attention, energy or self, entirely to a particular
activity, person or cause.
It is different from commitment, which is formally obligated/bound, whereas dedication is commitment with
passion and is guided by sense of duty, inspired by some ideals.
‘Dedication to Public Service’ refers to keeping
public good above all which will ensure that civil Willing to go
servant’s sense of duty is integrated with his official beyond duty
responsibility.
Bhagwad Gita: “We should perform our duties

Qualities of
diligently and piously, but without expectation of an Officer
what the results will be.” Dedicated
to Public
Example: ’Metro Man’ E. Sreedharan. Seeks neither Services Public welfare
rewards nor
above personal
recognition for
Why is it needed? interest
efforts
• It keeps them motivated to keep doing their job
even if it is boring, unwanting, tedious.
• It is highly required as civil servants face difficult and different situations regularly.
• It brings empathy in civil servants towards their job and people.
• Public service is highly important to realise the ideals of the Constitution, such as justice, equality etc.
TOLERANCE
Tolerance refers to fair, objective and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion,
nationality etc. differ from one's own. It is fostered by knowledge, openness, communication, and freedom of
thought, conscience and belief.
Role of Tolerance at different stages:
Level Role
Individual Level Teaches one to respect others and not to impose our will on others.
Example: Beef may be prescribed for one community in the society but if it is part of
someone’s culture then it helps in broadening our perspective and thinking.
Societal Level Promotes peace.
Example: Imposition of Urdu in former East Pakistan led to division of Pakistan, whereas
linguistic tolerance has strengthened unity in India.

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Government Level Increases legitimacy and provides a holistic view of various issues.
Example: Tribal Panchsheel has been largely beneficial in promotion of democracy in North-
eastern region.
International Level Promotes peace and security.
Example: The lack of tolerance between Israel and Arab countries has led to frequent
conflicts in the region.
Significance of Tolerance:
• Important for maintaining lasting peace in the societies.
• Upholds human rights, pluralism, democracy and rule of law, thus enables human development.
• Enables new inventions and remove status quo in the society as it enables freedom of expression.
• Upholds moral worth of every individual as all individuals have equal moral worth according to John Stuart Mill.
• Enables civil servants in public service as diverse society like ours need service of all equally.
• Broadens the perspective of civil servants and upholds values like justice, impartiality and objectivity.
ACCEPTANCE
Acceptance refers to the assent of an individual or group to the reality of a situation or any condition (usually
negative and unpleasant) and recognising it without protest or trying to change it.
Difference between tolerance and acceptance

Parameter Tolerance Acceptance
Definition It is a permissive attitude towards differing It goes beyond tolerance and there is assent and
opinion, attitude etc. and willingness to recognition of differing opinion, attitude etc.
tolerate them.
Attitude There is passive resignation and dislike may With acceptance, there is active effort to get rid
towards dislike continue to exist of dislike
Example Akbar’s Ibadat Khana discussions The philosophy of Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam
EMPATHY AND COMPASSION
EMPATHY
Empathy refers to the ability to imagine oneself in another's place and understand the others' feelings, desires,
ideas and actions or It is an act of perceiving, understanding, experiencing and responding to the emotional state
and ideas of another person.
Three ways of looking at empathy:

Affective empathy: The ability to share emotions of others.
Cognitive empathy: The ability to understand the emotions of others.
Emotional empathy: The ability to regulate one’s emotions.
Need of Empathy in Civil Services:

• Lack of empathy leads to narrow understanding of others’ perspective.
o Example: gender related issues, discrimination faced by transgenders etc. which might lead to
social unrest.
• Empathy helps to understand the ground realities which will reflect in policy formulations and implementation.

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o Example: Tribes have certain customary values which are contradictory to the rules of government.
Here empathy in public servants would act as saviour for tribal population.
• Increasing the effectiveness of bureaucracy as they will not follow the rule rather follow the spirit behind the
rules, i.e. welfare of people.
• Empathy helps us understand others’ emotions and thus improves our emotional intelligence.
How to inculcate empathy?

• Sensitivity training through fieldwork, role playing games, perspective taking etc.
• Value system needs to be improved from the early life by the family members and then in school.
• Emphasising the spirit of Sarvadharma Sambhav through interactions among different socio-cultural groups.
• Using the art, culture and cinema. Example: Satyajit Ray’s “Pather Panchali” realistically portrays the poverty
and rural India.
COMPASSION
Compassion is the understanding or empathy for the suffering of others. More involved than simple empathy,
compassion commonly gives rise to 'an active desire to alleviate others' suffering'.
Importance of compassion for civil servants:

• Civil Servants are agents of change and compassion motivates
them to help people and ensure welfare of people.
• Compassion improves attitude part of a civil servant with other
positive traits like generosity, kindness and understanding.
• It contributes to efficient service delivery through people-
centric, humane, accommodative administration.
• It makes civil servants responsive to the needs of citizens,
especially those in distress.
• Compassion also inculcates selflessness and spirit of service for
country, society and its people without any self-motive, which
keeps civil servant motivated.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANTIPATHY, APATHY, SYMPATHY, EMPATHY AND COMPASSION
Antipathy • Negative emotions for the target group Example: If a hungry person approaches you for food,
(but not hate). you scold him rather than helping.
• Attempt to cause suffering and
discomfort to target group
Apathy • Absence of attachment Example: If a hungry person approaches you for food,
• General behaviour of indifference, you remain indifferent to him/her.
disinterest with regards to the needs of
others.
Sympathy • Acknowledgement of distress of others. Example: If a hungry person approaches you for food,
• Help provided is not based on what is you provide him/her cold drink, frooti etc, whereas
required by others but on what the one that person needs daal-roti.
thinks others require.

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Empathy • Detached attachment with person Example: If a hungry person approaches you for food,
• Help offered is as per the needs and the you provide him/her what he/she needs, i.e. daal-
requirements of the distressed group but roti.
orientation to help is somewhat less
active
Compassion • Detached attachment with person Example: If a hungry person approaches you for food,
• Empathy + Active desire to alleviate you provide him/her daal-roti but also ensure that
suffering of those in distress he/she gets regular food and does not have to beg
like this.
OTHER IMPORTANT VALUES
Ques. Discipline generally implies following the order and subordination. However, it may be counter-productive
for the organisation. Discuss. (150 Words, 10 marks) (2017)
DISCIPLINE AND SINCERITY
Discipline Sincerity
Discipline refers to behaviour that portrays the Sincerity is the absence of pretence, deceit, or hypocrisy and
ability to control self or others even in difficult the quality of acting on honest and genuine feelings or beliefs.
situations, through obedience to particular rules
and standards.
Discipline may or may not be internally driven and sincerity is action that is always premised on one’s own
may even have externally set benchmarks beliefs and values and thereby more likely to be internalized
and positively reinforced.
PERSEVERANCE
• It means continued effort and determination in doing something in which someone is facing difficulties or
delay in achieving success.
o For example: efforts that attempt to bring behavioural transformation (removal of open
defecation, vaccine hesitancy) in the society takes time and requires perseverance.
COURAGE
• Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation with
poise and the moral conviction that underpins necessary and ethically correct action. Courage is not just
physical bravery.
o Example: Courage of Mansi Bariha from Odisha helped to rescue 6000 migrant workers from 30
kilns in TN during covid-19 induced lockdown last year.
o Example: Courage of Captain Vikram Batra during Kargil War.
RESPONSIVENESS
• Responsiveness refers to the quality of being attentive and responding to whatever new opportunities and
challenges arises in every day and also to the emerging needs of the public.
o Example: Steve Jobs used to share his email id with his employees.

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PRUDENCE
• It refers to the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. Wisdom, insight and knowledge
are often associated with prudence.
CONFIDENTIALITY
• It refers to maintaining or keeping secrecy of certain information, matters from the public view for larger
public interest.
o Example: Section 8 of Right to Information Act, 2005 and Official Secrets Act provide for
confidentiality in larger public interest.
OPENNESS
• It refers to sharing of information along with transparent decision-making. In another sense, it includes
characteristics such as imagination and attitude of ready accessibility.
• Nolan Report on Openness: Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions
and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when
the wider public interest clearly demands.
SELFLESSNESS
• Selflessness signifies serving public interest and keeping it above self-interest.
• Nolan Report on Selflessness: Holders of public office should act solely in terms of public interest. They
should not do so in order to gain financial or other benefits for themselves, their family or their friends.
o Example: Mother Teresa dedicated herself to the selfless service of the suffering and tortured
humanity.
Conclusion: Thus, aptitude is an important aspect of a Civil Servant and along with other foundational values it
determines the character of a civil servant, which impacts and directs the working of a civil servant.

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EMOTIONS AND INTELLIGENCE

Emotions are generally understood as intense feelings, favourable or unfavourable that are directed at someone
or something. For example, happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise etc.
3 Key Elements of Emotions:

• Subjective experience: Personal experience of emotions that can vary. For example: anger, which can range
from mild annoyance to blinding rage.
• Physiological response: like shift in heartbeat, blood pressure etc.
• Behavioural response: outward signs of internal reactions.
CLASSIFICATION OF EMOTIONS: Difference between Emotions and Feelings:

• Primary and secondary emotions: Primary emotions are the Even though both the terms are used similarly, but
feeling is used to refer to a person’s private
direct emotional reactions to a situation and come first. A emotional experience or self-perception of a specific
secondary emotion is an emotional response to a primary emotion. When an event occurs, one first responds
emotion. automatically at a physical level even without
awareness (emotion) and then registers or evaluates
o Example: If a person becomes sad because someone
this (feeling). Feelings are created by emotions.
has said something hurtful, then sadness is primary Example: when one sees a snake nearby, their
emotion and if that person is getting angry due to heartbeat, breathing, perspiration (physiological
sadness, then anger is secondary emotion. arousal) might increase immediately, causing the
action of running away. Only later might one realise
• Positive and negative emotions: Emotions like joy, interest, that the feeling they experienced was fear.
love etc. that are pleasurable to experience are called
positive emotions. They open up new possibilities and build
up our personal resources. While negative emotions are those that we do not find pleasurable to experience.
o E.g. anger, distress etc. However, negative emotions can also be valuable and constructive sometimes. For
example, if anger is channelised in proper direction then it can bring good results.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EMOTIONS:
• Response to an event: Emotions are experienced in response to a particular internal or external, tangible or
intangible actions/events. This response involves physical arousal in the body- heart rate, blood pressure,
perspiration, release of hormones etc.
o Example: A speedy car coming towards us would increase our heartbeat and will cause fear.
• Motivation to take action: A motivation to take action is activated, i.e. seeking things and activities that provide
pleasure and avoiding those that give rise to pain or unpleasantness.
o Example: A person who have positive emotions (liking) towards ice-cream will purchase it.
• Role of sensations, thoughts: Emotions arise out of our sensations, perceptions and thoughts related to objects,
persons and situations.
o Example: The perception about Taliban rule in Afghanistan (based on the previous rule) is causing Afghan
people to leave the country.
• Variation in intensity: Emotions vary in their intensity.
o Example: Happiness can be experienced as pleasant and contented at the lower end of the continuum
whereas excited and thrilled at the higher end of the continuum. Similarly, being irritated and upset are
the milder forms of anger whereas furious and enraged are high intensity anger feelings.
• Desirable or undesirable: Emotions can be desirable or undesirable to an individual, depending on whether the
said event is perceived as ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ or performs an adaptive function for an individual.
o Example: joy, love, interest etc. are positive and desired emotions and anger, distress etc are negative
emotions.

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FUNCTIONS OF EMOTIONS:
• Intrapersonal functions: They help us guide our behaviour and make
decisions, so that we can survive as well as function as human beings. What is Intelligence?
o Example: Happiness promotes creative thinking and expands Intelligence is a set of cognitive abilities
our focus to allow new ideas. which allow us to acquire knowledge, to
learn and to solve problems.
• Interpersonal functions: Expression of emotions serves as an
indication or signal to others about how one is feeling.
o Example: Showing sadness may stimulate others to show empathy or sympathy.
• Social and cultural functions: Emotions help in construction and maintenance of societies and cultures.
o Example: Emotions such as trust often act as a social glue that keeps group together.
• Decision making: Emotions make decision making swifter as options associated with strong negative emotions
are eliminated outright.
o Example: When buying cloths, a person can reject particular colours that he/she does not like.
Thus, to regulate our emotional response, action and intensity of our emotions and to ensure that emotions
function in the positive direction, we need a combination of emotions and intelligence, i.e. emotional intelligence.
“When awareness is brought to emotions, power is brought to our life.”
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Ques. What is ‘emotional intelligence’ and how can it be developed in people? How does it help an individual in
taking ethical decisions? (150 words, 10 marks) (2013)
Ques. Anger is a harmful negative emotion. It is injurious to both personal life and work life.
(a) Discuss how it leads to negative emotions and undesirable behaviours.
(b) How can it be managed and controlled? (150 words, 10 marks) (2016)
Ques. "Emotional Intelligence is the ability to make your emotions work for you instead of against you". Do you
agree with this view? Discuss. (150 words, 10 marks) (2019)
Definition: Emotional intelligence is the ability of the individual to identify one’s own emotions and those of others,
apply them in thought and action, regulate and manage them.
Aristotle has said that “Anyone can become angry- that is easy, but to be angry with right person at right time and
for the right purpose – that is not within everyone’s power and that is not easy”.
COMPONENTS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Ques. What are the main components of emotional intelligence (EI)? Can they be learned? Discuss. (150 words,
10 marks) (2020)
According to Daniel Goleman, five components of Emotional Intelligence are:

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• Self-awareness: It is the ability to form an accurate model of oneself, knowledge of one's strength and
weaknesses and understanding how to utilise one's strength and weaknesses to encash the opportunities that
comes in one's way. It includes self-confidence, realistic self-assessment and self-deprecating sense of humour.
o Example: In a company, if a manager is competent but not good at his behaviour and he is not aware about
this then he can offend others with his behaviour.
o Example: Sachin Tendulkar knew about his strength, i.e. cricket rather than studies.
• Self-regulation: It is the ability to regulate one’s emotions, thoughts and behaviours effectively in different
situations. It includes trustworthiness and integrity; self-control; ability to adapt; openness to change etc.
o Example: If a person working in a company, is excited
about some good news and want to take leave but the
boss is angry at the moment then he/she has to regulate
his/her emotions for some time to ask for leave.
o Example: Due to self-regulation, Gandhiji was able to
handle the situation after Chauri-Chaura incident even
after facing criticism.
• Internal motivation: It refers to finding internal reasons to
work beyond external rewards like money and status. It
includes strong passion for the work, ability to counteract
disappointment that results from occasional failure and thrive
under adversity.
o Example: The COVID-19 pandemic has put enormous
stress on the doctors and they had to find internal motivation for keep working for patients.
o Example: The scarcity of sports infrastructure in our country requires strong internal motivation for
Olympians, Paralympians etc.
• Empathy: Empathy refers to the ability to imagine oneself in another's place and understand the others' feelings,
desires, ideas and actions or It is an act of perceiving, understanding, experiencing and responding to the
emotional state and ideas of another person.
o Example: Tribes have certain customary values which are contradictory to the rules of government. Here
empathy in public servants would act as saviour for tribal population.
o Example: Because of empathy, Nelson Mandela was able to recognise the common humanity in all people,
even in his enemies.
• Social skills: It includes proficiency in handling relationships and building social networks, and the ability to find
common ground and to build rapport. It includes persuasiveness, tolerance, tactfulness, social memory etc.
o Example: When an angry mob is protesting for justice for a rape victim, a Civil Servant should be able to
get hold of public emotions and should be able to pacify them with his/her words.
o Example: Aligarh SSP Akash Kulhari walked unarmed into the crowd of protestors and appealed to students
to remain peaceful while recognising their right to protest.
Difference between EQ and Iq

• Emotional quotient (EQ), also called emotional intelligence quotient is a measure of one’s emotional
intelligence, i.e. a measurement of one’s ability to monitor his/her emotions, to cope with pressures and
demands, and to control his or her thoughts and actions.
Emotional Quotient Intelligence Quotient

Measure of person’s emotional intelligence. Score derived from one of several standardised tests
designed to assess an individual’s intelligence.

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Refers to a person’s ability to perceive, control, Refers to an individual’s abilities such as visual and spatial
evaluate and express emotions. processing, knowledge of the world, working memory etc.
A high EQ means someone is self-confident, self- A person with high IQ may be able to learn certain subjects
aware and able to handle difficult emotional very quickly and make connections between ideas that
experiences. others miss.
Example: It will help in developing consensus Example: It will help to understand the policy and
around any government policy. requirements.
Thus, IQ can be imagined as an engine that can power a vehicle but EQ will act as the steering of that vehicle which
will give direction to IQ. Therefore, IQ alone is not enough for success. It can only get a person into job but to be
successful in the job, that person needs to cooperate and collaborate with others where EQ plays an important
role.
IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Importance of EI in personal life
• Conflict resolution: Emotionally intelligent person can handle difficult individuals, groups of people, or tense
situations with diplomacy and tact. EI helps us to handle ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ situation and find collaborative
solutions.
• Mental health: It helps us to manage our emotions, which
means that we can manage our stress. This keeps us protected
against depression and anxiety. Also, emotionally intelligent
person can handle pressure with ease.
• Decision making: Researchers agree that the key to good
decision is the combination of both thinking and feeling in
one’s decisions. Positive mood and emotions help in better
decision making.
• Optimism: It helps to control our negative emotions and
provide proper perspective of hope and possibility.
• Personal growth: It has been found through researches that
emotionally intelligent people achieve better results in
personal and professional life. They are flexible enough to
accept positive changes in their life.
• Motivation: Individuals with high emotional intelligence are
highly motivated and they can easily adapt to work environment and navigate through occasional failures.
• Differentiate between needs and wants: An emotionally intelligent mind is able to differentiate between things
that they need and things they want.
Importance of EI in civil services/administration
Ques. How will you apply emotional intelligence in administrative practices? (150 Words, 10 marks) (2017)
• Role clarity: Self-awareness about oneself reduces role ambiguity and intra-personal conflicts by enabling
individuals to have clarity regarding their personal and professional goals.

