PRAHAAR Ethics For CSE Mains 2022

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OnlyIAS Nothing Else PRAHAAR: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude
Table of content
Ethics & human interface _______________________________________________________________9
introduction of ethics _______________________________________________________________________ 9
Sources of ethics___________________________________________________________________________ 9
Importance of ethics________________________________________________________________________ 9
Evaluation of Ethics: _______________________________________________________________________ 10
Scope of ethics ___________________________________________________________________________ 10
Nature of ethics __________________________________________________________________________ 11
DIAMENSIONS OF ethics ______________________________________________________________________ 11
Examples of applied ethics ____________________________________________________________________ 13
Normative ethics theories_____________________________________________________________________ 14
Utilitarianism ____________________________________________________________________________ 14
Deontology ______________________________________________________________________________ 15
Virtue Ethics _____________________________________________________________________________ 16
determinants of ethics _______________________________________________________________________ 16
challenges to ethics__________________________________________________________________________ 17
Ethics – in private & public relationships _________________________________________________________ 18
Ethics in Private Relationships _______________________________________________________________ 18
Ethics in Public Relationship _________________________________________________________________ 19
Nolan Committee: Seven principles in public life _________________________________________________ 20
Importance of Ethics in Public Relationship _____________________________________________________ 21
Relation Between Public and Private Ethics _____________________________________________________ 22
morals ____________________________________________________________________________________ 23
Why be moral? ___________________________________________________________________________ 24
Differences between Ethics & Morals _________________________________________________________ 24
Human Values ______________________________________________________________________________ 25
Human Values____________________________________________________________________________ 25
Importance of Values ______________________________________________________________________ 26
Role of family in value INCULCATing _____________________________________________________________ 27
Role of educational institutions in value inculcating ________________________________________________ 28
Recommendations for value education ________________________________________________________ 29
role of society ______________________________________________________________________________ 29
Strength of society for value inculcation _________________________________________________________ 30
Reasons for erosion of values __________________________________________________________________ 31
Key terms & their meanings ___________________________________________________________________ 32
Attitude ____________________________________________________________________________34
Characteristics of attitude_____________________________________________________________________ 34
Attitude and Behaviour: ____________________________________________________________________ 34
Factors which determine the degree of influence of attitude on behaviour are: __________________________ 35
Categories of attitude ________________________________________________________________________ 35
Explicit attitude and implicit attitude __________________________________________________________ 35
Opinion and attitude ______________________________________________________________________ 35
Belief and attitude ________________________________________________________________________ 36
Value and Attitude ________________________________________________________________________ 36
Structure/Components of attitude ______________________________________________________________ 36
Formation of attitude ________________________________________________________________________ 37
Relationship between attitude and behaviour ___________________________________________________ 37
Functions of attitude_________________________________________________________________________ 38
Moral attitude ______________________________________________________________________________ 38
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Qualities of moral attitude __________________________________________________________________ 39

Implication of Moral Attitudes: ______________________________________________________________ 39
Social attitude ______________________________________________________________________________ 40
Prejudice __________________________________________________________________________________ 40
Difference between prejudice and stereotype___________________________________________________ 40
Political Attitude ____________________________________________________________________________ 40
Factors which affect our political ideologies are: _________________________________________________ 41
Significance of political attitude ______________________________________________________________ 41
Major types of political ideology _____________________________________________________________ 41
Democratic Attitude _______________________________________________________________________ 42
Bureaucratic attitude ______________________________________________________________________ 42
Behaviour in Indian Society____________________________________________________________________ 43
Factors affect the formation of a person's attitude towards social problems ___________________________ 43
Crimes Against Women: ____________________________________________________________________ 44
Moral Policing ____________________________________________________________________________ 44
Social influence _____________________________________________________________________________ 45
Types of social influence____________________________________________________________________ 45
Persuasion_________________________________________________________________________________ 46
Functions of persuasion ____________________________________________________________________ 47
Ways to resist persuasion___________________________________________________________________ 48
How to make persuasion effective? ___________________________________________________________ 48
Administration and the public _________________________________________________________________ 48
Public’s attitude towards the administrators ____________________________________________________ 49
How to improve the relationship between public and administration? _______________________________ 49
APTITUDE __________________________________________________________________________51
Relationship of aptitude with other qualities ______________________________________________________ 51
Aptitude and Skills ________________________________________________________________________ 51
Aptitude and Interest: _____________________________________________________________________ 51
Aptitude and Intelligence: __________________________________________________________________ 51
Aptitude and Ability:_______________________________________________________________________ 52
Aptitude and Values: ______________________________________________________________________ 52
Aptitude, Proficiency and Achievement: _______________________________________________________ 52
Difference between Attitude and aptitude _______________________________________________________ 52
aptitude for civil services and its role ____________________________________________________________ 52
Foundational values for civil services __________________________________________________________ 53

Evolution of foundational values _______________________________________________________________ 54
Need of foundational values ________________________________________________________________ 54
Integrity _________________________________________________________________________________54
Types of Integrity:_________________________________________________________________________ 55
Why Integrity is Critical in Civil Services? _______________________________________________________ 55
Second ARC on Integrity: ___________________________________________________________________ 56
Difference between honesty and integrity ________________________________________________________ 56
Integrity pact ____________________________________________________________________________ 57
Recent changes in the SOP by CVC: _________________________________________________________ 57
Impartiality and non-partisanship ____________________________________________________________ 57

Impartiality ________________________________________________________________________________ 57
non-partisanship ____________________________________________________________________________ 58
Difference between impartiality and non-partisanship ______________________________________________ 58
NEUTRALITY ____________________________________________________________________________59
NEUTRALITY OF CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICES ___________________________________________________ 59
Objectivity _______________________________________________________________________________60
How to develop objectivity? ___________________________________________________________________ 61
Difference between objectivity and neutrality _____________________________________________________ 61
ANONYMITY ____________________________________________________________________________62
should civil servants be concerned about their public image? _________________________________________ 62
DEDICATION TO PUBLIC SERVICE _________________________________________________________ 63

TOLERANCE _____________________________________________________________________________63
Significance of Tolerance: ___________________________________________________________________ 64
Acceptance ________________________________________________________________________________ 65
Difference between tolerance and acceptance __________________________________________________ 65
EMPATHY AND COMPASSION ____________________________________________________________ 65

Quotes: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 65
Empathy __________________________________________________________________________________ 65
Compassion________________________________________________________________________________ 66
Difference between antipathy, apathy, sympathy, empathy and compassion ____________________________ 66
OTHER IMPORTANT VALUES______________________________________________________________ 67

Discipline and Sincerity _______________________________________________________________________ 67
Perseverance_______________________________________________________________________________ 68
Courage ___________________________________________________________________________________ 68
Relevance for Civil Servants _________________________________________________________________ 68
Case Study ______________________________________________________________________________ 69
Responsiveness _____________________________________________________________________________ 69
Prudence __________________________________________________________________________________ 69
Relevance for Civil Servants _________________________________________________________________ 70
Temperance: _______________________________________________________________________________ 70
Confidentiality______________________________________________________________________________ 70
openness __________________________________________________________________________________ 71
selflessness ________________________________________________________________________________ 71
Emotions and Intelligence _____________________________________________________________72

Classification of Emotions: ____________________________________________________________________ 72
Characteristics of Emotions: ___________________________________________________________________ 72
Functions of emotions: _______________________________________________________________________ 73
Emotional intelligence _____________________________________________________________________73

Components of emotional intelligence___________________________________________________________ 74
Difference between EQ and IQ _______________________________________________________________ 75
Importance of emotional intelligence____________________________________________________________ 75
Importance of EI in personal life _____________________________________________________________ 75
Importance of EI in civil services/administration _________________________________________________ 76
Qualities of an emotional intelligent person ____________________________________________________ 77
Qualities of an emotional intelligent administrator _______________________________________________ 77
Challenges for development of emotional intelligence in the administration _____________________________ 78
development of emotional intelligence __________________________________________________________ 79
Development of emotional intelligence in personal life ___________________________________________ 79
Development of emotional intelligence in civil servants/administrators ______________________________ 80
Criticism of emotional intelligence ______________________________________________________________ 80
Difference Between High and Low EI __________________________________________________________ 80
Role of EI in Public Services _________________________________________________________________ 81

Threat to emotional intelligence in present time _______________________________________________________ 82
social intelligence _________________________________________________________________________82

key elements of social intelligence ______________________________________________________________ 82
How to Develop Emotional Intelligence among Civil Servants: ______________________________________ 83
Moral thinkers & philosphers from India & world __________________________________________84

Western Philosophies and western thinkers ____________________________________________________84
NORMATIVE ETHICS______________________________________________________________________________ 84
Virtue ethics _________________________________________________________________________________ 84
Socrates: __________________________________________________________________________________ 85
Application or examples: ___________________________________________________________________ 85
Plato _____________________________________________________________________________________ 85
Application or examples: ___________________________________________________________________ 86
Aristotle __________________________________________________________________________________ 86
Applications or examples: __________________________________________________________________ 86
Deontology __________________________________________________________________________________ 87
Emanuel Kant: ______________________________________________________________________________ 87
Applications or examples: __________________________________________________________________ 87
Teleologic approach ___________________________________________________________________________ 87
Difference between Deontological and Teleological Theories _______________________________________ 88
Utilitarianism_______________________________________________________________________________ 89
Jeremy Bentham: ___________________________________________________________________________ 89
J S Mill ____________________________________________________________________________________ 89
Contractarianism____________________________________________________________________________ 90
Thomas Hobbes: ____________________________________________________________________________ 90
John Locke_________________________________________________________________________________ 90
Rousseau: _________________________________________________________________________________ 91
Contemporary Contractarianism__________________________________________________________________ 92
John RAWLS philosophy:______________________________________________________________________ 92
Descriptive ethics _______________________________________________________________________________ 92
Applied ethics __________________________________________________________________________________ 93
Indian philosophies ________________________________________________________________________93

Important schools of Hindu philosophy ______________________________________________________________ 93
Samkhya:__________________________________________________________________________________ 93
Yoga: _____________________________________________________________________________________ 93
Nyaya ____________________________________________________________________________________ 93
Mimamsa: _________________________________________________________________________________ 94
Vedanta: __________________________________________________________________________________ 94
Essence of Ramayana and Mahabharata ___________________________________________________________ 94
Lessons from the Ramayana: __________________________________________________________________ 95
Essence of Bhagavad-Gita _____________________________________________________________________ 96
Indian philosophers _______________________________________________________________________96

Buddha: ___________________________________________________________________________________ 96
Kautilya ___________________________________________________________________________________ 97
Thiruvalluvar _______________________________________________________________________________ 98
Swami Vivekananda _________________________________________________________________________ 98
M K Gandhi ________________________________________________________________________________ 98
Important Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi: ________________________________________________________ 99
Trusteeship: _____________________________________________________________________________ 99
Sarvodaya: _____________________________________________________________________________ 100

Satyagraha _____________________________________________________________________________ 100
Amartya Sen ______________________________________________________________________________ 102
Rabindranath Tagore: _______________________________________________________________________ 103
Kabir ____________________________________________________________________________________ 103
Administrators: __________________________________________________________________________104
E Sreedharan ___________________________________________________________________________ 104
TN Sheehan_____________________________________________________________________________ 104
Rajendra Bhatt: (Leadership, Innovation, Dedication to Service, Prudence) ___________________________ 104
Dr. T Arun, IAS:(Innovative, Leadership, Judicious, Technocrat) ____________________________________ 105
T Bhoobalan, IAS:(Compassion, Leadership, Alertness) ___________________________________________ 105
S Seeram Sambasiva: (Compassion, Leadership, Innovation, Hard Working ) __________________________ 105
Shalini Agarwal: (Innovation, Team work, Leadership, Prudence) ___________________________________ 105
Dr. Adarsh Singh: (Compassion, Leadership) ___________________________________________________ 105
Anupam Sharma: (Innovative approach, Environment Friendly, Efficient, prudence) ____________________ 106
Dharam Singh Meena: (Teamwork, Environment Friendly, Efficient) ________________________________ 106
Damodar Gautam Sawang: (Technocrat, Innovative, openness, Transparency, Accountability, Inclusive) ____ 106
Dr. Sangram Singh Patil: (Compassion, Aptitude, Democratic Attitude, Effective Resource Management) ___ 106
Santha Sheela Nair _______________________________________________________________________ 106
Aruna Sundararajan ______________________________________________________________________ 106
Hari Chandana Dasari IAS: (Environmentalist, Innovative, Leadership) _______________________________ 107
Smita Sabharwal: (Integrity, hard Working, Dedication to Service, Discipline, Prudence)_________________ 107
Krishna Gopal Tiwari ______________________________________________________________________ 107
Rajni Sekhri Sibal: (Integrity, Courage, Perseverance) ____________________________________________ 107
D Subba Rao: (Aptitude, Reformist, Objectivity, Integrity)_________________________________________ 107
Administration and leadership ______________________________________________________________107

Administrator, Manager and Leader: ___________________________________________________________ 108
Difference between Manager and leadership ____________________________________________________ 108
ETHICS IN Public Administration _______________________________________________________109

Basic characteristics of Public Administration: ____________________________________________________ 109
Principles differentiating public administration from private administration ____________________________ 109
Need of ethics in public administration _________________________________________________________ 110
Status and problems of ethics in Indian public administration _______________________________________ 110
Provisions for inculcating ethics in Indian administration _________________________________________ 110
Ethical issues in Indian administration ________________________________________________________ 110
Problems of ethics in Indian administration ______________________________________________________ 111
Ethical dilemma in government and private institutions _________________________________________112

Ethical dilemma in Government _______________________________________________________________ 112
Ethical dilemmas faced by Public Servants are: _________________________________________________ 112
Resolving Ethical Dilemma in Government: ____________________________________________________ 113
Ethical concerns in private institutions __________________________________________________________ 113
Laws, rules, regulations and conscience as source of ethical guidance ______________________________114

Laws, rules and regulations as source of ethical guidance _______________________________________________ 114
Difference between Laws and Rules: _________________________________________________________ 114
How Laws, Rules and Regulations are source of ethical guidance _______________________________________ 115
limitations of Laws, Rules and Regulations are source of ethical guidance ________________________________ 115
conscience as source of ethical guidance ____________________________________________________________ 116
How conscience is a source of ethical guidance? ____________________________________________________ 116
Is conscience an absolute guide to ethical behaviour? No _______________________________________________ 117
Crisis of conscience: ______________________________________________________________________ 117
Accountability and Ethical governance _______________________________________________________117

Accountability _________________________________________________________________________________ 117
Why is it needed? ________________________________________________________________________ 118
Method to ensure Accountability: ___________________________________________________________ 118
Institutions and Mechanisms that Promote Accountability __________________________________________ 118
Types of Accountability: _____________________________________________________________________ 119
Significance of Accountability in Governance: ____________________________________________________ 119
Responsibility: _____________________________________________________________________________ 120
Difference between Accountability and Responsibility ___________________________________________ 120
Governance, good governance and Ethical governance __________________________________________120

Importance of Ethical Governance:_______________________________________________________________ 121
Ethical issues in international relations and funding_____________________________________________122

Significance of International Ethics _______________________________________________________________ 122
Ethical concerns in international relations _______________________________________________________ 123
Ethical issues in international funding _______________________________________________________________ 124
Measures at global level to deal ethical issues at international level – _______________________________ 124
Corporate governance ____________________________________________________________________126

Importance of Corporate Governance: _______________________________________________________ 126
Issues of Corporate Governance in India:______________________________________________________ 126
Existing measures to ensure Ethical Corporate Governance in India ___________________________________ 127
Committees related to Corporate Governance in India: ____________________________________________ 127
Kumar Mangalam Birla Committee Report (2000): ______________________________________________ 127
Naresh Chandra Committee Recommendations (2002): __________________________________________ 128
Narayan Murthi Committee Recommendations (2002): __________________________________________ 128
Uday Kotak Committee Recommendations: ___________________________________________________ 128
Corporate social responsibility ________________________________________________________________ 129
Significance for Corporate Social Responsibility: ____________________________________________________ 129
Issues with Corporate Social Responsibility ____________________________________________________ 129
Probity in governance _______________________________________________________________131

Probity _________________________________________________________________________________131
Probity in governance ___________________________________________________________________________ 131
Philosophical basis of Governance and Probity _____________________________________________________ 131
Objective of Probity in Governance __________________________________________________________ 132
Challenges associated with Probity in Governance:______________________________________________ 132
Importance of civil services to Governance___________________________________________________________ 133
Approaches in Public Administration to improve quality of service delivery _________________________________ 133
New Public Service ___________________________________________________________________________ 133
Development Administration ___________________________________________________________________ 133
New Public Administration ___________________________________________________________________ 134
New Public Management ____________________________________________________________________ 134
Entrepreneurial Government _________________________________________________________________ 134
Social Contract ____________________________________________________________________________ 135
Transparency ________________________________________________________________________________ 135
Transparency: A Pillar of Ethical Governance _____________________________________________________ 136
Issues with respect to transparency in India ___________________________________________________ 136
Mechanism to ensure probity in India_______________________________________________________________ 137
Right to information Act _______________________________________________________________________ 137
Problems with working of the act ___________________________________________________________ 137

Recent RTI amendment ___________________________________________________________________ 138
Arguments in support of the amendments ____________________________________________________ 138
Arguments against the amendments _________________________________________________________ 138
RTI and the judiciary ______________________________________________________________________ 139
Subhash Agarwal case __________________________________________________________________ 139
Significance of the judgement ____________________________________________________________ 139
RTI and the political parties ________________________________________________________________ 139
Why the political parties need to be brought under the RTI act? ___________________________________ 140
Arguments against bringing political parties under RTI. ________________________________________ 140
Impact of the act ________________________________________________________________________ 140
Whistle blowing ________________________________________________________________________________ 141
Arguments against whistle blowing __________________________________________________________ 141
Arguments in support of whistle blowing _____________________________________________________ 141
Code of ethics _____________________________________________________________________________ 141
Purpose of Code of Ethics and Conduct _______________________________________________________ 141
Limitations of Code of Ethics _______________________________________________________________ 142
Codes of Conduct __________________________________________________________________________ 142
Difference between Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct _____________________________________________ 142
Second ARC suggestions on ensuring ethical conduct ____________________________________________ 143
Citizen’s Charter ___________________________________________________________________________ 143
Significance of Citizen’s Charter _____________________________________________________________ 143
Challenges with Citizen Charter _____________________________________________________________ 144
Work Culture______________________________________________________________________________ 144
Characteristics of healthy work culture._______________________________________________________ 144
Work ethics_____________________________________________________________________________ 144
Service Delivery _________________________________________________________________________ 145
Challenges______________________________________________________________________________ 145
Suggestions for improvement ______________________________________________________________ 145
Corruption________________________________________________________________________________ 145
Types of corruption ______________________________________________________________________ 146
Corruption, ethics and values _______________________________________________________________ 146
Challenges posed by corruption _____________________________________________________________ 146
Causes of corruption _____________________________________________________________________ 147
Ways to tackle Corruption: _________________________________________________________________ 147
Corruption Laws in India _____________________________________________________________________ 148
Indian Penal Code, 1860 ___________________________________________________________________ 148
The Benami transactions (prohibition) Act, 1988 ________________________________________________ 148
The Benami transactions (prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 _____________________________________ 148
Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 __________________________________________________________ 149
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 ____________________________________________________ 149
The Companies Act, 2013 __________________________________________________________________ 149
Institutions for dealing with corruption _________________________________________________________ 149
Lokpal and Lokayukta _____________________________________________________________________ 149
Chief Vigilance Commission ________________________________________________________________ 150
Central Bureau of Investigation _____________________________________________________________ 150
How to bring probity in governance? ___________________________________________________________ 151
Why financial propriety is important? __________________________________________________________ 151
Social audit _______________________________________________________________________________ 152
CAG _____________________________________________________________________________________ 152
Zero budgeting ____________________________________________________________________________ 152
Controlling administration _________________________________________________________________153

Legislative Control over the administration ______________________________________________________ 153
Judicial Control over the administration_________________________________________________________ 153
E-Governance _____________________________________________________________________________ 154
Why e-governance? ______________________________________________________________________ 154
Issues with e-governance __________________________________________________________________ 154
Current affairs from Ethical point of view ________________________________________________157

Russia war ______________________________________________________________________________157
Opinion Polls and Ethical issues _____________________________________________________________159
Ethics of Metaverse_______________________________________________________________________160
Global Agreement on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence ____________________________________________162
Custodial Violence________________________________________________________________________164
Corruption in India _______________________________________________________________________166
Police Corruption in India __________________________________________________________________168
Topic: Use of Bulldozer and Principle of Natural Justice __________________________________________169
Demolition of illegal structures of accused ____________________________________________________171
Journalism ______________________________________________________________________________172
Refugee crisis ___________________________________________________________________________173
Increase in Religious activities in Schools _____________________________________________________175
Hijab Row ______________________________________________________________________________178
Bodily rights of Women and Abortion law_____________________________________________________179
Topic: Surrogacy _________________________________________________________________________181
Marital Rape and Conjugal Rights ___________________________________________________________182
Marriage Age for Women __________________________________________________________________183
Euthanasia ______________________________________________________________________________184
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
Origin of Ethics
INTRODUCTION OF ETHICS
 Ethics is a is a system of moral principles that is concerned with  Ethics originated from the Greek word
human conduct. It studies the norms or standards of right and ‘ethos’ and the Latin ‘mores’ which mean
wrong used to judge actions; it studies what is morally right or ‘custom’, ‘ways of behaviour’, ‘human
character’.
wrong, just or unjust. In simple words ethics refers to what is
good and the way to get it, and what is bad and how to avoid  Mackenzie defines ethics as “the study of
it. what is right or good in human conduct”
 Religions, philosophies, cultures, human conscience and or the “science of the ideal involved in
intuition, role model, Family and Friends, Schools and Colleges, human life”.
Rational thinking, Personal experience. Constitution, judiciary
etc are some sources of ethics.
S OURCES OF ETHICS
o Religion - It is one of the oldest foundations of ethical standards. Religion wields varying influences across
various sects of people. Ethics draw a line between the good and the bad in the society.
o Legal System of any country acts as a guiding source for the human behaviour in the society. It is expected
that the rules laid down by these Laws are followed strictly.
o Culture is a pattern of those behaviours and values that are considered as ideal or within the acceptable
limits which are transferred from one generation to another. It is the culture that defines certain behaviour
as acceptable and others as unacceptable.
o Family system are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs,
attitudes, and ideals. Hence family system becomes a source of ethics.
I MPORTANCE 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
 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.
E VALUATION OF E THICS :
Evaluation of Ethical conduct means to respect the rights of participants and ensure minimisation from the potential
harm.
 Free will: A choice is evaluated for ethical or unethical, when it is chosen from available options freely. If
someone has only one choice, we cannot term it as ethical or unethical.
 Knowledge: We cannot exercise free will in an ethical manner, unless and until we have knowledge of its
consequence. Ex: Baby’s action of destroying something is not unethical, because she does not have
knowledge of it.
 Fear: If someone tries to kill you and you kill him in self-defence, you’re acting under fear for your life. So,
it’s subject to legal scrutiny but not ethical scrutiny.
 Pathological status: Husband suffering from schizophrenia mistreats his wife. This is not subject to ethical
scrutiny because he’s suffering from a mental disorder so he lacks the knowledge and free will.
 Habit: Since childhood, Japanese are trained to apologise profusely even for slightest mistake or discomfort
caused to another human. If an American working in Japan doesn’t behave in similar fashion, it can’t be
termed as unethical. Because, it is not practice in USA.
 Value system: A fallen Samurai would prefer to commit ritual suicide rather than suffering torture by his
enemies. Because it is part of his Bushido honour code. If a fallen American soldier doesn’t commit suicide,
it can’t be evaluated on ethical grounds.
S COPE 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
N ATURE 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.
 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 as  Metaethics investigates the origin and meaning
values, which actions are right and wrong, and which of ethical concepts. It studies where our ethical
characteristics of moral agents are virtuous. It also principles come from and what they mean. It
investigates people's ethical ideals or what actions tries to analyse the underlying principles of
societies reward or punish in law or politics. ethical values.
 Descriptive ethics is empirical investigation of people’s  Meta means about the things itself. So, Meta
moral beliefs on the basis of law and customs. It studies ethics is ethics about ethics i.e. Evaluation of
the history and evolution of Ethics and gives a record of Ethics itself. eg.
certain taboos, customs or conventions. Kohlberg’s  What is meant by a wrong action?
theory of moral consciousness is an example of  why is stealing immoral?
Descriptive Ethics.  Why charity is moral?
 It is value-free approach to ethics. It does not make  In case of Santhara practise by Jain, Meta
judgements about the morality of the practices and ethics studies the reason for such beliefs
beliefs but simply describe the practices observed in the more profoundly.
different groups or cultures.  It focuses on the meaning of ethical terms
themselves, besides applied question of ‘what
should be done in a particular situation?’ It
doesn’t consider, whether an action is good or
bad, rather it questions the goodness and
badness of morality itself.
 It deals with a question like - ‘What do we mean
by “freedom” and “determinism” etc.
 Examples of meta-ethical philosophies: Moral
objectivism, Moral nihilism, Moral subjectivism
Moral relativism
Normative Ethics Applied Ethics