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o Example: An emotionally intelligent civil servant would keep public interest above his/her personal
interest and is less likely to be involved in corruption.
• Self-regulation: Civil Servants that are emotionally intelligent would regulate themselves and rarely verbally
attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values.
o Example: Because of self-regulation a Civil Servant would have low greed and therefore low corruption,
such as Ashok Khemka.
• Objectivity and impartiality: These are foundational values of Civil Services and emotional intelligence would
inculcate these values in a Civil Servant along with making him/her apolitical in the time of politicisation of
bureaucracy.
o Example: An emotionally intelligent civil servant would ensure that his/her religion, caste, race, political
affiliation etc. does not influence his/her decision making.
• Motivation: EI helps a person in comprehending emotions of others, thus an emotionally intelligent civil servant
can motivate himself/herself and also his/her subordinates towards a particular goal.
o Example: Prashant Nair, District collector of Kozhikode started Compassionate Kozhikode, a volunteer-
driven project to provide various public services.
• Better targeting of policies: Empathy is essential to know emotions, moods and drives, lifestyle, culture,
problems, inabilities of people at whom public policy is being targeted.
o Example: Armstrong Pame, understood the need of the people and enabled construction of 100 km
Peoples’ road in a historically unconnected region using social donations and resources collected.
o Example: Policies for differently-abled persons, women, transgender persons etc.
• Social skills: Social skills of an emotionally intelligent civil servant enables him/her to:
o Improve interpersonal and intergroup relationships by facilitating better communication within the
organisation and between the individuals
o Improve level of cooperation, trustworthiness and commitment.
o Example: A civil servant high on emotional intelligence will be able to solve difficult issues such as
IAS Office OP Choudhary solved the problem of lack of availability of skilled labour with education
initiative ‘Choo Lo Aasman’.
Thus, EI plays an important role in effective handling of diverse challenge that Civil Servants face. Even, the Daniel
Goleman has said, “80% of success at work depends on EI, while only 20% depends on the IQ”.

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QUALITIES OF EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT PERSON
Qualities of an emotional intelligent person

A person with high EI has:
• Higher integrity: A highly emotionally intelligent person would be aware of his/her inner self and the
surrounding environment. Therefore, there would be lesser mismatch and higher consistency in behaviour.
• Reduced stress level: Emotionally intelligent persons are able to better manage their emotions and therefore,
hold themselves in distress and emotionally challenged situations.
• Improved communication: Emotionally intelligent people are more confident and positive because of self-
awareness and self-regulation and are able to better communicate and connect with others because of their
social skills.
• Respect from and for others: Emotionally intelligent people are able to make a favourable rapport among others
because of tactfulness, sensitivity, cooperativeness and good listening qualities.
• Empathetic: Emotionally intelligent people are also empathetic, because understanding others’ emotions and
their perspective is also essential for emotional intelligence.
• Responsibility: Emotionally intelligent people act in responsible manner because of empathy and social skills.
• Dedication: Emotionally intelligent people are able to find motivation towards their task and therefore are
dedicated towards their task.
• Creativity: Emotionally intelligent people are able to move their feelings to a space where they can help to come
up with new ideas.
Qualities of an emotional intelligent administrator

An emotionally intelligent administrator possesses following qualities:
• High self-regard: Good leaders know about their strength and capitalise on those strengths, as well as know
their weaknesses and try to fill those gaps.
o Example: Post-independence, Sardar Patel capitalised on his strengths for integration of Princely states
into India.
• Set an example: Emotionally intelligent administrator set their targets and get them done. By doing this, they
set examples for others.
o Example: Pankaj Jain, the district collector of Katni in Madhya Pradesh could have sent his daughter to a
high-profile play school but sent her to Aanganwadi for play-schooling.
• Inspire a shared vision: Emotionally intelligent leaders are able to establish a connection with the masses with
their communication and social skills.
o Example: Former Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi gave the slogan “Garibi Hatao, Desh Bachao” and
recently the Prime Minister has given the slogan “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikaas”.
• Stay composed under pressure: Good leaders do not flare up and lose control in difficult situations.
o Example: President George W. Bush continued sitting with Florida school children even after being
alerted about 9/11 attack. By not outwardly reacting, he bought himself space to think and time to react.
• Maintain balance in life: An emotionally intelligent administrator is able to manage his/her own life well—
including stress, home life, fitness and diet. Then he/she can manage his/her professional life better.
o Example: Former US President Barack Obama maintained a work-life balance—spent his time with
family, attended his daughter’s parent-teacher conferences in school etc.
• Encourage others: Emotionally intelligent administrators recognise the contributions of others. Rewarding
people for their contribution goes a long way in motivating them to be part of the team.
o Example: Recently a CISF personnel, who stopped a Bollywood star, was rewarded for doing his duty.

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• Leadership: Emotionally Intelligent administrators know how to work with others, use resources wisely, support
and credit their people and are able to lead from the front.
o Example: IAS officer Bhupesh Chaudhary (Mizoram) utilised MGNREGS, Mission for Integrated
Development of Horticulture and formed SHGs and cooperatives of farmers to increase the income of
chilli growing farmers by 14 times.
• Selflessness: Because of empathy and social skills, emotionally intelligent administrators are able to understand
the problems of others and show selflessness.
o Example: IAS officer, Nikunja Dhal serving as Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department, Odisha
resumed work merely 24hrs after his father’s death amid COVID-19 pandemic.
• Adaptability: Emotionally intelligent administrators, because of their calmness, control over emotions etc. are
able to adapt to different and even challenging situations.
o Example: IAS officer Smita Sabharwal adapted to the financial crunch and launched a campaign—Fund
Your City—appealing to residents to help her build the infrastructure of Naxal-affected areas.
CHALLENGES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE ADMINISTRATION

• Although Emotional intelligence is an important aspect of administration but there have been instances which
show that there is lack of emotional intelligence in the administrators such as Surajpur (Chhattisgarh) District
Collector Ranbir Sharma had slapped a boy who was outdoor during lockdown, instances of corruption,
nepotism etc.
Following are the hinderance to the development of EI in the administration:

• Work pressure: There is excessive work pressure on the bureaucracy which leads to development of “do
whatever it takes” approach.
o Example: An army jawan was recently thrashed for not wearing mask by Jharkhand police.
• Cultural gap: There is also cultural gap between the bureaucracy and public, which reduces the empathy,
understanding of the public among the bureaucracy and increases the communication gap between them.
o Example: Issue of migrant workers during COVID-19 lockdown where police officers were mainly focused
on implementation of lockdown.
• Use of technology: Technology is being increasingly used in the administration now. However, technology lacks
emotions and becomes a hinderance in emotional intelligence.
o Example: A girl, Santoshi Kumari from Jharkhand died due to starvation because of denial of ration as
the family’s ration card was not linked with Aadhar card.
• Excessive anonymity and hierarchy: Anonymity is considered the strength of the bureaucracy. However,
excessive anonymity and hierarchy might sometimes lead to lack of motivation for taking up responsibility.
o Example: A government official can refuse to grant PDS benefits to a destitute (eligible but lacking
required documents) by making an excuse over want of order from higher officials.
• Lack of training: Indian bureaucracy is largely trained on the technical part of the task but not on the emotional
intelligence. Also, there is reluctance/red tapism in changing the curriculum of training.
DEVELOPMENT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Development of emotional intelligence in personal life

Emotional intelligence involves emotional skills such as empathy, self-control, accurate self-assessment, sensitivity
to the need of the situations etc., which can be learnt and are result of evolution throughout our life based on how
we face, observe and learn from our everyday experience.

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• Practicing emotional self-control: By practicing emotional self-control one can avoid decisions based on
impulsive feelings and emotions and can control and restrain from negative actions.
o Example: While being angry, acting in a mature way by looking at larger picture.
• Emotional expression: Emotional expression provides incentive for desired behaviour from the recipient.
o Example: Child-friendly procedures are incorporated in the POCSO Act for making a child comfortable
with the investigation process.
• Self-evaluation: It helps one to know one’s emotions and reactions to different situations.
o Example: Analysing an act of anger would increase the understanding of the emotion and reaction.
• Observation: By observing others, one can comprehend the feeling of others.
o Example: It can be comprehended that someone is troubled by something if he/she is sad.
• Improving communication: By improving expression through verbal and non-verbal cues communication can
be improved.
o Example: A mother holding a toy in hand and showing joyful expression would make the kid approach
the toy.
• Analysing the impact: By analysing the impacts of one’s actions over others, one can fine tune the actions of
self.
o Example: During COVID-19 first lockdown people were encouraged to provide relief material to migrants
travelling to their home.
• Openness: Being open to criticism increases patient, tolerance towards others, which increases the social skills
and helps in keeping calm under adverse situations.
o Example: Gandhiji was open to criticism and therefore remained calm even in difficult situations.
• Entertaining new ideas: Entertaining new ideas through literature and other sources increases the knowledge
about public or any other object, which adds to empathy, social skills etc.
o Example: IAS probationers are taken to ‘Bharat Darshan’ to increase their understanding about the
culture and various other aspects of the country.
Development of emotional intelligence in civil servants/administrators

• Improving social skills: Social skills can be improved by working on communication aspect and also by increasing
the knowledge about the society in which the civil servant is working.
o Example: Along with words, non-verbal expressions such as smile etc. would bring better response from
the recipient.
• Sensitivity training: Sensitivity training through fieldwork, role playing games, perspective taking etc. increases
the empathy in the civil servant.
o Example: Rohini Bhajibhkare (District Collector of Salem District), who is a daughter of a marginal farmer
is known for people-centric governance.
• Channelisation of emotions: It prevents the influence of physical and mental environment of the civil servant
on the decision-making.
o Example: A Civil Servant showing too much of enthusiasm (even with good intention) while awarding a
contract might put himself/herself on the radar of suspicion.
CRITICISM OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

• Manipulating others: A person who is very good at judging and manipulating other’s emotions without integrity
can hide real emotions and disguise others with expression of other set of emotions.
o Example: People on social media platforms manipulate other people by exploiting their emotions such
as distress etc.

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• Lack of communication: Excessive regulation of emotions along with lower social skills might lead to lack of
communication with recipient.
o Example: If a person (A) is not good in communication skills and does not show any emotion (such as
smile) while meeting someone (B), then that person (B) will have lesser interest in talking to person (A).
• Tolerance towards injustice: If a person has excessive control over emotions then he/she can suppress his/her
emotions that might be inclined towards justice.
o Example: A person can control his/her emotion of pity when he/she someone scolding a poor person
asking for food.
THREAT TO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PRESENT TIME

• Artificial intelligence: There is increasing reliance on Artificial intelligence in present time, which cannot
understand the cultural difference, emotional expressions etc. and also magnify biasness in the algorithm.
o Example: Facial recognition technology used in USA have been biased against people of colour and
has wrongfully matched different people of colour.
• Excessive politicisation: Because of excessive politicisation there is increasing public and political pressure on
honest officials and at the same time ‘yesmanship’ among politically aligned officials.
o Example: Archaeological Survey of India began gold hunting in Uttar Pradesh on the order of a
Union Minister who believed a seer.
• Social media and fake news: Because of social media and fake news there is less emphasis on rationality and
people tend to jump to the conclusion, increasing pressure on the officials to deliver quick results.
o Example: In Ryan international school case, Gurugram, the police charged the bus driver to show
quick result, but he was later released after CBI took over the case.
• Rigid laws: Strict code of conduct, rules that abide the bureaucrats to the decisions of ministers and they cannot
outrightly reject illegitimate demand.
o Example: Former Kerala Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson, an accused in the palmolein graft case had
to abide by the decision of the government to import about 15,000 tonnes of palmolein.

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SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE
• Social intelligence (SI) is the ability of a person to tune into other people’s emotions and read the subtle
behavioural cues to choose the most effective response in a given situation. It aids people to successfully
build relationships and navigate social environments.
KEY ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Verbal fluency and conversational skills: A socially intelligent
person can carry conversation with wide variety of people and is
tactful and appropriate in what is said.
o Example: Swami Vivekananda was tactful in using “Sisters
and brothers of America” in his speech in Chicago.
• Knowledge of social roles, rules and scripts: Socially intelligent
people can play various social roles, and are well versed with
informal rules or norms in the society.
o Example: Gandhiji was well aware about the social roles
prescribed for women in pre-independence India and
therefore devised appropriate strategy for them to play a
role in freedom struggle.
• Effective listening skills: Socially intelligent people are good
listeners and show a positive attitude; therefore, other person having interaction with them feels a good
‘connection’.
o Example: Former President K.R. Narayanan became the first public figure (as Vice-President) to shake
hand with an HIV-infected person and showed positive attitude.
• Impression management skills: Socially intelligent people are good at making a balance between managing and
controlling their image and being reasonably authentic.
o Example: Chetan Singh Rathore, the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru spoke to protesters and sung
national anthem to pacify them.

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MORAL THINKERS & PHILOSOPHERS FROM INDIA & WORLD
Introduction
• Philosophy is derived from the Greek word “Philosophia” which means love of wisdom. A human is a social
being who seeks to understand cause and effect relationships in nature and the society he lives. The person
who is a knowledge seeker through his curiosity is termed a philosopher. These thinkers and philosophers and
their philosophies are celebrated in ancient India and medieval Europe for their contribution.
WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES AND WESTERN THINKERS

• Classification of western philosophies
and thinkers from the context of ethics:
NORMATIVE ETHICS
• Analyses human behaviour i e the aim of
the action and rightness or wrongness of
the action)
• Sets normative standards for judging
human acts as being ethical. They are
championed by Greek philosophers and
the most important branches among
them are as following:
Virtue ethics
These are the theories that focus on the
virtue of character, mind, and sense of
honesty. They were championed mainly by Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato.
SOCRATES:
• He was born in Athens in 5BC and is popular for his dialogues and debates with public figures and authorities
of the time. This technique is termed MEIUITICS.
• Socrates philosophy:
▪ Scrutiny and exploration: In words of Socrates, “An unexamined life is not worth living: one should
question, accept and reject the facts.”: By this philosophy, he builds scientific temper which furthers
paves for scientific revolution in Europe. For example, the recent trends of fake messages via social
messaging sites often tend to create conflict between communities in India. This is because of not
examining the facts.
▪ Courage: It depicts freedom to speak of one’s mind, the ability to speak the truth, and objectivity. For
example, A major chunk of world believes in Chinese aggression but they fail to speak up due to financial
dependency on China.
▪ Ethics of happiness: According to him the only virtue is knowledge and the only sin is ignorance. He valued
knowledge that can lead to an ethical
life. For example, The death of V G
Siddhartha (Owner of Cafe Coffee
Day) shows money is not the source of
happiness but its true knowledge.
▪ Conflicting promise: In the case of
conflicting promises one should follow
a promise that has higher moral worth.For example, India had promised double digit growth in 2018-20
budget and its constitution also promises social nature. Thus during pandamic govt priortised welfare of
people over its economic aims.

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▪ Ideal life: An ideal life should focus on self-

development especially the pursuit of goodness,
virtue, justice, integrity, and friendship.Valuning
virtues like love, friendship, courage, truth takes
an induvidal far more than others due to his
ideal values.
APPLICATION OR EXAMPLES:
▪ Individual-level: True knowledge is the basis of ethical life thus one should stay away from superstation,
feudal mindset, fake news, and misinformation. Practices like mutilation, fake news like the corona virus
spread by religious groups hamper our journey towards an ethical life.
▪ Societal level: India today ranks 142 of 180 nations in Freedom of Press; this is against the Socratic value
of courage.
▪ Governance level: When our government favours PM-Garib Kalyan Yojana of free food over Fiscal
responsibility highlights valuing morally high promise.
PLATO
• He was a Greek philosopher and disciple of Socrates and a teacher to Aristotle.
• Plato’s philosophy:
▪ Justice of self: Every human being has three components mentioned below and they must prioritize
knowledge over others.
o Appetite= Act based on instinctive needs.These instinctive needs are food, sleep, attire, etc.
o Spirit= Act according to one’s honour.
o Knowledge= Act based on the power of critical thinking
▪ Justice of society: For every society to function efficiently, each component should perform its duty. The
duties being,
o Artisan= Provide goods and service
o Soldiers= Defending the society
o Guardians= The rulers of the society
▪ Plato’s Republic: It was a utopia ruled by philosophers and their progeny who enjoy hereditary kingship.
The republic neither had private wealth nor private family. The children were raised by community and
culture and athletics were taught. Strict censorship over literature, drama, and music.
APPLICATION OR EXAMPLES:
▪ Individual-level: The rise of public gatherings like elections and religious conglomeration amidst of
pandemic signifies a prevalence of Spirit over Knowledge.
▪ Societal level: As per the utopia of Plato the three pillars on not in tandem today. This can be experienced
by observing the merger of duties. For examples, Comedians and social media influencers becoming
activist.
ARISTOTLE
• He was also a Greek philosopher and disciple of Plato.
• Philosophies of Aristotle:
▪ Eudemonia: It signifies happiness. Eudemonia means achieving the best conditions possible for
oneself, in every sense–not only happiness, but also virtue, morality, and a meaningful life.
o For example, if you’re a parent, you should excel at raising your children; if you’re a
doctor, you should excel at healing people and if you are civil servant you should work
towards welfare of the society.
▪ Ethical being: He considered humans as social, political, and also as an ethical beings against the views
of Sigmund Fred and even Kauitilya.
▪ The doctrine of GOLDEN mean: He emphasized avoiding extreme actions like choosing courage
against cowardice and sloth. For example, One should not go against constitution in highlighting their

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views with extreme protests and on the other hand they should also not stay silent in case of
exploitation. A legal constitutional battle is a favourable middle path.
▪ Emphasis on virtue: It is the character that determines ethicality and not actions, motives, and
consequences. In Bonafide errors people are generally forgiven due to their true intent and thus the
act becomes ethical. RBI recently accepted the failure of Demonetization but the act was considered
as ethical because of the intent of the Prime Minister.
APPLICATIONS OR EXAMPLES:
▪ Individual-level: One has to focus on building character as PM recently on civil services day quoted
“Shilam Param bhushanam” (Character is everything).
▪ Societal level example: Good people do not need law and bad people find the way around. Based
on this motto for character development NCERT has introduced ethics for children.
▪ Governance level example: Civil servants are criticized for being YES MINISTER. They should use the
doctrine of the mean in their approach
Deontology
The basic premise of deontology states that we are obligated to act in accordance with a set of rules, principles,
and values regardless of outcomes. Its emphasis is on means rather than ends. Kant is the philosopher who
championed deontology.
EMANUEL KANT:
➢ Kant’s philosophy:
• Moral rationalism: It dismissed the view of considering ends as a barometer to measure the ethicality of
conduct. According to him, it is the actions driven by motives that make any conduct ethical. I.e. - Goodwill
is the only qualification for ethical conducted- Supreme Court in case of Sec 144 of IPC upheld its importance
despite detaining being against universal values but it helps in maintaining public order in contingency
situations.
• Selfless action (NishkamaKarma), later you can sa it is similar to nishkam karma in bhagwatgeeta):
According to this action should be end in itself because of the following,
For example: Charity is a Nobel

task, but when people do it to gain
recognition the act cannot be called
as ethical as a means and end
relation is created.
• Categorical imperative: Some actions are of
personal desires like working hard to buy a
house or a car. But categorical imperative
asks one to work for a cause or do something
irrespective of personal desire like taking
care of parents. There are four categorical imperatives,
▪ Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you.
▪ Act according to maxima that can be established as a universal law.
▪ Don't use man as means to an end.
▪ Human actions should benefit society.
APPLICATIONS OR EXAMPLES:

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• Individual-level: Celebrities, politicians, and sports personnel involving in charity and NGO activities to
enhance their public engagement is unethical as means and ends relation is established.
• Societal level: Development without values is a threat to the survival of society. Excessive focus on GDP and
GNP numbers despite reduced happiness remits the absence of moral rationalism.
• Governance level: In slavery one human uses other as a means thus violating the principles of categorical
imperative and thus making the process unethical entirely.
Teleologic approach
• “Telos” is the ancient Greek term for an end, fulfilment, completion, goal or aim. Teleology is a philosophy that
states that consequences of one’s action are the ultimate judge to rightness or wrongfulness of the conduct.
It is further divided into three sub-theories based on its proponents or thinkers.
UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism promotes the action that brings maximum happiness to a maximum number of people. Two major
philosophers have contributed in this line.
JEREMY BENTHAM:
• Born in London and is also called the founding father of utilitarianism.