 Normative ethics is concerned with the norms,
standards or criteria that define principles of ethical  The applied dimension of Ethics is known as
behaviour. It is the study of what one should or should “Applied Ethics’ that falls within the broad field
not do. of Ethics.
Ex. “Murder is wrong.”  Evans and Macmillan (2014, p.27) define
“Giving to charity is good, but not ethically mandatory.” applied ethics as “theories of ethics concerned
“Conflict of interest must be handled carefully.” with the application of normative ethics to
 It is the study of ethical theories that prescribe how particular ethical issues.”
people ought to act and behave in society. If someone  Applied ethics looks at controversial topics like
deviates from established standards, there are war, animal rights and capital punishment. In
provisions for punishment and also the justification for applied ethics, using the conceptual tools of
the same. metaethics and normative ethics, one tries to
resolve these controversial issues.
 It examines standards for the rightness and wrongness  Eg. Bioethics pertains to euthanasia, abortion or
of actions and it is more concerned with 'who ought one research on human embryos. Business ethics
be' rather than the ethics of a specific issue. includes good corporate governance,
 If someone deviates from established standards, there protection of whistle blowers etc.
are provisions for punishment and also the justification
for the same.
 The central question of normative ethics is determining
how basic moral standards are arrived at and justified.
 The most common examples of normative ethical
theories are utilitarianism, deontology,
consequentialism.
E XAMPLES OF APPLIED ETHICS
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.
o Chipko movement; Uttarakhand High court judgement on river Ganga as an individual, National
Green tribunal for environmental justice. E.g. - gene crops.
 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.
Human Rights violation Issues in the War torn Ukraine.
 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.
Issues of Media Ethics: media trials, paid news, fake news, string operation, sensationalisation, live telecast
of combat operations etc.
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.
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 explain ability, 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.
N ORMATIVE ETHICS THEORIES
U TILITARIANISM
 Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right and 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. It does not account for things
like feelings and emotions, culture, or justice.
 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.
 No shades of gray: A limitation of utilitarianism is that it tends to create a black-and-white construct of
morality. In utilitarian ethics, there are no shades of gray—either something is wrong or it is right.
 Utilitarianism also cannot predict with certainty whether the consequences of our actions will be good or
bad—the results of our actions happen in the future.
 Trouble accounting: It also has trouble accounting for values like justice and individual rights.
o For example, say a hospital has four people whose lives depend upon receiving organ transplants:
a heart, lungs, a kidney, and a liver. If a healthy person wanders into the hospital, his organs could
be harvested to save four lives at the expense of his one life. This would arguably produce the
greatest good for the greatest number. But few would consider it an acceptable course of action,
let alone an ethical one.
 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.
D EONTOLOGY
 Deontology is a duty-based system of ethics which holds that some acts are intrinsically right or wrong
regardless of their consequences and that moral agents have duties to follow moral commands or rules
regardless of their consequences.
 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.
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.
 As per this theory, there is no place for human inclinations, emotions and consequences. In some
situations, emotional intelligence (empathy) is required to bring harmony or achieve a greater good.
 It may produce consequences that can be unacceptable to most.
o For example, you should not lie, even if it (the lie) saves the lives of millions of people.
 Some argue Deontology missed the critical thing of ethical decision making by ignoring the consequences
of actions.
One possible way of resolving this problem can be through an idea called threshold deontology, which says we
should always obey the rules unless in an emergency situation, at which point we should revert to a consequentialist
approach.
V IRTUE E THICS
 Ethical actions ought to be consistent with certain ideal virtues that provide for the full development of our
humanity.
 Virtue ethics is character-based approach to Virtue and Vice
morality developed by Aristotle and other ancient  A virtue is a morally good disposition to think,
Greeks. It is the quest to understand and live a life feel, and act well in some domain of life.
of moral character. Similarly, a vice is a morally bad disposition
 Virtue ethics holds that an action is only right if it is involving thinking, feeling, and acting badly.
an action that a virtuous person would carry out in  Virtues are not everyday habits; they
the same circumstances and a virtuous person is a are character traits, in the sense that they are
person who acts virtuously. central to someone’s personality. A virtue is a
 According to Aristotle, by honing virtuous habits, trait that makes its possessor a good person,
people will likely make the right choice when faced and a vice is one that makes its possessor a bad
with ethical challenges. person.
 Virtue ethics helps us understand what it means to
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.
o 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.
o 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.
 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.
E THICS – IN PRIVATE & PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS

Human beings are social animals. So, we interact with each other and when we interact with each other we establish
some relations. Gandhi said “for achieving nonviolent and truthful society, it is important to have good
relationship”.
Relationships are based of four principles- Respect, Understanding , Acceptance, Appreciation
E THICS IN P RIVATE 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 Law of Integrity: Person shouldn’t lie and keep his promises
o Law of Improvement: If mistake has been committed, person should try to improve that
o Gratitude: If anyone has helped, person should keep that in mind
o Loyalty – loyalty to one’s partner and to the family members.
o Love – loving all even if there are imperfections in them
o Fidelity – This is key driver of marital relationship and essence of Ethics of marriage. It refers
to being loyal to one’s life partner and avoid sensual distraction or committing adulterous act.
o Confidentiality – In order to maintain sanctity of private relationships, secrecy and privacy
are of paramount importance. For example, we generally restrain ourselves to share secrets
of our friend, colleague, life partner etc. without their permission else it would bring
disharmony in such relationships.
o Responsibility & Accountability – In private relationships, one is bestowed with various
responsibilities such responsibility towards child, life partner, parents etc. This requires
fulfilling the responsibility towards them and also being accountable to them, in case of non-
fulfilment of responsibility.
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: Virtues such as Truthfulness, Honesty are important factor in deciding ethics in
Private relationship. It shows the outlook and conduct of a person
Universal human values: Universal values are the established standard for ethical behaviour.
Ex. Respect elder is a universal value which is guiding principle in private relationship.
 Religion: Those who are religious and theist accept Divine commands and follow them in their
personal life to please God in order to attain salvation.
o For example, Ten Commandments (of Bible) is the source of guidance for Christians for
their behaviour with family, neighbour and society at large.
 Social norms: Some of the values are also learned from environmental factors that influence
human being such as Family, peer groups, society etc.
o For example, Child learns from his parents – How one should behave with elders in the
family
 Law of land: Some of the ethical principles are governed by legislations and constitutional values.
o For example, not outraging the modesty of women is a Fundamental duty under Indian
constitution.
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.
 More Tolerance for Imperfection: People use to have high index of tolerance for imperfection in Private
relationship, because of mutual trust, love and dependent.
E THICS IN P UBLIC R ELATIONSHIP

 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.
o Ex. Relationship between three organs of government, Relationship of a civil servant with citizens
 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.
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.
N OLAN C OMMITTEE : S EVEN 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.
o 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: It is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to
moral and ethical principles.
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.
Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln were exemplary leaders who were famous for their integrity.
Both in times of crisis adhered with their values like Lincoln sticking to abolition of slavery and Gandhi
towards non-Violence.
3. Objectivity: It means taking decision based upon established facts and figures rather than personal opinion
or bias.
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.
o 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.
As per 2nd ARC, open, transparent , accountable government is an imperative pre-requisite for community
citizen centric public service delivery.
According to Max Weber – The power position of a fully developed bureaucracy is everywhere
overpowering. Without accountability bureaucracy will become like Frankenstein’s monster that divorced
his own master.
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.
o Ex- Vinod Rai, former CAG turned the office of CAG into a powerful force for openness and
transparency by unearthing 2G scam.
6. Honesty: It can be defined as “being trustworthy, loyal, fair and sincere”. An honest person is free of deceit,
is truthful and sincere and does not tell a lie.
Holders of public office have a duty to declare any pr ivate 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.
IPS Officer Harsh Poddar’s innovative policing strategies have won him widespread acclaim. His unique ‘Youth
Parliament Championship’ created some two lakh young leaders against crime and terror in Maharashtra.
Quotes: “A leader is someone who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way”
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.
I MPORTANCE OF E THICS IN P UBLIC R ELATIONSHIP

 Moral Compass to resolve conflict of interest - Developing a moral compass for navigating ethical
dilemmas and resolve conflict of interest.
 Personal life often affects the work of the individual and affects her role in public spheres of life.
 Ethics in private relations helps in humanising public relations and plays an important role in forming the
moral system of a person. If someone values honesty in his private life, he will most likely be honest in his
public life too
 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.
 Minimum level of Courtesy – It is highly important in the official conduct of civil servants in India. This
induces the sense of belongingness among the common masses. For instance, Prashanth Nair (IAS) style of
engaging with public at large earned him the title of ‘Collector bro’.
 Spirit of service – This is crucial in order to serve the purpose of service. Civil servants are expected to go
beyond the call of duty to serve public interest. This has dual benefits – inner satisfaction to the person
concerned and inspiration for his colleagues to fulfil the service goals.
In recent times, there has been observed moral erosion of civil servants. Reasons are –
 Lack of accountability and responsibility - If anything goes well, there is no dearth of people to claim that
they are the people behind that but if anything goes wrong, nobody is ready to take responsibility.
 Sacrificing ethics, values, integrity and spiritualism – These things are sacrificed in comparison to the
materialism & wordly success
 Social Acceptance -Society as a whole has started to accept the people who are corrupt. Silence of good
people is more dangerous than moral erosion of some people.
 Failure on the part of family, schools, society and institutions in inculcating values
 Mega Administration, slow methodology and delay in decision making – There is growth of each
department and institutions both vertically and horizontally. This has created confusion in hierarchy leading
to delay in decision making.
 Soft Society, tolerant public opinion and politico-business-bureaucracy nexus – Public don’t resent &
tolerate the wrong doings. This gives decision makers more liberty against not doing such crimes in future.
Effort to correct this—

 Increase transparency: Effective laws which requires civil servants to give reasons for their official decisions
 Whistle-blower’s Protection Law to protect appropriate ‘public interest disclosures’ of wrong-doing by
officials
 Ethics audits to identify risks to the integrity of the most important processes Effective external and internal
complaint and redress procedures.
 Violation and breaches of Code of Ethics should invite sanction and punishment under the disciplinary rules.
 Computerization and digitization: remove the middle layers in which people have to depend on bureaucrats
for work
 Setting CCTV – create fear that they are being watched
 Promote self-certification
R ELATION B ETWEEN P UBLIC AND P RIVATE E THICS

Private Relation Public Relation
 In private relations, People expect intimacy,  In public relations, respect, attention, power,
loyalty, love and affection. authority and materialistic benefits are expected
 One involves with people sharing similarity  one has to deal with people having completely
o in value system different temperament
 Duties are voluntary, self-imposed and informal.  Duties externally imposed and formally mentioned
Ex: Standing by your friends or loved ones in the in codes. For example, All India civil service
good and bad times, providing good facilities to conduct rules, prevention of corruption. Failure to
your children, raising them in responsible manner oblige usually ends the relationship.
etc. If you fail, still relationship may remain intact
 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.
o 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.
 Ethics in public life places a greater responsibility and person cannot always follow his personal ethics. For
examples- personally you may feel abortion is morally wrong, but if you are a doctor, you need to do abortion
according to your professional ethics. When performing a role in public, we need to separate our personal lives
and follow professional code of conduct strictly
How to ensure that both lives remain separate ---
 Take decisions rationally and objectively based on facts and merits only
 Go by code of conduct always when faced with dilemmas
 Be impartial always and ensure that your actions are not only impartial but looks to be impartial too
 When with family, spend quality time with them and don’t bring your office between you and them
Why tight separation isn’t possible
Tight separation in Public and Private relationship is not possible because of following reasons:
 Personal life often affects the work of the individual and affects her role in public spheres of life.
 Ethics in private relations helps in humanising public relations and plays an important role in forming the
moral system of a person.
 If someone values honesty in his private life, he will most likely be honest in his public life too
 If a person becomes bankrupt because of his lavish private lifestyle, then he is automatically ineligible from
various constitutional public posts in India. Because if such financially distressed person is holding a public
office, he is more likely to accept bribes.
 If a person is holding a higher post in public, certain things which is personal to her private life may become
a matter for reasonable public interest.
 Certain values like honesty, respect, empathy, trust, equality and efficiency etc which are considered to
equally guide our actions in both professional and private sphere. Ex: If want interpersonal trust of
friendship to be reflected in our relationship with government.
Private life does have bearing on the public life of a person. We can’t look at them two as isolated compartments.
Civil administrators are increasingly became public figures in age of media. Our world is moving toward integration
of work and life due to availability of technical know-how.
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.
MORALS
Morals
 Morals are the social, cultural and religious Constitutional Morality

beliefs or values of an individual or group which
tells us what is right or wrong. They are the rules  Constitutional Morality means adherence to or being
and standards made by the society or culture faithful to bottom line principles of the constitutional
which is to be followed by us while deciding values. It includes commitment to inclusive and
what is right. Ex - Do not cheat, always tell the democratic political process in which both individual
truth etc. and collective interests are satisfied.
 Moral refers to what societies sanction as right  Constitutional morality is the soul of the constitution
and acceptable. Most people tend to act morally which is to be found in the preamble of the
and follow societal guidelines. People or entities constitution.
that are indifferent to right and wrong are  The major elements of the constitutional morality in
considered amoral, while those who do evil acts the context of Indian constitution are – Rule of law,
are considered immoral. right to equality, rule of law, social justice, unity and
 Morals are the principles that guide individual integrity of nation, social justice, secularism, individual
conduct within society. And, while morals may liberty and freedom of expression etc.
change over time, they remain the standards of  The SC had relied on constitutional morality to
behaviour that we use to judge right and wrong. allow entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala
temple under a 4-1 majority verdict. In the Navtej
W HY 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.
D IFFERENCES BETWEEN E THICS & M ORALS

 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
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.
H UMAN V ALUES
H UMAN V ALUES
 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.
 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 moral imperatives for those who believe in
them. Sacred values will seldom be compromised because they are perceived as duties. For example, for
some people, their nation’s flag may represent a sacred value.
But for others, the flag may just be a piece of cloth. Constitutional Values
 Intrinsic & Extrinsic Values - The intrinsic value is the value  Justice, Liberty, Equality, Non-
“in itself,” or “for its own sake,” or “in its own right.” Examples discrimination, secularism,
of intrinsic values - love, truth, and freedom. Extrinsic value is tolerance, fraternity, compassion
the value of something based on such things towards weaker sections etc
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.
I MPORTANCE OF V ALUES
 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.
 Transcend specific actions and situations: Values go beyond specific actions and situations. Ex- Obedience
and honesty, for example, are values that may be relevant at work or in school, in sports, business, and
politics. This feature distinguishes values from narrower concepts like norms and attitudes that usually refer
to specific actions, objects, or situations.
 Serve as standards or criteria: Values guide the selection or evaluation of actions, policies, people, and
events. People decide what is good or bad, justified or illegitimate, worth doing or avoiding, based on
possible consequences for their cherished values.
Ethics, Morality and values

 All ethics and morals are values. All values are not ethics. Ex.- Bravery.
 It’s a value but not ethics. People who are not brave cannot be considered as unethical.
 Conservation is a value but not ethics in our society.
 Punctuality is a value but also ethics in some countries like Japan. Hard work is a values but not ethics.
How to be honest when the entire system is corrupt

 Maintain personal integrity: You must first practise integrity before you preach it to others. Be honest by
conviction and not by fear or by compulsion.
 Know your job well: You must know the laws, rules and procedures better than your subordinates to guide
them in right path.
 Courage: Show courage to give your honest opinion to the bosses orally and verbally. Show courage to
overrule your subordinates.
 Divide and rule: Support the honest and side-line the dishonest. Appreciates publicly the good work done
by any employee.
 Inspire people by being the change you want to see.
 Be compassionate to sub-ordiantes and support them during their tough times. Show emotional
intelligence.
 Follow the law. Don't cut corners for expediency. A single illegal act can haunt you forever and can harm
your reputation. This also reduced your trustworthiness.
 Be a leader. Don't develop the habit of passing the responsibility up or down.
 Suffer for your principles. Honesty is not without pain. Be always ready for transfers. A clear conscious is
the softest pillow.
R OLE OF FAMILY IN VALUE INCULCAT ING

“There is nothing called self-made man. We are made up of thousands of others”.
“A man is usually closest to five people closest to him.”
A family is a social institution with the bond of common belief, religion, customs, culture, language and a way of
life. It carries on the heritage and traditions as legacies from the earlier generation to the next generation.
 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.
 Freedom to pursue a career of their interest. It may be sports, arts, fashion, etc. They only they can enjoy
their rest of the life.
 Provide the necessary emotional support, caring and counselling to get him out of such negative thoughts.
 Encourage extra-curricular activities to reduce pressure. Take him to movies, talk joyful things at home.
These all can re-energise a child.
 Family provides informal way of learning. Love, compassion, self-sacrifice and values of sharing and caring
develop implicitly within a child. For instance, children are taught to share their lunch boxes with their
friends and share their toys with siblings, spirit of charity and brotherhood are developed in them.
 Role Model for Children - Parents and family members are role model for children and they often imitate
actions, behaviour of them. For ex –
(a) 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.
(b) If they knowingly violate traffic rules, child will imbibe the same.
(c) If a boy raised in an environment where girl child is treated as a second citizen, he’ll treat his wife
in similar fashion and find nothing wrong in it
(d) If parents are meticulous about cleanliness in both private and public property, child will follow the
same.
 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
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.
R OLE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN VALUE INCULCATING

Quotes:
 Intelligence plus character that is the true goal of education. – Martin Luther King
 Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil. – C S Lewis
As per National Education Policy, education is regarded as the most potent tool to inculcate values in children.
School is a place where systematic learning takes place in the earlier year of life. School provides maximum
opportunity and exposure to children. Also, in the school a child is introduced for the first time to members of
community outside his family i.e., his peer students, teachers and other staff. This enables the child to learn how
to regulate his behaviour in society.
 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 it
 "If a man carefully cultivates values in his
as Students spend more time in the school and colleges.
conduct, he may still err a little but he
It is in schools and later in the colleges that students learn
won't be far from the standard of truth."
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.
 Etiquettes and values are imparted to children – In Japanese system in first four years basic etiquettes
and values are taught to children. Children are also taught to clean their toilets. In Netherlands, plastic is
not used in class. In starting few years students are taught in natural environment so that they can develop
positive value towards nature.
 Syllabus and text books also shape attitude of children:
(a) World History: French revolution - liberty, equality, fraternity.
(b) Modern History: Gandhi’s train to Pretoria - Standing against injustice.
(c) Constitutional values -democracy, secularism and human values (truth, love, compassion).
(d) Literature - it helps us understand - human nature and prevalent social values of a given era.
(e) Science Curiosity: that in turn makes a person ask questions against orthodoxy and bad practices
in religion.
 Values of sportsmanship, team-spirit: Opportunity to participate in various sports at the tender age help to
develop team spirit among students.
 Overall personality development - Education plays important role in all round development –
A. Inculcating compassion, truth, mutual coexistence between different culture,
B. Old age homes for inculcation of compassion and altruism
C. Museums, cultural centre for inculcation of tolerance and secularism.
D. Tree plantation, street cleaning for inculcation of environmental protection.
E. Yoga - it internalizes your mind. Once your mind is focusing inward, you’ll have more clarity of
thought.
F. Unity in diversity, constitutional morality, lessons from philosophers like Gandhi
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.”
R ECOMMENDATIONS 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 provision
 Deconstructing wrong values - Apart from inculcating values, for education in social, moral and
educational institutions and teachers can play important role in spiritual values”. - Kothari
deconstructing wrong values learned by the students. Commission (1964-66)
o For ex – gender bias, hatred, communalism or casteism  “Every effort must be made
learned by students can be deconstructed inculcating therefore to teach students true
rational approach. moral values from the earliest
 Teachers as a role model for students – After home students stage of their educational life”. -
spends a lot of time in schools, thus Like parents, teachers are Sri Prakasha Committee on
also role models for their students. Hence teachers also can Religious and Moral Instruction
directly or indirectly inculcate moral values in students by
practising those values. A Teacher has to set a high standard of 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.
 Holistic Approach – While committing to action for actualization of one’s goals, every action needs to be
analysed in the light of universal values which are acceptable to the society . Such actions should not be
harmful towards the nature, ecology and life as a whole. Value education is a guide to the students in the
direction of universal happiness or goodwill towards everyone
 Technology and Value Education – Technology is a giant capable of meaningful construction and
even meaningless destruction, thus value education is needed to train the future technocrats by
making them fully aware of both the constructive as well as destructive aspects of technology.
ROLE OF SOCIETY
Quotes:
“There are no such things as a self-made man. We are made up o thousands of others” – George Mathew Adams
 The society is a place of informal learning that The National Institute of Educational Research of Japan has
guarantees inheritance to its members. It figured out twelve moral values to inculcate in students.
caresses the child with love and sense of
 Caring for others; Concern for the welfare of the society,
possessiveness and the child learns to value
Nation and the international community; Concern for the
the social patterns and its philosophy. environment; Concern for cultural heritage; Self-esteem
 The social tradition carries values of intimacy, and self-reliance; Social responsibility; Spirituality; Peaceful
language, love, equality, wishes to live, conflict resolution; Equality; Justice; Truth and freedom
action, conduct, morality, unity, attachment
and jealousy. These are the obvious traits, “Psychology of the child and curriculum” published by NCERT
which a child borrows from the members of 1983 has listed the following important moral qualities which
the society. need to be developed in children.
 Society removes the evils of social  Honesty in words and deeds, Truthfulness, Self-respect
indifferences like caste through collective and a desire to respect others, Self-Control, Duty -
struggle. Consciousness Comparison
 Man lives in society for his mental and
intellectual development. Society preserves our culture and transmits it to succeeding generations.
 Individual discipline is brought by the society through sanctions and rewards.
 Man lives in society for his mental and intellectual development. Society preserves our culture and transmits it
to succeeding generations. Society brings morality and ethics in individuals.
 Society brings tolerance and national integration. If one is living in a surrounding with people from variety of
caste, religion and regional background, you develop tolerance.
 Society removes the evils of social indifferences like caste through collective struggle.
 The society imbibes conformity. A person is forced to mimic what his peers does. If they are smoking, he will
smoke, if they’re living in nuclear families, he too will feel to separate from his joint family and so on.
 The child encounters with many Constructive role of society – Society can play an important role in
behavioural patterns and makes development of individual’s personality. By widely upholding ethical
common causes with the peer values it can encourage individuals to be an ethical. For example,
groups; learns the value of community serving during COVID, Langar (food serving) in Gurudwara
neighbourhood, unity in strengthens the ethics in the society.
diversity, service to man is the
Destructive role of society – Similarly society may play a deciding role in
service to God, co-operation and
developing a crime as a sub cultural phenomenon. If it does not
virtues comprehensively.
disapprove the unethical behaviors/acts, it may lower the standards of
 The school is an important
ethics in the society and it may result into increase in criminal activities.
receiver to the society. It helps
For ex- supporting extra judicial killings/encounters for fast justice paves
the member in choosing and
way for mob lynching.
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.
S TRENGTH OF SOCIETY FOR VALUE INCULCATION
 Stability and Harmony: Society inculcates such values among people which match with those of the society.
This ensures that individual fit in with the society and the social order is sustained. Ex. Society teaches young
persons to respect its old traditions and customs.
 Diversity: It ensures inculcation of variety of values and holistic development of individuals. It also gives choice
and freedom to individuals to choose their preferred values.
 Enforcement: Society also has formal as well as informal ways to incentivise adherence to some values whereas
it penalizes breach of certain values.
 Credibility: Many actors in the society enjoy sufficient credibility in people’s eyes and therefore have special
impact on values held by individuals. Ex. Teachers, leaders, celebrities, religious leaders etc. have influence and
their teachings are accepted on face value.
R EASONS 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 society.
 Vacuum in the social cohesion and stability - The vested interests, terrorism, disruption and access attachment
to worldly life have created vacuum in the social cohesion and stability. Values are thus affected and eroded
gradually.
 Moral degradation - The growing cynicism, gulf between rights and duties, materialistic tendency, moral
degradation and violence have affected the powers of man’s wisdom.
 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 Examples of Value Erosion
families, promotion of bigotry, unworthy rituals, dissemination of
 Vaccine hoarding & booking
communal ideas in the name of religion are the some reasons for the
beds in advance without need
disappearing sources of values and eroding values in the society.
during the COVID pandemic.
 Social media and its evil – Misuse of social media platforms,
 Chinese expansionism
propagation of fake news, deep fake are spread through social media
 Fake news and sensationalism
and is among the reason for erosion of values.
 Drug Abuse
 By standers apathy - The bystander effect occurs when the presence of
 Disrespecting elders and
others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency
women
situation. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is for
 Greenwashing
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 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
 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
K EY 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 favour ourselves at the expense of
others.
 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.
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
"It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful
outcome." — William James
C HARACTERISTICS 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.
 Attitude helps us define how we see situations and define how we behave toward the situation or object.
 It can also be explicit and implicit.
 An attitude is a summary of a person’s experience; thus, an attitude is grounded in direct experience predicts
future behaviour more accurately.
 It includes certain aspects of personality as interests, appreciation, and social conduct.
 It indicates the total of a man’s inclinations and feelings.
 An attitude is a point of view, substantiated or otherwise, true or false, which one holds towards an idea, object,
or person.
 It has aspects such as direction, intensity, generality, or specificity.
 It refers to one’s readiness for doing Work.
 It may be positive or negative and may be affected by age, position, and education.
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.
A TTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR :

 Behaviour is an individual’s reaction to a particular action, person or environment. It is the manner of acting
or controlling oneself towards other people. It is also reflection of Character and conduct.
 Relationship between attitude and behaviour is very fine. Attitude is aninternal component of our cognition
(Knowledge or Information) whereas behaviour is manifestation or exhibition of such attitude.
 Ex. Someone can have an attitude of showing sympathy to poor and incompetent people. This belief is
attitude and can be shown in behaviour by practising compassion by helping poor people.
 There are following difference between Attitude and Behaviour
Attitude Behaviour
 Attitude refers to a person’s mental view, regarding  Behaviour implies the actions and conduct of an
the way he/she thinks or feels about someone or individual or group towards other persons.
something.  It is more social
 It is more personal.  The behaviour of a person is based on the
 A person’s attitude is mainly based on the situation and circumstances.
experiences gained by him during the course of his  Behaviour reflects one’s attitude as actions are
life and observations. the reflection of our thoughts.
 Attitude reflects one’s emotions, opinions and  Attitudes, character traits, biological factors like
thoughts. endocrine and nervous responses influence our
 Factors like environment, experiences, and moral behaviour.
values mainly influence attitudes.
F ACTORS 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.
 Economic Status and Occupations: Economic power and Occupations shape the attitude of a person. Ex.
Some wealthy people use their money carelessly.
 Educational and Religious Institutions: Secular character is imbibed while studying in good schools.
C ATEGORIES OF ATTITUDE
E XPLICIT 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.
O PINION 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.
It may or may not be based on facts or knowledge It is generated from own belief system
Opinion is generally advisable in nature to othersIt is related to more to self like or dislike towards person,
place, environment, etc.
Example- An author expressing positive opinion on Example- The author having positive attitude about
democracy through an article. democracy by studying various forms of government.
B ELIEF 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 & societal It arises out of values and beliefs, we hold internally.
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 particular Example- The person will regularly pay obeisance to that
God. God.
V ALUE AND A TTITUDE