• Bentham’s philosophies:
▪ Pleasure and Pain principle: The main aim of human life is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
▪ Ethical egoism: It is always moral to promote one’s own good. What is good for an individual is good the
society.
Applications:
▪ Individual-level: Utilitarianism promotes values like liberty, freedom of choice, and democracy. Thus we
observe migration and brain drain in India where maximum individuals are attracted towards Bentham’s
pleasure and pain principle.
▪ Societal level: There are certain sects like Protestants in the West, Sindhis, and Agarwals in India who
believe in ethical egoism thus the communities opt for entrepreneurship.
▪ Governance level: Government policies like Cess, Wealth Tax, Hydro projects may impact a few lives but
are beneficial to societies at large.
J S MILL
• Born in London and also worked as a civil servant in East India Company.
• Mill’s philosophies:
▪ Social Utilitarianism: It supported utilitarianism but in such a way that an individual’s action should not
bring harm to society at large. i.e.- The pleasure of an individual should not bring displeasure to society.
▪ Ethical altruism: Here one’s ego is satisfied but it is subjected to the conditionality of not affecting others.
▪ Higher pleasure and lower: Mill distinguished between higher and lower pleasure. The pleasures that
are intellectual based were termed as higher pleasure and the ones associated with sensual pleasures
are lower pleasures. For example, choosing hard work over sleep or entertainment can be considered as
higher pleasure.
▪ An upgrade from Bentham’s utilitarianism: As per Bentham, an actions is ethical if it produces the
greatest good to greatest number of people. He termed this as quantitative utilitarianism. However Mill

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moved from this idea and provided Qualitative utilitarianism which focuses on intellectual pleasure and
consider such action to be ethical. This distinction is also referred as Rule Utilitarianism.
▪ Ideas of liberty: He was vocal about free speech and believed that people should be free to act however
they wish unless their actions cause harm to somebody elese.
• Application and example:

▪ Individual level: Active smokers tend to harm their bodies by will but this act is considered to be
unethical on the ground of impacting passive smokers nearby depicting the act is not ethical as per social
utilitarianism.
▪ Societal level: There is a prevalence of “I-culture” in the west but in the East, there is “We-culture”.
Based on this difference China in the UN asked for a different definition for “Human rights” for the east
and the west endorsing the ethical altruism.
▪ Governance level: The 2021 World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders
(RSF),has placed India at 142nd rank out of 180 countries.2Such actions are adherence to Mill’s idea of
liberty.
CONTRACTARIANISM
According to the theory of Contractarianism, conduct is considered to be ethical if one adheres to the contract or
agreement made by two or more at some point in time. When such a contract exists between people and state it
is termed a social contract. Where the state governs the people with some duties and people also share some
obligations towards the state. This theory is championed by three philosophers.
THOMAS HOBBES:
• Philosophies:
▪ Human nature: Human by nature is selfish, brutish, murderous, and self-preserving. Thus he cannot
maintain peace and stability; therefore people come together via contract to form a state or a
government.
▪ State of nature is state of war: He also believed that human beings will engage in a fierce struggle for
scarce resource to fulfil their self interest.
▪ Leviathan State: He calls for a leviathan state with the following provisions,
o Absolute power to govern
o People have no right to revolt against the state
o People do not have absolute rights
o State should lay emphasis on civic education and induce obedience among the citizens. add
• Application or examples:
▪ Individual-level: India currently has NPA (Non-Performing Assets) worth 11 crores. As per
Contractarianism, this act can be considered as unethical as a contract is broken by the people.
▪ Societal level: The rule by Kim Jong-Un in North Korea can be considered as a nearest example of the
modern leviathan state.
▪ Governance level: The government of India uses an online surveillance mechanism called NETRA. These
monitors all over activities for internal security. This shows the absence of absolute rights.
JOHN LOCKE

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• Philosophy:
▪ Liberty: Locke was a huge advocate of freedom and governance by consent. He distinguished between
self regarding and other-regarding actions, which should be a criterion for deciding whether to intervene
or not. He considered LIFE-LIBERTY-PROPERTY as the “Three Natural Rights” of every man.
▪ On patriarchy and women: He also champions women’s rights and demands equal opportunities for
them.
▪ On property: Locke says that man has a natural right over property, and also says that nature is entirely
at the disposal of man for his comfort. This can be examined by the fact that he was writing at the time
of abundance when America was recently discovered and Europeans were colonizing it.
▪ Tolerance: Locke was an advocate of minority rights, and a heterogeneous society where people of
different cultures co-exist.
• Application or example:
▪ Individual-level:. Our founding fathers of the constitution initially believed in philosophy of John Locke
as they had imbibed Right to property in constitution under Art 19 and Art 21 uphold Right to Life and
Liberty.
▪ Societal level: As per Locke if the Right to Property was a natural right why the percentage of average
landholding of farmers is below 2 hectares.
▪ Governance level: As per Locke governance by consent should be the core of the functioning of
government but the recent over throw of Kabul by Taliban depicts violation of peoples will and is a
modern extreme form of Leviathan State.farm bills and the citizenship amendment act show regarding
actions without a demand.
ROUSSEAU:
• Philosophy:
▪ Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains: One man thinks he is master of others but remains
more of a slave than they are. This shows the man is born free but society has constricted his freedom.
▪ General will: People are the ultimate in any
democracy and sovereignty lies within the
people.
▪ Property: He rejected the idea of private
wealth and supported that wealth should only
fulfil a basic need. This shows his inclination
towards socialism.
▪ Education: He said education must be gained
through nature rather than formal education
i.e. through books.
• Application or example:
▪ Individual-level: His theory on people being in chains is true. For example, A child is born free but it is
responsible to its family (contribute to its sustenance and continuity), school (adhere to prescribed
curriculum), government (abide by law of land), international law (immigration, visas and citizenship) and
order depicting chains.
▪ Societal level: The recent update to the National Education Policy emphasis understanding our
surroundings rather than root learning. Same can be observed in Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantinikethan
which is on the idea, to create a free and fearless atmosphere for children to grow up in, in close contact
with nature
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▪ Governance level: The recent defeat of Mr. Trump due to his authoritarian governance show people
being ultimate in any democracy.
Contemporary Contractarianism
John Rawls is called the father of contemporary contractarianism and he is the most influential American
philosopher post Second World War. His philosophy is also called RAWLSIANISM.
JOHN RAWLS PHILOSOPHY:
• Equality: Every rich and poor should have equal rights that are basic like liberty, right to vote, and right to hold
public offices. These are called political rights in most nations.
• Differential equality: Since some are rich (in advantage) and some are poor (disadvantage) position people
enjoy different rights, some societies term them as reservation while others term them as positive
discrimination.
• Justice: It is the standard used in decision-making by considering facts and without any prejudices also called
“Veil of Ignorance”.
o Veil of Ignorance:
▪ Also called as Original Position.
▪ It is a hypothetical situation prior to the starting of society when people decide the principles on
which the society builds up.
▪ The principles are mainly set by the people who are unaware of the social position they occupy or
will occupy. I.e.- people are unaware of being rich, poor, strong, weak, majority, minority, etc.
▪ This ensures Just and Fair principles to be developed as each individual contributes to the value by
considering even the worst case scenario.
➢ Applications or examples:
• Individual-level: One should respect others' political rights as per the equality principle. But we observe
in media, Journalists questioning one’s right to protest during several protests.
• Societal level: Amartya Sen Philosophy of “Capability Approach” also highlights differential equality or
equity. According to him a developed nation having three people can share a pie equally but in an
underdeveloped nation, this ratio is ineffective.
• Governance level: The concepts like Zero Budgeting; we use rudimentary form of Veil of Ignorance. We
consider the results of programs and policies to approve them for the next year without any prejudice.
DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS
• Descriptive ethics deals with what people actually believe (or made to believe) to be right or wrong, and
accordingly consider the human actions being acceptable or not acceptable or punishable under a custom
and law.
• However, customs and laws keep changing from time to time and from society to society. The moral
principles of the society keep changing with the time and expect people to behave accordingly. Due to this,
descriptive ethics is also called comparative ethics because it compares the ethics or past and present;
ethics of one society and other.
• Lawrence Kohlberg was one of the thinkers of this branch. He conducted social experiment Heinz Dilemma
(should an individual steal a drug to save his wife, or refrain from theft even though that would lead to his
wife's death?) Kohlberg's concern was not which choice the boys made, but the moral reasoning that lay
behind their decisions thus found greater role of social norms in their reasoning.
o For example, In India Hanuman worship is considered a spiritual experience but the west they call
it monkey worship. This is because they are unable to reason the importance of the animal on texts
like Ramayana.

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APPLIED ETHICS
Applied ethics is a branch of ethics which deals with application of ethical theories in real life situation and guide
people to achieve an ethical conduct. This is generally used when an individual is in ethical dilemma or with respect
to specific issues of public and private life.
Some of the well-known branches of the applied ethics are:

➢ Environment ethics: Quality of life vs. Economic development by exploiting the nature
➢ Media ethics: Character assassination vs. making citizens informed on the crime.
➢ Medical ethics: Patency on medicines vs. Right to live for human kind.
➢ Technological ethics: Use of Darknet, Deep fakes, Mass trolling, etc.
INDIAN PHILOSOPHIES
IMPORTANT SCHOOLS OF HINDU PHILOSOPHY
SAMKHYA:
• It is also called Sankhya enumerating number.

• It preaches the philosophy of “Dvaitavada” or dualism. It believes in the existence of matter (Prakriti) and soul
(Purusha) as two separate entities. The soul passes on to temporal bodies and at the end merges with subtle
matter or cosmic energy.
• Application: The theory highlights the inner conscience or soul that guides one's ethical conduct.
YOGA:
• Yoga means union of yoking.

• It deals with values that help one with mental and physical abilities. It suggests Ashtanga-Yoga considering
following steps,
▪ Yama= Restraint from ahimsa and falsehood.
▪ Niyama= Discipline
▪ Asana= Set of exercises for physical wellbeing
▪ Pranayama= Breath control
▪ Pratyahara= Control of senses
▪ Dharana= Awareness
▪ Dhyana= Concentrated meditation
▪ Samadhi= Soul releasing from Sansar
• Application: Yoga helps in the development of self and virtues. As it provides insight into self-awareness and
promotes discipline.The theme of the International Yoga Day 2021 is Yoga for Wellbeing indicating both
physical and mental well being during covid and lockdown times.
NYAYA
• Nyaya signifies Rule.

• This philosophy emphasizes “logic and epistemology”. It promotes the gain of knowledge through inference,
and true knowledge leading to the liberation of the soul.

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• Application: It upholds true knowledge or wisdom that was also propounded by philosophers of virtue
ethics.For example, Buddha is considered to be the “Enlightened one” this is because he is said to understand
the reason for sufferings i.e.- Desire. Thus he conquered his desire establishing logic and upholding Nyaya
principles.
MIMAMSA:
• Mimamsa means critical reflection.

• It is the earliest Hindu school of philosophy that interprets Vedas and also provides philosophical justification.
According to the theory, one can attain salvation through Karma-Kanda(Ritualism).
• Application: Modern-day ritualism derives its justification from this school. We can also attribute this to
consumerism and materialism.
VEDANTA:
• The term Vedanta means conclusion, specifically end of Vedas.

• As per the school of thought, one Vedas are the true source of knowledge and one can attain salvation by
seeking true knowledge.
• It emphasised the path of Jnana (knowledge) for Moksha rather than ritualism and sacrifice to achieve moksha.
• Vivekananda’s interpretation of Vedanta philosophy:
o Ethics: It is a code of conduct for a man to be good as his soul is pure. So emphasis was laid on intrinsic
purity of atman (soul).
o Religion: Religion offered a pathway to the eternal supreme i.e.- Atman merging with Paramatman.
o Education: He advocated education for character building of an individual and was in complete agreement
with methods and result of modern science.
• Application: The modern education system is inclined towards monetary benefits but the Vedas in a true sense
had holistic knowledge of life, health, recreation, and also economic principles.
Essence of Ramayana and Mahabharata
Character What can we learn

Ram ➢ Governance: Public is of prime importance over family and social welfare should be the main
role of government.
➢ Friendship: Hanuman was treated as a friend rather than a subordinate.
➢ Marriage is an institution: Loyalty towards his wife.
➢ He is a major proponent of social contractarianism approach due to his relation with public/
subjects.
Sita ➢ Self-respect: She showed self-respect when her purity was questioned by the public and Lord
Ram himself.
➢ Sita upholds the values and courage thus can be included in proponent of virtue ethics.
Dasharatha ➢ Madhyammarga: Never take decisions when one is happy or sad. This can be termed in
and Kaikeyi today’s term as Emotional Intelligence.
➢ Social influence: The influence of the maid on Kaikeyi led to Lord Ram moving to the forest
signifies the importance of bad and good social influence.
Ravana ➢ Greed: Despite Ravana being an intellect the greed for power and other women
overshadowed his wisdom and could not differentiate between ethical and unethical acts.
➢ True Knowledge and Wisdom as per are the important for ethical and happiness, his
ignorance symbolizes absence of ethical intellectualism.

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Bhishma ➢ Dharma: One has to abide by his dharma. It applies to contemporary civil serpents who often
complain of unhealthy working conditions.
➢ He can also be considered as Deontologist for whom means are important than ends.
Arjun and ➢ Positive thinking: Krishna was the epitome of positive thinking who found solutions and
Krishna positivity in every situation.
➢ Contractarianism: Arjun broke the words given to Yudhister and yet forgiven by him took the
punishment of one year pilgrimage.
➢ Krishna can be considered as propagator of Teleological approach where ends or
consequences of action decide the act being ethical or not.
Essence of Bhagavad-Gita
➢ Pleasure and Work: Do not let the fruit be the purpose of your actions, and therefore, you won’t be
attached to not doing your duty. It lays more weight on duty with commitment than with destination. For
example, few civil servants after getting into service get involved in a rat race of rewards, promotion, and
salary than focusing on public commitment.
➢ Emotional intelligence: The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from
anxiety about results. For example, the recent death of Sushant Singh Rajput showed the importance of
managing emotions for society.
➢ Focus: We are kept away from our goals, not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal. The modern-
day distractions in form of social media, love, and materialism provide temporary pleasure but derail us
from our permanent goal completely.
➢ Selflessness: A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at right time without expecting
anything from return. For example, the modern culture of huge donations and NGO establishment in
presence of media by influential is not a selfless act.
➢ Truth alone triumphs:There always will be bigger power watches and truth can never be hidden. For
example, Skin colour is a biological phenomenon while Race is a social phenomenon. But western rulers
tried to mask this truth but Gandhi’s movement in South Africa against Apartheid at the end proved race
just being a social construct.
INDIAN PHILOSOPHERS
KAUTILYA
➢ Science of wealth: Kautilya explained the science of wealth in his book Arthashashtra. Where he explained the
political economy of the nation.
➢ Governance:
• King's happiness lies in the happiness of his subjects. His focus lies on the welfare state.
• “Yatha Raja ThataPraja” highlighting the importance of honesty, efficiency, and accountability of the
King.
• He said corruption is natural in government as being selfish is human nature. One has to control
corruption as following,
▪ Saam-Niti= Educating citizens and also public officials.
▪ Daam-Niti= Incentivising the hard work of the officials.
▪ Dandh-Niti= Punishments for deterrence.
▪ Bedh-Niti= Vigilance and spy system.