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.
These are more or less permanent in nature. Attitudes are changeable with favorable experiences.
They represent a single belief that, guides actions and They represent several beliefs focused on a specific object
judgment across objects and situations. or situation.
Showcase a particular person’s moral ethics and Highlight a person’s behaviour through the personality
his/her overall character
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.
Similarity between Value and Attitudes:
 Values and attitudes are two important variables influencing the cognitive process and behaviour.
 They are learned and acquired essentially from the same sources.
 They endure and are resistant to change.
 They have a reciprocal influence and are used interchangeably.
S TRUCTURE /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.
F ORMATION 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.
R ELATIONSHIP 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.
F UNCTIONS 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.
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. Function of Decision making: Our decisions are based on how we evaluate situations. Attitude facilitates
decision making. Ex: Attitude of alleviating poverty
6. Self-Awareness Function: Attitudes can help people to approach things that are beneficial to them and avoid
things that are harmful to them.
7. Social Adjustment function: Attitudes help us in social adjustments. Attitudes make help us in simplifying our
perception about the world and makes it more manageable to us.
8. 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.
M ORAL ATTITUDE
 It is based on the moral conviction of what is right and wrong. It is associated with strong emotions. They
are foundation of a moral life. So, if an individual is devoid of these attitudes his/her life will be devoid of
morality and if at all they will be present it would be accidental and therefore superficial and inconsistent.
o Not all attitudes are concerned with morality. Ex: My attitude towards snakes has nothing to do
with morality. But my attitude towards democracy will have moral undertones. So, moral attitudes
are based on moral convictions of what is right and what is wrong. Moral attitudes are stronger
than moral beliefs.
 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.
Q UALITIES 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.
5. Awareness of Responsibility- A person with awareness of responsibility is one who has assimilated values
in him/herself. So, there is recognition of presence of higher power and that should underpin decision
making. This, leads to inquiry making before decision making and holding forth in face of fear or
temptations.
6. Motivate for Altruism: It motivates a person towards altruism, volunteerism and social service
7. Attached with strong emotions: Moral attitude is tied up with strong emotions. Hence, it prevents deviant
behaviour among normal people due to fear of social exclusion. Ex: Rapes, child molestation, etc
Not all attitudes are concerned with morality. Ex: My attitude towards snakes has nothing to do with morality. But
my attitude towards democracy will have moral undertones. So, moral attitudes are based on moral convictions of
what is right and what is wrong. Moral attitudes are stronger than moral beliefs.
I MPLICATION OF MORAL ATTITUDES :

Positive Implications Negative Implications
 Tied up with strong emotions. Hence  Person can use it to justify violence behaviour and lunacy
prevents deviant behaviours due to fear of and still society will accept it because moral attitude is
social ostracisation eg. child molestation, strong emotions. Ex. Motivates a person towards riots,
incest. genocide and terrorism to justify religious, regional issues
 Motivates a person towards Altruism,  Since moral attitude is tied with strong emotions, people
volunteerism, social service don’t get along with those who don’t share their moral
attitude. Ex. Intolerance
S OCIAL 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
 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.
o Example- IAS officer Amit Gupta’s initiative daliya jalao helped in the elimination of manual
scavenging in Badaun district of UP.
P REJUDICE
 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.
o 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.
D IFFERENCE 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 America Example- Prejudice against the black community in
that they are intelligent and good in maths. America that they are drug addict.
P OLITICAL 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.
F ACTORS 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.
S IGNIFICANCE 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.
M AJOR 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.
D EMOCRATIC ATTITUDE
It refers to those attitudes possessed by civil servants who promote the participation of people in decision making.
They promote the delegation of power or authority. In place of rule and regulation, there is more focus on
compassion, tolerance and inclusiveness. It has following characteristics --
 Decisions are based on popular opinion.
 Views of the majority is right
 Maximisation of satisfaction of largest number of people.
 Supported by elected representatives
Merits: Demerits:
 It promotes the active participation of people. So,  Decision making process will become slow and
it will promote and strengthen the democratic time consuming.
institution at the grass root level.  There is difficulty to satisfy every section of society.
 It will make governance system more accountable Sometimes, such an attitude becomes a hindrance
as there is active participation of people. to the development process. Ex. Delay in clearance
 There will be more transparency and efficient of Mining and industrial development project in
public service delivery. Scheduled area, because of mandatory
consultation under Forest Act 2006.
B UREAUCRATIC ATTITUDE
This is an attitude strictly adhere to guidelines, Rules and regulations. It is based on Neutrality, Objectivity,
Impartiality. It has following Characteristics --
 Decision strictly based on law, Adhering to all rules and procedures, Lack of importance to public opinion,
Antagonise the elected representatives
Merits: Demerits:
 Strict compliance of standard operating  Red tapism, as there is no urgency in achieving targets
procedure  They are opposed to changes in the system, leading to
 Since consultation with public is not needed stagnation
so decision can be taken quickly.  It is rigid; hence public service delivery may not be
effective
 It is easier to fix responsibility of decisions  Apathy towards common people as rule is supreme and
because of hierarchical decision making not citizens
process.
Difference between Democratic attitude and Bureaucratic attitude

Democratic Attitude Bureaucratic attitude
 It is based on participatory, humanistic and  It reflects hierarchical discipline, implicit obedience

flexible approaches and on bottom-up decision- to orders, top-down instructions, and rule bound
making. approaches.
 It promotes the active participation of people  Apathy towards common people as rule is supreme
 Based on the values of Transparency, and not citizens
Inclusiveness  Based on Objectivity and Neutrality
 Eg. Institutions for public service delivery like  Ex. Areas needing quicker decision making and there
banks and PDS shop requires democratic is a question of national security and Sovereignty of
attitude. the country there is Need of bureaucratic attitude
B EHAVIOUR IN I NDIAN 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.
F ACTORS AFFECT THE FORMATION OF A PERSON ' S ATTITUDE TOWARDS SOCIAL PROBLEMS
 One’s upbringing and Family - Upbringing and Family the most powerful source for formation of attitudes. The
parents, siblings provide information about various things. Ex. A child grown in a family having patriarchal
outlook, most probably use to have prejudice attitude towards women.
 Beliefs and practices of their family - Family having orthodox thought, helped members to have attitude of
superstition, biasedness based on case, religion, tradition etc. Also, inculcated intolerance view towards others
group of people.
 ones circumstances in which a person is raised and lives - People who grow up poor have a whole different
perspective of social problems than people who were raised in relative luxury and ease.
 Education System: Education system cultivates habits of analytical and critical thinking on the prevalent social
issues. It has shaped attitude of common people to treat everyone with equality and abjure untouchability.
However, too much information oriented education has little scope for creativity, innovation and self-learning.
Modern day education also fails to inculcate moral values and discipline in the young minds that could enable
them to become better and more responsible human beings.
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.
C RIMES A GAINST W OMEN:

Recently, the National Commission for Women (NCW) informed that there was a rise of 46% in complaints of crimes
against women in the first eight months of 2021 over the corresponding period of last year.
Reasons for Sexual Exploitation/Crime against women:
 Patriarchal Society: Indian society has always been solidly patriarchal. Now, as women refuse to subscribe
to traditional gender roles, as they seek to educate themselves, take up jobs outside the home, choose
their own marriage partners and as a result women face a patriarchal backlash.
 Challenge to Social and Political dominance of Men: There is equality of all individuals before the law. The
surge in attacks on women is an angry attempt by men to sustain the overwhelming social and political
dominance they have long enjoyed but the same is now challenged by modern notions of gender justice
 Images portrayed by advertisements and in films: Bollywood films, aimed increasingly at a rapidly
Westernising middle class, portray romance and desire as inevitable byproducts of contemporary life,
creating a further sense of frustration among the unemployed young men who watch them.
 Lack of Infrastructure of Cities: The crumbling infrastructure of our cities also militates against women’s
safety. Streets lit dimly or not at all, bad or non-existent means of public transport, an incompetent and
corrupt police form all contribute to the insecurity and vulnerability of women.
Steps to Correct Crimes against Women:

Legal Steps:
 Police should report every complaint related to females
 Establishment of a special cell for women to make investigation process faster and more intense
 A special man hunt drive on those under the lens
 Make teams including women officers in each one of them and put them on patrolling in all sensitive areas.
Run a 24/7 helpline and position teams such that they can reach anywhere in district instantly
 Training to be given to women for self defence
Social Action:
 Involvement of NGOs, Social activist, Women friendly associations and District mass campaign to be
launched towards gender sensitivity and equality
 Concept of community policing with women policing
 Public police relationship drive to rebuild the confidence of public
 Motivational and inspirational talks
 Advisory for hospitals for being of more sensitive towards rape victims
M ORAL P OLICING
Moral police is a term used to describe vigilante groups which act to enforce a code of morality in society. They
take law into their hands and try to forcefully enforce discipline on people.
Why is it harmful?
 Leads to suppression of fundamental rights particularly of Vulnerable sections like women.

 As it is extrajudicial, it leads to anarchy
 It leads to disturbance of social harmony and peace.
 Faith on law get deteriorated and Intolerance index Increases in society
 Demand of instant justice rises
Ways to Stop:
 Improve policing and punish those who take law into their hands.
 Mass awareness campaigns to educate and remove people of their rigid biases and to accept change.
 Increase policing near sensitive areas during Valentines day, near Pub areas, etc where moral policing
mostly happens.
 Community policing and volunteer groups to give support to people during sensitive timesSocial
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
S OCIAL 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.
T YPES 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.
P ERSUASION
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.
Persuasion refers to the process of changing the attitudes and behaviours of the target Group towards some event,
idea, object, or another person (s) in the intended direction, by using written or spoken words to convey
information, feelings, or reasoning, etc.
Ex.
- Disclosing income to avoid tax evasion
- Beti Bachao Beti Padao – To change the attitude of people towards girl students
- Give it up Campaign to give up subsidy
- Celebration of Earth Day – To persuade global citizen against climate change
- Encourage extremists to leave path of violence in North Eastern and Naxal affected regions
It is a Receiver Centric Exercise. It is not what the source says it is what the receiver understands.
Four things are important in persuasion.
1. The source (Persuader)
2. The message
3. The audience
4. Channel/Medium
 Source Credibility: A source can be credible because he is expert and can be trusted.
To access credibility, Following things are important i.e.
a. Expertness (judged by the knowledge potential of source)
b. Trustworthiness (judged by finding out whether the source has a vested interest).
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. The primary factors that decide the attractiveness of the source include
Physical Features --
A. Communicative
B. Versatility
C. Attitudinal Similarity
o Example- advertisements rope in people with attractive personality to make their products appealing.
 Power: It has the potential to change the behaviour of the target group in the intended direction despite their
resistance.
Power, Attractiveness and Credibility will cause behaviour change in different ways –
I. Power – Compliance
II. Attractiveness – Identification

III. Credibility – Internalisation
Message: Persuasion requires a message to be presented in vivid language and backed by data. The message should
be such that it establishes a common ground with target people. For example- Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas Slogan
Best results are obtained when the Persuasive message has both emotional and factual element in it. Ex. Selfie with
Daughters to promote Beti Bachao and Beti Padao, Government’s message regarding Lock down during Corona,
and later for Corona Vaccine.
 Message Discrepancy: It means the degree of inconsistency in the message the source should present to the
target group. The message should be such that it should be within the zone of acceptance of the target group.
 Emotional Factor: The message should have emotional content in that. For example, to motivate someone to
stay fit or to quit smoking, one should not only cite scientific evidence to prove the point but can also convince
using the fear of deadly diseases or the joy of a healthy life.
 Fear Appeal: Mild and moderate appeals to fear generally work better than strong fear appeals. Strong fear
appeals produce defensive avoidance wherein the target group insulate itself from the message.
 Social proof technique: People tend to follow others (bandwagon effect) more. This technique will involve you
telling the target population that other people are getting benefits from the suggested change, with empirical
evidence. For example, in campaigning against female feticide in Haryana government is invoking the examples
of some female sportspersons who have won laurels Babita Phogat (Wrestler), Rani Rampal, Navneeet Kaur
(Hockey Player).
 Scarcity: This involves letting people know that they stand to lose on a chance to get the benefits out of the
proposed change. For example, we often see the end of the season or hoardings like Hurry!! Limited offer.
 Targeting values: People can manage their self-images by yielding to requests for action that fits or enhances
their identities.
Audience:
 Audience Characteristics: Individuals are presented with logical arguments supported by relevant facts, they
are likely to be persuaded.
 Intelligence: refers to the information processing ability of an individual. Intelligent people because of their
superior critical thinking abilities are less likely to be influenced by appeals that are illogical or not supported
by relevant facts. However, when presented with appeals that have factual backing, they are likely to be
convinced.
Channel Factor:
 Use appropriate channel of communication. Ex. Use of Street play is more effective to convey message on
social issues in the Villages.
F UNCTIONS 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.
W AYS 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.
H OW 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. Storytelling: For thousands of years, we have been influenced by powerful stories. Ex. Triumphs of Truth
in the Ramayana motivates us to speak truth only. Courage of Veer Kunwar Singh at the age of 80 years
while fighting against the British endorse the view of self-confidence to deal with any hardship.
4. Turn objections into opportunities- Persuader should agree with the audience’s objections and then
illustrate them how it can be overcome with proposed changes.
5. Commitment- Prospect should be persuaded to commit to small action first. Once committed the prospect
is most likely to agree to a larger idea.
6. 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.
7. Bandwagon effect- It involves showing the target population, the benefits which people have got by
adopting the change.
8. Scarcity- It involves letting people know what they are going to lose by not availing the opportunity.
9. Social influence / Peer Pressure: It plays a very important role in Attitude formation and change, Removal
of Prejudice and Group Decision making.
10. Praise: We are all made to feel special by praise. Do it more often. Ex.
a. With the Praise of Lord Hanuman, he got encouraged to bring Sanjeevani from the Hill.
b. Praise of Prime Minister through ‘beating Thalis’ or ‘Litting up Diyas’, encourage frontline workers
to combat Covid with full potential.
A DMINISTRATION 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.
Why Public Officials are not able to persuade the Target group?
 The reason for this is the presence of certain barriers: Semantics, Psychological and Physical Barriers. If the
Public Official can overcome those barriers, only then Persuasion will be successful.
To overcome these barriers, District Magistrate can use various influence tactics such as involving Sarpanch to
overcome these barriers. Along with that, he/she must take feedback from the Target Audience to rectify any
shortcomings.
P UBLIC ’ 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:
H OW 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?
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.
11. Attitude is an important component that goes as input in the development of human being. How to
build a suitable attitude needed for a public servant? (Answer in 150 words)
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.
 It can be improved through training Formal intervention, but improvement may have limitations.
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.
Ex. Usain bolt has unusually long legs; Mr. Ian Thorpe, also known as thorpedo, has unusually large foot (Size
17).
 Mental aptitude: Mental characteristics for performing some tasks successfully. E.g. a civil servant is required
to have mental ability, magnanimity, rationality, compassion etc.
R ELATIONSHIP OF APTITUDE WITH OTHER QUALITIES
A PTITUDE AND S KILLS

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.
A PTITUDE AND I NTEREST :

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.
A PTITUDE AND I NTELLIGENCE :

Intelligence is generic and refers to a broad range of mental 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.
Interest Aptitude Potential
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.
A PTITUDE AND A BILITY :

 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.
A PTITUDE AND V ALUES :

In ethical perspective, aptitude represents desired Aptitude Achievement Ability
value in a person with respect to a specific
requirement. Ex. Civil servants should have a some foundational values on which they could evaluate things. These
values --
 Can be used to judge things.
 They can be goal oriented i.e social, political and economic justice and
 Means oriented i.e. empathy, integrity, discipline, impartiality etc.
A PTITUDE , P ROFICIENCY AND A CHIEVEMENT :

 Proficiency is the ability to perform an activity with ease and precision. Achievement looks at the past -
what has been done, accomplished. Ex. Michael Phelps has proficiency in swimming and because of this he
has won 28 medals in Olympic games.
D IFFERENCE BETWEEN A TTITUDE 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.
 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.
Conclusion:
Civil servants are an important institution of the government tasked with policy implementation and ensuring
effective governance, social justice. In addition to this, provide advice to the political executives. Since, aptitude is
an innate potentiality, therefore, one cannot develop an aptitude if it is completely absent from one’s
psycho-physical system. To perform, these essential services above Aptitudes are essential for Civil servants.
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.
E VOLUTION 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.
 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.
N EED 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)
Quotes:
 Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, but knowledge without integrity is dangerous and
dreadful.
 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
conduct
1. Choosing a right course of conduct;
2. Acting consistently with that choice, even if that is inconvenient; Integrity
3. Openly declaring where one stands; and
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.
 Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi were exemplary leaders who were famous for their integrity where
both in times of crisis stuck to their values such as Abolition of slavery and Non- violence respectively.
Integrity includes:
 Soundness of moral principles
 Uprightness
 Honesty and sincerity
 Synchronisation between one’s thought, speech and action
 Loyalty to rational principles
T YPES OF I NTEGRITY :
 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.
W HY I NTEGRITY IS C RITICAL IN C IVIL SERVICES ?
 Civil servants are provided with immense powers and responsibilities towards society. There impartiality
and honesty is important for social good and development.
 It is essential to counter the evil of corruption in public administration, which deny just rights of many and
also hinder our economic development.
 The actions of public servants have a direct bearing on the character of the community, thus they should
have integrity that prevent them to take wrong decisions which could harm the society.
 They are responsible for managing public resources and money entrusted to them for the benefit of the
citizens for instance funds to be used for development has been raised through taxes are used for provision
of public good.
 Civil servants have an important role to play in development and achievement of goals of social, economic
and political justice and equality of status and opportunity in society.
 To deal with public and their affairs fairly, efficiently and sensitively to the best of his abilities integrity in
nature is important.
 It ensure that civil servant do not misuse his/her official position to further his private interest for instance
taking bribe by police to file an FIR.
 It is important for good governance and to prevent failures which may occur due to resistance to
accountability and transparency.
 A person of integrity does his/her duties with conscience. E.g. Policeman ordered to fire on unarmed
peaceful protestors. Honest policeman will obey the order. Policeman of integrity will refuse to fire.
S ECOND ARC ON I NTEGRITY :
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.
D IFFERENCE 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.
I NTEGRITY 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.
 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.
Conclusion: ‘Civil Service Conduct Rules’ recommends ‘absolute integrity’ for civil servants, irrespective of their
department. Integrity is critical in civil services to ensure good governance and allow a civil servant to perform
his/her duties with honesty
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)
I MPARTIALITY
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.
Significance of Impartiality:
 In case of riots, communal violence or such complex situation, a Civil Servant is able to take the right action
when he/she is free from any type of religious, political or social prejudices; upholds impartiality.
 In the appraisal of subordinates, evaluation; review of schemes, programs; action taken report, impartiality
helps Civil Servants to present true picture which is ultimately helpful for the welfare of the public
 Impartiality helps to uphold Equality, Liberty, Fraternity; thinking about the marginalized section as much
as about the rich ones.
 Creation of positive & conducive work culture
 Keeping oneself free from nepotism, political-corporate nexus; corruption.
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.
Why are they needed?

 It brings credibility and trust among the public in the functioning of the public service.
 It makes the civil servants gutsy, rather than merely capable, so that they can ask relevant questions with
respect to the policy, law etc.
 It ensures equality, justice among different sections of the society.
 It ensures the morale, effectiveness and efficiency of civil services, as the transfer, posting etc. are expected
to be based on merit alone rather than any extraneous factors.
Method to Ensure:
 The Central Civil Services Conduct Rules, 1964 and All India Services Conduct Rules 1968 - which stipulate
certain guidelines for the Civil servant to perform the duty with full devotion; and shall not adopt dilatory
tactics in their dealings with the public
 Code of Ethics, 1997- It was the first initiative to introduce the code of ethics for public servants in India,
which was considered a step towards better governance
D IFFERENCE 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
Conclusion: To maintain compatibility and avoid conflicts between the bureaucracy and political leadership, non-
partisanship is indispensable. This has been proved time and again by civil servants of exemplary statute such as
T.N. Seshan, Vinod Rai etc who have brought various changes in election, auditing systems in India respectively.
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.
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.
Challenges to Neutrality
 Lack of independent institutions: There is a lack of independent institutions for transferring, posting, and
other service conditions. As a result, the civil servants align with one or the other political party to get their
favourite postings and other perks.
 Secrecy: Secrecy in official functioning, as a result there develops nexus between the political executive
and civil servants to fulfil their illegitimate gratifications.
 In-service and intra-service rivalry: In each government-service, there are various factions based on
language, religion, caste and region. To gain promotion and perks for their faction, they’d bend to the wills
of politicians.
 Illegitimate Political agendas: Wrong notion of committed bureaucracy, where the civil servants try to fulfil
the political agenda of a particular political party.
 Election and corruption: Ministers need a lot of money to finance election campaigns, so they prefer a
convenient subordinate. Many don’t like an officer who gives free and frank advice.
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
Objectivity is a mean value to achieve end value of equality
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 sufficient

Truth
data for approval of COVID-19 vaccine against public pressure.
Facts
Relevance
Importance of objectivity: (by Nolan committee and 2 nd ARC) Basis of
Objectivity
 Building consensus among stakeholders on various issues. Balance/Non-
Partisanship
Example: Convincing slum dwellers near coastal areas during Impartiality
Neutral
cyclone to relocate to safer place. Presentation
 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.
 Objectivity is a mean value to achieve end value of equality. Both objectivity and fairness have the same
goal to achieve equality but in unequal circumstances fairness will always prevail over objectivity.
 Objectivity and empathy are at times in contradiction. Empathy is targeted towards individual, while
objectivity looks at masses. So if judge gives more weightage to empathy over “objectivity”, he may give
lenient punishment to a criminal. In long run it’ll hurt the masses.
 Syrian refugees have been flooding Turkey and EU since many months, but only after a child (Aylan Kurdi)
is drowned and images appear in main-stream media, all EU nations have become attentive. Because
empathy of people towards an “individual child.”
H OW 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.
 Training: Training imparts right guidance to the people who are delivering the services. This also ensures that
public servants know what all needs to be done.
 Critical thinking: ASI began gold hunting in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, on order of a union minister who
believed in a ‘baba’. They showed lack of critical thinking by blindly following dictates of higher authority.
 Right to review decisions: within judicial / administrative procedure, there should be mechanism for appellate
board e.g. in taxation, land acquisition etc.
 Right to be heard: often officers don’t hear the complaint or opinion of people properly and just do the things
that are in their mind. Hence new schemes should have ‘social audit / public hearing’ components.
D IFFERENCE 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.
Significance of objectivity for a public servant:

 Civil servants take decisions on the merit of the case and take account of expert and Professional advice. Provide
information and advice including the advice to ministers on the basis of evidence and accurately present
opinions and facts.
 Decisions based on merits and facts lead to an impartial decision making.
 This would ensure efficient use of resources and enhance the transparency in public domain.
Significance of Neutrality for a public servant:
 Provides professionalism and permanence as opposed to reluctance to change.

 It assures the public that their current aspirations will be faithfully served by the Government.
 The elected ministers are assured of loyalty of the civil servants.
 The officers themselves enjoy high morale since they believe they will be rewarded for their merit and not for
their political considerations.
 To offer free and frank advice on policy matters using the powers of delegated legislation to ensure optimal
utilisation of resources.
Conclusion
The values of objectivity and neutrality are complementary to each other. They ensure effective
implementation of public policies in line with the government’s mandate “Sabka sath, sabka vikas, sabka
vishwas”.
ANONYMITY
Quotes:
Anonymity is strength of civil servants Civil servants are like fourth lion of the Ashoka emblem, which remains
invisible “yet makes its presence felt at all times.”: PM Modi
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
moral leaders.
 Good public image ensures acceptance and  Too much concern for public acceptance may lead
appreciation from public in service delivery. to decisions in favour of public sentiments, ignoring
 Good public image creates a favourable working rationality, objectivity.
environment among colleagues to serve for  Might lead to ignorance of hierarchies and
betterment. disturbing the work culture.
 Public image brings courage and ensures  Undue heroism might dilute their neutrality and
whistleblowing against corruption. expose them to vulnerabilities.
 Public image is sometimes useful for perception  Against the features of anonymity and views
management and information dissemination, e.g. expressed might be political in nature, e.g. Shah
during COVID-19 Faisal case
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 servant’s sense of duty Willing to go
is integrated with his official responsibility. beyond duty
Bhagwad Gita: “We should perform our duties diligently

and piously, but without expectation of what the results will Qualities of
an Officer
be.” Dedicated
Example: ’Metro Man’ E. Sreedharan. to Public
Seeks neither Services
Why is it needed? Public welfare
rewards nor
above personal
 It keeps them motivated to keep doing their job even if recognition for
interest
it is boring, unwanting, tedious. efforts
 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
Quotes:
 I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”-Voltaire
 Civilization will reach only when it learns to value, diversity of character and idea- Arthur C Clarke
 In the Practiceof Tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher. – Dalai Lama
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.
Ex. The programme ‘Ek Bharat Shresta Bharat’ has been initiated to celebrate the spirit of national integration and
to teach tolerance.
Bhasha Sangam, an initiative where students would be learning 22 Indian languages in their schools.
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.
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.
S IGNIFICANCE OF T OLERANCE :
 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.
 It accommodates people in society irrespective of their sexual orientation. Ex. Acceptance of LGBTQ society.
 Broadens the perspective of civil servants and upholds values like justice, impartiality and objectivity.
 A civil servant posted in a state other than his own, his tolerant aptitude, may face problem in adapting and
dedicating himself to the service of people
 Tolerance as virtue is important to pursue high ideal of secularism enshrined in constitution. Intolerance would
breed injustice and violence which are antidotes to a balanced development in a culturally diverse nation.
 Courage to fight for others right – Tolerance gives respect for others and hence courage to fight for their rights
like fight against racial discrimination, LGBTQ community, minority etc.
 Better decision –Tolerance avoids impulsive decisions. It buys times and helps in minimizing lose and damage.
Allows healthy debate and discussion to take place between different sections and hence outcomes are
democratic. In times of peace, people have a chance to thrive socially, economically and emotionally.
 Tolerance creates a society in which people can feel valued and respected, and in which there is room for every
person, each with their own ideas, thoughts and dreams.
 Tolerance allows individuality and diversity. It is more about mutual respect and the common good, and not
about who is right and who is wrong
Conclusion:
Historically tolerance has been the central virtue of some of the greatest empires. Be it Asoka’s Dhamma or Akbar’s
Sul-i-kul, tolerance was a key principle. Being tolerant of each other and caring for each other is what makes us
human. This is why we have believed tolerance is important and an essential aspect of a healthy, livable society. In
fact, it is the only way in which a country as diverse as India (Politically, religiously, economically) can function and
use each and every difference to make its people thrive rather than suffer.
A CCEPTANCE
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.
D IFFERENCE 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
Q UOTES :
Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.
– Alfred Alder
A devotee should feel universal empathy. A person is perfect yogi who by comparison to his own self, sees the true
equality of all beings, in both their happiness and their distress. – Lord Krishna in the holy Bhagavad Gita
E MPATHY
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.
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.
C OMPASSION
Quotes:
 Compassion is at the root of tree called Dharma. Bhagavat Gita
 If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice 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'.
Empathy + Action = Compassion
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.
D IFFERENCE 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,
you provide him/her cold drink, frooti etc, whereas
that person needs daal-roti.
 Help provided is not based on what is

required by others but on what the one
thinks others require.
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
D ISCIPLINE AND S INCERITY