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➢ Application: Today when India is suffering from issues like negative economic growth, rampant corruption,
and protest by the public one must revisit Kautilya’s philosophies.
• Saam-niti: Whistle blowing act encourages concerned citizen to act as eyes of government.
• Daam-niti: The adoption of 360 degree review system for bureaucrats recognises the hard work.
• Dandh-niti: Last year 2 IAS officers and 9 IPS officers were dismissed for corrupt practices.
• Bedh-niti: The institutions like CVC, Lokpal and Lokayut, CBI help in vigilance against corrupt
practices.
THIRUVALLUVAR
➢ Truthfulness: Even a lie could be considered as truth if that lie is harmless and brings unquestionable
benefits.
➢ God and religion: Even if god and fate doesn’t will it, your true efforts will bear efforts.
➢ Forgiveness: Retaliation will be a momentary joy but patience and forgiveness will bring joy for life.
➢ Right speech: Even fire burns will heal easily but burns from loose words will never be.
➢ Nation-state: A nation should work on five key elements naming,
• Health • Economy • Defence
• Harvest • Happiness
➢ Application: Tiruvalluvar’s philosophy becomes the guiding light to the modern quest of revenge and
vengeance between the people, communities, and nation-states.Examples like atheist getting more
success, Gandhi’s ability to forgive people of their ignorance and eight fold path of Buddha stand on
Tiruvalluvar’s policy.
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
➢ Rationalism: He was a pioneer of the rationalist movement in India and a follower of Vedanta philosophy.
He desired the amalgamation of western and Indian philosophy for a happy life.
➢ Education: To awaken the people he established Ram-Krishna Mission and later Ram-Krishna Math. He
condemned blind spiritual beliefs and searched for rationality in religion.
➢ Brotherhood: Through his iconic speech at the World Parliament of Religions Conference he developed
brotherhood among the people of India and people of the globe.
➢ Application: His ideas on brotherhood are more relevant today as the world has become a global village
and people of different backgrounds have come closer leading to racial and communal conflicts as recently
seen in the Charlie Hebdo case in France and George Floyd case in the USA.
M K GANDHI
➢ Gandhi on politics: He was against “Dharmic Politics” which brews on corruption, sectarianism, and
communalism. He also said, “Politics should not be instrumental of power but an agency of service.”
➢ Sarvodaya: The concept of Sarvodaya revolved around universal upliftment of all and progress for all. His
philosophy can be witnessed from the following,
• Development of self-supported village network where production’s main purpose is the
consumption of self.
• Promoting family relationships beyond blood relationships.
• Everyone should be equally represented and promote the value of liberty.
➢ Gandhi’s eleven vows:

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• Swadeshi • Remove • Bread labour • Non-violence

untouchability
• Truth • No stealing • Self-discipline • Equality of all
religion
• Non- • Control on the • Fearlessness
possession palate
➢ Gandhi’s seven sins: Gandhi mentioned these seven sins in his weekly “Young India”,
Type of Sins Recent example

Politics without principles ➢ The recent cases of defection in Karnataka.
➢ 233 of 539 MP’s of Lok Sabha have criminal cases against them.
Wealth without work ➢ The inflating prices of cryptocurrency have changed many fortunes.
➢ Current Rs 11 Lakh crore NPA in banks also shows the corrupt and
manipulative mindset of the people.
Pleasure without conscience ➢ The burning issue of marital rape on adolescents.
➢ Environmental plundering under the ambit of development
Knowledge without character ➢ Use of cyberspace to disrupt national infrastructure as observed in 2021
Mumbai blackout.
➢ Recent cases of “Missing women” due to female feticide using ultrasound
test.
Science without humanity ➢ Recent bombarding of missiles between Israel and Gaza Strip.
➢ Governments not banning toxic drinks and cigars despite evidence of
cancer.
➢ The use of nuclear weapon over Japan in 1945 is assault of science on
humanity.
Commerce without morality ➢ Google and Facebook recently tussle with the US Senate on privacy issues.
➢ Sexism in Bollywood songs and movies over the female bodyjust to market
their content.
Religionwithout sacrifice ➢ Religious fundamentalism in all religions leading to communal tensions as
(Manavaseva= Madhava Seva) seen recently in France.
➢ Development of ritualism over bhakti.
➢ Application: Gandhi’s seven sins are very relevant in today’s context in the sphere of life from family,
society, and even at the government level.
AMARTYA SEN
➢ The capability approach: The government and oneself should focus on achieving the development of skills,
values, and morals for wellbeing rather than measuring on narrow grounds of monetary terms.
➢ Social welfare: Government should address the problem of individual rights, minority aspirations for
collective growth and development.
➢ Human development: He argued against Mahalanobis model that, instead of focusing on economic factors
governments should focus on education, public health, food distribution system, and other social reforms.
➢ Application: His ideas have been compiled and Human Development Index has been devised by United
Nations to supplement economic growth parameters like GDP and GNP.
RABINDRANATH TAGORE:

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➢ Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta on May 7, 1861.Bengali poet, novelist, and painter, who was
highly influential in introducing Indian culture to the west.
➢ Tagore on Education:
• Tagore envisioned a novel blending of the ideas of the East and West. The spiritualism of Indian
philosophy and progressive outlook of the western people were blended together.
• Tagore was a naturalist; nature is the best teacher to students. Nature will provide the student
with necessary situation to gain knowledge. No external pressure should be exerted upon the
student to learn anything. It is the nature that will shape his behaviour and character.
• For the first time in the arena of Indian education, Tagore established a new mile-stone by rejecting
the book-centred education for students.
• According to Tagore, teaching should be practical and real but not artificial and theoretical.
Education should definitely increase the creative skill within a learner.
• Tagore laid great importance to the fine arts in his educational curriculum. Activities like, games,
dance, music, drama, painting etc and considered them as a part of educational process.
• Tagore was aware about the rural poverty of our country. So, he wanted to eradicate it through
education. The practical training imparted in different crafts to the students will make them skilled
artisans in their field.
➢ Tagore on Nation: Tagore was a national poet and a patriot. His writings were filled with patriotic values.
He had joined the freedom struggle to make the country free from foreign yoke. Sense of national service,
patriotic feeling, dedication etc. was fostered through his writings. “Jana Gana Mana Adlii Nayak Jai Hai”
expresses a strong sense of integration.
KABIR
➢ Sant Kabir Das was born in the city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He was a 15th CEC mystic poet, saint and
social reformer and a great proponent of the Bhakti Movement.
➢ Kabir on tolerance: Sant Kabir tried to unite communities of India mainly the Hindus and Muslim who
constituted the major chunk. He gave metaphors like “Both Hindus and Muslims are made of same clay”.
His teachings become important in contemporary period when religious tensions are brewing across the
globe.
➢ Kabir on wisdom: Kabir laid emphasis on development of wisdom. He elaborates them with his dohas as
following, “If I tell the truth people rush to beat me, but if lie they trust me”. This symbolizes need for
oneself to attain true knowledge. This is true even in modern times as people get offended bitter truth but
are ready to accept lies and mediocrarcy to suit their views.
ADMINISTRATORS:
E SREEDHARAN
➢ Also called Metro Man of India who worked towards redefining public transport in India.
➢ Perseverance: He was successful in developing Konkan Railways at the highest quality despite his
disagreement with the Railway Minister over the choice of gauges. He persuaded the minister with his
diligence and perseverance.
➢ Equity: Delhi Metro is one of his successful ventures where he ensured affordable tickets for all and free
travel for women.
➢ Ethics of work culture: He says “Ethics in work is a compulsion, not an option”. He upheld punctuality,
professionalism, and competence as the cardinal principle of the work environment.
TN SHEEHAN
➢ He was an IAS officer from Tamil Nadu Cadre who stamped his authority on the electoral system in India.

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➢ Leadership: He identified several electoral malpractices ranging from inaccurate election rolls, booth
capturing, electioneering, etc. He then acted on all aspects strictly and set milestones for officers to come.
➢ Discipline: He was known for his strict adherence to the law. He ensured his support staff and politicians
abide by the rules. For instance, in 1994 he advised PM to remove two sitting cabinet ministers for electoral
malpractices. His approach was often termed as Zero delay and Zero deficiency approach.
➢ Innovative: He successfully started the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct during elections
which today has evolved as an important part of elections in India.
Conclusion
The actual transformation of ethical theories to one's value system takes place when one internalizes the theories
and ideas of philosophers. One should strive to make ethics their way of life and aim for Summum Bonum or Chief
Good.
ADMINISTRATION AND LEADERSHIP
• Administration is defined as a process of working with and through others to accomplish the agreed goals
efficiently. It is largely concerned with the implementation of objective procedures, guidelines, policies etc.
using existing tools and structures.
• Leadership is concerned with direction and control of human and material resources to create value and
to evolve structures as per contemporary time and technology and thus outperform the defined goals and
objectives.
o Example: While an administrator would have waited for government to clear fund for road
construction, Armstrong Pame (leader) constructed 100 km road through crowdfunding.
Administrator, Manager and Leader:

• Administrator is a person who is responsible for forming the strategic vision of the organisation. An
administrator formulates organisational structure and focus on long-term plan.
• Manager is a person who is responsible for translating the administrator’s vision into operating plans and
directs, supervises, personnel working in the formulated organisational structure.
• Leader is a person who guides and motivate others which might include managers at times. They are vision
oriented and provides a positive outlook to the team.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANAGER AND LEADERSHIP
Parameter Manager Leadership

Outlook Passive outlook which is limited to stated Ambitious outlook; they initiate new structure or
objective procedures
Appointment They are generally appointed They can be appointed or can emerge from within
a group
Approach Impersonal, unidirectional approach Personal involvement, holistic vision towards goals
towards Goals towards goals
People Low emotional involvement with people, Higher emotional involvement with people; at
Management interaction is limited to specific roles times, many invoke competitive and inspirational
assigned to people spirits to yield best results
Conclusion: Thinkers and philosophers through their theories and philosophies, provided a strong ethical and
intellectual base to extract rational values from it and their contribution is leading towards bringing more ethical
perspective to the arena of governance specifically and to the society in general

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ETHICS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Previous Year Questions from This Topic

Ques. What does ethics seek to promote in human life? Why is it all the more important in Public Administration?
(150 words, 10 marks) (2014)
Ques. Public servants are likely to confront with the issues of “Conflict of Interest”. What do you understand by the
term “Conflict of Interest” and how does it manifest in the decision making by public servants? If faced with the
conflict-of-interest situation how would you resolve it? Explain with the help of examples. (150 words, 10 marks)
(2015)
Ques. “Max Weber said that it is not wise to apply to public administration the sort of moral and ethical norms we
apply to matters of personal conscience. It is important to realize that the state bureaucracy might possess its own
independent bureaucratic morality.” Critically analyse this statement. (150 words, 10 marks) (2016)
Ques. Conflict of interest in the public sector arises when (a) official duties, (b) public interest, and (c) personal
interest are taking priority one above the other. How can this conflict in administration be resolved? Describe with an
example. (150 words, 10 marks) (2017)
Public administration consists of all those operations having for their purpose the fulfilment or enforcement of
public policy.
It includes military as well as civils affairs, as much of the work of courts and all the special fields of government
activity-police, education, health, construction of public works, conservation, social security, and many others.
BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:

• It is non-political public bureaucracy operating in political system;
• It deals with the ends of the State, the sovereign will, the public interests and laws;
• It is concerned with policy-making as well as policy execution;
• It covers all three branches of the government, although it tends to be concentrated in the executive branch;
• It provides regulatory and service functions to the people in order to attain good life;
• It differs significantly from private administration, especially in its emphasis on the public with respect to means
and ends.
PRINCIPLES DIFFERENTIATING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION FROM PRIVATE ADMINISTRATION

Administration occurs in both public and private institutional settings. While public administration is concerned
with government administration, private administration is concerned with administration of private business
organisation.
Following four principles that differentiate public from private administration:
Principle of uniformity Common and uniform laws and regulation

Principle of external Legislative body control government revenues and expenditure
financial control
Principle of ministerial Accountable to its political masters and through them to people
responsibility
Principle of marginal return Main objective of business venture is profit; however, the objectives of public
administration cannot be measured in money terms.

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NEED OF ETHICS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Public administration in India has been largely focused on political, legal and financial domains only, but the ethical
dimension is equally important, which can be understood from the following points:
• Public resource utilisation: Efficient and effective resource utilisation without corruption in India is important
because of resource deficit and ethics make a public administrator accountable to his/her actions.
• Social Justice: Ethical public administration is important to achieve the goal of social justice as envisaged under
Article 38 and other DPSPs of our Constitution. It ensures equality and equity for vulnerable sections of the
society.
• Resolve dilemma: Public administration is becoming complex day-by-day and this creates frequent dilemma for
public administrators. Ethics ensures public good is given priority and resolves ethical and value conflicts and
dilemma.
• Decision making: Public administrators take key decisions and when those decisions are based on objectivity,
fairness, justice and above the personal interest, they yield required results for the society.
• Public trust: Ethical public administration creates confidence and trust in the of the people towards the
competence, fairness, honesty, impartiality and sincerity of the public services.
• Social capital: Ethical public administration ensures credibility in the eyes of the people and ensures civil society
cooperation and thus building social capital of the country.
• Sarvodaya/antyodaya: Ethical public administration brings empathy, compassion for poor and vulnerable
sections of the society leading to better understanding of societal problems and thus finding their solutions.
Example: Implementation of Bonded Labour Abolition Act by IAS officer S. Shankaran.
STATUS AND PROBLEMS OF ETHICS IN INDIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Provisions for inculcating ethics in Indian administration
• Central Services Conduct Rules, 1964: The rules provide for do’s and don’ts for civil servants and requires them
to maintain absolute integrity, devotion to duty and political neutrality while discharging their duties.
• All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968: These rules provide that the officials of IAS, IPS and IFoS should maintain
high ethical standards, integrity and honesty, political neutrality, promote principle of merit, fairness and
impartiality in the discharge of duties along with accountability and transparency.
• Code of ethics, 1997: It was first initiative to introduce code of ethics for public servants in India aiming for
better governance in India. However, it was not issued for public servants.
• Draft Public Service Bill, 2007: It was drafted by Department of Personnel and envisaged moral behaviour from
the civil servants and enumerated certain values among public servants:
o Patriotism and upholding national pride;
o Allegiance to the Constitution and the law of the nation;
o Objectivity, impartiality, honesty, diligence, courtesy and transparency;
o Maintain absolute integrity.
Ethical issues in Indian administration

• Misuse of discretionary powers: Discretionary powers are misused for personal gains and extend favouritism in
the administration and public welfare is largely disregarded.
• Undue importance to rules and regulations: Indian administration gives undue importance to compliance of
rules and regulations, which leads to excessive red-tapism and disregard of the justice, fairness etc. and more
focus on accountability rather than responsibility in the administration.

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• Poor reward and punishment mechanism: Reward and punishment is determined by favouritism and political
nexus disregarding merit in the administration.
• Lack of communication: Indian administration is
Observations of Second Administrative Reforms
characterised by closed communication and limited
Commission with respect to Ethical Issues in Indian
public contact. Rigid hierarchy within the organisations Administration:
further hinder communication. • Corruption is a matter of concern particularly at
• Corruption: Bribery and corruption are seen as reward the cutting-edge levels of bureaucracy.
for performance of obligatory work and considered as • Perceptible lack of commitment in public
necessary evil greasing the wheels of the government servants towards redressal of citizens' grievance
departments. • Red-tapism and unnecessary complex
o Example: India has been ranked 86th in Corruption procedures add to hardship of citizens.
Perception Index, 2020. • Government servants are rarely held to account
• Evasive tendency: There is lack of initiatives on the part and complaints to higher authorities usually go
of administrators facing a difficult situation and the unheeded
problem is evaded by passing the task from one • Attitude of many public functionaries is one of
department to another. arrogance and indifference
• Patronage: Political patronage plays an important role in • Frequent transfer of officers reduces their
appointment of administrators, especially at the higher effectiveness and also dilutes their accountability
levels. • Nexus between politicians and bureaucrats.
o Example: Post-retirement assignments to senior
officials to Regulatory and other bodies is largely done on the basis of political patronage.
• Excessive Security: Article 311 of the Constitution provides excessive security to public servants and this reduces
the enforcement of accountability.
• Ill-conceived goals: When incentives are given for achievement of any goal but they promote a negative
behaviour.
o Example: The Bank Manager of Utkala Grameen Bank in Odisha insisted on physical verification of a 100-
year-old lady for withdrawal of money from Jan Dhan Account.
• Overvaluing outcomes: It is about giving more importance to the end result and not to the process.
o Example: Certifying a drug developed by a drug company, even if it has used unethical means.
• Lobbying: Various pressure groups convey huge political capital and they lobby for their interest. Sometimes
these demands may not be beneficial in long-term but due to political pressure government/administrators have
to fulfil their demands.
o Example: Various political parties have given into the demands of loan waivers.

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PROBLEMS OF ETHICS IN INDIAN ADMINISTRATION

• Lack of ethical literacy: It refers to inability to understand the ethical issues that are involved in any situation
and the decision is entirely based on the rule-books. This limits the understanding of the situation where cultural,
social, environmental etc. factors play major roles.
• Secrecy: In spite of RTI Act, 2005, there is greater secrecy in the Indian administration and even the information
sought under RTI Act is denied on the context of official secrecy.
• Societal pressures: Irrational and unreasonable demands are made upon the officers by families, relatives, peers
and other close ones.
• Political superiority: Bureaucrats are accountable to their political masters and they have to abide by their
decisions, even if they are not economically sound but based on the political exigencies and short-term goals.
• Lack of grievance redressal mechanism: There is lack of organisation of public opinion regarding administrative
deficiencies, which is compounded by lack of awareness among people about their rights and entitlements and
grievance redressal mechanism against officials.
• Information leaks: Sometimes officials have not been able to hold on to the sensitive information such as
pending tax increase, cost-cutting of staff etc. and this information is leaked into the public domain.
• Lack of whistleblower protection: Although Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014 is present there is victimisation
of whistleblowers and no penalty against any public servant victimising the complainant.
• Lack of knowledge of rights: There is also lack of knowledge of rights among public, mainly due to complexity
of administration and also due to insular attitude from officials.
ETHICAL DILEMMA IN GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS

Ques. Explain the process of resolving ethical dilemmas in Public Administration. (150 words, 10 marks) (2018)
• Dilemma refers to a situation in which a problem is offering two solutions, neither of which is practically
acceptable.
• Ethical dilemma refers to a situation that necessitates a choice between competing set of principles neither
of which is absolutely ethical.
o Example: A civil servant is approached by an old person, who is eligible under the public distribution
system but do not have required documents.
Three essential conditions for a situation to be ethical dilemma:
ETHICAL DILEMMA IN GOVERNMENT

Public servants in India have to work under different sets of
conditions such as resource crunch, political leadership, different
societal values etc. and under such situations they face multiple
ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas include are caused by the
following relationships of Civil Servants:
• Civil Servants and Political Office holders;
• Civil Servants and Citizens; and
• Intra – Civil Service (Ministries, Departments and Agencies, that
make up the Country’s or State’s Civil Service).