Ques. Discipline generally implies following the order and subordination. However, it may be counter-productive
for the organisation. Discuss. (150 Words, 10 marks) (2017)
Quotes:
“Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem
to all.” – George Washington.
“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” ― Confucius
Discipline in the organization is adhering to the framework of standard operating procedure and following the
certain chain of command which is essential for the functioning of the organization in just manner.
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. Sincerity prepares the mind for other virtues also. It enables
other values to grow strong and grow fast. It wins the hearts
It gives order to the organization and a predictable of others and enables a person to be nearer to God.
outcome, avoiding chaos and mismanagement.
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.
Discipline and sincerity are the characteristics features of the Civil Servants. Both values help to inculcate practices
essential for the implementation of government policy, schemes. A Disciplined and sincere civil servant shows
courage and conviction in dealing with injustice in the society.
Ex. Randhir Prasad, a 1974-batch Indian Police Service officer eliminated many criminal gangs during his tenure.
On the morning of 3 January 1991, robbers had conducted a heist in the Hirapur branch of the Bank of India. They
had taken control of the bank, tying up the bank staff present there. He rushed to the bank all alone to resolve the
situation. Taking on five armed robbers on his own, he battled gallantly until he was shot and killed, but not before
he saved the bank and the lives of the staff tied up there.
Discipline and sincerity motivates civil servants to adhere principles of the Code of Conducts.
Ex. Coming office on time, Avoid corruption, taking decision based on Objectivity, Compassion, Neutrality,etc. Ex.
IAS Mahantesh – Mahantesh blew the whistle on several Co-operative housing scams in the city.
P ERSEVERANCE
Quotes:
 Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.
 Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.
 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.
Perseverance and Civil Servants:

This quality gives the character a stability and conviction, which ensures that the ends are achieved despite of the
difficulties that come in the path.
C OURAGE
Quote:
Mind is human’s greatest weapon because it tells us between danger and opportunities.
 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.
 Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other
virtue consistently
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.
o Mahatma Gandhi withdrew No- Cooperation movement because of the Chauri Chaura incident
o Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidhyasagar stood against the odds and ill practices
prevalent in society
o Civil Services: Whistleblowing, withstanding pressure and adversities, raising voice against injustice
R ELEVANCE FOR C IVIL SERVANTS

 The very essence of courage is being able to withstand and survive adversities.
 A civil servant’s duty is not restricted to complying with rules, regulations and orders but he has to meet
uncertain circumstances which requires him to move beyond established rules and take a call without fear
of being punished or prosecuted.
 A civil servant is required to implement the orders of government without bias, with honesty and without
fear or favour.
 It is precisely in this area that a degree of a difference of opinion begins to emerge between the political
executive and the civil servants. But if that civil servant stands up in courage for what he/she believes is
right then it will ensure integrity not just for him/her but in the system too.
 For instance, Retired IAS officer Mahesh Zagade once met with such a situation while signing the tenders
for new road construction. Where after analysing all facts he came to conclusion that it will be an
unnecessary expenditure of public money on the well built roads. It led to conflict between him and some
regional political leaders, but he stood firm courageously on the value on avoiding unnecessary expenditure
of public money and rose victorious.
 Courage develops following attributes in the Civil Servants:
 Creates credibility: It helps a civil servant to be trustworthy and get lots of respect in the career
because honest and courageous people who stand up with integrity are really trusted by others.
 Leadership: This principle is articulation of the same idea as I referred in the context of Mahatma
Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth.
 It Improve work culture and motivate subordinate officers to be courageous and stand up for what
they believe.
 It helps in taking bold decision: For instance, Whistle blowers need courage of conviction to disclose
information.
Conclusion
Courage to stand up for what one believes is of great importance for civil servant in governance as it would have
a major impact on the everyday lives of the people and it ensure integrity by continuation of policy of honesty in
the governance.
C ASE STUDY
Prakash Singh committee’s report has pointed to the fact that many civil servants abdicated their duty during the
Jat reservation stir in Haryana. When inquired of what made them run away from their call of duty, they replied
being afraid of taking a tough call for the want of courage.
For civil servants it is the urge of ‘public service’ which gives them enough courage to start and as they move on
they realise that it was really worth it.
R ESPONSIVENESS
 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.
P RUDENCE
 It refers to the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. Wisdom, insight and knowledge
are often associated with prudence.
 Being prudent means making wise decisions based on principal and managing your practical affairs in a
shrewd and discreet manner.
o For example, when buying a car the prudent man assesses how much money he can spend and
what kind of car fits his needs and his budget. He may also test drive different cars, look at
consumer reviews, or talk to friends who own the kinds of cars he is considering.
 A prudent person tries to verify viral social media post before reacting on that.
 Public Finance Management and Prudence – Government taking steps in fiscal consolidation, RBI Monetary
policy rates have prudent fiscal management as their objective.
 Lack of Prudent: We purchase something spontaneously and later realize we didn't really need it and should
have saved the money for something else.
R ELEVANCE FOR C IVIL SERVANTS

 Prudence is considered as the mother of all virtues. It plays a vital role in terms of guiding and regulating
all the other virtues. For example, courage in the pursuit of a foolish policy can lead to a catastrophe. For
these reasons, prudence is the charioteer of the virtues.
Ex. To tackle the issue of acute water shortage in Vadodara, Shalini Agarwal, IAS came up with an ingenious
solution of setting up rainwater harvesting in schools in the state, which in turn helped 1.8 lakh students
by saving 10 crore litres of water every year. Through the Varsha Kal Nidhi scheme, rainwater is collected
from the terrace and channelised through pipes towards a chamber in the ground. The chamber then filters
and percolates the water in the bore wells, ensuring direct groundwater recharge.
T EMPERANCE :
 Temperance is the virtue that helps us control our physical desire for pleasure.
 Temperance is nothing but controlling the behaviour. It is needed for effective behaviour, especially dealing
with Political pressure, adverse working condition, Ethical dilemma and Conflict of Interest
Self-restraint Moderation: It is generally characterized as the control over excess, and expressed through
characteristics such as chastity, modesty, humility, self-regulation, forgiveness and mercy; each of these involves
restraining an excess of some impulse, such as sexual desire, vanity, or anger.
C ONFIDENTIALITY
 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.
Privacy and Confidentiality
Privacy Confidentiality
 Privacy is the state when an individual is free from  Confidentiality refers to a state when it is intended
public interruption and intrusion. It is the right of or expected from someone to keep the
every individual to be left alone in his personal information secret.
matters because everybody has his personal life.  It is a situation when information is kept secret
 It is a situation when a person is free from public from the reach of any other person.
interference.  Confidentiality is about information.
 Privacy talks about a person.  It protects the information from the range of
 Privacy restricts the public from accessing the unauthorised persons.
personal details about a person.  In confidentiality some specified and trustworthy
 In privacy, everyone is disallowed from interfering people are allowed to have access to the
in the personal matters of a person. information.
 If the relationship between parties is a fiduciary.  If the relationship between parties is a fiduciary.
Privacy is a right Confidentiality is an agreement.
Ex. Privacy to be maintained for – Examples for Confidentiality-

 Medical Examination  Doctor-patient relationship
 Activities within home  Financial institutions – customers
 Using a public bathroom  Data gathered by the Government to be used
with Confidentiality
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.
 It was explained in Bhagavad Gita by the sloka “Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana” which
means we should keep doing our action without worrying about the rewards.
 Selfless service keeps the civil servant away from any kind of corruption. A selfless civil servant can maintain
absolute integrity because it is difficult to lure him/her by offering monetary or non-monetary gains to get
some undue favour.
 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.
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
Difference between Emotions and Feelings:
that can vary. For example: anger, which can range from
Even though both the terms are used similarly,
mild annoyance to blinding rage.
but feeling is used to refer to a person’s private
 Physiological response: like shift in heartbeat, blood
emotional experience or self-perception of a
pressure etc. specific emotion. When an event occurs, one
 Behavioural response: outward signs of internal reactions. first responds automatically at a physical level
even without awareness (emotion) and then
C LASSIFICATION OF E MOTIONS : registers or evaluates this (feeling). Feelings are
 Primary and secondary emotions: Primary emotions are created by emotions.
the direct emotional reactions to a situation and come first. Example: when one sees a snake nearby, their
A secondary emotion is an emotional response to a primary heartbeat, breathing, perspiration
emotion. (physiological arousal) might increase
o Example: If a person becomes sad because someone immediately, causing the action of running
has said something hurtful, then sadness is primary away. Only later might one realise that the
emotion and if that person is getting angry due to feeling they experienced was fear.
sadness, then anger is secondary emotion.
 Positive and negative emotions: Emotions like joy, interest, 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.
C HARACTERISTICS OF E MOTIONS:
 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.
F UNCTIONS OF EMOTIONS : What is Intelligence?

 Intrapersonal functions: They help us guide our behaviour and make Intelligence is a set of cognitive abilities
decisions, so that we can survive as well as function as human beings. which allow us to acquire knowledge, to
o Example: Happiness promotes creative thinking and expands learn and to solve problems.
our focus to allow new ideas.
 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.
In a nutshell, Emotional Intelligence is the ability to: Recognize, understand and manage our own emotions and;
Recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others. It is critical to manage our behaviour and decision
making.
Salovey and Mayer’s Four branches of EI
Perceiving Emotions: The Reasoning with Understanding Emotions: Managing Emotions: It is
first step in understanding Emotions: It involve, use The emotions that we a key part of emotional
emotions is to accurately of emotions to promote perceive can carry a wide intelligence. Regulating
perceive them. In many thinking and cognitive variety of meanings. If emotions, responding
cases, this might involve activity. it helps to someone is expressing appropriately and
understanding nonverbal prioritize our attention angry emotions, the responding to the
signals such as body and reaction; we respond observer must interpret emotions of others are all
language and facial emotionally to things that the cause of their anger important aspect of
expressions. garner our attention. and what it might mean. emotional management.
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”.
C OMPONENTS 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:

 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.
D IFFERENCE 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.
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.
I MPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
I MPORTANCE 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.
I MPORTANCE 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.
Example: An emotionally intelligent civil servant would keep public interest above his/her personal interest and
is less likely to be involved in corruption.
 For change: An Emotionally Intelligent person is more likely to try new things, take risks and face new challenges
without fear. This will help in finding innovative solutions to different problems.
 For Decision making: EI helps in recognizing such emotions that are unrelated to any specific problem and not
allowing them to be influential to the final result.
 For Better Communication: An Emotionally Intelligent civil servant will be able to communicate policies better.
Also, the person will be able to foster a healthy relationship with subordinates.
 For maintaining balance in life: EI helps a civil servant in managing his/her personal life as well as professional
life.
 Stress Management: EI enables one to manage emotions in anxiety-provoking situations and thus helps one in
maintaining one’s physical and mental wellbeing.
 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”.
Q UALITIES 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.
Q UALITIES 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.
 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.
C HALLENGES 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
D EVELOPMENT 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.
 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.
D EVELOPMENT 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.
C RITICISM 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.
 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).
 EI has little predictive value: The studies conducted on EI have shown that it adds little or nothing to the
prediction of some common outcomes.
 Confusing Skills with moral qualities: EI is desirable moral quality rather than a skill. A well-developed EI is not
only an instrumental tool for accomplishing goals but as a dark side as a weapon for manipulating others.
 Cannot be recognised as form of intelligence: The essence of this criticism is that scientific inquiry depends on
valid and consistent construct utilization. Before the introduction of the term EI, psychologists had established
theoretical distinctions between factors such as abilities and achievements, skills and habits, attitudes and
values, and personality traits and emotional states. Thus, it is also believed that EI merges and conflates such
accepted term and definitions.
 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.
D IFFERENCE BETWEEN H IGH AND L OW EI
High EQ Low EQ
 Understand and Sense others motivations and  Easily stressed and impact others with the effect of
inspire good work in them own overwhelm
 Create Safety for people to speak their mind,  Do not speak up or assert himself, even in
which avoid groupthink situations where it is required
 Can sense potential and new opportunities  Lack of Patience: Get defensive and argue for
effectively better than others points without listening others
 Resolve conflicts well and do not add to or  Hold grudge that are hard to shake and feel
escalate drama misunderstood by others
R OLE OF EI IN P UBLIC SERVICES
“Emotional Intelligence” is the very marker that distinguishes routine management from outstanding leadership
and the marker that distinguishes dead organizations from living organizations. It has significant role in Public
services, which are as-
 Effective Communication: Emotionally intelligent people listen to other people and know how to communicate
effectively. An emotionally intelligent Civil Servant manages to execute policies effectively through better
communication with public at large. Empathy and integrity takes precedence over personal biases when one is
emotionally sorted out.
 Better coordination with subordinates- The quality of EI makes a public servant more aware and
compassionate. Ego, pride or other negative emotions fail to creep in such personalities.
 Better work-culture: An emotionally intelligent civil servant brings more energy to the system, thus influencing
the working attitude of each employee.
 Fosters Leadership- Self-awareness is at the core of everything. It describes the ability to not only understand
one’s strengths and weaknesses, but to recognize emotions and the effect they have on herself (public servant)
and her team’s performance.
 Management of disruptive emotions- A civil servant while working in high pressure environment often
becomes subject to political pressure, life threats etc. Only a public servant who is Emotionally Intelligent would
be able to handle such pressures without succumbing to anger, depression or compromise.
 Help in negotiations: Emotionally intelligent people can negotiate and resolve disagreements. This
characteristic is the heart of public service.
 Build Trust with people: Emotionally intelligent people listen to other people’s emotions and can empathize
with them. They act ethically and build trust through integrity and reliability.
 360 degree Leadership – Public administrators with high levels of emotional intelligence :
 Lead up -- build social capital with political superiors and elected officials;
 Lead down -- build social capital with lower-level staff;
 Lead across -- build social capital with peers;
 Lead out -- build social capital with stakeholders outside ministry like NGOs, academics, media, citizens etc
Conclusion:
Emotionally intelligence people know how to deploy their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. Thus,
emotionally intelligent behaviour is a prerequisite for building bridges of mutual understanding and trust in the
Public Services.
T HREAT TO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PRESE NT 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.
 Online Games and Apps: Children and youth are wasting their precious time by engaging in Online games. Their
thinking process are getting shaped in line of characters of the Game. Ex. ‘Blue Whale challenge’ has motivated
many kids to take extreme steps in their life. Tik Tok app which promoted people to make videos for the publicity
only.
 Virtual classes and activities in School: During Corona Period, engagement of students with internet for
attending classes, has kept away from the real world. This has been hindering in the natural growth of EI among
children. Ex. Group events, games are not being organised which could lead to suppression of values such as
teamwork, leadership, compassion etc.
 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.
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.
H OW TO DEVELOP E MOTIONAL I NTELLIGENCE AMONG C IVIL S ERVANTS :

Cognitive intelligence (IQ) does not change with age or experience. However, with EQ, this is not the case.
Emotional competencies are learned and can be taught. The mastery of EQ skills evolve over a lifelong growth.
 Yoga Practice: Person can take help of exercise such as control over breathing to increase self-awareness and
self-management.
 Person should be open to the inputs from others.
 Emotional literacy: Person should improve his emotional literacy because if person can’t label his emotional
state correctly, he can’t manage his emotions.
 Non-verbal communication: Person should learn to interpret non-verbal communication such as facial and
body gestures.
 Training through practice and feedback, civil servants can learn from their mistakes using real life examples and
reflection opportunities.
 Support: Coaching, encouragement and peer support can assist with lasting change and positive development
of EI competencies
 Experiential learning: Emotional and behavioural changes require life activities which are primarily outside of
the traditional classroom and is commonly referred to as experiential learning.
 Learning transfer it refers to how people use what they learn in training for performance improvement.
Learning transfer seeks to reinforce and apply the information learned on the job immediately
Conclusion
Emotional intelligence is the single best predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of
leadership and personal excellence. These are instrumental tools for goal accomplishment.
MORAL THINKERS & PHI LOSPHERS 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:
V IRTUE 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.
Virtue ethics shifts the analytical emphasis away from rule-based decision-making (of deontological ethics) or of
the consequences of an action (eg. in utilitarianism) towards the ethics of individuals and the ethics of human
character.
For example: A Teleologist would argue that giving to a charity maximises well-being in society, and a deontologist
would argue that we have a duty to help others, a virtue ethicist would point to the fact that helping others
displays desirable virtues such as being charitable or benevolent.
Virtue ethics offers a better motive for the action than that of Duty based Ethics –
 Saving a life of someone only out of the sense of duty seems to lack a better motivation like compassion and
kindness, which can be expected only from a person who has developed these virtues in him/her.
 It is also important to note that duty-based ethics somehow neglects some of the essential aspects of moral
life, namely the emphasis of being a good person leading a virtuous life.
Issues:
 It lacks moral principles and ethics without specific principles cannot guide us in deciding the moral choice of
an action. For example: When someone steals money, what would be a morally right act in dealing with that
person?
 There is a lack of moral judgment in virtue ethics. A person may be virtuous but he/she may still not be able
to distinguish right action from wrong action especially if he/she is not knowledgeable in a particular field.
 There can be situations in which virtues enter into conflict with one another. For example: If a person comes
across a dilemma situation of his/her friend brought to trial and he/she is a witness.
If the person tells the truth, which means he/she is dishonest, his/her friend will end up in prison for a few
years. If the person wants to save his/her friend to show loyalty to his/her friendship, he/ she will necessarily
tell a lie which implies that he/she is dishonest.
S OCRATES :
 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.
 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.
A PPLICATION 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.
P LATO
 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.
 Harmonious functioning –Part should work for the whole and whole must benefit the parts.
A PPLICATION 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.
A RISTOTLE
 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 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
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.
A PPLICATIONS 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
D EONTOLOGY
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.
E MANUEL K ANT:
 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.
A PPLICATIONS OR EXAMPLES :
 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.
T ELEOLOGIC 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.
D IFFERENCE BETWEEN D EONTOLOGICAL AND T ELEOLOGICAL T HEORIES
Deontological (Duty Based Ethics) Teleological Theories (Result Oriented Ethics)

(Focus on Means) (Focus on End, Means could be Compromised)
 The focus is on moral duties (what is right) rather  The focus is on an action's consequences rather
than on an action's consequences. than on moral duties (what is right).
 Moral duties are more important than  Moral values are more important than
considerations about moral value. considerations about moral duties.
 Since the focus is on moral duties, the individual's  Since the focus is on moral value, the
intentions have a substantial role in a situation's consequences that an individual's actions
moral evaluation and consequences that arise produce have a substantial role in a situation's
through the individual's actions have no moral evaluation and the individual's intentions
relevance. have no relevance.
 The right is prior to the good.  The good is prior to the right.
 An action's goodness (or value) depends upon  An action's rightness depends upon the action's
the action's rightness. goodness (or value).
 It is the individual's moral status that is  It is the action's moral status that is important.
important.
 Teleological theories argue that experience,
 Deontological ethics stresses that reasons, rather than reason, reveals what is good.
intuition or moral sense reveals what is right.
 There are no actions that are moral or immoral in
 There are some acts that are moral or immoral in themselves.
themselves.
 Moral duties have a positive formulation.
 Moral duties have a negative formulation.
 One must give equal and impartial consideration
 Other's personal interests or happiness have no to others interests and happiness, as well as
relevance in one's moral considerations or one's own, in all moral considerations and
evaluations, one's own moral duties have evaluations.
precedence over all other considerations.
 To do what is moral (i.e., good) requires that one
 To do what is moral (i.e., right) requires that one acts so as to maximize the happiness that one's
observe one's moral duties, possess the right action produces.
intentions and avoid those actions that are
 Ex. It may justify robbing a bank, IF the looted
immoral in themselves.
money is to be used for charity.
 Ex. Do not kill, Do not steal
It may justify pirating coaching class material,
 Ex. Gandhi Ji along with other leaders were because it’ll lead to greatest good for greatest
focused upon getting independence. But, with number of people.
Means to achieve the same was 'non-violence'
and 'satyagraha' which was never compromised
in favor of getting independence with violent
measures
Example Based on Dentological and Teleological Theories

Let’s suppose a man kick’s a dog sleeping roadside. The dog cries and runs away. Moments later, a car comes
speeding along the road so fast that it would certainly have killed the dog if it had still been lying there.
Deontological perspective says, the man's action was bad, since it is cruel to kick dogs but according to the
teleological perspective, his action was good, since it saved the dog's life.
Conclusion:
Deontological approach is applied in the criminal justice system, which ensures that the punishment was
proportionate and appropriate to the crime committed. Whereas, the teleological approach is used by the courts
for the interpretation of any legislation, its purpose, direction or design.
U TILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism promotes the action that brings maximum happiness to a maximum number of people. Two major
philosophers have contributed in this line.
J EREMY 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 M ILL
 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
moved from this idea and provided Qualitative utilitarianism which focuses on intellectual pleasure and
considers 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 else.
 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.
C ONTRACTARIANISM
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.
T HOMAS 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.
J OHN L OCKE
 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.
R OUSSEAU :
 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
 Governance level: The recent defeat of Mr. Trump due to his authoritarian governance show people
being ultimate in any democracy.
C ONTEMPORARY C ONTRACTARIANISM
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.
J OHN 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.
D ESCRIPTIVE 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.
A PPLIED 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
I MPORTANT SCHOOLS OF H INDU PHILOSOPHY
S AMKHYA :
 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.
Y OGA :
 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 wellbeing during Covid-19 and lockdown times.
N YAYA
 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.
 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.
M IMAMSA :
 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.
V EDANTA :
 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.
E SSENCE OF R AMAYANA AND M AHABHARATA

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.
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.
Shabari  Dedication and Patience – She had been waiting for lord Rama to come at her hut
 Love, Satisfaction and Happiness – She perceived eternal happiness and satisfaction after
serving already tested fruits to Lord Rama
 Equality and Respect shown by the Lord Rama towards Shabari
Jatayu  Responsibility: Despite knowing that, he could not stop Ravana, he fought because of his
responsibility
L ESSONS FROM THE RAMAYANA :

 Truth triumphs: The basic teaching of Ramayana is that no matter how powerful evil is, it will always be
defeated by Good. Truth always wins. A person should always have a noble heart and good values. That is how
Lord Rama defeated one of the most knowledgeable persons in the history Ravana.
 Unity can overcome any difficulty in life: The fruits of togetherness give the power to sail the ship when the
tide seems higher than the sky.
 Be deeply committed to your duty: Besides being Sita’s husband, Ram was also the King of Ayodhya. And the
duty of the king is to keep his subjects happy. And hence, he had to abandon his wife for the sake of the masses
after they questioned her chastity. As a husband, he was duty bound towards his wife. But as a King, he had to
think of his subjects’ wishes ahead of his personal ones.
 Choose the path of righteousness: Vibhishana, younger brother of Ravana chose to not support his sibling in
the war against Ram. He knew his brother had committed a sin by abducting a women.
 Remain humble no matter how powerful you become: Lord Hanumana had the power to single handedly fight
against Ravana’s army. But he choose to surrender to lord Rama’s divinity and let him do the needful.
 Treat everyone equally: Lord Rama treated everyone equally and that’s how he earned the love and respect
among everyone. When Shabari (the sage’s daughter) offered him the already tasted berry fruits he ate them
without giving a second thought. He was always kind and humble to people. We should toe inhere this quality.
We should always treat everyone with equality and should not discriminate on the basis of status, sex, age, or
cast.
 Always keep good company: It is said that your company shapes you into a person you are. Ramayana too
emphasize the relevance of good company. Queen Kaikeyi, the third wife of Dashratha loved Rama more than
her own son but her handmaiden, Manthara poisoned her thoughts with negative feed, in result Kaikeyi asked
for Rama’s fourteen years of exile. A negative person can brainwash all the good inside you that is why we
should always keep a healthy circle so that we become better with time.
 Forgiveness is greater than revenge: When Ravana learned that Laxman has insulted his sister Supnakha, he
went to seek vengeance and abducted Sita. Now he was lured into his own trap of anger. He was well-versed
and knowledgeable but the feeling of revenge cost him his life, therefore, we should always keep a forgiving
nature because vengeance and revenge do not bring any good. They bring a downfall in our life. Keeping an
attitude of forgiveness brings peace and harmony.
E SSENCE OF B HAGAVAD -G ITA

 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
B UDDHA :
Quotes:
 “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.” Buddha
 It’s not what you say but what you do that defines you.
 “A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in
truth called wise.” ~ Buddha
 “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but
to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
 “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness
never decreases by being shared.”
 “There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.”
Gautama Buddha was an ascetic, a religious leader, and a teacher who lived in ancient India during the 6-5th century
BCE. His teachings laid the basis of Buddhist philosophy and traditions as well as Buddhism as a religion.
Buddhist ethics are neither arbitrary standards invented by man for his own utilitarian purpose nor are they
arbitrarily imposed. Man-made laws and social customs do not form the basis of Buddhist ethics. It finds its
foundation not on the changing social customs but rather on the unchanging laws of nature.
Morality in Buddhism:
Buddhist morality judges an action good or bad basing on the intention or motivation from which it originates.
Actions that have their roots in greed, hatred or selfishness are considered to be bad - called Akusala Kamma.
Actions which are rooted in the virtues of generosity, love and wisdom are meritorious and good - called Kusala
Kamma.
Three Essentials for Life Buddhism considers – Eight Fold Paths:
 Wisdom (Prajna) – It comes from right view, it leads  Right Knowledge (or Views)
to the right intention.  Right Resolve
 Ethical conduct (Sila) - The right view and  Right Speech
intentions are guides to ethical conduct – right  Right Conduct (or Action)
speech, right action, right livelihood and right  Right Livelihood
effort.  Right Effort
 Concentration (Samadi): It pointed focus is ‘self –  Right Mindfulness, and
activity’ to have right mindfulness and right  Right Meditation (or Concentration)
concentration. When wisdom, ethics and
concentration become way of life; one gains
enlightenment.
Four Noble Truths
 The truth of Suffering – No matter how much we struggle, we are unable to find the ultimate happiness or
satisfaction. Suffering is the common bond we share. Therefore suffering is the real truth of our existence.
 Excess Desire: Cravings, Excess desires and ignorance about reality are the cause of suffering.
 The truth about end of suffering – If desire is eliminated, then only the suffering would stop. This stage when
all desires are burned is called “nirvana” in Buddhism.
 The path for ending suffering – This path is called the eightfold path. It emphasizes on a middle path between
worldly pleasure and painful asceticism.
Pancasila (Five Refrains)
Buddhism invites Buddhists to adopt five precepts voluntarily in order to live together in civilised communities with
mutual trust and respect. These are – No killing, No stealing, No lying, No sexual misconduct, and No intoxicants.
K AUTILYA
 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 Thata Praja” highlighting the importance of honesty, efficiency, and accountability of the
King.
 Rajrishi Concept: An ideal leader is a combination of Raja and Rishi. Like a Raja, he is dynamic, active, has
decision-making capacity. At the same time, he should be able to connect with the spiritual and higher
level of the world by being wise, should focus on philosophy. He should possess the quality of inviting
nature, self-restraint and spirit, intellect and intuition, enthusiasm.
 He advocated that science is a great source of power. He further believed that ‘power is strength and it
is the strength which changes the mind.
 In a war-like situation both Kautilya and Machiavelli share the same reasoning. Both propagate that a
king should be closely involved in the science of war. Kautilya has proposed three types of war:
a. Open war: War fought between states
b. Concealed war: It is fought on the lines of guerrilla warfare
c. Silent war: It is fought continuously inside the kingdom itself so that the king’s power does not get
diluted.
5. 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.
 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.
T HIRUVALLUVAR
 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.
S WAMI V IVEKANANDA
 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 G ANDHI
Quotes:
 “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
 “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
 “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean
does not become dirty.”
 “Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon
this earth.” – Albert Einstein on Gandhi
I MPORTANT TEACHINGS OF M AHATMA G ANDHI :

 Power is of two kinds - One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based
on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment. The
force of power never wins against the power of love. At this hour of greatest unrest and turmoil in our world,
the greatest force to be reckoned with resides within hearts — a force of love and Tolerance for all. We can
resolve the greatest of our differences if we dare to have a constructive conversation with our enemy. Each
war always ends with Peace agreement.
For Civil Servants, there should be high Tolerance index while serving the society. It brings inclusiveness
and objectivity, Neutrality in decision making.
Ex. Acceptance for LGBTQ Community leads to bring them in the mainstream of development by extending
government’s welfare scheme
 An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind: History can attest to the fact that most human conflicts
have been as a result of a stubborn approach. Our history would turn out for the better if we could just learn
that most disputes can be resolved by showing a willingness to understand the issues of our opponents and by
using diplomacy and compassion.
 We must become the change we want to see in the world: A great leader always leads with an exemplary life
that echoes his ideals. Mahatma Gandhi sacrificed his thriving law practice and adopted a simple life to live
among the millions who lived in poverty during his freedom struggle. An outstanding example of Mahatma
Gandhi’s leadership was his famous Salt March, which brought about a profound change. In a letter to Lord
Irwin, He wrote, “Dear Friend, I cannot intentionally hurt anything that lives, much less fellow human beings,
even though they may do the greatest wrong to me and mine. While, therefore, I hold the British rule to be a
curse, I do not intend to harm to a single Englishman or to any legitimate interest he may have in India…” With
these words, he inspired millions to fight for this righteous cause and eventually forced the British to leave India
without inflicting harm to any Englishman.
T RUSTEESHIP :
 Wealthy people should act Trustees of trust that looked after the welfare of the people.
 The idea of trusteeship makes it clear that wealth and resources, irrespective of who “owns” these, must help
with the betterment of society and its entire people. It puts the onus of making this happen on those who have
wealth. This is a direct manifestation of his philosophy of non-violence i.e the wealthy must do it of their own
accord, unforced by external pressure.
 The idea puts faith in human nature, that eventually people will do the right thing if you trust them.
 There is a lot of scepticism on the effectiveness of this approach to build an egalitarian society. But over the
long term, in the reality of the world we live in, this approach will be more sustainably effective.
Relevance of Idea of Trusteeship
The prevailing socio-economic condition across the world makes the idea of trusteeship even more relevant today.
 Prevailing inequality: Recently, the Oxfam report titled “Inequality Kills’’ was released, the report pointed out
a stark income divide worsened by the Covid pandemic, globally and in India. Inequality contributes to the
death of at least one person every four seconds.
 Degrading environment: the emission of greenhouse gases is affecting the global climate, and causing various
catastrophic disasters and diseases.
 Overexploitation of natural resources: Minerals, oil, gas and coal are non-renewable resources. Their use as
materials and energy sources leads to depletion of the Earth's reserves.
Trusteeship provides solutions for various challenges of the 21st century.

 Sustainable consumption: consume what is enough for the need without harming others.
 Dignity of labour: ensuring decent minimum living wage and humane working conditions.
 Equitable distribution of wealth: moral responsibility of the rich to take care of social welfare of
underprivileged.
The core of Gandhian idea of trusteeship is the development, upliftment, and enrichment of human life rather than
a higher standard of living with scant respect for human and social values.
S ARVODAYA :
“The good of the individual is contained in the welfare of all. This is the core idea behind inclusive development.”
The concept of Sarvodaya revolved around universal upliftment of all and progress for all. It is a comprehensive,
social, economic, political, moral and spiritual philosophy. It lays great emphasis on moral and spiritual values. It
seeks to create new social and economic values. 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
 All people will be imbued with the spirit of love, fraternity, truth, non-violence and self-sacrifices. Society
will function on the basis on the non-violence.
 There will be no party system and majority rule and society will be free from the evil of the tyranny of the
majority.
 Politics will not be the instrument of power but an agency of service.
 The gain to the individual would be small. The development of each quality depends upon every other. If
all the qualities are improved a little, then the individual would gain more.
Gandhi advances the concept of Sarvodaya, which were the based on three basic principles:
 The good of the individual is contained in the good of all.
 A lawyer's work has the same value as the barber's in as much as all have the same right of earning their
livelihood from their work.
 A life of labour, i.e., the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman is the life worth living
S ATYAGRAHA
Ends and Means: Gandhi always emphasised on pure means and ends. Improper means cannot be adopted to
achieve proper ends. As a wrong path cannot take you to right destination.
Satyagraha: The origin of Satyagraha can be found in the Upanishads, and in the teachings of Buddha, Mahavira
and a number of other greats including Tolstoy and Ruskin.
 Gandhi ji called his overall method of nonviolent action as Satyagraha.

 It means - exercise of the purest soul-force against all injustice, oppression and exploitation. It is a method of
securing rights by personal suffering and not inflicting injury on others
 It is the continuous realisation for truth. It mainly includes self-sacrifice, peace and non-violence. Only a person
with will and determination can follow satyagraha.
 It is more than a method of conflict resolution that lends itself easily to scientific analysis.
 It is in fact an ethical system that places heavy emphasis on the quality of the relationship between individuals.
Pillars of Satyagraha: (Ethical Aspects)
Three Pillars of Satyagraha --
The Gandhian quest for peace rests on the foundation of non-violence. For conflict resolution Mahatma Gandhi
used method of Satyagraha [insistence on truth or Zeal for Truth] that has three pillars:
 Sat-which implies openness, honesty, and fairness:

 Each person's opinions and beliefs represent part of the truth;
 In order to see more of the truth we must share our truths cooperatively; This implies a desire to
communicate and a determination to do so.
 Ahimsa-refusal to inflict injury on others:
 Ahimsa is dictated by our commitment to communication and to sharing of our pieces of the truth.
 Violence shuts off channels of communication; The concept of Ahimsa appears in most major religions,
which suggests that while most people may not practice it, it is respected as an ideal;
 Ahimsa is an expression of our concern that our own and other's humanity be manifested and respected;
and We must learn to genuinely love our opponents in order to practice Ahimsa.
 Tapasya-willingness for self-sacrifice:
 A Satyagrahi must be willing to shoulder any sacrifice which is occasioned by the struggle which they have
initiated, rather than pushing such sacrifice or suffering onto their opponent
 The Satyagrahi must always provide a face-saving way out for the opponents.
 The goal is to discover a wider vista of truth and justice, not to achieve victory over the opponent.
Use of Satyagraha by Gandhiji
 Satyagraha has also been considered as a weapon of soul force to resist any kind of oppression. While
Gandhi regarded Satyagraha as a way of life, during the freedom struggle of India, Satyagraha was used as
a weapon to resist the authority of the state and to achieve various things for the general welfare of the
people.
 The Civil Disobedience Movement of 1930, which was started with the breaking of the Salt Law at Dandi,
and the Quit India Movements were classic examples when Gandhi and his colleagues used Satyagraha as
a weapon of the soul force.
Relevance of satyagraha at Present:

 For Dispute in the Industrial establishment: Satyagraha would be a viable alternative to other methods for
the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflicts.
 To resolve war like situation such as Russia – Ukrain war: The practice of the principles of truth and non-
violence in the smallest way possible, would definitely make a great contribution in bringing about peace
and harmony.
 To mitigate corruption and race of materialism: In the present socio-economic political system, there is a
dire necessity to wean the individual away from the influence of wealth, luxuries and power
The usefulness of truth and non-violence will always be relevant wherever the goal is prosperity, welfare and
development, because without truth and non-violence, there cannot be peace and without peace there cannot
be development.
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.”
 Gandhi’s principal aim was to civilise modern politics from within, by eliminating resentment, hatred and
coercion.
 His politics of non-violence was a method to mobilise collective power in a manner that attends to its own
moral education in an exemplary and innovative way.
 Gandhiji always derived politics from ethics or religion and considered politics as a work of the heart and
not merely of reason.
 He argued for a dedicated and committed political ethos, which did not accept the necessity of “dirty
hands” in politics.
 Gandhi’s eleven vows:

 Swadeshi  Remove  Bread labour  Non-violence
untouchability
 Truth  No stealing  Self-discipline  Equality of all
religion
 Non-possession  Control on the  Fearlessness
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  Use of cyberspace to disrupt national infrastructure as observed in 2021
character 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.
Religion without sacrifice  Religious fundamentalism in all religions leading to communal tensions as seen
(Manavaseva= Madhava recently in France.
Seva)  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.
A MARTYA 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.
R ABINDRANATH TAGORE :
 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.
K ABIR
 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.
 Awareness alone will overcome illusion: So long as man clamours for the I and the Mine, his works are as
nothing; When all love of the I and the Mine is dead, then the work of the Lord is done. For work has no other
aim than the getting of knowledge; When that comes, then work is put away.
 Antagonist of caste system and evil practices: Kabir was a great opponent of the caste system. He stressed
that in God’s creation all were equal. He advised his followers to give up such inhuman practices as
untouchability, feelings of high and low etc. He further opposed the worship of stone images, or even the
worship of different gods and goddesses and was against rituals and ceremonies in religion.
Kabir’s relevance to contemporary times.
 Kabir was strictly against the practice of hypocrisy and didn’t like people maintaining double standards. He
always preached people to be compassionate towards other living beings and practice true love. Which is
somewhat missing in present days.
 He urged the need to have company of good people that adhere to values and principles and emphasized that
love was the only medium which could bind the entire human kind in an unbreakable bond of fraternity. He
advised all to give up hatred and perpetuate love for one and all. Today’s world is bogged down by the excessive
materialism of the world.
 The deep seated economic inequalities of the world are leading to a simmering discontent across the world.
Kabir’s principles of compassionate ethics are relevant.
 Corruption is the deep seated problem in India which is eating away the vitals of the nation. The emphasis on
honest livelihood by Kabir if understood in the right spirit will provide a way of changing the individual
perspective.
 Communalism is a lurking evil in the Indian societal context the essential syncretism and universalism which are
part of Kabir can help in solving this issue to a certain extent.
ADMINISTRATORS:
E S REEDHARAN
 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 S HEEHAN
 He was an IAS officer from Tamil Nadu Cadre who stamped his authority on the electoral system in India.
 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.
R AJENDRA B HATT : (L EADERSHIP , I NNOVATION , DEDICATION TO S ERVICE , P RUDENCE )

 Innovative- He used innovative ideas swiftly to curb Covid 19. Widely known for the Bhilwara Model, a multi-
level Plan. With the detection of the first COVID-19 case, no time was lost in figuring out a plan to curb the
spread.
 Dedication to Service: Rajendra Bhatt took action swiftly such as creating medical emergency centres in various
hotels and resorts in the district, imposing very strict curfew rules,
 Leadership: He set up teams to monitor patients under home isolation, door to door supply of milk, groceries
and screening, and tying up with Akshaya Patra to provide nutritious food to those in isolation were just a few
steps that this district administration put in place.
D R . T A RUN , IAS:(I NNOVATIVE , L EADERSHIP , J UDICIOUS, T ECHNOCRAT )

 Innovative, Technocrat: He created an app which has been used to revive 198 water bodies in Puducherry
including ponds, lakes and a 206 km stretch of canals. The app ‘Neer Padhivu’, helps digitalise water bodies
with geotagging, unique ID numbers, GIS on ponds, with latitudes and longitudes coordinates.
 Environmentalist: the app updates the status of groundwater levels, moisture content of soil and size via
remote sensing satellites. The application has not only helped streamline the rejuvenation process but is also
ensuring that people don’t dirty or encroach the water bodies.
T B HOOBALAN , IAS:(C OMPASSION , L EADERSHIP , A LERTNESS )

 Compassion: His multi-pronged approach to tackle the sharp rise in child marriages amid the pandemic and
rescued 176 kids from being married off underage in one year from Bagalkot district
 Leadership: Working on understanding the severity of the issue, Bhoobalan created a task force comprising
government officials and school teachers.
S SEERAM S AMBASIVA : (C OMPASSION , L EADERSHIP , I NNOVATION , H ARD WORKING )

 Compassion: He set up the Udayam Charitable Society to establish and run shelter homes. One of his goals was
to provide shelter homes to the street dwellers under the state’s ‘Nammude Kozhikode’ project for
development. Through this initiative, close to 1,500 homeless were taken off the streets and transferred to
various shelter homes in the last 18 months.
 Dutifulness, Dedication to Service, Compassion- Additionally, the district administration also took the
responsibility of reuniting the homeless with their families, giving them skill training and employment
opportunities.
 Humanity: Close to 1,000 inmates were provided meals and were groomed for their well-being through
haircuts, surgeries, counselling, medical check-ups, etc.
 Innovative, Compassion: The ones who did not have ID cards were given new ones and a literacy programme,
‘Jnanodayam’ and certification exams were also conducted to help them earn a steady income.
S HALINI A GARWAL : (I NNOVATION , TEAM WORK , L EADERSHIP , P RUDENCE )

 Innovative ideas: To tackle the issue of acute water shortage in Vadodara, she came up with an ingenious
solution of setting up rainwater harvesting in schools, which in turn helped lakh of students by saving 10 crore
litres of water every year.
 Varsha Kal Nidhi was launched in 2020 and through this initiative, rainwater is collected from the terrace and
channelised through pipes towards a chamber in the ground. The chamber then filters and percolates the water
in the bore wells, ensuring direct groundwater recharge She said,
 Leadership: - “Various workshops, competitions and events were held across Vadodara where children became
the brand ambassadors and people were sensitised about the importance of conservation.
D R . A DARSH S INGH : (C OMPASSION , LEADERSHIP )

 Organiser, Innovative ideas - He used the lockdown to revive a dying river in the district by giving employment
who had lost their livelihoods due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Prudence: At a time when people were losing their jobs and getting impacted by severe pay cuts, Dr Adarsh
used the time to generate employment and also tackle an environmental crisis.
 Leadership: They adopted measures such as sensitising villagers, eliminating encroachments, reducing garbage
dumping, and open defecation on the river bank. The district authorities also sensitised people about open
defecation and dumping garbage in the river.
A NUPAM S HARMA: (I NNOVATIVE APPROACH , E NVIRONMENT F RIENDLY , E FFICIENT , PRUDENCE )

 The forest department had planted about five lakh saplings, and each of them came wrapped with a plastic
bag.
 On one hand, we were working towards the cause of the environment, while on the other, about 5,000 kilos of
plastic waste had accumulated because of us, with no legitimate way of managing it.” This was led to utilising
the 5000 kg of plastic waste to generate sustainable employment opportunities for three villages in Maihar.
 The aim was to help create employment opportunities for the villagers while also managing the plastic waste
generated efficiently.
 The biogas plant helps serve some needs of the Maa Sharda Devi Temple Management Committee’s Old-Age
Home where the biogas plant helps generate enough gas supply to prepare morning and evening tea for the
residents and also helps mitigate wet waste generated on the premises.
D HARAM S INGH MEENA : (TEAMWORK , E NVIRONMENT FRIENDLY , E FFICIENT )

 The disappearance of natural springs in the Uttarakhand and Himalayan subcontinent is a cause for concern.
 Divisional forest officer Dharam Singh Meena noticed this and decided to rectify the issue.
 He and his team managed to revive 66 Himalayan springs in Tehri Garhwal to provide a sustainable water supply
that now helps over one lakh people across 23 villages.
D AMODAR G AUTAM SAWANG : (T ECHNOCRAT , I NNOVATIVE , OPENNESS , T RANSPARENCY , A CCOUNTABILITY ,

I NCLUSIVE )
 Technocrat, Innovative: Chosen as the India’s best DGP, he has introduced several technological reforms in
Andhra Police that makes filing FIRs, complaints and SOS requests easier and faster.
 Transparency, Accountability: The technological changes that were introduced helped in bringing about
transparency and also accountability amongst the departments. A new file management system that was
introduced by the officer helped in speedy investigations and also to the completion of 85 percent of cases.
 People Centric, User Friendly: A mobile application called AP Police Seva was launched and within five months,
2,64,000 FIR downloads were seen.
 Inclusive: Additionally, the Disha Mobile app for women was also launched which saw 12.57 lakh downloads
within five months.
D R . S ANGRAM S INGH P ATIL: (C OMPASSION, A PTITUDE , D EMOCRATIC ATTITUDE , E FFECTIVE RESOURCE

M ANAGEMENT )
 Compassion: The initiative launched by Superintendent of Police Dr Sangram Sigh Patil that has helped over
5000 members of the Gotti Koya tribal community gain better access to healthcare.
 Effective Resource Management :Since 2019, Dr Sangram has helped over 5,000 tribals from 100-odd hamlets
in the district, address various complaints including those of nutrition deficiency, haemoglobin, skin, and other
related ailments. With the help of this officer, medical help worth Rs 7 lakh has reached the tribal community
members.
S ANTHA S HEELA N AIR

Santha Sheela Nair: An IAS officer of the 1973 batch, Nair is known as an administrator par excellence. She is
credited with saving Chennai city from a water crisis in the early 2000s when she made rainwater harvesting
compulsory with special tanks and pipes for the same in each household.
A RUNA S UNDARARAJAN
 Aruna Sundararajan: This Kerala cadre IAS officer was described by Forbes magazine as ‘an IAS officer who
thinks like a businesswoman’. As IT secretary she played a significant role in the development of e-governance
in Kerala. She also headed the Kudumbashree project, today which is a shining example of women’s
empowerment, creating sustainable employment prospects for working-class women.
H ARI C HANDANA D ASARI IAS: (E NVIRONMENTALIST , I NNOVATIVE , L EADERSHIP )

 An IAS officer of the Telangana cadre, Hari Chandana Dasari is known for her ‘green revolution’ in Hyderabad,
where she initiated several plastic recycling initiatives bringing the city many accolades.
 She has implemented numerous celebrated schemes, such as Pet Parks, She Toilets, She Marts, Feed The Need
(where refrigerators are installed across the city so that donors can place food inside from where the needy
can pick them up), Durgam Cheruvu Rejuvenation, Give and Share, etc.
 Dasari was also instrumental in getting drones to fight dengue by having them spray disinfectants to eliminate
mosquitoes.
S MITA S ABHARWAL : (I NTEGRITY , HARD W ORKING , DEDICATION TO SERVICE , D ISCIPLINE , P RUDENCE )

 She is also known as the ‘People’s Officer’. She is India’s first lady IAS officer to be appointed to a Chief
Minister’s Office.
 While serving as the Municipal Commissioner at Warangal, she introduced the “Fund your City” scheme where
a large number of public utilities like Foot over bridges, Traffic Junctions, Parks, Bus-stops, were constructed
with Public-Private Partnership.
K RISHNA G OPAL T IWARI

 Krishna Gopal Tiwari: This IAS officer sets a model and provides motivation to thousands of the country’s
differently-abled. Krishna Gopal Tiwari is India’s first visually challenged collector.
R AJNI S EKHRI S IBAL: (I NTEGRITY , C OURAGE , P ERSEVERANCE )

 Courage: As Director, Primary Education in the state, she withstood pressure from the government and
exposed the JBT recruitment scam.
 (Integrity): In this scam, the teachers’ selection lists were changed to give jobs to those candidates who had
paid bribes. When asked to be a party to this fraud, Sibal locked and sealed the almirah containing the original
list with thick cotton bandages in the presence of her junior officers. She also asked them to sign the bandages
in different places and take photographs for proof.
D S UBBA R AO : (A PTITUDE , R EFORMIST , O BJECTIVITY , I NTEGRITY )

 A 1972 IAS officer, Subbarao was the 22nd Governor of the RBI. As RBI Governor, he brought about reforms for
financial inclusion, financial literacy and organised village outreach programmes.
 He even expounded a theory on the New Trilemma of Central Bankers, called the ‘Holy Trinity’ as against the
‘Impossible Trinity’ of Robert Mundell and Marcus Fleming.
 He was the first person to review Stephen Hawking’s celebrated book, ‘A Brief History of Time’.
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.
D IFFERENCE BETWEEN M ANAGER 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
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.
B ASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF P UBLIC A DMINISTRATION :

 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.
P RINCIPLES 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.
N EED 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.
S TATUS AND PROBLEMS OF ETHICS IN I NDIAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
P ROVISIONS FOR INCULCATING ETHICS IN I NDIAN 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.
E THICAL ISSUES IN I NDIAN 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.
 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
public contact. Rigid hierarchy within the organisations
Indian Administration:
further hinder communication.
 Corruption is a matter of concern particularly at
 Negligence: A public official either does not perform his
the cutting-edge levels of bureaucracy.
professional responsibilities or performs them in a
 Perceptible lack of commitment in public
delinquent manner, causing damage to the state or
servants towards redressal of citizens' grievance
community. This is mostly because of the lack of interest
 Red-tapism and unnecessary complex
that one has in one’s duties and responsibilities.
procedures add to hardship of citizens.
 Corruption: Bribery and corruption are seen as reward
 Government servants are rarely held to account
for performance of obligatory work and considered as
and complaints to higher authorities usually go
necessary evil greasing the wheels of the government
unheeded
departments.
 Attitude of many public functionaries is one of
o Example: India has been ranked 85th in Corruption
arrogance and indifference
Perception Index, 2021.
 Frequent transfer of officers reduces their
 Evasive tendency: There is lack of initiatives on the part
effectiveness and also dilutes their
of administrators facing a difficult situation and the
accountability
problem is evaded by passing the task from one
 Nexus between politicians and bureaucrats.
department to another.
 Patronage: Political patronage plays an important role in appointment of administrators, especially at the higher
levels.
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.
.
 Nepotism- The practice of nepotism (the appointment of relations and/or friends to public positions, thereby
ignoring the merit principle), may lead to the downgrading of the quality of the public service.
 Lack of compassion: Indifference towards the feelings or the convenience of individuals and by an obsession
with the binding and inflexible authority of departmental decisions, precedents, arrangements or forms,
regardless of how badly or with what injustice they work in individual cases.
 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.
P ROBLEMS OF ETHICS IN I NDIAN 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:
E THICAL 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).
E THICAL DILEMMAS FACED BY P UBLIC S ERVANTS 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.
R ESOLVING E THICAL D ILEMMA IN G OVERNMENT :

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.
 Fusion: fusion of individual, organisational and
social goals mitigate ethical dilemma as a suitable
option leads to all goals.
 The rule of law and the principle of legality: The
rule of law is central and universal to politics and
society. Respect and obedience to the principle of
legitimacy is an important requirement to exercise
authority. Law establishes the minimum standard
for ethics. It helps in decision making while there is
Ethical dilemaa.
E THICAL 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.
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.
 Insider trading and manipulation of share prices: Excessive competition in the market often forces people for
unethical practices. It is also when personal interests take precedence over the organizational and the share-
holders interest. Companies poach such employee for insider information. This may have debilitating results.
 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.
 Lobbying with the government for favourable policies: Lobbying in some countries is ethical. In India there is
no law which defines Lobbying. Defence contracts are often heated topics for the lobbying angles involved in
the same. Lobbying in a regulated manner is often recommended by experts.
 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
L AWS , RULES AND REGULATIO NS AS SOURCE OF ETHICAL GU IDANCE

 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.
D IFFERENCE BETWEEN L AWS 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 goodLaw 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
H OW L AWS , 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.
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 L AWS , R ULES AND R EGULATIONS 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.
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.
H OW 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.
I S CONSCIENCE AN ABSO LUTE GUIDE TO ETHICA L BEHAVIOUR ? N O
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)
Ques. What is meant by 'crisis of conscience'? How does it manifest itself in the public domain? (150 words, 10
marks) (2019)
C RISIS OF CONSCIENCE :
Quote: “The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Crisis of conscience is a situation when conscience fails to provide moral guidance to an individual in any specific
situation. Individuals lose 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.
o During Covid-19, Crisis of Conscience situation emerged. Doctors were in dilemma of what to do with
patients needing critical care. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were more critical
patients than existing capacity of the hospital. Doctors had to choose whom to save and whom to let die.
o During recent Anti- Encroachment drive, Muncipality officials have been ordered to forcefully evict
illegal shelters constructed by squatters on government land. The official observes that the occupants
are poor people who have small infants to take care of. In such case the official has to choose between
his/her conscience of giving them time to vacate or follow government order and perform his duty.
o Kevin Carter, a photojournalist, committed suicide due to repentance and grief for feeling he has done
something ethically wrong. He was covering famine-ridden Africa, where he was not allowed to touch
anyone for professional purposes. Subsequently, the journalist could not help a child from dying. Despite
his photographs rattling the morals of the world, he suffered from a crisis of conscience. The guilt of
inability to save the child compelled him to attempt suicide soon after returning from Africa.
 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
A CCOUNTABILITY