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Ethical dilemmas faced by Public Servants are:

• Conflict of interest: It is a situation involving conflict between private interest and public interest when
individual is at a position of power and trust.
o Example: Arun Jaitley did not handle vodafone
case because he had conflict of interest as he was
advisor to vodafone earlier.
• Conflict between personal values and values of public
administration.
o Example: A public servant might be against the
use of Aadhar because of high regard for right to
privacy, but might have to use it for public
distribution system.
• Conflict between professional ethics and unjustified
demand by superiors.
o Example: A Public servant might be against loan
waivers but because of orders of seniors will have to abide by the order.
• Various aspects of code of conduct, such as motivation versus not accepting rewards for performance of duty.
o Example: A Public servant might be of the opinion that small gifts act as a motivation to perform his/her
duty but that is against code of conduct.
• Professional commitment versus public welfare
o Example: A public servant denying government entitlements to a destitute due to lack of documentary
proofs.
Resolving Ethical Dilemma in Government:

Ethical dilemma can be solved by keeping following
key aspects in mind:
• Prioritising public interest: Public servants should
keep their self-interest secondary and keep public
interest priority while taking any decision or action.
• Comprehensive evaluation: An ethical dilemma
should be resolved by considering all the options
and taking decision that gives ‘maximum welfare to
maximum people’.
• Value neutrality: Public servants should avoid
biasedness while facing ethical dilemma and take
decisions like a neutral refree.
ETHICAL CONCERNS IN PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS

Business ethics applies to all aspects of a business conduct and is relevant for conduct of individuals and entire
organisation. Although fundamentals remain same, it varies from organisation to organisation. Individuals of an
organisation might find themselves in a conflicting situation.
Example: An honest salesman might have to sell a defective medical product which might affect the patient’s
health.
It gives rise to ethical concerns in a private organisation:
• Conflict of interest: It arises when an individual is involved in multiple interests.

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o Example: BCCI Ethics officer served a notice on Conflict of interest to Rupa Gurunath as she is President
of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association as well as Director of India Cements Ltd. the parent company of
Chennai Super Kings.
• Nepotism, favouritism: Nepotism and favouritism is generally seen in employment and appointments in an
organisation where caste, clan or other identities overtake merit. This is also seen in the positions of board of
directors.
• Integrity of audit process: Companies sometimes manipulate their business accounts in order to show good
financial health and maintain good credit ratings in the market and this is not brought to public by audit
processes.
o Example: Yes Bank scandal which highlighted the directors’ inability to unravel deviations.
• Monopolistic tendencies: Companies often indulge in monopolistic tendencies in order to kill the competition
in the market.
o Example: Price war in the telecom sector.
• Cartelisation and manipulation of market: Private business enterprises usually involve in cartelisation in order
to displace new entrants in the market or to earn higher profits.
o Example: Manipulation of prices by Arhartiyas in APMCs, tax evasion, insider trading etc.
LAWS, RULES, REGULATIONS AND CONSCIENCE AS SOURCE OF ETHICAL GUIDANCE
LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS AS SOURCE OF ETHICAL GUIDANCE

• Laws are usually based on an ethical framework and aim to bring social order while controlling the immoral
and unethical behaviour of individuals in the society.
• Rules are elaborated framework that are usually framed with an aim to bring simplification, facilitation,
convenience etc. in the order to guide the behaviour of individual or organisations.
o Example: Information Technology Act, 2000 is a law and Information Technology Intermediary
Guidelines Rules 2021 are framed to give effect to the law.
Difference between Laws and Rules:

Laws and rules may seem like overlapping terms, but there are some differences on which distinction can be made
between the two:
Parameter Rules Law

Objective Rules usually focus on individual good Law seeks to increase public good and serve
public interests
Framing Rules can be set by individuals, or by Laws are enacted only by those in exercise of
organisations sovereignty or government
Flexibility and Rules are more flexible and have lighter Laws are inflexible and carry stiff penalties
violation consequences when broken including imprisonment and, in some cases,
death
How Laws, Rules and Regulations are source of ethical guidance

• Regulating discretionary powers: Public servants have discretionary powers for governance, and that can be
used for personal benefit. Laws, rules and regulations regulate this power by laying specific ‘dos and don’ts’ for
use of that power.

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o Example: Central Civil Services Conduct Rules, 1964 provides dos and don’ts for civil servant to prevent
misuse of discretionary powers.
• Commanding action and inaction: Laws, rules and regulations act as positive and negative enabler and
encourage or prohibit action.
o Example: Prevention of Corruption Act prevents corruption and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act enables social audit.
• Fostering social justice: Laws, rules and regulations foster social justice by providing modern human rights, such
as equality, liberty etc.
o Example: Prevention of Civil Rights Act 1955 prohibit untouchability.
• Human rights protection: Laws, rules and regulations encourage empathy towards needy and thus promotes
human rights protection.
o Example: Motor Vehicle Amendment Act, 2019 provides for good Samaritan and protects them against
civil or criminal actions.
limitations of Laws, Rules and Regulations are source of ethical guidance

• Lack of enforcement: Laws, rules and regulations demand official machinery for their enforcement, lack of which
might lead to unethical behaviour by individuals or organisations.
o Example: There are laws preventing crimes in the society, but still crimes are prevalent in the society.
• Evasive tendency: Enactment of laws, rules and regulations may not translate into ethical behaviour from
individuals or organisations because of tendency of non-compliance.
o Example: People avoiding fines under Motor Vehicle Amendment Act by carrying their vehicle by hand.
• Finding loopholes: Laws, rules and regulations might not be able to envisage every possible scenario and
therefore people might find loopholes in them.
o Example: Tax evasion by finding loopholes in Income Tax Act.
• Negative perception: Some laws, rules and regulations might have negative perception among those who are
obliged to perform under them.
o Example: Corporate Social Responsibility is perceived as additional tax by some corporates.
• Lack of social maturity: Laws, rules and regulations might have good intention but society might not be mature
enough to accept them.
o Example: Opposition to Triple Talaq law by some sections of Muslim society, opposition to the Supreme
Court verdict in Sabrimala case by some sections of Hindu society.
• Cultural evils: Laws, rules and regulations cannot always provide protection against social evils.
o Example: In spite of legal provisions for protection of women but still rapes/dowry cases are witnessed in
literate society like Kerala.
Conclusion
• Hence, laws, rules and regulations are external sources for ethics. However, an ethical society can be made
by ethical conscience.
CONSCIENCE AS SOURCE OF ETHICAL GUIDANCE

Ques. What do you understand by the term ‘voice of conscience’? How do you prepare yourself to heed to the
voice of conscience? (10 marks, 150 words) (2013)
• Conscience refers to subjective awareness of a person’s moral sense of right and wrong which acts as a
guide to a person’s behaviour. It is practical judgment on particular, concrete human actions.

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Difference between Conscience and Law:

Law Conscience
Law applies principles of morality outside human Conscience acts within human beings and checks the
beings morality of human actions.
Law states a general rule Conscience provides practical rule for specific action and
applies law and rules to that specific action.
An analogy can be created that conscience to law what paint is to a brush.
Antecedent conscience and Consequent conscience:

• Antecedent conscience is that which acts as a guide to
future actions, prompting to do them or avoid them. E.g. A
person stops at red signal because of prospective remorse.
In ethics, antecedent conscience which is guide to our future
actions is more important.
• Consequent conscience is that which is acting as a judge of
our past actions and acts as a source of our self-approval or
remorse of the past actions. E.g. A person jumps red signal
and then feels guilty.
How conscience is a source of ethical guidance?
Conscience is linked with morality and comes into picture when dealing with practical situations. It acts as a source
of ethical guidance in following manner:
• Resolving ethical dilemma: Conscience helps in taking correct decisions based on our ethical and moral
principles and thus helps in resolving ethical dilemma.
• Avoiding conflict of interest: Conscience reminds of one’s inherent moral values and helps us avoid conflict of
interest.
o Example: A person known for professionalism would prefer professional values when faced with a
conflict of interest vis-à-vis his/her relatives.
• Guilt consciousness: An individual who might have done something wrong feels pain or guilt emanating from
his/her conscience.
o Example: A biker breaking traffic rules might feel guilt after sometime because of his/her conscience and
might not break traffic rule next time.
• Repulsive behaviour against unethical act: A person might show lower motivation and involvement in a
situation in which is against his/her conscience and thus he/she will be inclined to take ethically correct path.
o Example: A police officer might lack motivation to do lathicharge on a peaceful protest if that is against
his/her conscience.
IS CONSCIENCE AN ABSOLUTE GUIDE TO ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR? NO
Previous Year Questions on this Topic

Ques. What is meant by ‘crisis of conscience’? Narrate one incident in your life when you were faced with such a
crisis and how you resolved the same. (150 words, 10 marks) (2013)

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Ques. What is meant by 'crisis of conscience'? How does it manifest itself in the public domain? (150 words, 10
marks) (2019)
• Crisis of conscience: Crisis of conscience is a situation when conscience fails to provide moral guidance to an
individual in any specific situation. Individuals loses the ability to get guidance from his moral sense about what
is right and what is wrong.
o Example: If a police officer is administering a peaceful protest and suddenly asked to resort to strict
measures irrespective of the nature of protest. This makes the situation ambiguous and the officer is
faced with crisis of conscience as his/her moral sense cannot guide him/her about right and wrong
actions.
• Wrong training of conscience: Conscience develops with good habits but following wrong habits provides wrong
training to conscience and it does not provide us moral guidance.
o Example: A person who has always lied will not be guided by his/her conscience to tell the truth.
• Impact of morals/cultures: Conscience also depends on the morals/cultures of the place and time.
o Example: A person’s conscience towards his behaviour towards females would not provide ethical
guidance if he has been brought up in a patriarchal environment.
• Impact of societal pressure: Conscience can be overtaken by societal or professional pressure.
o Example: People do not agree for inter-caste/inter-religion marriage for their children under societal
pressure, even if they want to agree.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND ETHICAL GOVERNANCE
ACCOUNTABILITY
Ques. What does ‘accountability’ mean in the context of public service? What measures can be adopted to ensure
individual and collective accountability of public servants? (150 Words, 10 marks) (2014)
Accountability of public officials refers to the mechanism by which their actions and decisions are scrutinised to
ensure fulfilment of their duties, obligations and job roles.
Types of Accountability:
• Horizontal accountability: It is the capacity of state institutions to check exploitations by other public agencies
and branches of the government.
Parliament, Judiciary, Lokpal, Comptroller and Auditor General, Central
External (Outside the Executive)
Vigilance Commission
• Superior Officers: Reward and Punishment, disciplinary procedures,
Performance management system
Internal (Within the Executive)
• Internal audit
• Grievance redressal mechanism
• Vertical accountability: These are the means through which standards of good governance are enforced by the
citizens, mass media and civil society on the bureaucrats. Parliament is also an important forum for vertical
accountability.
• Political accountability: It refers to the accountability that is established in the form of individual ministerial
responsibility.

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• Social accountability: It is society driven horizontal accountability that relies on civic engagement and ordinary
citizens and civil society organisation participate directly or indirectly to enforce accountability of officials.
Significance of Accountability in Governance:
• Democratic governance: Accountability ensures democratic governance in the country where officials are
directly or indirectly responsible to the people and not only to their superiors only.
• Public trust: Accountability ensures officials are made answerable for their actions for any wrongdoing. This
improves public trust, confidence, cooperation and coordination in the government performance.
• Clarity: Accountability also requires clear specification of tasks to be performed, time frame for the task and
also financial and other resources available at disposal, against which an official is held accountable. This
improves governance.
• Administrative irregularities: Accountability prevents administrative irregularities and improper
implementation of government policies and programmes and thus help improve governance.
• Remedial measures: Accountability ensures that officials are held liable for any wrongdoing and remedial action
can be taken.
• Transparency: Accountability ensures that officials take decisions more transparently in order to reduce
absolute accountability. This makes citizens stakeholders in governance.
• Feedback mechanism: Accountability also generates feedback mechanism that ensures that the feedback from
beneficiaries reach the decision-makers.
GOVERNANCE, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND ETHICAL GOVERNANCE
Previous Year Question from This Topic

Ques. What do you understand by the terms ‘governance’, ‘good governance’ and ‘ethical governance’? (150
words, 10 marks) (2016)

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According to UNDP, Governance is the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority to manage a
country’s affairs.
According to World Bank, Good Governance refers to the manner in which power is exercised in the management
of a country’s economic and social resources for development.
Eight Principles of Good Governance by United Nations:

• Participation: People should be able to voice
their opinion and become part of governance,
including men and women, vulnerable sections
of society etc.
• Follow Rule of Law: Impartial enforcement of
legal framework and full protection to human
rights, particularly those of minorities and
vulnerable sections.
• Consensus oriented: It requires mediation of
different interests to meet the best interests of
a community.
• Transparent: It means enough information is provided to public in easily understandable form.
• Responsive: It means redressal of citizen grievances, citizen orientation, timely delivery of services etc.
• Effective and Efficient: It means that processes and institutions result into optimum utilisation of resources at
their disposal.
• Equitable and inclusive: It ensures that different sections feel that they have stake in it and are not excluded
from main stream.
• Accountable: It acknowledges and assumes responsibility for actions, products, decisions and policies.
Ethical governance is formulating, implementing and complying

with the policies, rules, laws and orders in an organisation in such a
manner that it does not merely concentrate on administrative
efficiency but uphold universal values such as truth, honesty,
integrity, dedication to duty etc.
Importance of Ethical Governance:

India is a country with resource crunch and large number of poor
people. Therefore, ethical governance becomes important for
ensuring:
• Social Justice: Constitution of India envisages social justice for the people of India and ethical governance
ensures that inequalities are reduced in the society.
• Confidence of public: Ethical governance based on truth ensures transparency in the governance and ensures
that people’s trust is upheld along with cooperation and coordination from the public.
o Example: Right to Information Act, 2005 uphold transparency in the governance of the country.
• Upholding basic human rights: Ethical governance based on altruism and welfare ensures that citizens are given
basic human rights that they are entitled.
o Example: National Food Security Act ensures that poor section of the society gets their right to food.
• Upholding universal value system: Ethical governance based on objectivity and fairness absorbs the pressure
of nepotism and extending favours in the governance, appointment etc.
• Efficiency: Ethical governance based on integrity would ensure that the public money is spent for the purpose
that it is laid out for and thus reduces the chances of corruption in the governance.

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• Compassion: Ethical governance based on compassion would ensure that poor and vulnerable sections and their
necessities are given especial importance in the governance.
o Example: Affordable rental housing scheme by government ensures housing for migrant workers at
affordable cost.
Challenges to Ethical Governance:

• Excessive security under Article 311
• Ill-conceived goals promoting negative behaviour
• Overvaluing outcomes and not the process
• Giving into political pressure for short-term benefits
.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND FUNDING

Ques. At the international level, bilateral relations between most nations are governed on the policy of promoting
one’s own national interest without any regard for the interest of other nations. This lead to conflicts and tension
between the nations. How can ethical consideration help resolve such tensions? Discuss with specific examples.
(150 words, 10 marks) (2015)
Ques. Strength, peace and security are considered to be the pillars of international relations. Elucidate. (150
Words, 10 marks) (2017)
Ques. “The will to power exists, but it can be tamed and be guided by rationality and principles of moral duty.’
Examine this statement in the context of international relations. (150 words, 10 marks) (2020)
• International Ethics is the set of standards, universal values that guide, govern the behaviours and actions
of the countries in their international affairs.
o Example: Basic human rights are the set of principles that are protected by most of the countries.
Significance of International Ethics

“Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere “– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Due to globalisation, physical borders have been relegated to back in international affairs and ethics plays following
roles in international relations:
• Responsibility: Ethics ensure that the rich and developed countries contribute to the development of Least
Developed Countries and thus make them responsible for human development in these countries as well.
o Example: Paris Climate Change Agreement and Common, But Differential Responsibilities in mitigating
climate change.
• Humanitarian ethics: Ethics ensures that newer developments in the field of science, defence and security and
cooperation of countries in these areas do not hamper human rights.
o Example: Countries putting restrictions on end use of weapons through MTCR, Australia Group, Nuclear
Suppliers Group.
• Compassion: Ethics brings compassion in international relations and countries express solidarity in difficult times
with each other.
o Example: Countries cooperating in COVAX Programme for COVID-19 vaccination in poor countries.

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• Peace and harmony: Ethics ensures that global affairs are conducted in such a manner that peace and harmony
is promoted in the world along with equality among nations.
o Example: United Nations was established for maintenance of peace in the world.
• Legitimacy: Ethics provides legitimacy to countries and it can also withdraw legitimacy from the countries.
o Example: Taliban in Afghanistan is lacking international legitimacy due to violation of human rights.
• Human rights protection: Ethics ensures that countries work towards human rights protection and not in their
narrow national interests only.
o Example: Countries cooperating in tackling refugee crisis.
• Solution to global problems: Ethics ensures that countries cooperate in tackling global problems and do not
look for short-term goals for their own interest.
o Example: Countries cooperating on terrorism.
• Business ethics: Ethics also ensures multinational companies pay their due share of taxes in the countries of
their operation and do not park their profit in tax havens.
o Example: Global Minimum Tax deal, Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.
• Racism: Ethics ensures that countries work towards eliminating racism in their policies.
o Example: South Africa was forced to end apartheid.
ETHICAL CONCERNS IN INTERNATIONAL RELA TIONS

• Lack of responsibility and equity: Although climate change is a global phenomena and developed countries are
responsible for climate change, but the impact of climate change would be on developing and Least Developed
Countries.
o Example: Developed countries are not willing to take responsibility for climate change and are against
common but differentiated responsibility.
• Global poverty: While people in richer countries enjoy a lavish lifestyle, people in poorer countries lack even
the basic human rights.
o Example: While there is considerable hunger in African countries, richer countries are known for food
wastages.
• Apathy towards third world: In difficult times countries look for their self-interest rather than on the global
interest.
o Example: Developed countries booking COVID-19 vaccines in advances, almost 2-3 times their
requirements.
• Terrorism: Terrorism is a challenge for humanity, especially in the age of social media but countries around the
world have not been able to agree on basic definition of terrorism.
o Example: Comprehensive convention on counter-terrorism proposed by India has been pending in
United Nations since 1996.
• Lack of accountability: Global organisations have not been able to ensure accountability of powerful countries.
o Example: Chinese expansionism and refusing to abide by the award of Permanent Court of Arbitration
on South China dispute.
• Selfishness: Countries have often looked to work for their parochial selfish interests and not the global
community.
o Example: Recent COVID-19 guidelines by United Kingdom for Covishield vaccine.
• Lack of universal standards: Countries have often tended to protect their national interest and have moved
away from universal standards in working towards this.
o Example: China supporting Pakistan in United Nations listing of Masood Azhar
• Racism: Although global institutions have been working to end racism but that is still prevalent.
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o Example: George Floyd case in USA, Megan Merkel’s child issue.