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.
Accountability includes—
 Answerability refers to the obligation of the government, its agencies and public officials to provide
information about their decisions and actions and to justify them to the public and those institutions of
accountability tasked with providing oversight.
 Enforcement suggests that the public or the institution responsible for accountability can sanction the
offending party or remedy the contravening behaviour. As such, different institutions of accountability
might be responsible for either or both of these stages.
W HY IS IT NEEDED ?
 It prevents the public services from turning into tyrant as they are held answerable to their deeds and mis-
deeds.
 Avoids conflict of interests-Setting accountability clearly demarcates area of one’s actions where he or she
is required to act.
 The first and last beneficiary of public service is public, as the public services are required to act in interest
of public and they are answerable for their actions.
 Promotes justice, equality, and egalitarianism because public servants are required to realize these
constitutional ideals and at the same time, they are answerable for their actions.
 It brings legitimacy to public services- Accountability promotes the loyalty to service as actions are carefully
calculated and keeps a check on arbitrary and ill-conceived actions and policies
M ETHOD TO ENSURE A CCOUNTABILITY :
 Capacity building of Stakeholders to question the public officials about their discharging of official duties.
For example, the concept of Social Audit under MGNREGA. Also, effective implementation of laws like
Prevention of Corruption Act should be ensured.
 By promoting transparency, through effective implementation of RTI in full earnest, especially the pro-
active disclosure, then public officials would be more careful to function strictly according to the spirit of
the law and constitution. Secondly, it would educate the people about their rights, entitlements and how
to question their fulfilment.
 The independence and effective role of judiciary is crucial for upholding the rule of law in India, thus
various steps like Memorandum of Procedure, e-courts among other should be promoted.
 The final expression of accountability in a democracy is through the medium of periodic elections which is
an instrument for punishing and rewarding the Government of the day, and therefore, serves as an ultimate
instrument of accountability. The electoral reforms and democratic maturity of people is the ultimate
bulwark of accountability.
I NSTITUTIONS AND MECHANISMS THAT P ROMOTE A CCOUNTABILITY
Outside the State: Vertical Within the State: Horizontal
 To the People through  External (Outside the Executive) - Parliament, Judiciary,

elections Lokayukta, CAG, CVC
 Through RTI Act to Citizens  Internal (Within the Executive)
 Citizen’ Oversight Committees  Superior officers-
 Civil Society/ Watchdog bodies  Rewards/Punishments
 Media  Disciplinary Procedures
 Service Delivery Surveys  Performances Management System
 Citizen’s Charters  CBI/Police/Vigilance
 Integrity Pacts  Internal Audit
 Citizen Report Cards  Grievances Redressal Mechanisms (Prevention Of Corruption Act,
 Through Whistle Blower Act Official Secrets Act)
 E- Governance mechanisms (Pragati, NeGP etc.)
T YPES OF A CCOUNTABILITY :
 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.
 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.
S IGNIFICANCE OF ACCOUNTABILITY IN G OVERNANCE :

 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.
R ESPONSIBILITY :
It means accountability to oneself, i.e. when the accountability turns inward. It is a moral concept, where a person
feels the answerable to oneself for all his actions, even if it is not covered by any law.
It is more enduring than accountability, because it is based on ethical reasoning, and the person would always do
the right thing, even if nobody is there to watch his action, as he holds himself answerable to oneself. Here the
person takes ownership of one’s actions and decisions.
Authority : Power given to a person to act
D IFFERENCE BETWEEN ACCOUNTABILITY AND and make decisions within boundaries
R ESPONSIBILITY :
Responsibilty: Carrying out the specific
 Responsibility refers to being in-charge delegated tasks
of certain duties which are expected to
be performed by virtue of being in a Accountability: Being liable for actions
and decisions
certain post/position. Accountability is
one step ahead. It includes
answerability, i.e. being liable for the outcomes achieved due to performance of the duty. Therefore,
accountability can be held on to a person only after the task is done.
 For e.g. – A judge is responsible for delivering a judgment, but is not accountable if the outcomes are not
as expected. A DM is both responsible as well as accountable for ensuring compliance with RTE in her
district.
 In individualistic terms, responsibility can also refer to what one expects of oneself or the others. To be
morally responsible for something, is to be worthy of particular kind of reaction, such as praise or blame in
pursuance of the act.
 For e.g. helping a destitute is a responsibility of the affluent and empathetic. However, they cannot be held
accountable for not helping them. They can be condemned, if one wishes so.
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)
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.
I MPORTANCE OF E THICAL G OVERNANCE :

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.
 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
Conclusion: Ethical governance is a continuing process, starting with the administration and extending to all
citizens. With transparency and unwavering ethics, people will seek to earn the trust of those they partner with,
forge lasting service relationships and strengthen business over the long term.
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.
S IGNIFICANCE OF I NTERNATIONAL E THICS

“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.
 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.
E THICAL CONCERNS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

 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: Russia’s attack on Ukrain and China’s aggression towards Taiwan for self-strategic interest
are disturbing supply chain. As a result, There are increase in price of commodities like Crude oil.
 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: Controlled production of crude oil by the OPEC countries, for higher market price of Crude
oil, Lack of Consesus on Patent Waiver for Covid -19 vaccines
 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.
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.
E THICAL 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.
M EASURES AT GLOBAL LEVEL TO DEAL ETHICAL ISSUES AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL –

Issues Global Efforts
Issues of Human Rights Violation –
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): The 30 rights and
 Political interventions frequently lead freedoms include civil and political rights, like the right to life,
to Human Rights Violations. liberty, free speech and privacy and economic, social and cultural
 Terrorism: States use Terrorism as a rights, like the right to social security, health and education, etc
tool of foreign policy and indulge in  Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner
human rights violation. (eg: Pakistan for Human Rights (OHCHR)
(supporting LeT, JeM), Iran Amnesty International: An international organisation of
(supporting Hezbollah)). volunteers who campaign for human rights. This organisation
 Refugee Issue: European nations are
brings out independent reports on the violation of human rights
closing their borders to refugees
fleeing war-torn areas. all over the world.
Efforts of Countries like India and Bangladesh to provide shelters
and aids for Rohingya Refugees.
 Humanitarian approaches extended by the world to reduce
hardship in Afganisthan related to food shortages and other
essential items.
 United Nations Peace Keeping Army are sent to establish Peace
and harmony in the conflict zone.
Climate Change Efforts:
 International Equity Concerns:  Commitment to strong climate action including the promotion of
Countries that are least responsible sustainable lifestyles based on mindful consumption and
for climate change and have the least reduction of waste.
economic capacity to fight the effects  Financial tools adopted such as – Polluter Pay Principle, Carbon
of climate change are the most Tax, Energy Saving Certificates, green Bonds etc
affected ones. For example Marshall  Mission Innovation: It is a global initiative of 22 countries and EU
Islands.
to accelerate global clean energy innovation. Participating
 Issue of Common but Differentiated
Responsibilities: There are issues in countries have committed to double their governments’ clean
defining and differentiating the energy R&D investments over 5 years.
responsibilities between present and  Decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions.
future generations as well as  Glasgo Climate Summit and Major countries disclosed their target
developed and developing countries. of becoming Carbon Neutral. Ex, India will become carbon neutral
 Climate Sceptics don’t consider
by 2070.
climate change to be real.
 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)- It refers to a market
mechanism for achieving GHG emissions reduction under the
Kyoto protocol. It allows an industrialized/developed country with
an emission-reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol to
implement an emission-reduction project in any of those
developing countries and earn tradable Certified Emission
Reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one ton of CO2.
 Proposal made for Climate finance and Climate Finance Delivery
Plan at the Glasgow summit.
 Focus on source of Renewable Energy and Establishment of
international institutions. Ex. International Solar Alliance.
 Increasing Green Cover to create more Carbon sinks.
Global commons are defined as those
parts of the planet that fall outside  Panel set up by WHO to monitor Zoonotic diseases
national jurisdictions and to which all  International Cooperation for the development of Vaccines
nations have access.  Framework for patent waiver on medicines, vaccines and other
 Zoonotic diseases like Covid-19 Medical devices related to Zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19
 Overfishing
 Accumulation of plastic waste
 Accumulation of Space debris
IPRs (Intellectual Property Rights)

 The developed countries are depriving  Guidelines set up by WTO regarding enforcement of IPRs
the poor countries of accessing the  Invoking of Compulsory Licencing clauses in the case of
new technologies (even life-saving emergency
drugs) by the restrictive clauses of
IPRs.
 It is essential to determine whether it
is justifiable for a country to defend its
IPRs on commercial grounds, or it
should share technology for the
greater interest of humanity.
Conclusion:
International ethics is a set of universal values that governs the actions and behaviours of nation-states. In
International Relations, the state is called an Actor. Hence, all decisions should protect and further the national
interests of the State (Machiavellian Ethics) but it should also be seen as ethical.
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.
I MPORTANCE OF C ORPORATE G OVERNANCE :

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.
 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.
I SSUES OF C ORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN I NDIA :

 Collusion: Companies sometimes 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
E XISTING MEASURES TO ENSURE E THICAL C ORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN I NDIA

 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.
 Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Guidelines: SEBI is a regulatory authority having jurisdiction
over listed companies and which issues regulations, rules and guidelines to companies to ensure protection
of investors.
 Accounting Standards issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI): ICAI is an
autonomous body, which issues accounting standards providing guidelines for disclosures of financial
information.
 Secretarial Standards issued by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI): ICSI is an autonomous
body, which issues secretarial standards in terms of the provisions of the New Companies Act
C OMMITTEES RELATED TO C ORPORATE G OVERNANCE IN I NDIA :
K UMAR M ANGALAM B IRLA C OMMITTEE R EPORT (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
N ARESH C HANDRA COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS (2002):

 The committee presented its report on Corporate Governance and Audit in November 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.
Following recommendations given by the Committee on Corporate Governance in their report --
 Prohibited non-audit services- The committee recommended certain services like valuation service,
internal audit etc, that the audit firm shall not provide to any of their audit clients.
 Compulsory rotation of auditors- Audit partners and not less than Fifty percent of the team members must
be rotated every five years.
 Auditor’s annual certification of independence- Before agreeing on the terms of the audit engagement,
the audit firm is required to submit a certificate of independence to the Audit Committee or Board of
Directors (BoD) of such company, as the case may be.
 Disqualification for audit assignments- The committee recommended certain disqualification for audit
assignments which prohibits the audit firm, the partners, or their direct relatives to Financially benefit
directly from the client; Receive loans and/or guarantee from or on behalf of the audit client; etc.
 Appointment of auditors- For audit committees to have a larger role in audit procedures, the audit
committee shall have the first power to appoint an auditor.
N ARAYAN 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. The key mandatory recommendations focus
on –
 Strengthening the responsibilities of audit committees - At least one member should be ‘financially
knowledgeable’ and at least one member should have accounting or related financial management
proficiency.
 Quality of financial disclosures: Improving the quality of financial disclosures, including those related
to related party transactions.
 Proceeds from initial public offerings: Companies raising money through an IPO should disclose to the
Audit Committee, the uses / applications of funds by major category like capital expenditure, sales and
marketing, working capital, etc
 Requiring corporate executive boards to assess and disclose business risks in the annual reports of
companies.
 The position of nominee directors: Nominee of the Government on public sector companies shall be
similarly elected and shall be subject to the same responsibilities and liabilities as other directors
 Improved disclosures relating to compensation paid to non-executive directors.
U DAY KOTAK C OMMITTEE 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.
C ORPORATE 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.
Provision of Corporate Social Responsibility under

Activities that can be taken up as CSR:
Companies Act, 2013:
 Promotion of Education
• Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 which contains
 Eradication of extreme hunger and poverty
CSR provisions is applicable to companies
 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.
S IGNIFICANCE FOR C ORPORATE SOCIAL R ESPONSIBILITY :  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.
• Competitive advantage - Businesses that show how they are more socially responsible than their competitors
tend to stand out.
• Boosts employee morale - CSR practices have a significant impact on employee morale, as it reinforces his
confidence on Company’s empathy.
• Consumers are socially conscious - Many consumers actively seek out companies that support charitable causes.
Therefore, CSR attracts customers.
I SSUES WITH C ORPORATE 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;
CSR policy which leads to failure in giving definitive o Contribution to political parties;
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
• Skewed pattern of expenditure: Around 65% of CSR financial years to hire Independent agency to conduct
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.
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
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
P ROBITY 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.
P HILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF G OVERNANCE AND P ROBITY

 Indian scriptures like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Arthashastra, 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.
 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
O BJECTIVE OF P ROBITY 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.
6. Equitable and sustainable development: It is an essential and vital requirement for an efficient and
effective system of governance and for socio-economic development.
7. To serve the constitutional cause: Probity in Governance is required to serve the motto of Constitution.
i.e. to provide Social, Political and economic justice to all. It enhances faith in the governance.
8. Reduced politicization of bureaucracy: It helps address nepotism, Favoritism, Political partisanship. Public
reposes more trust in governance and therefore it facilitates participatory governance.
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.
C HALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH P ROBITY IN G OVERNANCE :

 Lack of fair and effective implementation of laws: It is the implementation of the law that tests its
effectiveness in addressing problems on the ground. Poor implementation will make even the greatest law
ineffective. Ex. Effective implementation of whistle blower act, RTI act, enforcement of section 5 of Benami
Transactions Act, i.e confiscation of Benami property, help to achieve objectivity of Probity in Governance.
 Colonial legacy: Due to ingrained culture of indiscipline resulting out of colonial legacy of
bureaucracy/executive functioning, that those in authority can exercise power in an unchallenged way
 Historical and social asymmetries of powers in society: Nearly 90% of the people work in the unorganized
sector. Two thirds of the remaining work in the organized sector having job security and regular monthly
wages and are employees of the state either directly or indirectly. Such asymmetry of power reduces
societal pressure to conform to ethical behaviour.
 Erosion of Values and Institutions: Gross perversion of the Constitution and democratic institutions
amounting to wilful violation of the oath of office and this is so deeply entrenched in the system that most
people regard corruption as inevitable and any effort to fight it as futile. This cynicism is spreading so fast
that it bodes ill for our democratic system itself
 Culture of Corruption ingrained in society: It is unfortunate that corruption has, for many, become a matter
of habit. It is so deeply entrenched that corruption is now considered a social norm. Greed for Illegitimate
Money, Over Centralisation is some of the reason for the culture of corruption.
 Lack of Transparency in the working of Institutions: Transparency is a cornerstone for probity. Due to
opaque working ambient in the organisation, it is difficult to maintain probity in the governance of the
Institutions.
I MPORTANCE OF CIVIL SERVICES TO G OVERNANCE

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.
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.
A PPROACHES IN P UBLIC A DMINISTRATION TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF SERVICE DELIVERY
N EW P UBLIC 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
D EVELOPMENT A DMINISTRATION
 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
N EW P UBLIC ADMINISTRATION
 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.
N EW P UBLIC M ANAGEMENT
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.
E NTREPRENEURIAL G OVERNMENT
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
S OCIAL C ONTRACT
 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.
 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.
T RANSPARENCY
 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. These empower citizens, foster their participation in public affairs, strengthen participatory democracy and
usher in people centric governance.
6. Transparency of information is also seen as significant for motivating citizens to exercise ‘voice power’.
Voice power is defined as the capacity of citizens to pressurize the frontline officials in ensuring effective
delivery of services. This voice power results in greater accountability.
7. It develops friendly relation between the public and the administrators.
Therefore, we can say that in a broad sense, Transparency refers not only to the level of openness, accessibility and
reliability of information but also to style of functioning and the priorities accorded by the government in policy
making.
T RANSPARENCY : A P ILLAR OF E THICAL G OVERNANCE

 Transparency and accountability is the fundamental requirement for preventing the abuse of power.
 Open, transparent and accountable government is an imperative prerequisite for communityoriented public
service delivery because without it covert unethical behaviour will result.
 Transparency is not just a means to fulfill certain functions but an end in itself.
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
I SSUES WITH RESPECT TO TRANSPARENCY IN I NDIA

 Official Secrets Act (OSA)-
The presence of abundant discretion converts every legal matter into confidential matter.
 OSA broadly deals with two aspects — Spying or Espionage and disclosure of secret information of
the government.
 However, the OSA does not define the secret information, the government follows the Manual of
Departmental Security Instructions, 1994 for classifying a document as secret.
 It is India’s anti-espionage. It states that actions which involve helping an enemy state against
India are strongly condemned.
 It also states that one cannot approach, inspect, or even pass over a prohibited government site
or area.
 RTI Act- It is the law that gives an ordinary citizen the right to ask questions to the government. The act
has strengthened pillars of good governance like Participation, Transparency, Legitimacy and
Responsiveness. It is a tool of participatory democracy which augments good governance and socio-eco
service delivery.
However, there are some challenges with RTI act such as –
 Reluctance to fill vacancies,
 High backlog of cases,

 Political parties are still outside the purview of RTI Act.
 Lack of performance audit of implementation of RTI act meant that there is lack of effective
implementation of RTI provisions
 Whistle blower Protection Act- The act establishes a mechanism to receive complaints related to disclosure
of allegations of corruption or wilful misuse of power or discretion, against any public servant, and to
inquire or cause an inquiry into such disclosure. The act also provides adequate safeguards against
victimization of the person making such complaints. It allows any person, including a public servant, to
make a public interest disclosure before a Competent Authority. which is yet to be operationalized.
M ECHANISM TO ENSURE PROBITY IN I NDIA
R IGHT TO INFORMATION A CT
 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.
P ROBLEMS 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.
R ECENT RTI AMENDMENT

Following amendments have been made in the RTI
ACT:
 Term:
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.
A RGUMENTS 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.
A RGUMENTS 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.
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.
W HY 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.
I MPACT OF THE ACT

1. The act improved the life of the poor and the marginalised.
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.
W HISTLE 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.
 Whistle blowers are the best source of information on malpractices in any organisation — public or private.
 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."
A RGUMENTS 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.
A RGUMENTS 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.
C ODE 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
o Integrity
o Impartiality
o Commitment to public service.
o Accountability.
o Devotion to duty.
o Exemplary behaviour.
P URPOSE OF C ODE OF E THICS AND CONDUCT

The codes are developed based not only on past organizational or individual experience, but also based on actions
that the organization wishes to prevent from ever occurring. Three main purposes that the codes of ethics serve,
which are as following:
(a) Codes assure people outside the profession or organization that they can expect a degree of uniformity as relates
to expectation of performance and moral conduct from employees of the profession or organization.
(b) Codes assure individuals within the organization or profession that they can rely upon colleagues within the
organization and profession to maintain a level of standards in exchange for that individual conducting himself in
adherence to the same principles upon which the others are held.
(c) Codes serve as a notice that people outside of the organization or profession are not bound by the code and,
perhaps may be seen as adhering to lower standards pertaining to ethics.
L IMITATIONS OF CODE OF E THICS

 Code of Ethics, no matter how well intentioned may generate several limitations, some of which are as
following;
a. A code of ethics cannot provide guidance for every individual in every situation.
b. Ethical code will through guidelines helps ensures public trust but cannot be enforced through
criminal or civil code. It serves little to establish code of ethics that cannot be defended in courts.
c. Limited to the imagination of individuals. Behaviour cannot be guided by set of rules, it must come
from within the individuals and the organisations.
d. Public service is a profession that must be governed by an inherent set of rules that do not come
from reading a specific code.
C ODES 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.
D IFFERENCE BETWEEN C ODE OF E THICS AND C ODE OF C ONDUCT

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.
It is set of principles which influence the judgement Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines that influence
employee’s actions
It is wider in nature as compared to Code of Conduct. Code of Conduct are narrow
Generally, Ethical standards are non-specific and are Conduct standards generally provides a fairly set of
designed to provide a set of values or decision making expectations about which actions are required, acceptable
or prohibited.
It enables employee to make independent It enables employees to work in compliance with rules and
judgements about the most appropriate course of actions are guided by the codes
action
A particular rule in the code of Ethics might states A code of Conduct might list several specific laws relevant
that all employee obeys the law to specific areas of organizational operations, that
employees need to obey
S ECOND 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.
C ITIZEN ’ S C HARTER
 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.
S IGNIFICANCE OF C ITIZEN ’ S C HARTER

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.
C HALLENGES WITH C ITIZEN C HARTER

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.
W ORK C ULTURE
 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.
C HARACTERISTICS 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.
 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
W ORK 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.
S ERVICE D ELIVERY
 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.
C HALLENGES
 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.
S UGGESTIONS 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.
 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.
C ORRUPTION
Quotes: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”-Lord Acton
 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.
T YPES OF CORRUPTION
Coercive corruption Collusive corruption

- Here the citizen is compelled to pay a bribe in order - There is collusion between the bribe giver and the
to get the service. public servant.
- Citizens ends up loosing much more when they try - Both of them benefit at the cost of the society.
to resist corruption. - For example, in awarding contracts for public
- It can be in the form like delays, harassment, lost works and procurement of goods & services,
opportunity, loss or precious time and wages, at recruitment of employees etc.
times even potential danger of loss of life or limb.
C ORRUPTION , 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.
C HALLENGES POSED BY CORRUPTION

 People benefitting from corruption tries to maintain status quo and resist any reform.
 Corruption discourages capital inflows and FDIs.
 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.
 Corruption in the social sectors like PDS, health and education schemes lead to demographic disadvantage.
 Undermines ease of doing business
 Corruption in the public services sector carries high risks for conducting good businesses. Companies are
likely to unwanted red tapes, petty corruption, bribes for finalizing any procedures or deals.
 The corrupt system denies the poor a chance to improve their status rendering them eternally poor
 The loss of exchequer by the big scams are always recovered by higher taxes. It hampers intergenerational
parity in taxation.
 Corruption leads to the loss of legitimacy of the political systems and gives free hand to non-state actors.
E.g Left-wing extremism
C AUSES OF CORRUPTION
Administrative Social and Ethical Economic Political
 Criminalisation of Politics and Increasing High share of Use of black money in

Politicisation of bureaucracy Individualisation and informal sector elections
 Colonial bureaucracy materialism
 Failed Administrative Reforms Ease of Doing Criminalisation of
Social discrimination business Politics
 Low wages of Public servant and lack of
Career growth opportunities
Failure of Education High Inequalities Crony Capitalism
 Judicial failure - Delays and Pendencies
system to impart
 Lack of effective grievance redress values
mechanisms
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.
Other Reasons:
 The weak legal framework for punitive action: Because of ill-defined policies, weak regulatory frameworks
and large indiscretion among ministers and high public officials, India has witnessed large cases of crony
capitalism that may derail the entire economy. E.g. The CBI alone has hundreds of cases pending in various
courts under the PCA, some of them as old as 25 years.
 Political Corruption: It is widely recognized that huge money required to fight elections is the foundation
of political corruption. Due to the vast geographical area of a constituency, with more than two million
voters in many cases, a candidate has to spend huge money to contest the elections.
 Over-regulation combined with a weak state fosters corruption
 Bureaucratic Red-Tapism and Abetting Corruption: This has been highlighted suitably by Robert Merton
as, “When the rule becomes more important than the game itself”.
 MNC’s and Lobbying: Lobbying means any activity of a group or individual with special interest designed
to influence the legislative or regulatory actions of a public authority.
 Rise of the Elites and the post liberalization Corruption: The mega corruption thrives because of a nexus
between big business, politician and bureaucrat as highlighted by Transparency International.
W AYS TO TACKLE C ORRUPTION:

 Strict adherence of Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics: The code of conduct established for various
officials needs to be backed by a Code of ethics which needs to be imbibed internally by the officials. Code
of conduct has its limitations but code of ethics will help in imbibing values like courtesy to public, honesty
and dedication towards work, responsiveness towards needs of public. This will ensure that there will be
no need of coerce public officials to show ethical behaviour.
 Effective implementation of Institutional measures: Strict and evolved implementation of the
accountability mechanisms be it effective laws, mechanisms, procedures and tools in accordance with the
changing dynamics of the requirements of the society is crucial. Bring together formal and informal
processes (this means working with the government as well as non-governmental groups) to change
behaviour and monitor progress will cut red tapism.
 Use of Technology: Use of e-governance and ICT tools to build dynamic and continuous exchanges between
key stakeholders: government, citizens, business, civil society groups, media, academia thus ensuring
transparency and accountability in governance.
o For example: The Indian Government’s Unique Identification Number AADHAR initiative of
gathering biometric and demographic data of all Indian residents and linking it with social benefits
like public distribution system entitlements is a good example to plug such leakages.
 Act globally and locally: Corruption is a global problem that requires global solutions. Keep citizens engaged
on corruption at local, national, international and global levels – in line with the scale and scope of
corruption. Make use of the architecture that has been developed and the platforms that exist for
engagement.
o Eg: UN Anti-corruption working group and WB anticorruption initiative. Chile’s e-commerce public
procurement system Chile Compra has gained immense popularity around the world by bringing
transparency in public spending.
 Power of the people: Citizens also need to undergo attitudinal change and must refrain from bribing
officials through ‘speed money’ to get their work done faster. They must be educated about the social costs
of corruption.
 Ingrain ethical organizational culture through regular ethical training modules and workshops.
Conclusion:
If corruption levels in India are reduced to those in Scandinavian countries, GDP would increase by 1.5% and
investment would increase by 12%. If all overseas black money is brought back, India can pay back its debt.
C ORRUPTION L AWS IN I NDIA
I NDIAN P ENAL C ODE , 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.
T HE B ENAMI TRANSACTIONS ( PROHIBITION ) A CT , 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.
T HE B ENAMI TRANSACTIONS ( PROHIBITION ) A MENDMENT A CT , 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.
P REVENTION OF C ORRUPTION A CT ,1988

 It provides for penalties in relation to corruption by public servants and also for those who are involved in the
abetment of an act of corruption.
 Amendment of 2018 criminalised both bribe-taking by public servants as well as bribe giving by any person.
P REVENTION OF M ONEY L AUNDERING A CT , 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 stricter.
 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.
 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”.
T HE C OMPANIES A CT , 2013
 It provides for corporate governance and prevention of corruption and fraud in the corporate sector.
 The term 'fraud' has been given a broad definition and is a criminal offence under the Companies Act.
 In cases involving fraud specifically, the Serious Frauds Investigation Office (SFIO) has been set up under the
Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which is responsible for dealing with white collar crimes and offences in
companies.
 The SFIO conducts investigation under the provisions of the Companies Act.
I NSTITUTIONS FOR DEALING WITH CORRUPTION
L OKPAL AND L OKAYUKTA

 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
C HIEF V IGILANCE C OMMISSION

 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
 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.
C ENTRAL B UREAU OF I NVESTIGATION

 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)
H OW 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.
W HY 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.
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.
S OCIAL 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 assess 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.
 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.
Z ERO 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.
CONTROLLING ADMINISTRATION
L EGISLATIVE C ONTROL 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.
J UDICIAL C ONTROL 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
 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-G OVERNANCE
 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.
W HY 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
I SSUES WITH E - GOVERNANCE
Economic Social Issues Technical
Cost – is one of the Digital divide- can occur Privacy- With citizens trusting their confidential information to the
important factors between the populations government, their privacy has to be protected from getting into the
which acts as who have access to the hands of third party who mas misuse it.
hindrance in digital digital facilities and those Spoofing: In this practice, the attacker attempts to gain the access
access. who lack it. of the E-Governance system by using fallacious identity either by
stealth or by using false IP address. Once the access is gained, the
Fraudulent Resistance to change- assailant abuses the E-Governance system by elevation of the
transactions- among some group of privileges.
government has to citizens, government Tampering of E-Governance system: As soon as the system is
ensure that employees public policy compromised and privileges are raised, the classified information of
fraudulent administrators can lead to the E-Governance mechanism becomes very much susceptible to
transactions don’t laggards. Government has illegal adjustments.
take and the same to prevent these laggards Interoperability A major design issue for integrated service delivery
time burden of through proper education sites is, how to capture data in a Web-based form and transfer it to
excessive checks and awareness. an agency’s systems for processing and sharing that information in
has to be avoided. a common format.
Management of Change Repudiation: Even the attacker can mount refutation attack during
Funding is the The delivery of the E-Governance transaction, which is the ability of the user to
foremost issue in e- Government services reject its performed transaction.
Governance through the electronic Disclosure of E-Governance Information: In case of the
initiatives. The media including EDI, compromised E-Governance system, the undesirable information
projects that are Internet and other IT disclosure can take place very easily.
part of the e- based technologies would Denial of Service: In this technique, attacker can perform Denial of
governance necessitate procedural Service (DoS) attack by flooding the E-Governance server with
initiatives need to and legal changes in the request to consume all of its resources so as to crash down the
be funded either decision and delivery mechanism.
through the making processes. It Elevation of privilege: Once an E-Governance system is
Government sector demands fundamental compromised; the attacker pretending to be a low profile user
or through the changes such as attempts to escalate to the high profiles so as to access its privileges
private sector. employees need to be to initiate further damage to the system.
delegated more authority; Cyber Crimes: Advancement of science and technology increase the
De- layering of the rate of the cybercrime. It is a threat to the transactions
decision-making levels accomplished between the Government and its Citizenry within the
leads to re-engineering E-Governance methodology.
and appropriate sizing of
the decision-making
machinery.
Due to above reasons, India has been ranked 100th in the UN e-governance index 2020.
 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.
CURRENT AFFAIRS FROM ETHICAL POINT OF VIEW
RUSSIA WAR
Topic: Cognitive Dissonance
Syllabus:
 Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour
Context:
 People of Russia – Whether to support their country or lean towards humanism
 Covid-19 treatment and medical Experts
What is Cognitive Dissonance?