• Weakening global institutions: The global institutions still reflect the second world war era and therefore have
been weakening due to absence of reforms along with present realities.
o Example: WHO was criticised over the issue of tackling of COVID-19 in the initial period.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL FUNDING

International funding refers to the aid given by richer and advanced countries to poorer countries for
developmental, security and other purposes. However, this aid presents following ethical issues:
• Subverting sovereignty of nations: While giving funding to the recipient countries donor agencies put several
conditions that are best decided by the people and governments of the countries.
o Example: IMF conditions on loans given to India during 1991 financial crisis.
• Exploiting compulsion: Countries often exploit the compulsion of the recipient countries to further their own
interest.
o Example: China’s debt-trap diplomacy exploits infrastructure requirements of poorer countries.
• Funding to NGOs: Countries provide funding to NGOs to further their own interests.
o Example: Greenpeace protesting in India against Nuclear Powerplants.
• Clinical trials: Pharma countries often conduct clinical trials in poorer countries and provide funding to recipient
countries for this, which is violation of human rights.
• Neo-colonialism: Countries use their market-tactics and funding to promote neo-colonialism in the recipient
countries with the setting up of factories and creating dependence of them.
o Example: Multinational companies are alleged for promotion of western culture.
• Terror financing: Many times, international funding has been channelised for terror funding and also black
money has been round tripped in the host country.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Ques. Corporate social responsibility makes companies more profitable and sustainable. Analyse. (150 Words, 10
marks) (2017)
According to Cadbury Committee, the corporate governance is the “system by which companies are directed and
controlled.”
It as a set of systems, processes and principles which ensure that a
company is governed in the best interest of all stakeholders. It is
about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and
accountability.
IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:

Good corporate governance benefits not only the company but also
the environment around it in the following way:
• Premium: Well governed companies across the world command
a premium of anywhere between 10 to 40 percent more than
their not so well governed counterparts.
• Foreign investment: Good corporate practices based on
transparency and sound business principles attract foreign investment, which is much more liberalised now.

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• Cover up weaknesses of country’s corporate laws: A

good firm-level governance often makes up for
weaknesses in a country’s corporate laws or the
enforcement of such laws as such organisations
uphold the values such as integrity, fairness, honesty,
transparency etc.
• Regulate risks and opportunities for corruption:
Often scandals and fraud within a company become
more likely where directors and senior management
do not have to comply with a formal governance
code.
• Corporate sustainability: Corporates that are run in the best interests of all the stakeholders enjoy the trust and
confidence in the organisation and provide a long-term sustainability.
• Curbing nepotism: Good corporate practices curb nepotism and favouritism while valuing merit in
appointments.
• Internal checks and balances: Good corporate practices better internal checks and balances to curb
mismanagement, conflict of interests, and misuse of company resources.
ISSUES OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN INDIA:

• Collusion: Companies some times indulge in collusion with auditors to mislead the investors, regulators, board
and other stakeholders.
o Example: Satyam scandal, DHFL Case etc.
• Huge risks: In some cases, the owners of the companies have taken huge risks in their private capacity and were
unable to pay.
o Example: V. Siddhartha in case of Café Coffee Day.
• Promoter-led Board: It is seen that Board is chaired by promoters and this makes the board to serve at the wish
and command of the promoter-chairman.
o Example: Naresh Goyal in case of Jet Airways.
• Lack of oversight: Although statutory changes have been made, but enforcement mechanism has not followed
with these changes which leads to poor oversight.
• Favouritism: Often lending institutions favour their closed ones to give loans, while overlooking professional
values such as integrity.
o Example: ICICI Bank, Chanda Kochar case.
• Lack of independence: Independent directors are not given free hand in their working and are pressurised by
other members of the board towards particular decision.
o Example: Tata-Mistry case.
• Crony capitalism: It is also an issue where closed ones receive mutually advantageous treatment.
o Example: Captive coal block allocation in Coal scams in early 2010s.
• Credit rating issues: Credit ratings agencies provide credit ratings to companies but they themselves suffer from
conflict of interest from non-rating business, lack of information availability etc.
o Example: Recent IL&FS crisis

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Existing measures to ensure Ethical Corporate Governance in India

▪ Companies Act, 2013: It regulates incorporation, formulation and functioning of companies in India. It makes
comprehensive provisions to govern all listed and unlisted companies in India. It empowers shareholders and
highlights higher values for corporate governance.
▪ The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956: The Act aims to prevent undesirable transactions in securities
by regulating the business dealings.
▪ Competition Commission of India: CCI was established to promote and sustain competition culture and inspire
businesses to be fair, competitive and innovative. It aims to curb monopolistic tendencies in the working of the
market.
▪ National Company Law Tribunal: Established under Companies Act, 2013, it deals with the corporate disputes
of civil nature. It is also the adjudicating authority under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.
▪ Accounting standards issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India: These standards bring much
needed structure to the financial reporting and mandates disclosure of accounting policies, cash-flow
statements, construction contracts, borrowing cost, related-party disclosures etc.
COMMITTEES RELATED TO CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN INDIA:
Kumar Mangalam Birla Committee Report (2000):

▪ Mandatory recommendations for listed companies with paid up share capital of 3 crore and above
o Composition of Board of directors to be optimum of executive and non-executive directors
o Audit committee should contain 3 independent directors
o Setting up of remuneration committee
o At least 4 meetings of Board in a year
o Sharing of information with shareholders in regards to investment
Naresh Chandra Committee Recommendations (2002):

• It covered auditor-company relationship, rotation of statutory audit firms/partners, procedure for
appointment of auditors and determination of audit fees, true and fair statement of financial affairs of
companies.
Narayan Murthi Committee Recommendations (2002):

• It focused on responsibilities of audit committee, quality of financial disclosure, requiring boards to assess
and disclose business risks in the company’s annual reports.
Uday Kotak Committee Recommendations:

▪ Separation of office of chairperson and CEO/MD of top 500 listed companies
▪ Capping the maximum number of directorships for a person to eight
▪ At least half of board members to be independent directors in listed companies
▪ Mandate minimum qualification for independent directors and disclose their relevant skills.
▪ SEBI should have powers to grant immunity to whistle-blowers
▪ Public sector companies should be governed by listing regulations, not by the nodal ministries.
▪ Enhanced disclosure such as full disclosure of utilisation of funds, disclosure of auditor credentials, audit fee etc.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

According to World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing
commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality
of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

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Provision of Corporate Social Responsibility under

Companies Act, 2013: Activities that can be taken up as CSR:
• Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 which contains • Promotion of Education
CSR provisions is applicable to companies • Eradication of extreme hunger and poverty
• Gender equity and women empowerment
1. With an annual turnover of INR 1,000 crore and more,
• Reducing child mortality and improving maternal
or
health
2. A net worth of INR 500 crore and more, or
• Combating HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases
3. A net profit of five crore INR and more.
• Environment sustainability
• The Act mandates companies to spend at least 2% of their • Social Business projects
average net profit in the previous three years on CSR • Employment enhancing vocational skills
activities. • Research across various fields such as science,
technology, medicine.
Significance for Corporate Social Responsibility: • Incubators funded by the Centre or State or any
• Moral appeal: It appeals to companies to be good citizens state-owned companies.
on the lines of Gandhiji’s Trusteeship principle.
• Satisfaction: This proposes that companies should not only look to satisfy their shareholders but other
stakeholders who are directly or indirectly in the affairs and environment of company.
• Public image: Companies that under CSR activities tend to enjoy brand value and good public image. E.g. TATA
Group of companies.
• License to companies: CSR provides companies to gain the trust of local communities and ensures that the
resources are also allocated for the development of local communities.
• Profitability: CSR activities increases profitability of the company as ethical conduct exerts a growing influence
on purchasing decisions of the customers.
Issues with Corporate Social Responsibility

• Lack of implementation: There is very little strategic Companies (CSR Policy) Amendment Rules, 2021:
thinking and innovation in implementation of CSR. The • Following activities have been excluded from CSR:
larger goal of CSR is not understood, companies view it o Activities undertaken in normal course of business
as only a charitable endeavour. excluded from CSR activities;
• Lack of robust policy: There is lack of long-term robust o Activities undertaken outside India;
o Contribution to political parties;
CSR policy which leads to failure in giving definitive
o Activities benefitting employees of company;
direction to CSR spending.
o Activities supported by the company on sponsorship
• Ease of implementation: Many CSR efforts are mainly
basis;
driven by company’s operational perspective and ease o Activities carried to fulfil statutory obligation.
of implementation. E.g. Combating diseases and • Engagement of external organization for design,
education account for 44% of total CSR expenditure. evaluation permitted;
• Duplication of activities: Duplication of activities by • Companies have to formulate an annual action plan and
different corporate houses which results in competitive submit to Board of the company
approach rather than collaborative approach. • Companies to ensure administrative overhead not to
• Viewed as additional corporate tax: The CSR law is exceed 5% of total CSR expenditure;
often viewed as a 2% tax, albeit spent by the firms • Surplus cannot be utilized for other purposes
rather than given to the government • Companies with CSR obligation of more than 10 crore 3
financial years to hire Independent agency to conduct
• Skewed pattern of expenditure: Around 65% of CSR
impact assessment
fund is utilised for education and health only while
• Mandatory disclosure of CSR projects on the website
eradication of hunger, rural development etc. receive
very low expenditure.

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Way forward:
• Annual awards: Annual awards for incentivizing companies to take up CSR activities be set up – one each for the
two categories of companies, large and small, as recommended by Anil Baijal Committee.
• Accountability: Companies should ensure that their CSR activities have clear objectives and monitorable targets,
which are diligently and stringently monitored.
• Collaboration: Companies should engage with local NGOs for understanding ground situation and also utilise
their expertise in that field.
• Greater awareness: Greater awareness should be created, especially at Gram Sabha level to ensure that they
get their due share of social development in the company profits.
• Injeti Srinivas Committee recommendations:
o Make CSR expenditure tax deductible.
o Allowing companies to carry forward unspent fund for three to five years.
o Aligning Schedule 7 of Companies Act, 2013 with the Sustainable Development Goals
o Balancing local area preferences with national priorities
o Introducing impact assessment studies for CSR obligation of 5 crore or more
o Registration of implementation agencies on MCA Portal.
o Developing a CSR exchange portal to connect contributors, beneficiaries and agencies
o Allowing CSR in social benefit bonds,
o Promoting social impact companies

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PROBITY IN GOVERNANCE
What is Public Service?

➢ It implies the delivery of goods and services by the government institutions to the public. It forms the
interface between the citizens and the administration.
➢ It is seen as amalgamation of legal and moral obligation of the government.
➢ It includes services such as healthcare, education, maintenance of law and order, public utility etc.
➢ Availability, affordability and accessibility forms the prime criteria for the success of public service.
PROBITY
• Probity literally means “the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.”
• It is more than avoiding corrupt or dishonest conduct, for it implies values such as impartiality,
accountability and transparency.
• It is regarded as strict adherence to code of ethics.
• In a democracy, probity espouses the principles of equality before law and respect for the rights and duties
of leaders towards their citizens.
• It is the societal expectation which the citizens demand from the government.
o Eg., M. Vishvesvaraya never used his office for personal favours. He never went late anywhere. He
never spoke without prior preparation. He took dress formalities seriously. He worked hard and he
was efficient. The qualities of having strong moral principles, honesty and integrity was reflected in
every sphere of his activities.
Figure: diagram illustrating relation between honesty, integrity and probity
PROBITY IN GOVERNANCE
• It is concerned with procedures, processes and systems rather than outcomes.
• It is essential for efficient and effective system of governance and for socio-
economic development.
• Important requisites for ensuring probity in governance are:
- Effective laws, rules and regulations.
- Effective and fair implementation of these laws.
- Absence of corruption.
Philosophical basis of Governance and Probity

• Indian scriptures like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Arthashatra, Kural, Kadambari, Hitopadesha etc. are replete
with philosophical guidance to ensure probity.
• Chinese philosophers like Confucius, Lao Tse etc have also given maxims on ethical governance.
• Three eminent schools of ethics in Western philosophy are:
1. According to Aristotle, virtues like justice, generosity etc benefits the holder of the virtues as well as
the society to which he belongs.
2. Immanuel Kant makes the concept of duty central to morality. According to him, the knowledge of
duty makes a person respect the other person.
3. The utilitarian viewpoint is based on the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
• The discipline of public administration gives importance to the values of equity, justice, human rights, gender
equality and compassion.
• The concept of Good Governance as illustrated by World Bank focusses on ethical and moral conduct of the
administrators.

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• According to Max Weber, there should be complete separation between the property of the office and
personal property of the officer.
” No responsibility of government is more fundamental than responsibility of maintaining higher standards of ethical
behaviour”
-John F Kennedy
Objective of Probity in Governance
1. To ensure governance accountability.
2. Maintaining highest level of integrity in government services.
3. To ensure compliance with the process.
4. To maintain public trust in the government's decision-making process.
5. To avoid the potential for fraud, misconduct and corruption.
Private interest
• It includes financial as well as non-financial component.
• It includes not only the personal, professional or business interests of the officer but also that of friends,
relatives and even rivals and enemies.
• It involves actual or potential financial gain or loss.
• It can involve property, shares, unpaid debts, some form of gifts or benefits like job opportunity or
employment.
Public duty to serve public interest

▪ A public servant has the responsibility to serve the interest of the entire community.
▪ The public office should not be used to serve the interest of particular individual or community or for
private gain.
IMPORTANCE OF CIVIL SERVICES TO GOVERNANCE

Civil service is the executive branch of the government which excludes army and the judiciary.
1. Unifying nature of the service- Strong binding character and presence throughout the country.
2. Policy making-Effective policy making and regulation.
3. Coordination between government institutions.
4. Leadership at different levels of governance.
5. Service delivery at the cutting-edge level.

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6. Continuity-Provides continuity and change to the administration.

7. Store house of knowledge- civil-servants work on field and in various departments of the government.
This helps them in giving effective policy advice to the ministers.
8. Strengthens ethos of democracy- civil servants are accountable to the public representatives who in turn
are responsible to the people. They carry out the policies of the elected government and helps in smooth
conduct of elections.
9. Fulfils constitutional mandate- of implementing social and economic development programs, ensuring
law and order etc.
APPROACHES IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF SERVICE DELIVERY
New Public Service

• Janet Denhardt and Robert Denhardt have put the central role of government as service.
• They say that government should be run like a democracy and not like a business.
The seven broad principles which should be followed by government and administration to improve service delivery
are:
1. Serve citizens, not customers
2. Seek the public interest
3. Value the citizenship over entrepreneurship
4. Think strategically, act democratically
5. Recognise that accountability is not simple
6. Serve rather than steer
7. Value people, not just productivity
Development Administration
➢ According to E Weidner, it is action oriented and goal oriented administrative system.
➢ Emphasis is on government influenced changes, i.e. progressive social, economic and political changes.
➢ It is characterized by:
1. Purpose- to stimulate change and innovation in social and economic field.
2. Loyalties-bureaucracy has to be accountable to the people and not to any vested institutional
interests.
3. Attitude- it should be positive, persuasive and innovative
Behavioural parameters for development administration are:

1. Change orientation
2. Result orientation
3. Citizen participative orientation
4. Commitment to work
Difference between traditional public administration and development administration

Traditional Public Administration Development Administration
It is status quo oriented. It is change oriented.
It is hierarchical and rigid. It is flexible and dynamic.
It believes in centralisation. It believes in decentralisation.
There is not much involvement of people. It stresses on people’s participation
NEW PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

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✓ It was formed in response to social and political turbulence which was observed in USA during 1960s,
where traditional public administration was unable to solve the problems.
✓ It tries to provide solution through 4 Ds, i.e. Decentralisation, Debureaucratisation, Delegation and
Democratisation.
✓ Important components of NPA are
1. Relevance-changes should be specific to the needs of area and people.
2. Values-instead of value neutrality, public administration should work for the cause of disadvantaged
sections.
3. Social equity- public administration should become more proactive to social issues and should work
for the realization of social equity as the chief goal.
4. Change- There should be operational flexibility and organisational adaptability to meet the
environmental changes.
NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

The focus of NPM is on 3Es i.e., Efficiency, Economy and Effectiveness.
Salient Features
1. Thrust is on efficiency, management and performance appraisal.
2. Cost cutting.
3. Contracting out to foster competition.
4. Its management is characterized by output targets, limited term contracts, monetary incentives and
freedom to manage.
ENTREPRENEURIAL GOVERNMENT
Osborne and Gaebler suggested ten-point programme for Entrepreneurial government.
Entrepreneurial Government:
1. Promote competition between diverse providers of goods and services.
2. Empower citizens by shifting control out of bureaucracy.
3. Measure performance through outcomes and not
through inputs.
4. Is driven by mission and not by rules and regulations.
5. Redefine clients as customers and offer them choices.
6. Prevent problems rather than curing them.
7. Emphasis is not only on spending money but also
spending them.
8. Embraces participatory management.
9. Prefer marker mechanisms to bureaucratic
mechanisms.
10. Stimulate public, private and voluntary sectors to
solve community problems.
Figure: showing features of entrepreneurial government
SOCIAL CONTRACT
• The philosophical basis of Social Contract finds mention in the writings of Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes,
John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Rawls.
• According to this theory, people surrender some of their rights to a state or authority for protection of
remaining rights.
• The rights and responsibilities are not fixed and can be changed if the members so desire.
• Enjoying additional rights is always associated with bearing additional responsibilities.
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• The idea of self-government emanates from this concept.
Features
1. The will and not the might is the basis of government.
2. The value of justice or right or might is the basis of all political society.
Parkinson’s Principles
The principles are satirical on public administration and political organisation
1. There is empire building tendency among the administrators. They swell their rank by artificially
creating work.
2. They select their subordinates who are less smart so as to prevent potential rivals.
3. Committees tend to grow in their size until they lose their effectiveness.
4. Committee’s time spent on subjects varies inversely with sum involved.
5. Expenditures of organisations rise to eat up available money.
TRANSPARENCY
• It is the openness of decision-making process and freedom of information to the public and media.
• Lack of transparency makes the government slow, inefficient and corrupt.
• Resolution 59 of UN General assembly of 1946 recognised freedom of information as integral part of
freedom of expression.
• In Kulwal Vs Jaipur Municipal Corporation, Supreme Court said that without right to information, freedom
of speech and expression is futile.
• International Covenant on civil and political right has also recognised right to information.
Advantages
1. It leads to careful utilization of funds.
2. Decision making becomes rational and objective.
3. It makes the public servant accountable for mishandling public time and money.
4. It exposes rules and procedure that makes the administration slow.
5. It develops friendly relation between the public and the administrators.
Institutional means to achieve transparency in administration

✓ Parliamentary controls- question hour, adjournment motion etc.
✓ Legislative framework- RTI
✓ Ombudsman scheme- Lokpal and Lokayukta
✓ Independent judiciary
✓ E-Governance
✓ Free Press
Issues with respect to transparency in India

➢ Official Secrets Act- the presence of abundant discretion converts every legal matter into confidential
matter.
➢ RTI Act- there is reluctance to fill vacancies, there are high backlog of cases, political parties have still
outside the purview of RTI Act.
➢ Over-Centralisation-acts as hindrance to transparency.
➢ Lack of performance audit- of implementation of RTI act meant that there is lack of effective
implementation of RTI provisions.
➢ Whistle blower Act- which is yet to be operationalized.
MECHANISM TO ENSURE PROBITY IN INDIA

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Right to information Act

• The campaign for right to information in India has its genesis in Rajasthan led by the Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sangathan.
• MKSS forced the state government to pass the right to information Act in 1997. The MKSS, led by Aruna
Roy, was a people's movement that began at the grassroots but reverberations were felt across the whole
country.
• RTI was thus passed in 2005 that heralded an era of transparency from darkness of secrecy.
• The RTI Act creates elaborate machinery for the supply of information.
• It consists of Public Information Officers (PIOs), Asst. PIOs, Departmental Appellate Authorities, State and
Central Information Commissions.
• PIOs are responsible to give information to a person who seeks information under the RTI Act.
• The definition of Public Authorities who are placed under obligation to provide information is also wide.
• Time period: In normal course, information to an applicant is to be supplied within 30 days from the
receipt of application by the public authority.
o If information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person, it shall be supplied within 48 hours.
o In case the application is sent through the Assistant Public Information Officer or it is sent to a
wrong public authority, five days shall be added to the period of thirty days or 48 hours, as the
case may be.
• Appellate Authority: It caters to the appeals against decisions of the Public Information Officer.
o State Information Commission or the Central Information Commission (CIC): Their major function
is to listen to appeals against the order of the Appellate Authority.
• Penalties: The act contains provisions for penalties on those who fail to publish information in the
prescribed time limit.
Problems with working of the act

1. Section 4 of the RTI Act requires suo motu disclosure of information by each public authority. Such
disclosures have remained less than satisfactory.
2. Exemptions: Section 8 (1) mentions exemptions against furnishing information under RTI Act.
3. Frivolous RTI applications have been filed in many cases and the information obtained have been used to
blackmail the government authorities.
4. Incompatible laws
o Some provisions of Indian Evidence Act (Sections 123, 124, and 162) provide to hold the
disclosure of documents.
o The Atomic Energy Act, 1912 provides that it shall be an offence to disclose information
restricted by the Central Government.
o The Central Civil Services Act provides a government servant not to communicate or part with
any official documents except in accordance with a general or special order of government.
o The Official Secrets Act, 1923 provides that any government official can mark a document as
confidential so as to prevent its publication.
5. Huge pendency of cases: more than 2.2 lakh cases are pending at the Central and State Information
Commissions, which are the final courts of appeal under the law.
6. Poor record-keeping within the bureaucracy results in missing files.
7. Low awareness of people.
8. The recent amendments which have changed the tenure and terms of service of CICs are seen as dilution
in the independence of CICs.
Recent RTI amendment

Following amendments have been made in the RTI ACT:
• Term:
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o Earlier: The Chief Information Commissioner and other Information Commissioners was set at
five years or until they attain the age of 65 years.
o Now: The Central government will have power to power to notify the term. It has been notified at
three years.
• Salary:
o Earlier: The salary of Chief Information Commissioner was equivalent to that of Chief Election
Commissioner and the salaries of other election commissioners was equivalent to that of Election
Commissioner.
o Now: The salaries and allowances will be determined by the Central government.
• Appointment
o Earlier: The appointment was made by a three-member committee comprising of Prime Minister,
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a minister appointed by the Prime Minister. Similar
provision was there at the state level.
o Now: These powers have been delegated to the Central government.
Arguments in support of the amendments

• Statutory body: CIC and SIC are statutory bodies which cannot be compared with the Election
Commission which is a constitutional body.
• Removal of dichotomy: Earlier the service conditions of CIC was equivalent to the judge of Supreme
Court. But the decision of CIC can be challenged in High Court. Through the amendment, the given
dichotomy has been removed.
• Better control over statutory body: Now the government has adequate control over the statutory body.
Arguments against the amendments

• Blow to transparency: By removing the guarantee of tenure, independence of CIC and SIC has been taken
away.
• Against federalism: the role of state governments has been reduced.
• Against democratic ethos: by taking away the role of leader of opposition in the appointment of CIC and
SIC.
• Against the Parliamentary Committee’s observation: The Parliamentary Committee reviewing the RTI act
in 2005 had observed that the appointment of the information commissioners was the essence of the bill.
RTI and the judiciary

• The RTI Act conferred powers on the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the chief justices of High
Courts of states for carrying out its provisions.
• So, the Supreme Court and the High courts framed their own rules.
• The Supreme Court adopted the RTI-friendly rules of the central government for itself.
• But several high courts framed unfriendly rules, making it almost impossible to get any information.
• For eg., the Allahabad High Court mase it mandatory for citizens to deposit Rs 500 for each information
sought.
• The RTI Act makes the information commissions the final appellate authorities in their respective
jurisdictions.
• But some orders passed by the central information commission had eventually reached the Supreme
Court.
• In most of the cases, the Court’s interpretation of the exemption provisions of the RTI was contentious.
• For e.g., the Girish Deshpande case where the Supreme Court ruled that the relationship between the
government and its employees was a personal one.
• Supreme Court ruled that no information about a government employee could be disclosed unless the
information seeker could prove that it was in public interest.

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Subhash Agarwal case

• The Supreme Court declared the office of the Chief Justice of India as a public authority under the RTI
Act.
• The Supreme Court also observed that Right to Privacy is an important aspect and has to be balanced
with transparency while deciding to give out information from the office of the Chief Justice of India.
• RTI cannot be used as a tool of surveillance and that judicial independence has to be kept in mind while
dealing with transparency.
• On the issue related to the appointment of judges, the Supreme Court held that only the names of the
judges recommended by the Collegium for appointment can be disclosed, not the reasons.
Significance of the judgement

• Opens the doors for transparency in the judiciary. Higher judiciary in India has been criticized for its
opaqueness under the doctrine of the independence of the judiciary.
• Validation of Delhi High Court judgment (2010) which ruled that the CJI and the other justices of SC are
liable to disclose information as in the case of other public authorities under the purview of the RTI Act.
• Boost to Good Governance, as now judiciary, executive, legislature, all come under the ambit of RTI Act.
RTI and the political parties

• A full bench of the Central Information Commission in 2013 brought the national political parties under
the ambit of the RTI act.
• However, all the political parties refused to comply with the ruling.
Why the political parties need to be brought under the RTI act?
• Ensuring accountability- Elections in India are contested on party lines who are ultimately vote to power.
Bringing political parties under RTI will help in ensuring accountability.
• Financial transparency- given that 75% of the funding of the political parties remains anonymous,
bringing political parties under RTI will ensure financial propriety.
• Informed citizenry- more information on the part of citizens will lead to better decision making by the
voters.
• CIC ruling: Political parties have not challenged the ruling of CIC which brought them under the RTI. So,
technically the political parties are under the RTI act.
• Provisions of safeguard: Section 8(1) of the act has provisions for exemptions which can be utilised by the
political parties to safeguard their strategies.
• Law Commission of India in its 170th report on Reforms of electoral laws in 1999 had recommended
transparency in the functioning of RTI
Arguments against bringing political parties under RTI.

• Neither constitutional nor statutory- Political parties are created through Representation of People’s Act.
Hence, they are neither Constitutional nor statutory and so they do not come under the definition of
public authority.
• Impediment in strategizing- RTI can be used with malicious intent to understand the political strategies
which can hamper their winning prospects.
• Presence of provisions- There are already provisions in Income Tax act, 1961; Representation of People’s
act, 1951 which demand necessary transparency.
Except for the political strategy, other matters relating to finance and administration can be made available to
public because political parties are public institutions, receiving money from public. Further, it is morally incorrect
to remain aloof from RTI and demand other institutions to be transparent.
Impact of the act

1. The act improved the life of the poor and the marginalised.

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2. The details of beneficiaries of government subsidized programme were made public, which helped in
checking corrupt practices. For eg., Revat Ram and his friends (in Himmatsar village in Bikaner district of
Rajasthan) used the RTI Act to get all records of their ration shop in and by exposing how grains meant
for the poor were being black-marketed at a ration shop.
3. It has helped in exposing some of the biggest scams like the Adarsh Society scam, Commonwealth games
scam.
4. Success story: Attendance of village school teacher in Banda dist.(UP)- Volunteers form Delhi based
organisation like Kabir and Parivartan along with local workers filed RTI for attendance record of teachers.
This resulted in quick action from the administration and regular teaching began in the school.
Way ahead
• Specific responsibilities for implementation of specific provisions should be clearly spelt out.
• Creation of mass awareness campaign at Central and state levels.
• Training modules on RTI should be incorporated in the training institutes.
• Consensus on common set of minimum rules for filing RTI from one state to another should be
developed.
WHISTLE BLOWING
• It is done by an employee where he finds that ethical rules are broken knowingly or unknowingly and there
exists an imminent danger to the company, consumers or the public.
• It creates conflicts of interests between personal, societal and organisational spheres.
o For eg., Frances Haugen, a former data scientist at Facebook, testified before the US senate that
Facebook harms children, sows division and undermines democracy in pursuit of breakneck growth
and "astronomical profits."
Arguments against whistle blowing

▪ Violation of organisational culture- where secrecy is maintained for several reasons.
▪ Break down of trust between the employer and the employee.
▪ Unethical- if it is done solely to grab the attention.
▪ Endanger the existence of organisation or institution- For eg, if sensitive data is leaked, it can cause
threat to national security.
Arguments in support of whistle blowing

▪ Fosters accountability- which strengthens the organisation in the long run.
▪ Ethical – as it is for the greater good of the company, consumers or the public.
▪ Moral commitment- it is done for the moral commitment to the law and society at large.
▪ Exposes corruption and wrong doings.
CODE OF ETHICS
• It is a written set of guidelines issued by an organisation to its employees to guide their conduct.
• It contains general principles and values that the organisation tries to achieve.
• Violation of code of ethics involves no penalties.
• There is no code of ethics prescribed for civil servants in India.
• Generally, it includes values such as
- Integrity
- Impartiality
- Commitment to public service.
- Accountability.
- Devotion to duty.

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- Exemplary behaviour.
CODES OF CONDUCT
▪ It is set of rules outlining expected behaviour from members of the organisation.
▪ Its violation constitutes breaches of officially prescribed rules.
▪ It is explicitly mentioned as compared to code of ethics which is implicit.
In India, Central government has issued conduct rules for government employees known as Central Civil Service
Conduct rules, 1964.
Some of the rules are:
1. Using the best judgement- Civil servants should act independently according to the rules and unmindful
of any external influences.
2. Written orders- oral orders should be followed by written orders.
3. Integrity and devotion- a civil servant should not only refuse bribes but also display intellectual honesty.
Devotion implies completing the work in prescribed time limit within expected quality limits.
4. Reporting details of properties and transactions
5. Bar on influence peddling- rules prohibit civil servants from using their influence to secure jobs for their
family members.
6. Avoiding conflict of interest
7. Financial Propriety- civil servants are not allowed to organize subscriptions or donations. They are
expected to arrange their private finances prudently.
8. Political neutrality
9. Observing social laws and cultural norms- For example, they should neither accept nor offer dowry.
Difference between Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct

Code of Ethics Code of Conduct
It covers broad guiding principles of good behaviour It is more precise and stipulates a list of acceptable and
and governance. unacceptable behaviours.
It is expected to be followed. It is mandatory.
It is generally applicable to culture, education, or It is generally applicable to individual’s official or
religion. professional conduct.
Example- Helping the needy, having sympathetic Example- prescribing civil servants about not to brief to
attitude towards the weaker sections of the society. media of internal matters, following protocols while
receiving dignitaries etc.
Second ARC suggestions on ensuring ethical conduct

It has suggested the following
▪ Partial state funding of elections.
▪ Tightening of anti-defection law.
▪ Tightening the provision of Prevention of Corruption Act.
▪ Making corrupt public servants liable for paying damages.
▪ Confiscation of illegally acquired property.
▪ Speedy trials.
▪ Creation of Lokpal at national, state and local level.
▪ Deletion of Article 311 so that quick actions can be taken against delinquent public servants.
▪ There should be measures to protect honest civil servants.
CITIZEN’S CHARTER

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✓ It is an undertaking by a public institution to provide certain level of service to its customers.

✓ It contains specific provisions and sets out specific obligations for public services.
✓ It is the means of solving day to day problems which citizens experience.
✓ It places the citizens at the centre of administration instead of treating him as passive recipient.
Principles of citizen’s charter

1. Wide publicity on the standards of performance of public agencies.
2. Assured quality of services.
3. Access to information along with courtesy and helpful attitude.
4. Choice of and consultation with citizens.
5. Simplified procedures for receipt of complaints and their quick redressal.
6. Provision of performance scrutiny with citizen’s involvement.
Significance of Citizen’s Charter

o Citizens now have clear understanding of service delivery standards which has helped in ensuring
accountability.
o For eg, the Hyderabad Water Supply and Sewage Board has guaranteed compensation when the
service delivery does not meet standards.
o It has minimised the opportunities for corruption.
o It makes the citizens aware of the intent of service providers.
o It incorporates citizen’s feedback in improving service delivery.
o It ensures better service quality grievance redressal mechanism.
Challenges with Citizen Charter

o Lack of legal status- which makes it toothless.
o Lack of awareness among the citizens.
o Limitation of resources- particularly at the local level affects supply side.
o One size fits all approach- all the charters under the parent organisation remains the same which
overlooks the local issues.
o Lack of flexibility to change- as per the evolving needs of the society.
o Issues with the standards delivered- in absence of criteria to measure standards.
Way ahead
▪ Sevottam model of service delivery- it is based on three factors viz., implementation of citizen’s charter,
implementation of grievance redressal system and service delivery capability.
▪ Updating citizen charter with changing times
▪ Seven step model for citizen centricity- which has been suggested by second ARC. It includes steps. It
creates database on consumer’s grievance and redressal, educate public, consider the needs of the senior
citizens and the disabled while framing the charter.
WORK CULTURE
➢ It is regarded as set of practices, values and shared beliefs within an organisation and in its employees.
➢ It decides the way employees interact with each other and how the organisation functions.
➢ It is the product of the organisation’s history, traditions, values and vision.
Characteristics of healthy work culture.

• There is respect for fellow workers.
• Conflicts are minimum and are resolved after considering the underlying cause.
• Impartiality in treatment of employees.
• An employee is judged only by his work and nothing else.

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• Performers are encouraged but those who didn’t perform well are not criticized but asked to pull up socks
for the next time.
• Employee’s participation in decision making process is improved.
• Existing skills of the employees are enhanced through workshops, seminars etc.
• Case study of healthy work culture in Google: Google has an informal work culture. It has a flat structure
which means they have minimal upper and middle level management. This structure allows for more
creativity. Employees have the ability to make more decisions on projects
WORK ETHICS
➢ It is the commitment to fulfil the official responsibilities with dedication, involvement and sincerity.
➢ It implies that work is appreciated and not taken as burden.
Characteristics of Ethical work

1. Values- like the blood nourishes the body, values nourish the organisation.
2. Effective leadership- leaders set the tone that permeates the organisation’s culture.
3. Balancing of stakeholders- so that mutual tension is resolved.
4. Integrity of process- where all the processes of the organisation are aligned with its values, like
recruiting, hiring, promoting, marketing, sales etc.
5. Long term perspective- where the leadership is dedicated to strategic planning for the long term.
SERVICE DELIVERY
✓ Public Service Delivery is the most important aspect of good governance as it touches lives of millions of
people.
✓ Through better public service delivery inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development can be
achieved.
✓ It helps in achieving equity based governance as enshrined in our preamble.
Challenges
▪ E—governance index (low)- India has been ranked 100th UN E-government survey 2020.
▪ Focus on service providers: For years convenience of service providers and not the service receivers has
been the primary focus.
▪ Complex regulations: It has been marred with complex regulations, complicated forms, lack of
information, absence of performance standards, lack of accountability, corruption, incompetence etc.
For eg., India has been ranked 86th in the Corruption Perception Index.(2020)
▪ Inefficiencies at the grassroot or cutting-edge level.
Suggestions for improvement

▪ Treating people as participants and not as beneficiaries and giving them choices.
▪ Providing service with specified standards such as one-stop service, single window, automated service
delivery etc.
▪ Creating a stable and conducive environment for the public servants to deliver results based on clarity
of vision, mission and objectives.
▪ Ensuring value for money and cost-effectiveness in service delivery.
▪ Promoting decentralisation and strengthening rural and urban local bodies as grass root levels of self-
institutions.
▪ Best practice: In 2017, Meghalaya became the first state to pass the social audit legislation which
mandates social audit across government schemes and departments.

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▪ Case study: Passport (Mission Mode Project) MMP: The Passport MMP under the NeGP(National e-
Governance Plan) was undertaken by the Central Passport Organization to keep pace with phenomenal
increase in the workload, by innovative measures involving change in processes and infusion of
technology. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) decided to launch the Passport Sewa Project whose
objective was to improve the service delivery process for passport to the citizens in a comfortable
environment with wider accessibility and reliability. It resulted in significant improvement in service
delivery.
CORRUPTION
➢ It is the use of one’s position, status or resources directly or indirectly for personal benefits.
➢ It can be material gain or non-material like enhancement of power or prestige beyond what is legitimate
for him.
➢ World Bank have identified corruption as 'the single greatest obstacle to economic and social
development'
➢ As per 2nd ARC report: There are two facets to corruption:
o (1) the institution which is highly corrupt;
o (2) individuals who are highly corrupt.
o There is a need to work on public profiteering and also value to be attributed to the services
rendered by officers. Interlocking accountability is a process by which evaluation could be done
easily and accountability ensured.
➢ Corruption in India- India’s rank in Corruption Perception Index has been 86. Transparency International
report says 62% Indians pay bribes during interaction with police. This point towards wide scale
prevalence of corruption in India.
Types of corruption
Coercive corruption
- Here the citizen is compelled to pay a bribe in order to get the service.
- Citizens ends up loosing much more when they try to resist corruption.
- It can be in the form like delays, harassment, lost opportunity, loss or precious time and wages, at
times even potential danger of loss of life or limb.
Collusive corruption
- There is collusion between the bribe giver and the public servant.
- Both of them benefit at the cost of the society.
- For example, in awarding contracts for public works and procurement of goods & services,
recruitment of employees etc.
Corruption, ethics and values

▪ Corruption is the manifestation of failure of ethics.
▪ It has become so deeply rooted in the society that people regard it as inevitable.
▪ Some people attribute rise in corruption to the decline in values.
▪ Others believe that most humans are honest and socially conscious but there are some aberrations which
manifest in the form of corruption.
▪ However, both values and institutions are important.
▪ Values serve as guiding stars.
▪ Values need to be sustained by institutions to be durable.
▪ Values without institutions tend to be weakened and dissipated.
Challenges posed by corruption

▪ People benefitting from corruption tries to maintain status quo and resist any reform.
▪ Corruption discourages capital inflows and FDIs.

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▪ It lowers productivity and reduces effectiveness of industrial policies.

▪ Countries with higher corruption have lower social investments like education, healthcare etc.
▪ It leads to inequality among the masses. The recent Oxfam’s report on inequality points towards this.
Causes of corruption
Santhanam committee identified the following causes of corruption in India:
• Government taking upon itself more than what it could manage by means of regulatory functions.
• Scope of discretion in the exercise of powers vested in the various categories of government servants.
• Cumbersome procedures in dealing with various matters in dealing with the public which were of
important to citizens in their day to day life.
Corruption Laws in India

1. Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Sec 169 has provision for up to two years of imprisonment with fine for unlawfully buying or bidding
property.
- Sec 409 has provision for life imprisonment or imprisonment for ten years for criminal breach of trust
by public servant.
- Imprisonment ranging from six months to five years along with fine is awarded if a public servant
takes illegal gratification, if he accepts valuable thing without paying for it from a person who is
involved in business transaction in official capacity.
- A provision of prior sanction from the state or the Central government is required in order to
prosecute a public servant.
2. The Benami transactions (prohibition) Act, 1988
- It prohibits benami transaction (property in the false name of the other person who does not pay for
it) except when it is purchased in wife’s or unmarried daughter’s name.
- Benami properties can be acquired and the prescribed authority.
The Benami transactions (prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016

- Imprisonment has been extended up to seven years with fine.
- Furnishing false information is punishable by five years of imprisonment and fine.
- Initiating Officer may pass an order to continue holding property and may then refer case to
Adjudicating Authority which will then examine evidence and pass an order.
- Appellate Tribunal will hear appeals against orders of Adjudicating Authority.
- High Court can hear appeals against orders of Appellate Tribunal.
3. Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
- Money Laundering is the process of making money earned through illegitimate sources appear as
legitimate.
- The act empowers Enforcement Directorate to conduct money laundering investigations.
- It has provisions for rigorous imprisonment along with fines.
- Banking companies and financial intermediaries are obliged under the act to maintain record of
financial transactions of specified nature and value.
Recent amendments in the act

Amendments have been brought about to make the provisions more strict.
• An explanation added to Section 45- clarifies that all PMLA offences will be cognisable and non-
bailable. Therefore, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers are empowered to arrest an
accused without warrant, subject to certain conditions.

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• Amendment to Section 3- makes concealment of proceeds of crime, possession, acquisition, use,

projecting as untainted money, or claiming as untainted property as independent and complete
offences under the Act.
• Deletes the provisos in sub-sections (1) of Section 17 (Search and Seizure) and Section 18 (Search
of Persons). It does away with the pre-requisite of an FIR or chargesheet by other agencies that
are authorised to probe the offences listed in the PMLA schedule.
• Under Section 44, the Special Court, while dealing with the offence under this Act shall not be
dependent upon any orders passed in respect of the scheduled offence, and the trial of both sets
of offences by the same court shall not be construed as joint trial.
• Scope of “proceeds of crime”, under Section 2, has been expanded to empower the agency to
act against even those properties which “may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a
result of any criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence”.
Institutions for dealing with corruption

Lokpal and Lokayukta
✓ Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 provided for the establishment of Lokpal at the Union level and Lokayukta
at the state level.
✓ They inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries.
✓ Structure of Lokpal consists of one chairperson and maximum of eight members.
✓ Jurisdiction of Lokpal includes the Prime Minister, Ministers, MPs, Group A, b, C and D officers and
officials of Central government.
✓ It has power of superintendence over and to give directions to CBI.
✓ It has powers of confiscation of assets or other benefits acquired through corrupt means.
Issues with Lokpal

• Complete exclusion of judiciary- which hampers the prospects of making judiciary accountable.
• No full authority to investigate the Prime Minister- the act prohibits inquiry against the PM in certain
cases like atomic energy etc.
• Not much protection to whistle-blowers – which acts as impediment in drives against corruption
• Delay in appointment of Lokpal- for years appointment of Lokpal was delayed over technical issues
Chief Vigilance Commission

• The Central Vigilance Commission is the apex vigilance institution.
• The CVC was set up by the Government in 1964 on the recommendations of the Committee on
Prevention of Corruption, headed by K. Santhanam.
• In 2003, CVC was given the statutory status.
• The CVC is independent of any Ministry or Department that is only accountable to Parliament.
• CVC receives complaints on corruption or misuse of office and to recommend appropriate action.
• Following institutions, bodies, or a person can approach to CVC:
o Central government
o Lokpal
o Whistle blowers
• It is not an investigating agency. The CVC either gets the investigation done through the CBI or through
chief vigilance officers (CVO) in government offices.
• It is empowered to inquire into offences alleged to have been committed under the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 1988 by certain categories of public servants.
• Its annual report gives the details of the work done by the commission and points to systemic failures
which lead to corruption in government departments.
Limitations

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• It is treated as advisory body with no power to register criminal cases.

• It lacks resources and powers to take action on cases of corruption.
Central Bureau of Investigation

• The CBI was formed as the Special Police Establishment in 1941, to investigate cases of corruption in the
procurement during the World War II.
• The CBI was formed by a resolution of the Home Affairs Ministry on the recommendations of Santhanam
Committee.
• It is now an attached office of Ministry of Personnel.
• Its important role is to prevent corruption and maintain integrity in administration. It works under the
supervision of the CVC
• It investigates cases connected to infringement of economic and fiscal laws at the request of the
department concerned or in consultation with the concerned department.
• It Investigate crimes of a serious nature, that have national and international ramifications, and
committed by professional criminals or organised gangs.
• It coordinates the activities of the various state police forces and anti-corruption agencies.
• CBI can also take up any case of public importance and investigate it on the request of state government.
• It maintains crime statistics and disseminates criminal information.
• The CBI is India’s representative for correspondence with the INTERPOL.
Issues
• Lack of independence- CBI is dependent on home ministry for the staffs.
• Political interference- CBI has been termed as caged parrot by the Supreme Court due to excessive
interference by the government.
• Dependence on state government- CBI needs consent of the state in question before starting the
investigation. Recently state of West Bengal withdrew the general consent given to the CBI
• Lack of accountability- as CBI is outside the ambit of RTI.
• Prior consent- of the Central government is required to start an investigation on officers of the level of
Joint secretary and above
• Delays in concluding investigation- there was large delay in starting probe against high dignitaries in Jain
Hawala case (of the 1990s)
HOW TO BRING PROBITY IN GOVERNANCE?

1. Bringing accountability and transparency in governance through RTI and digitizing the process.
2. Strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions as platform for citizen’s participation.
3. Making grievance redressal mandatory.
4. Bringing public participation in service delivery through PPP model.
5. Privatization of certain sectors where private firms have proven efficiency.
6. Imparting values-based training to officials.
7. Electoral reforms and strict adherence to guidelines and rules.
8. Strengthening of ombudsman system for independent scrutiny.
9. Effective implementation of Citizen Charter.
10. Removing human to human contact with e-governance
11. Regularising social audit.
Why financial propriety is important?

Financial propriety implies the compliance of law, rules, regulations, maintaining high standard of prudence,
vigilance, due diligence and ensuring value for money while incurring expenditure and collecting government
receipts.

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It is important because:
• It saves important resources of nation which is required in various welfare and nation building activities.
• It ensures resources of a nation are equitably distributed.
• It ensures frugal spending.
• It prevents concentration of wealth in the hands of few.
Canons of Financial Propriety

✓ Public servant should exercise same vigilance in expenditure of public money as does to his own
money.
✓ The expenditure should not be prima facie more than what the occasion demands.
✓ No authority should exercise its power of sanctioning money to his own advantage.
✓ Expenditure from public money should not benefit any particular person or group.
SOCIAL AUDIT
• It is the process in which details of the resources used by the public agencies for the development work
are shared with the people.
• This provides the beneficiaries an opportunity to scrutinize the development initiatives.
• It is an instrument of social accountability for an organisation.
• It gained significance after the 73rd amendment act.
• It is a tool to asses the performance in terms of social, environmental and community goals.
• Meghalaya became the first state to pass social audit legislation which mandates social audit across
various government schemes and departments.
• Second ARC recommended that operational guidelines of all developmental schemes and citizen centric
programmes should provide for a social audit mechanism.
• In MGNREGA, social audits led to proper entries in job cards, increased knowledge about the wage
payment slips. Visible improvements were noticed in worksite facilities through social audit.
• Social audit along with the CAG audit can significantly improve the outcome of the programs and policies
of the government.
• The case study presenting success story of Social Audit carried out in Sodag Panchayat, Namkum block
in Ranchi district. Social Audit was done by the gram sabha and Panchayat representatives along with
Social Audit Unit appointed by the State Government for assessing various developmental works done
under Mukhiya Fund in the year 2016-17. Villagers, Panchayat representatives, members of gram sabha,
Block level personnel participated in the process. Through this Social Audit, villagers who used to take
these schemes as kind acts of the government, are now discussing these as their due entitlements
CAG
• It is the institution through which the accountability of the government and other public authorities to
Parliament and State Legislatures and through them to the people is ensured.
• CAG audits the accounts related to all expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India, Consolidated
Fund of each state and UT’s having a legislative assembly.
• He audits all expenditure from the Contingency Fund of India and the Public Account of India as well as
the Contingency Fund and Public Account of each state.
• He audits all trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts, balance sheets and other subsidiary
accounts kept by any department of the Central Government and the state governments.
• He audits the receipts and expenditure of all bodies and authorities substantially financed from the
Central or State revenues; government companies; other corporations and bodies, when so required by
related laws.

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• He audits the accounts of any other authority when requested by the President or Governor e.g. Local
bodies.
• He submits his audit reports relating to the accounts of the Centre to the President, who shall, in turn,
place them before both the houses of Parliament.
• He submits his audit reports relating to the accounts of a State to the Governor, who shall, in turn, place
them before the state legislature.
• CAG also acts as a guide, friend and philosopher of the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament.
ZERO BUDGETING
• Zero-based budgeting is a method of budgeting in which all expenses are evaluated each time a Budget is
made and expenses must be justified for each new period.
• Zero budgeting starts from the zero base and every function of the government is analysed for its needs
and cost. Budget is then made based on the needs
LEGISLATIVE CONTROL OVER THE ADMINISTRATION

In Indian context, separation of powers is the division of the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of
government. Since the sanction of all three branches is required for the making, executing, and administering of
laws, it minimises the possibility of arbitrary excesses by the government.
✓ Legislature lays down the broader policy of administration.
✓ It not only defines functions of the government but also provides finances for it.
✓ The administration cannot spend a single rupee without its sanction.
✓ The administration is obliged to keep accurate record of all financial transactions and submit the report to
legislature.
✓ Recruitment, service conditions, code of conduct etc are determined by the legislature.
✓ The public servants are also held responsible for their official acts.
✓ In a nutshell, the legislature has the general power of direction, supervision and control over the
administration.
Means of Legislative Control

✓ The President’s speech.
✓ Discussion on budget.
✓ Question Hour.
✓ Adjournment motion.
✓ Censure motion.
✓ Debates on legislations.
✓ Parliamentary Committees.
✓ External Audit.
JUDICIAL CONTROL OVER THE ADMINISTRATION

✓ Judiciary has the power to examine the legality of officials act and hence safeguard fundamental and
other rights of the citizens under Article 14.
✓ Under Article 32, Judiciary issues writs including mandamus.
✓ Courts generally cannot interfere in the administrative activities on their own.
✓ They intervene when they are invited by the aggrieved individuals or groups.
Forms of judicial control

✓ Judicial review
✓ Statutory appeals

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✓ Criminal and Civil suit against the public officials

✓ Extraordinary remedies in the form of prerogative writs.
RIGHT TO SERVICE
• It is mechanism to ensure time bound delivery of services by public officials.
• It has grievance redressal mechanism and to make public officials punishable for delays.
• It makes service a right from what was considered an act of benevolence.
• It is aimed to reduce corruption among government officials and increase transparency and
accountability.
E-GOVERNANCE
➢ It is the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to the process of government
functioning to achieve simple, accountable, speedy, responsive and transparent governance.
➢ Its essence is to reach the beneficiary at the doorstep.
➢ It is a tool to achieve good governance.
➢ It represents a journey from passive information giving to active citizen’s involvement.
Why e-governance?
ICT applications impact upon the structures of public administration systems. Technological advancements
facilitate the administrative systems by enabling:
• Administrative Development; and
• Effective Service Delivery
• Administrative Development- ICTs can be used and are being used now to give further impetus to the
process. They help in the following manners:
- Automation of Administrative Processes
- Paper Work Reduction
- Improving quality of Services
- Elimination of Hierarchy
- Change in Administrative Culture by introducing transparency, accountability etc.
• Effective Service Delivery- ICTs play an important role in effectively delivering services to the people. ICTs
ensure:
- Transparency
- Economic Development
- Social Development
- Strategic Information System- making available all the aspects of information to the management
Issues with e-governance

• Privacy- With citizens trusting their confidential information to the government, their privacy has to be
protected form getting into the hands of third party who mas misuse it.
• Fraudulent transactions- government has to ensure that fraudulent transactions don’t take and the same
time burden of excessive checks has to be avoided.
• Resistance to change- among some group of citizens, government employees and public policy
administrators can lead to laggards. Government has to prevent these laggards through proper education
and awareness.
• Digital divide- can occur between the populations who have access to the digital facilities and those who
lack it.
• Cost – is one of the important factor which acts as hindrance in digital access.
Due to above reasons, India has been ranked 100th in the UN e-governance index 2020.

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➢ Example of e-governance initiative in India-

Digital India Initiatives-which is an umbrella program to prepare India for a knowledge-based
transformation. Some of the initiatives under the given initiatives are:
- Agriculture- e-NAM- to link pan India agri-mandis digitally
- Women- Naari portal for the empowerment of women
- Child- Pencil for eliminating child labour
- Science and Technology- Kiran for promoting women in science
- Public- RTI
- Election- SVEEP app for educating voters to participate in elections
- Internet- NFON to trigger broadband revolution in rural areas
- PRAGATI- here the PM takes the issues with government officials of the Union and the states with the
help of ICT tools.
- Mobile Seva- provides government services to the people through mobile phones and tabs.
Conclusion: Probity in governance is an essential and vital requirement for an efficient and effective system of
governance and for socio-economic development. An important requisite for ensuring probity in governance is
absence of corruption and dealing with corruption is not limited to governance structure, but it pertains to every
stakeholder involved in and out of system.
Previous year questions

1. Some recent developments such as introduction of RTI Act, media and judicial activism, etc., are
proving helpful in bringing about greater transparency and accountability in the functioning of the
government. However, it is also being observed that at times the mechanisms are misused. Another
negative effect is that the officers are now afraid to take prompt decisions. Analyze this situation in
detail and suggest how this dichotomy can be resolved. Suggest how these negative impacts can be
minimized.
2. Today we find that in spite of various measures like prescribing codes of conduct, setting up vigilance
cells/commissions, RTI, active media and strengthening of legal mechanisms, corrupt practices are not
coming under control. A) Evaluate the effectiveness of these measures with justifications. B) Suggest
more effective strategies to tackle this menace.
3. Discipline generally implies following the order and subordination. However, it may be counter-
productive for the organisation.
4. “The Right to Information Act is not all about citizens’ empowerment alone, it essentially redefines the
concept of accountability. Discuss.
5. Explain the basic principles of citizens’ charter movement and bring out its importance.
6. There is a view that the official secrets act is an obstacle to the implementation of Rights to
Information act. Do you agree with the view? Discuss.

112


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ETHICS,INTEGRITY & APTITUDE

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PRAHAAR- The final hit to UPSC Exam-2021

Sumit Rewri and team

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Ethics & human interface _______________________________________________________________6

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emotions and intelligence _____________________________________________________________51

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Components of emotional intelligence ____________________________________________________________ 52

Moral thinkers & philosOPhers from india & world _________________________________________61

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ETHICS IN Public Administration ________________________________________________________74

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Philosophical basis of Governance and Probity ___________________________________________________________________ 93

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ETHICS & HUMAN INTERFACE

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Descriptive ethics Meta Ethics

EXAMPLES OF APPLIED ETHICS

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Ethics guidelines for Trustworthy AI issued European Commission

NORMATIVE ETHICS THEORIES

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ETHICS – IN PRIVATE & PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS

Ethics in Private Relationships

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Lal Bahadur Shastri

Nolan Committee: Seven principles in public life

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Importance of Ethics in Public Relationship

Relation Between Public and Private Ethics

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Differences between Ethics & Morals

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ROLE OF FAMILY IN VALUE INCULCATING

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ROLE OF EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN VALUE INCULCATING

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Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s quotes on education/teachers