 It is Mental conflict or discomfort which occurs when a person holds conflicting beliefs or when actions
contradict their beliefs.
 Cognitive dissonance is a sense of internal anxiety that is experienced when a person holds two inconsistent
cognitions.
 In other words, Cognitive dissonance is when your behaviour is in contradiction to your belief system.
For example:
 People believe that drinking and smoking are injurious to
health. Still, they drink and smoke.
 Russian People have been facing Cognitive Dissonance
whether to support their country in these testing times or
lean towards humanism for understanding the plight of the
Ukrainian people.
 Eating meat while also thinking of themselves as an animal
lover who dislikes the thought of killing animals.
 Purchasing a new car that is not fuel efficient, despite being
environmentally conscious
 Telling a lie despite the person thinking of themselves as
honest.
Causes:
 Forced Compliance behaviour: Sometimes one might find yourself engaging in behaviours that are
opposed to your own beliefs due to external expectations.
This might involve going along with something due to peer
pressure, prior commitments or as one’s duty
 Making Decision: When faced with choices which involve
conflicting beliefs, people often are left with feelings of
dissonance.
 Gaining new Information: Sometimes learning new
information can lead to feelings of cognitive dissonance. For
example, if you engage in a behaviour that you later learn is
harmful, it can lead to feelings of discomfort.
 Change the Conflicting Action or behaviour
 Reduce the Significance of the Conflicting belief
 Effort: Putting a great effort in achieving something, later realise that the accomplishment was not really
that special, then it can cause serious cognitive dissonance
Sign of Cognitive Dissonance

 Feeling uncomfortable before doing something or making a decision.
 Trying to justify or rationalise a decision that you've made or an action you have taken
 Feeling embarrassed or ashamed about something you've done and trying to hide your actions from other
people.
 Experiencing guilt or regret about something you've done in the past.
 Sense of internal anxiety that is experienced when a person holds two inconsistent cognitions.
Coping With Cognitive Dissonance:
 Changing Attitude
 Be open to new Information
 Question the value of Conflicting Cognitions
Case study:
Cognitive Dissonance among Medical Experts due to
COVID-19
Recently, a number of medical experts wrote to health
authorities for intervention and stopping the use of
medications and diagnostics that are inappropriate for the
clinical management of COVID-19. This was the result of
persistent cognitive dissonance faced by doctors due to
issues like:
 Use of limited efficacy drugs with greater risks over its benefits, violating the medical ethics of Beneficence
(maximum good).
 Doctors’ cognitive dissonance over use of unreliable drugs or wait for proper drugs availability.
 Use of High-cost drugs with no National Task Force endorsement and informed patient consent, i.e.,
violation of autonomy.
 Doctors’ cognitive dissonance due to price and inconsistency between CDSCO approved COVID-19 drugs
and drugs endorsed by National Task Force on Covid-19. Eg. Itolizumab, a monoclonal antibody, with a
price of ₹32,000 for four vials was approved by CDSCO after trial over 30 patients.
 Increased hospitalisation cost and black marketing during Covid-19, violating ABCDE
the medical ethics of equality/equity as well as moral ideals like justice and A- Autonomy
proportionality. All this cognitive dissonance led to irrational drug use, B- B- Beneficence
higher costs for patients and confusion within the medical community, C- Confidentiality
D- Do no harm
leading to moral distress.
E- Equality/Equity
F- Fairness
What can be done to overcome the Cognitive Dissonance of the situation?
A Just War Must meet these requirements

1. A Last Resort: Only if all peaceful methods fail
2. A just Cause: Must Correct a grave, immediate, ongoing evil
3. Valid Authority: Must arise from a consistent policy or principle
4. Probable Success: Men can’t be sent to die hopelessly
5. Proportionality: Force must be proportional and no more than necessary
6. Exit Strategy: It must be fought fairly and end as quickly as possible
 Coordination: Address the lack of coordination between the National Task Force on COVID-19 and Central
Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
 Transparency: The drug’s approval should be more transparent, i.e., open and accessible for all to avoid
misuse of power and make citizens more aware.
 Objectivity: CDSCO should have more objectivity in drug’s approval to avoid hasty approval and ensure that
the efficacy of the drug is periodically monitored.
 Awareness: The medical professionals and citizens should be made aware of pros and cons of drugs to
remove moral distress and ensure informed consent.
Cognitive Dissonance among Russian People over War
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has spotlighted the ambivalent attitude of many Russian people whether to support
their country in these testing times or lean towards humanism for understanding the plight of the Ukrainian people.
This has been due to Cognitive dissonance faced by people because of issues such as:
 Disinformation: It has become a primary vehicle of the war waged by the Russian Federation against
Ukraine, leveraging entrenched narratives to convince Russians how its military forces carry out a “special
military operation” to liberate the people in Ukraine.
 State censorship and biassed pollsters: Censorship over liberal voices and making a narrative in the favour
of Russia by the state run media, has been causing to frame biassed opinions. Brainwashing through media
censorship, state propaganda, and disinformation are leading cognitive dissonance among the people.
 Geopolitical tensions: Cold war among world powers fumes feelings of chauvinism among common people.
As a result, people start thinking of their own country as a super aggressor and zero tolerance towards
others.
 Use of lethal weapons causing death of innocent people in Ukraine. Mass killing and destruction of
infrastructures bringin thought of empathy towards humanism for understanding the plight of the
Ukrainian people
Way Forward:
 International Cooperation to establish peace
 Compassionate view towards vulnerable sections
 Mutual Agreement for long lasting peace
 End of arm race
 Mutual respect for respective sovereignty
OPINION POLLS AND ETHICAL ISSUES

Context:
Issue with authenticity and transparency of Opinion polls for recently conducted Assembly elections.
An opinion poll is a pre-election survey to gather voters’ views on a range of election-related issues. On the other
hand, An exit poll is conducted immediately after people have voted, and assesses the support for political parties
and their candidates. Since this exercise has become more of a ritual, it is required to connect such polling directly
to morality and democratic processes.
Some opinion polls may be sponsored, motivated and biassed. Also, almost all polls are non-transparent, providing
little information on the methodology. With such infirmities, many “polls” amount to disinformation that can result
in “undue influence”, which is an “electoral offence” under IPC Section 171 (C). It is a “corrupt practice” under
section 123 (2) of the RP Act. It is unethical to release such data on the eve of an election since it can impact the
mind of the voter.
Ethical issues with the Opinion Polls:

 Paid News: It is a very common action, therefore, it is highly possible that some opinion polls may be
sponsored, motivated and biassed.
 Undue influence: Opinion polls directly affect the sanctity and integrity of the electoral process. They are
able to influence electoral behaviour and distort electoral outcomes.
 Disinformation: Almost all polls are non-transparent, providing little information on the methodology. With
such infirmities, many “polls” amount to disinformation that can result in “undue influence”, which is an
“electoral offence” under IPC Section 171 (C). It is a “corrupt practice” under Section 123 (2) of the RP Act.
 Suspicious affair: A survey getting some elections right is not proof of its credibility or robustness.
 Bandwagon effect: The bandwagon effect claims that voters “jump on the bandwagon,” which means that
if a party is gaining in the polls, the party will gain additional support from the voters, and vice versa if the
party is losing in the polls.
 Issues with the smaller parties: It adversely impacts the small and new parties because the voter sees two
things – which is the party he likes and whether it is in a position to win.
 Vague and excessive claims: Pollsters make matters worse by making excessive claims, nothing short of
black magic.
 Less focus on methods: A general unwillingness on the part of polling agencies and the media to share even
basic methodological details about their polls compounds the problem.
 Based on Negligible data: Due to this, the opinion polls do not reflect the actual figure. Also, they are
telecast before the elections only to benefit select political parties.
Way Forward:
 Code of Conduct: There should be a Code of conduct for the Opinion Polls. Sampling frame, sample size
and the exact technique used to draw the sample; the social profile of the achieved sample to be disclosed.
 Transparency: The ownership and track record of the organisation carrying out the survey, details of the
sponsor to be made in Public
 Effective alternative method: There is required efforts to explore alternatives to the present procedure of
the Opinion polls, alternatives that have been successfully used all over the world.
 Methodology: Raw vote shares reported in the survey and how they were converted into vote estimates
and seats forecast
Conclusion:
Opinion polls do not just reflect the opinions of people but influence them to create an aura of winnability.
Analysing the vulnerability of voters to such influence, there is a crying need to regulate this danger and protect
the sanctity of India’s democracy. Once in place, such a mechanism would help the public tell the difference
between a genuine and rogue poll and incentivise transparent practices. That would be a significant step forward
in democratic public culture. After all, public opinion polling is too valuable and consequential to be left to
politicians, or pollsters.
ETHICS OF METAVERSE
Quote: It is said- ‘In the digital realm, code dictates life’. The time has come when life should dictate the code
Syllabus: Ethics and Human Interface: Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in-human actions
Context:
Recently, In Tamil Nadu a couple hosted India’s first wedding reception in Metaverse. The bride’s father had passed
away but attended and blessed the couple in a digital avatar at the wedding.
Metaverse is a combination of multiple elements of technology, including virtual reality, augmented reality and
video where users "live" within a digitally enhanced surrounding.
Ethical issues related to Metaverse:

 Biometric data and privacy: Virtual and augmented reality devices are set to provide users with access to
the metaverse but will track brain wave patterns and deduct user thought processes. This technology will
offer companies exciting new ways of engaging with consumers and predicting their behaviours or
engagement but it also means that even more of our intrinsically private and personal data can be gathered,
stored and kept on the blockchain forever.
 Protecting the vulnerable: The vulnerable section, i.e., children, senior citizens and digitally unaware
among others are more vulnerable to influences of the metaverse environment. E.g., hyper-reality
experiences could trigger a sensory overload and induce fits or seizures in users who have a disorder like
epilepsy.
 Toxicity: Platforms like metaverse have become a breeding ground for toxicity, bullies and hate speech.
People vocalise opinions that they would never express in real life.
 Issues of inequality in the tech industry: Inequality in digital space has created a new class of ‘haves’ and
‘have nots’. As a result, the socio-economic divide has been aggravated. The prevalence of metaverse could
create further divide due to economic capacity, urban-rural gaps etc.
 Lack of Decentralisation: A centralised metaverse which is governed, owned, and operated by tech giants
then the problems such as data privacy, thefts, manipulations, and conditioning to favour some and not to
favour some, will come to rise.
 Misuse and unfair ownership of data: In a seamless environment such as metaverse, it would be difficult
to implement the current consent based permission structure for private data resulting in muddled
ownership of data and increased vulnerability to misuse.
 Translation of Laws and Rights from Real to Digital space: In the absence of a regulatory framework in the
form of laws or a constitution, it is difficult to understand what are the Rights that will be protected and
how will they be protected.
 Psychological issues with multiple Identities: Metaverse would enable the individual to create a digital
identity without the pushes and pulls of the society and the situation one is born in. This could create more
identification with the digital identity leading to issues like self-pity and dissatisfaction with oneself in
reality.
Way Forward:
 Regulatory frameworks and awareness: Preventing cyberbullying and sexual harassment and ensuring
inclusivity through community guidelines and privacy protections. Projects involving children or other
vulnerable populations should be given special consideration.
 Consumer centric approach: All aspects of Metaverse to be examined thoroughly which affects the life of
the consumer legally, personally, socially and emotionally.
 Decentralisation: A democratised platform by all and for all will provide an environment of transparent and
safe digital space.
 Transparency in Data Collection: Ensuring that privacy policies specifically mention Metaverse data and
how that data will be used, shared, and protected.
 Tackling inequality in the tech industry: For the metaverse to be inclusive, digital divide to be bridged by
reducing existing inequalities and creating digital environments where everyone can belong.
 Secure the experience: Use the best security protocols and protection to ensure that malicious actors
cannot alter or harm users while they are in the VR experience. o For example, a community member might
get voted off the island if enough token holders think someone is not operating in a way that adheres to
the community guidelines.
Guiding Principles: Engaging in the Metaverse

Ethical SKillset Appreciation for Universal Rights
Self- esteem/ Sense of Security: Issue of insecurity Right to Equality: Equality in the Metaverse would
could get aggravated in the Metaverse as peer imply equal right to digital spaces and actions for
comparisons are more engaging and closer to reality. equally situated people (digitally)
Emotional Intelligence: It is important that the user has Right to Freedom: Within the boundaries collectively
emotional understanding of difference in their agreed by the platform and the participants, the user
experiences of the real world and the metaverse. should have all the freedom that they enjoy in real life
Flexibility/ adaptability: Engaging in the Metaverse pre- Right to Privacy: In this data driven ecosystem, the
requisites intellectual and emotional adaptability Right to privacy is a sin – qua – non for fair and just
towards experiences. participation on the platform
Regard for others: For Metaverse to be a communal Right to Security: It is the Right of the user and
space, it is important that the users regard the responsibility of the platform that every participant is
existence of other users with respect secured from issues like emotional trauma, cybercrime,
digital abuse.
Understanding of digital etiquettes: Like real life, the
digital life would also have social norms which extend Right to non- participation/exit: The user needs to be
beyond the rigid rules. Ex. Not intervening in digital accorded a ‘Right to Exit’ on lines of the ‘Right to be
spaces uninvited. Forgotten’. This would entail ensuring non- usability of
the information generated and created by the user
such as their digital home, avatar etc.
Conclusion:
In this dynamically evolving domain, to ensure that these principles are incorporated in both letter and spirit, the
platform, developers and users will have to innovate continuously and proactively
GLOBAL AGREEMENT ON ETHICS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENC E
Context:
The United Nations adopted a historical text defining the common values and principles needed to ensure the
healthy development of artificial intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence:
It is a branch of computer science that deals with creating computers or machines as intelligent as human beings.
It refers to the ability of the machines to perform human intelligence processes like thinking, perceiving, learning,
problem-solving and decision making.
In the word of Elon Musk about emotionless

of AI —
“AI doesn’t have to be evil to destroy humanity

– if AI has a goal and humanity just happens to
come in the way, it will destroy humanity as a
matter of course without even thinking about
it, no hard feelings.” Elon Musk
What is AI Ethics?
AI ethics is a system of moral principles and
techniques intended to inform the
development and responsible use of artificial
intelligence technology.
Ethical Challenges with AI

 Explainability: When AI systems go misaligned, teams need to be able to trace through a complex chain of
algorithmic systems and data processes to find out the reason. Organisations using AI should be able to
explain the source data, resulting data, what their algorithms do and why they are doing that. AI needs to
have a strong degree of traceability to ensure that if harms arise, they can be traced back to the cause.
 Risk of Unemployment: The hierarchy of labour is concerned primarily with automation. Robotics and AI
companies are building intelligent machines that perform tasks typically carried out by low-income
workers. For Example: self-service kiosks to replace cashiers, fruit-picking robots to replace field workers,
etc.; Moreover, the day is not far when many desk jobs will also be edged out by AI, such as accountants,
financial traders, and middle managers. Driverless car has potential to make many drivers unemployed
 Responsibility: Society is still sorting out responsibility when decisions made by AI systems have
catastrophic consequences, including loss of capital, health or life. Responsibility for the consequences of
AI-based decisions needs to be sorted out in a process that includes lawyers, regulators and citizens.
 Misuse: AI algorithms may be used for purposes other than those for which they were created. These
scenarios should be analysed at the design stage to minimise the risks and introduce safety measures to
reduce the adverse effects in such cases.
 Tech Addiction: Technological addiction is the new frontier of human dependency. AI has already become
effective at directing human attention and triggering certain actions. When used right, this could evolve
into an opportunity to nudge society towards more beneficial behaviour. However, in the wrong hands, it
could prove detrimental.
 Discriminating Robots: We shouldn’t forget that AI systems are created by humans, who can be biased and
judgemental. It can lead to AI facial recognition and surveillance technology to discriminate against people
of colour and minorities.
 Data Privacy Concerns: AI also presents serious data privacy concerns. The algorithm’s never-ending quest
for data has led to our digital footprints being harvested and sold without our knowledge or informed
consent. For example: The case of Cambridge Analytica, in which such algorithms and big data were used
to alter voting decisions.
 AI Turning Against Humans: If artificial intelligence itself turned against humans then it will become
catastrophic for humanity. For Example: If an AI system that is asked to eradicate cancer in the world. After
a lot of computing, it spits out a formula that does, in fact, bring about the end of cancer by killing everyone
on the planet.
Way Forward:
 “Whole of society” approach to AI governance will enable us to develop broad-based ethical principles,
cultures and codes of conduct. Given the global reach of AI, such a “Whole of society” approach must rest
on a “Whole of world” approach.
 Awareness: Executives, data scientists, front-line employees and consumers all need to understand
policies, key considerations and potential negative impacts of unethical AI and fake data.
 Strike the right balance between AI promotion and AI governance.
 Executives need to architect AI systems to automatically detect fake data and unethical behaviour.
 Organisations need to invest in defensive measures rooted in open, transparent and trusted AI
infrastructure.
Conclusion:
The world needs rules for artificial intelligence to benefit humanity. The Recommendation on the ethics of AI is a
major answer. Without ethical guard rails, AI will widen social and economic rift, amplifying any innate biases at an
irreversible scale and rate and lead to discriminatory outcomes.
CUSTODIAL VIOLENCE
Syllabus: Civil Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration: Status and Problems and Emotional Intelligence
Context:
 Recent death of a father-son duo from Tamil Nadu, allegedly due to custodial violence, has sparked anger
across India.
 As per the report of National Crime Records Bureau
(NCRB), the number of deaths in police custody
between 2001 and 2018 was 1,727. But only 810 cases
were reported, 334 were charge-sheeted out of which
just 26 policemen were convicted.
What is Custodial Violence?

Custodial violence primarily refers to violence in police and
judicial custody. It includes death, rape and torture.
Is Torture Justified in Certain Cases?
Utilitarian view says that an act is right if it brings about the greatest good for the greatest number. For example,
 If someone has kidnapped a child and left him/her to die somewhere. In this case,If torturing someone is
the only way to find out the whereabout of the child, ,then it might be the right thing to do.
 In similar case, if torturing a terrorist uncovers a plot, then it might save many lives.
Categorical Imperative:
 As per Immanuel Kant’s theory, not hurting others is a categorical imperative, which all human beings must
follow throughout their lives.
 Torture is unjustified as it consists of intentional infliction of severe physical, mental or emotional suffering
on the other person.
 Immanuel Kant also said one should never treat
people merely as instruments; and just as means
to one’s goals. E.g. There's a difference between
a tape recorder and a person. If you’re having
trouble getting information out of a tape
recorder you can pound on it or kick it. This may
not be very effective, but it isn’t immoral.’ But if
you want to get information out of a person, you
should convince them to tell you what you want
to know.
Human Rights approach:

 Torture of human beings consists of curtailment
of individual autonomy. Given the moral
importance of autonomy, torture is also unjustifiable on this account.
 It is sometimes also used to suppress independent thought and make people comply with the more
accepted beliefs of the society.
 Torture treats the victim as a means to an end and not an end in themselves. It often explicitly dehumanise
their victims to make it easier to torture them. It violates the rights and human dignity of the victim,
including the legal right to remain silent when questioned.
Consequentialist Arguments against Torture

 Torture is a slippery slope - each act of torture makes it easier to accept the use of torture in the future.
It is an ineffective interrogation tool as there is no guarantee that the person who is being tortured will give
the correct information because under torture a prisoner will eventually say anything to stop the pain.
More effective methods of interrogation that don’t involve torture are available. Also, if a suspect is
tortured it may be impossible to prosecute them successfully as many countries law, including India,
excludes involuntary statements or confessions on the ground that such evidence is inherently unreliable.
 Torture damages the humanity: Those who carry out torture are likely to become brutalised by their acts,
and desensitised to humanity.
 Institution: Torture damages the institution that carries it out. It damages the reputation and moral
authority of the institution. Its use is likely to produce internal dissent among the members and so damages
the integrity of the institution.
 Use as Propaganda and the Non state actors: Torture provides ‘the enemy‘ with something they can exploit
for propaganda. For example, the terrorist organizations like ISIS use state brutalities as an excuse to
radicalize the youths to pick up arms. Way Forward
Though, torture is unjustified from many ethical perspectives, but there may be situations when the unity and
integrity of the State is under threat or the lives of innocent people may be in danger.
 Under such situations, a law enforcement officer or a person with noble intentions might feel compelled to
undertake any means necessary to protect the country or to save their lives.
 It is important to note here that the actions of the officer in such a scenario are guided by the supreme
value of nationalism and Protecting lives. Thus, it would be unjustified to conclude that the person
undertaking such an action is ethically wrong.
 Thus, the issue of torture is complicated and needs to be discussed in public domain to evolve a consensus
on the same. The feedback of the states on the draft prevention of custodial torture bill will be the first
step towards developing consensus. Later, views of the civil society and legal and ethical experts should
also be solicited.
Way Forward:
 India should ratify the UN Convention Against Torture: It will mandate a systematic review of colonial
rules, methods, practices and arrangements for the custody and treatment of persons subjected to any
form of arrest, detention or imprisonment. It will also mean that exclusive mechanisms of redress and
compensation will be set up for the victim besides institutions such as the Board of Visitors.
 Police Reforms: Guidelines should also be formulated on educating and training officials involved in the
cases involving deprivation of liberty because torture cannot be effectively prevented till the senior police
wisely anticipate the gravity of such issues and clear reorientation is devised from present practices.
 Access to Prison: Unrestricted and regular access to independent and qualified persons to places of
detention for inspection should also be allowed. CCTV cameras should be installed in police stations
including in the interrogation rooms. Surprise inspections by Non-Official Visitors (NOVs) should also be
made mandatory which would act as a preventive measures against custodial torture which has also been
suggested by Supreme Court in its landmark judgment in the DK Basu Case in 2015.
 Implementation of Law Commission of India’s 273rd Report: The report recommends that those accused
of committing custodial torture – be it policemen, military and paramilitary personnel should be criminally
prosecuted instead of facing mere administrative action establishing an effective deterrent.
Conclusion:
Torture is always wrong, and it should always be illegal. Those who torture put themselves at risk of legal
punishment. But there may be cases where they can show good reasons why torture was necessary. Hence,
custodial torture must always be done as per rule of law. It should be used as a tool in order to ensure safety and
security of citizens and nations.
CORRUPTION IN INDIA
Syllabus: Public or Civil Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration
Context:
 Recently, Newly elected Punjab Chief Minister started an anti corruption action mobile number to curb the
corruption in the state.
 India has been ranked 85 among 180 countries in the Corruption Perception Index 2021, issued by the
Transparency International.
Corruption refers to the act of misuse and abuse of power especially by those in the government for personal gains
either pecuniary or a favour. It promotes illegality, unethicality, subjectivity, inequity, injustice, waste, inefficiency
and inconsistency in administrative conduct and behaviour.
Reason for corruption in India:
Political:
 Use of black money in elections: In the last 10 year the declared expenditure has increased by more than
400% for the LS elections with 69% of their income coming from unknown sources.
 Criminalization of politics: More than 30% of the legislators in the country have pending criminal cases
against them. Crony capitalism: The economic reforms of 1991 have led to the growth of unholy nexus
between Politicians and businessmen.
Economic:
 High inequalities: In India 1% of the rich hold about 60% of the total wealth. People at lower income levels
are forced to pay bribes to officials even to get their basic needs fulfilled.
 High share of informal sector: In India more than 80% of the workforce is in the informal sector. Such
enterprises usually bribe the officials to keep out of the ambit of laws where compliance is costly and
complex.
 Low wages: The remuneration in the public sector remains below par with the private sector along with
poor career growth opportunities and harsher working conditions.
Administrative:
 Politicisation of bureaucracy: Example of honest officers being witch-hunted like Ashok Khemka and
Amitabh Thakur are the indicators of the bigger malaise.
 Colonial bureaucracy: The bureaucracy essentially remains colonial in nature characterised by 19th century
laws e.g. Police Act 1861, complex rules, wide discretion, secrecy, moral responsibility devoid of legal
accountability and the ivory tower attitude. Judicial failure:The judiciary has failed to bring to book corrupt
officials including politicians.
 Failed reforms: Lack of political will and resistance from within the bureaucracy has led to failure of major
reforms like citizen charter, RTI and e-governance.
Social and Ethical:
 Changes in lifestyle: Increasing shift towards individualization and materialism has led to increased
penchant for a luxurious lifestyle.
 Social discrimination: The poor and marginalized due to their lack of awareness and high dependence on
the state become the easy target of exploitation by corrupt officials
 Failure of education system: The value education has failed miserably in India to inculcate the value of
empathy, compassion, integrity, equity etc. in the young generation.
Measures taken by the government to tackle corruption:
 Legal Steps: Prevention of Corruption Act 1988: Seeks to create a balance between the need to bring the
corrupt to the books and protect honest officers. Its main thrust is to prohibit public servants from
accepting or soliciting illegal gratification in the discharge of their official functions.
 Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002: It seeks to prevent money laundering including laundering of
property through corruption and provides for confiscation of such a property.
 Right to Information Act 2005: Makes disclosure of information a legal right of the public to promote
transparency e.g. Vyapam scam of MP
 Lokpal and Lokayukta Act 2013: Appoints an independent authority Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at
states to probe into the complaints of wrongdoing by the public servants.
 Whistle blower protection Act 2014: More than 60 RTI activists have been murdered and many more
assaulted due to lack of protection.
Administrative reforms:
 E-governance initiatives: e-gov apart from advancing the good governance objectives of accountability and
transparency also seeks to reduce the manual interface between state and citizen thus preventing the
incidences of bribery
 Citizen Charters and Public Service delivery and Grievance Redress Acts in states: Many states like Karnataka
(SAKLA initiative) and Rajasthan have enacted such acts to make bureaucracy legally accountable for
delivering quality service within stipulated time periods. Bihar is the only state to have a Grievance Redress
Act covering all departments
Economic Reforms:
 Liberalisation and Privatisation: Licence-Permit-Quota proved to be a highly potent tool in the hands of
bureaucracy to misuse the power of their offices to amass illegal wealth. The LPG era proved to be a chink
in the armor of bureaucratic discretion.
Despite these emerging trends, however, the institutional anti-corruption framework generally suffers from a lack
of coordination, and overlapping and conflicting mandates between institutions addressing corruption. Therefore,
there is a need for a mechanism that provides for simple, independent, speedy means of delivering justice by
redressing the grievances of the people without succumbing to the clutches of the executive.
POLICE CORRUPTION IN INDIA
Quote: “Power corrupts and absolute power absolutely”

Context:
Recently, a PIL filed by the former Mumbai Police Commissioner raised the issue of alleged corruption in police
transfers and postings in the state
What is Police Corruption?

Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain,
or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an
investigation or arrest. One common form of police corruption is soliciting and/or accepting bribes in exchange for
not reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal activities.
Corruption has infected every sphere of modern life. It has vitiated the moral values of the society and the police
force cannot be an exception. There are following factors responsible for police corruption in India.
 Remuneration and Service benefits: Salary structures, nature and hours of duty, accommodation problem
and certain administrative and organisational problems are the main factors responsible for the police
corruption.
 Political interference: Growing influence of unscrupulous public men and politicians also promotes
corruption in Police system
 Low strength and average training:
According to a report, “the strength and
the quality of the policemen have not kept
pace with the demands of a rapidly
expanding economy and administration.
This has resulted in supervision becoming
low and ineffective and in enlarging the
scope of corruption proportionately.
 Ambiguities in legislation: Unclear laws
coupled with the police discretion “to act
or not to act” in respect of certain offences
under them give ample opportunities to
the personnel to resort to corrupt practices
during the enforcement of such acts. For example, police discretion would prevail upon all other factors
when a question is to be decided whether the provisions of the ‘Prevention of Sati Act – 1987’ can be
brought against the relatives of a widow who committed Sati at her own will. Same is the case with a
number of other offences like child labour, untouchability, immoral traffic on woman, indecent
representation of women, etc., which are brought under the ambit of a plethora of social legislations.
 Absence of a strong institutional culture: Institutional value system plays an important role in guiding the
behaviour of participants in the system. It creates an internal need to follow the ethos and decreases the
need for any external or legal enforcer. o For instance, strong institutional culture practised in the Indian
Armed Forces results in soldiers following the same discipline outside the military ecosystem despite having
no external enforcer.
 Discretionary Power of officers: The major source of corruption in the police is the vast power vested in a
police officer in a day to day working. Today police corruption is a common feature in all situations where
they have discretion and where they are in a position to use that discretion. One such example is the
enforcement of prohibition laws.
 Vicious cycle of bribery: Police Persons who have paid their way through, try to recover the amount as
soon as possible and corruption becomes a tool for getting better return on investment.
Power corrupts and absolute power absolutely” two cognitive features of police viz. power and discretion give
ample scope for the police personnel to indulge in corruption. They enjoy wide powers while discharging the core
functions of police viz. maintenance of peace and order and prevention and detection of crime and criminal
activities
Measures to reduce Corruption in Policing systems:

 Community policing initiatives such as in Bengaluru have been successful in helping resolve conflicts,
fostering positive relationships with police, improving beat security and increasing police responsiveness
and effectiveness can be adopted.
 Transparency in Service matter: A system could be designed where postings are automatically generated
by a software system after a given time interval. Similarly, objective criteria for promotions could be
articulated. o Supreme Court (in Prakash Singh Case) sought a minimum tenure for the Inspector General
of Police so that they are not transferred mid-term by politicians.
 Ensure accountability: Public hearings, objective performance and efficiency indicators can be introduced
to monitor the performance of the Police force. o Another directive in Prakash Singh judgement
recommended setting up State Police Complaints Authority where common people aggrieved by police
action could approach.
 Better Remuneration and service benefits: It can have a positive impact on police personnel who become
coarse and turn cynical due to stress, strain and frustration of the law enforcement profession.
 Changing attitude of police leaders: There should be more flexibility, fluidity and individual innovativeness
and initiative so that there would be meaningful deliberations and interactions at all levels of the force.
 Innovative mechanisms: Efforts should be made to redefine the core areas of policing and identify and
delink those duties and tasks that give ample scope for the lower rungs of police to resort to corrupt
practices.
 Use of Information Technology: Use of technology for reporting and handling of cases can play an
important role in arresting corruption as non-registration of complaints is the most common grievance of
citizens. Ex. Rajasthan has introduced an initiative named Aarakshi to improve the efficiency of police
procedures.
TOPIC: USE OF BULLDOZER AND PRINCIPLE OF NATURAL JUSTICE
Syllabus: Civil Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration: Status and Problems; Ethical Concerns and
Dilemmas in Government and Private Institutions
Context:
 Recently, It has been alleged that the authorities riding bulldozers have razed buildings or house extensions
built "illegally" in neighbourhoods that recorded communal clashes recently in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and
Gujarat. Critics have called these demolition drives a move to "bulldoze" a particular community. But
officials defended their actions as "routine exercises" against illegal constructions.
 Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, Haryana have laws in place for the recovery of damages to the property
during a disturbance. From the administrative point of view, it may appear to be reasonable but it also
endangers the fundamental rights of citizens.
Anti- encroachment drive
Issues of encroachment:
 Constriction of the public space: land is a scarce commodity, and when the unplanned, illegal structures
are built on public land it results in constriction of the public space eg. public roads. Pedestrians would
suffer as people would have fewer spaces to walk.
 The non-enforcement of strict regulations regarding the public encroachment by the local authorities
provides encouragement to the public to take this issue lightly.
 Lack of basic amenities: Areas coming out of illegal construction lack basic amenities such as water,
electricity, sewage system severely. It leads to health issues.
 Issues of law and order: Unauthorised colonies also face issues of law and order, as access of police get
limited due to temporary structure and constriction.
 Vulnerable to disasters such as Fire, water logging in rainy days, extreme weather.
 Unplanned growth of city population and expansion of slum areas, cause difficulty in expanding
development work.
Ethical issues of anti-encroachment drive:
 Hardship to common people: The worst hit in the anti-encroachment exercise have been the pool of
several thousand workers whose livelihood vanished.
 Loss of physical asset: Anti encroachment drive causes destruction of physical structure, It leads to loss of
wealth and makes many people homeless.
 Children and old age people suffer a lot. Their school schedule get disrupted and old age people experience
acute shortage of water, sanitation, medication etc.
Justifying the Demolitions:

 Punitive action such as demolition of illegal structure, against an accused person can demotivate others to
act unlawfully or take law in his/her hand.
 Free Constricted space: Anti encroachment drives pave the way for the availability of open space and the
public could get better life experiences. Many development projects have come to a halt due to the issue
of land encroachment on public land. Road widening would be a problem as it is occupied by religious
structures. Pedestrians would suffer as people would have fewer spaces to walk.
 Avoid interfaith tension: Illegal constructions are used to create religious structure. Later the same
structure can become a bone of contention among groups.
 Increase in revenue of the authority: Local and state authority can use the increased revenue post
demolition in the rehabilitation of needy people.
Way Forward:
 Rehabilitation must be fixed according to the community or category of people being displaced which
should ensure them basic amenities
 Creating awareness among the lot about community right’s provision
 Compassionate ground to be adopted towards vulnerable section such as pregnant women, children, old
age people
 Right to hearing and principles of natural Justice to be followed.
DEMOLITION OF ILLEGAL STRUCTURES OF ACCUSED
Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, Haryana have laws in place for the recovery of damages to the property during a
disturbance. From the administrative point of view, it may appear to be reasonable but it also endangers the
fundamental rights of citizens.
Ethical issues in demolition of illegal structures:
 Fairness: It involves a procedural requirement. It is also known as substantial justice or fundamental

justice/ Universal justice or fair play in action. Action should not be taken based on political vendetta.
 Impartiality: The principles of natural justice should be free from bias and parties should be given a fair
opportunity to be heard and all the reasons and decisions taken by the court should be informed by the
court to the respective parties. Biassed implementation of laws not only violates the fundamental rights
enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution of freedom of expression, but it also reflects the mentally of the
executives by leaving the scope for different interpretations.
 Resorting to the destruction of the properties of alleged wrongdoers by means of bulldozing is clearly
against our constitutional ethos and the criminal justice system, as also in violation of the rights of accused
persons.
 Violation of Right to Property: According to Article 300A- No person shall be deprived of his property save
by authority of law. However, actions which take away a person's property without accordance with an Act
or Rules or other statutory instrument passed by the central or state government, are violation of Right to
Property.
 Absence of law for demolition: In any case, even if certain people are ordered to pay compensation under
the rule of law and their properties are attached to ensure payment is made, there is no provision in the
law for the demolition of properties.
 Neither the Parliament nor any State Legislative Assemblies, allow the demolition of property of those
accused of being involved in riots and damage to public/private property.
Conclusion:
Any country which doesn't want to be a dictatorship or a feudal monarchy has to follow the laid principles of natural
justice. These principles find their mention in the “Magna Carta” which argues in favour of the trinity of “hear,
interrogate and adjudicate.”
The contentious practice of using bulldozers to pull down residential and commercial properties of persons
“suspected” goes against the spirit of impartial justice and results in irreparable harm to the residents of the area.
The consequence of rampant bulldozing without proper hearing will be faced by common people of another
community. These actions are short-lived but the scar has a lasting impact and raises questions about the justice
delivery mechanism in the country. It is important that the court should send a message indicating that the rule of
law firmly prevails in India.
JOURNALISM
Context:
 Recently, the government has issued an advisory letter to the media on television coverage of the Ukraine-
Russia conflict and the recent violence in Delhi's Jahangirpuri.
 The objection pointed out that in the recent past, several satellite TV channels have carried out coverage
of events and incidents in a manner which appears to be unauthentic, misleading, sensational and using
socially unacceptable language and remarks, offending good taste and decency, and obscene and
defamatory and having communal overtones. These appear to be violative of the Programme Code and
infringement of the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 20 of the Act.
 The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has blocked several YouTube news channels from India as
well as Pakistan for spreading “fake news”.
Ethical Principles of Journalism:
Based on Gandhian Principle (Truth, Fairness, Humanity) & Utilitarian Principle (Minimising harm, Avoiding Libel)
 Truth and Accuracy: Journalists cannot always guarantee ‘truth’ but getting the facts right is the cardinal
principle of journalism.
 Independence: Journalists must be independent voices. They should not act, formally or informally, on
behalf of special interests whether political, corporate or cultural. They should tell the audience any of their
political affiliations, financial arrangements or other personal information that might constitute a conflict
of interest.
 Fairness and Impartiality: Most stories have at least two sides. While there is no obligation to present every
side in every piece, stories should be balanced and add context. Objectivity is not always possible and may
not always be desirable (For example - in brutality or inhumanity), but impartial reporting builds trust and
confidence.
 Humanity: Journalists should do no harm. Their reporting or broadcast may be hurtful, but they should be
aware of the impact of our words and images on the lives of others.
 Fairness: In addition to being independent, journalists should show impartiality and balance in their
reporting. Most news stories have more than one side, and journalists should capture this.
 Avoiding libel: This is a legal as well as a moral imperative for journalists. Journalists cannot print false
statements that damage a person’s reputation. In most jurisdictions, true statements cannot be libellous,
so journalists can protect themselves by rigorously checking facts.
 Proper attribution: Journalists must never plagiarise. If they use information from another media outlet or
journalist, they need to attribute it to them.
 Harm minimization: Journalists should follow the Utilitarian principle while showing news. Not every fact
that can be published should be published. If the amount of harm that could come to private individuals
particularly children—as a result of disclosure exceeds the public good that would come of it, then news
outlets might choose not to publish the story.
Journalist Ethics Violation
 Publishing allegations by a single source without attempting to verify accuracy.

 Omitting facts provided to the journalist that would clearly lead the reader/viewer to a different
conclusion.
 Calling for comment after normal business hours when there would have been time for the journalist to
call earlier.
 Using editorial positioning of quotes to impact readers’ conclusions e.g., putting quotes critical of an
organisation in the lead paragraphs.
 Biases in ideology and focus on sensationalisation of news to increase TRP
 Media trial by the journouralist Ex. Susant Singh case.
Conclusion
There are scores of codes and statements to guide journalists in their important work of sharing information with
the public. Adhering to the Ethical guidelines brings transparency and accuracy in the information. It serves the core
function of the fourth pillar of democracy.
REFUGEE CRISIS
Syllabus: Ethical Issues in International Relations and Funding
Context:
 Recently some people from Sri Lanka came to Tamilnadu as a refugee because of economic stress.
 In a recent incident, an Afghan Refugee posted a photo of food served at a US camp on Twitter and was
met with severe criticism combined with sympathy from some corners.
 People from Ukraine have been seeking shelter in different part of Europe
 The Chakma and Hajong refugees: Many from the Chakma and Hajong communities—who once lived in the
Chittagong hill tracts, most of which are located in Bangladesh—have been living as refugees in India for
more than five decades.
 Rohingyas seeking shelter, safety from religious persecution in their own country
About Refugee:
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee
his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. For Example: Rohingyas seeking shelter, safety from
religious persecution in their own country.
The refugees also have an impact on the economy and society of their host nations. Large numbers of refugees can
have a devastating impact on the host nation. Large number of refugees actually lose their lives while trying to
reach different countries which might take them. They could be used by terrorist organisations, sex or slave trade
etc., thus denial of basic human rights, disruption of global peace. It is often seen that immigrants are exploited for
their cheap labour. Immigration sometimes also becomes a social or political issue; racism is used to exploit feelings
or as an excuse for current woes of the local population.
Why are refugee rights becoming a favour on part of the states?
The core issue in this scenario stems from the lack of empathy within the public of the host nation and limited
resources at the ground level. These core reasons manifest themselves in following ways-
 Mistrust as a norm: Lack of empathy with the refugees creates mistrust about the culture, situation, and
genuineness of their claim at asylum. This translates to a general policy of rejecting claims, making grant of
refuge a special favour.
 Perception as an economic competitor: Limited opportunities combined with the image of a refugee as a
‘freeloader from the other nation’ creates a perception of them being unworthy of rights. This makes ‘grant
of rights’ a favour which is subject to collective sympathy.
 Viewed as a security threat: The mistrust combined with lack of awareness and misinformation creates
fear and makes the local population view refugees as a security threat. This indirectly increases the
conditionalities on grant of rights, thus making it more like a favour by states.
 Issue of legal enforcement limits enforceability of rights: The limitation of international laws makes
refugee rights contingent upon the discretion and perception of the host country. For example, many
European countries tend to be more sympathetic to LGBTQIA+ refugees when compared to victims of war
crimes in African countries.
 Limited capacity of the host: Fulfilment of all rights of refugees is dependent upon the capacity of resources
within the host countries. For example, in many developing countries Right to Housing cannot be fulfilled
for the domestic population, guaranteeing the same claim for refugees becomes difficult and hence
becomes selective.
 Politicisation of the issue: The image of the refugees, the associated fear psychosis, and political
implications of assimilating the refugees leads to politicisation of the issue. It leads to the creation of a
political question- ‘Should we grant refuge?’. Deliberation on this question changes the context from ‘Right
of the Refugee’ to ‘Decision of the state’. Absence of enforceability and ambiguity in the asylum-seeking
process has made it extremely discretionary in nature. This has led to the emergence of the idea of selective
humanitarianism.
Way forward to securing the rights of refugees

 Generating awareness about refugee situations and their rights: Creating awareness about the situation
would translate to empathy for refugees and fading of the prevalence of fear against them. This may lead
to more social acceptance and faster assimilation.
 Making objective procedures and authorities accountable: The anxiety and uncertainty faced by the
refugees can be ameliorated to a large extent if procedures for granting asylum be made objective and
clearly communicated. o Also, making the criteria objective could be a first step in holding the authorities
accountable and thus moving towards a rights-based approach.
 Creating an effective transition mechanism: The resolution of the refugee issue remains complicated
considering its social, economic, and political implications and thus takes time. In this scenario, it becomes
important that an effective transition mechanism is created which can provide at least limited rights to
refugees.
 Strengthening the system of refugee camps: The system of refugee camps has emerged as an effective
solution and hence should be adequately funded and managed.
 Adopting a multilateral approach: States have a limited capacity with regard to fulfilment of refugee rights.
In this context, it becomes important that the host country, the source country, the group of refugees and
the entities engaged on the ground like NGOs, social groups etc. come together for realisation of these
rights.
 Integrating efforts with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for making rights accountable:
Nonfulfillment of rights directly affects the realisation of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and strong institutions)
and indirectly affects other SDGs. Efforts should be made to make the authorities more accountable by
linking refugee rights to the SDG targets.
Conclusion:
The essence of resolution of the refugee crisis lies in the political economy of providing refuge (i.e., economic cost
of refuge and its socio-political implications) and the moral economy of asylum (the values and effects attached to
the internationally recognized principle of providing protection to refugees and extent of humanitarianism among
the host). Managing these two factors could render a long-term solution to this crisis.
INCREASE IN RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOLS

Syllabus: Ethics and Human Interface: Role of Family, Society, Religion and Educational Institutions in Inculcating
Values.
Context:
 The Gujarat government has decided to include Shrimad Bhagavad Gita in the school syllabus for Classes 6-
12.
 Hijab Row: Recently, the government of Karnataka passed an order stating that students of pre-university
colleges will have to mandatorily wear the uniform prescribed by the college administrative board. In the
absence of any prescription, “clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public law and order” couldn’t
be worn.
Quote:
"You see, spirituality has no religious overtones. The essence of spirituality is to make a person pure in his mind and
his thoughts. When I started reading our old scriptures, like the “Bhagavad Gita,” I found it was useful for day-to-
day life, so I started practising it. I consider it an administrative gospel, one that will help you in doing things like
running an organisation". - E. Sreedharan (Metro Man of India)
Ethics of Bhagavad Gita:
The ethics of Gita are anti-hedonistic. The Gita condemns Carvaka's hedonism. According to the Gita, moral life
consists in the regulation of base emotions and instincts. Hence, one must strive to conquer these. Bhagavadgita
means ‘The Lord’s song’, that is, the discourse of Lord Krishna to persuade the reluctant Arjuna to perform his
dharma.
 The Gita enjoins the performance of duties for the welfare of humanity (lokasamgraha) . The ideal aspirant
has to work for humanity in the spirit of perfect detachment, with no desire to reap the fruit. Just as a
liberated ‘cave-dweller’ in Plato goes back into the cave to free others.
 Kant’s conception of the ‘kingdom of ends’ comes close to this. However, while Kant’s ethics is
deontological the ethics of Gita is teleological.
 Kant enjoins the renunciation of all feelings and emotions. But the Gita talks about renunciation of only
base emotions and passions. It does not negate love and compassion for the creatures. Selfishness shall be
renunciated but selfless humanism ought to be cultivated.
 The Gita’s classification of the specific duties in accordance with one’s capability and aptitude comes close
to Plato’s classification of duties for the different classes of men in an Ideal Republic. According to some
critics, absolutely disinterested action is a psychological impossibility. But, essentially the Gita recommends
not the annihilation of all desires but the merging of all desires in one profound supreme desire- the
attainment of self-realization or the Ideal.
Ethics of Introducing Bhagavad Gita in School:
 Directive of daily duties: In view of the fact that the Gita contains a long description of duties concurring
to a number of different natures of man, it must be admitted that it affords assistance in the understanding
of daily duties.
 Leadership Development: Bhagavad Gita stresses on performance of Svadharma, i.e., own duty or dharma.
When leadership performs its duties in a righteous way, subordinates also recognize and revere the
leadership and follow the path of action.
 Motivation: Studies have highlighted that most of the reasons behind work related stress are related to
mind such as pressure of performance, relationships, media pressure etc. Bhagavad Gita focuses on mind
and distinguishes between subconscious and conscious actions to promote Sattva and divinity in all-
removing jealousy and creating motivation for work.
 Emotional Intelligence: Bhagavad Gita calls for Sthitaprajna, i.e., to acquire equanimity or calmness with
firm resolve. It can help administrators to have control over senses and build a steadfast resolve towards
the goals/objectives.
 Objectivity in Decision Making: Bhagavad Gita promotes Lok Samgraha, i.e., holding all together. It inspires
towards universal welfare (inclusive and sustainable development) through firmness of mind and
preference to Shreya over Preya, i.e. Goodness or Objectivity over pleasure or happiness. As verse 22 of
Chapter 16 says – Those who are free from the three gates to darkness endeavour for the welfare of their
soul, and thereby attain the supreme goal.
Role of Bhagwat Gita in Administration:
Syllabus: Ethics and Human Interface: Role of Family, Society, Religion and Educational Institutions in Inculcating
Values.
Bhagwat Gita is one of the earliest texts in any tradition to emphasise that it is important not to do one’s duty, but
to do in a certain kind of way i.e. detachment. The principle of world welfare provides the basis for assessing the
nature of an administrator’s duty in a changing world, even when faced with competing duties as in the case of
moral dilemmas.
Gita’s virtue theory also emphasises virtues that are indispensable for righteous administration. Virtues such as as
–
 Unagitated mind (anuvignamanas)
 Firm mindedness (Prajna pratisthita)
 Disinterestedness (anapeksas, udasinas)
 Contentment with one’s own duty (svakramaniratas)
 Indifference to pleasure and pain
 Being the same towards friend and enemy and towards honour and disgrace (samah satru ca mitra ca)
 Leadership Development
 Resolution of Ethical Dilemmas
 Emotional Intelligence
Through the concept of dharma, Gita also identifies the essential ideas and governing principles of our cultural life
and through karma yoga and Jnana yoga, also identifies a course of action for man’s search for eternal which is the
source of truth and joy.
One has the right to work, but never to the fruit of work:
 The doer has the right to work
 The doer has no control on outcomes/fruits of action

 The doer has, no control on the root cause of the fruits of action
 There is no choice to revel inaction
The message of Bhagavad Gita is that either you can perform your actions with attachment thinking that you are
the doer or you can perform the same without attachment by thinking that nature is performing the actions.
 Good for society and individuals: Gita’s ethics have synthesised both social and individual interests. The
individual is not inconsiderable but his soul and the universal soul are not two separate entities. All
distinctions are the result of ignorance. The ultimate end is absolute perfection of the individual but this
perfection can be attained only through consolidation of society and God realisation
 Theory of division of labour: Gita’s conception of the varna system is not only the equivalent of the modern
scientific division of labour but it is superior in some respects because man does not become entangled
with his actions because he fulfils his duty with the intention of God realisation. In this way, Gita has also
achieved a magnificent synthesis of spiritualism and social welfare.
 Objectivity in Decision Making: Bhagavad Gita promotes Lok Samgraha, i.e., holding all together. It inspires
towards universal welfare (inclusive and sustainable development) through firmness of mind and
preference to Shreya over Preya, i.e. Goodness or Objectivity over pleasure or happiness. As verse 22 of
Chapter 16 says – Those who are free from the three gates to darkness endeavour for the welfare of their
soul, and thereby attain the supreme goal.
 Integrity in actions: Central to the scripture, Bhagavad Gita promotes Nishkama Karma (detached
involvement) over Sakama Karma (attached involvement). Nishkama Karma or selfless actions will lead to
integrity by removing attachments, egoism or actions with personal gain in mind.
 Synthesis of enjoyment and austerity: Gita’s theory of nishkama Karma Yoga is the supreme means not
only from the spiritual viewpoint but also from the practical and worldly viewpoints. It has itself an expert
synthesis of action and abstinence, enjoyment and asceticism. Niskama karma does not admit of any
probability of being deflected from one’s path and supplies the uninterrupted power for staying duty
bound
 Divinization of passion: In spite of the ideal of detachment Gita’s path is natural and integral. It preaches
the Divinization and transformation of passions and not their repression, as was Kant’s contention.
 Directive of daily duties: In view of the fact that the Gita contains a long description of duties concurring
to a number of different natures of man, it must be admitted that it affords assistance in the understanding
of daily duties.
 Based on sound metaphysics: Gita’s The ethics of Gita is based on sound metaphysics. Although it is
theistic, it does not encourage blind faith in any instance.
 Determinism and freedom of will: Gita has synthesised determinism and freedom of will. It is God who
controls the result of action and the order of the world but in order to become a dynamic instrument of
divine action after understanding this order and complete self-submission to God, it is essential to act with
determination.
 Resolution of Ethical Dilemmas: Nishkama Karma detaches individuals from the results of their action. It
can help administrators in resolving conflict between moral imperatives, especially dilemmas caused by
conflict between Self Interest and Public Benefit.
 Universal message of the Gita: The message of Gita is universally comprehensive and everlasting. In today’s
atomic age when human society is grievously endangered by excessive materialism some of the messages
of the Gita, like ‘nishkama karma yoga’ have assumed an ever greater importance. Gita treasures elements
which can faithfully serve as a motive to men of any society and any age. In India from ancient scholars like
Samkara and Ramanuja men like Gandhi, Tilak and Sri Aurobindo have been inspired by it.
Teachings of Bhagavad Gita can play an important role towards effective, accountable, and inclusive governance by
guiding public servants on ethical behaviour or conduct. It will help in overcoming decision-making issues and create
an ethical workplace.
HIJAB ROW
Ethical Issues of Hijab:

 Not an essential Practice of Religion: Wearing a hijab is not an Essential practice of the Religion. It is a
reflection of culture rather than an accepted interpretation of Islam and it remains an alien imposition in
large areas of the Muslim world. The Supreme court in 2006, held that keeping a beard was not an essential
part of Islamic practices.me argue that the wearing of the hijab is an essential element of Islam, and its
prohibition violates the students’ constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion.
 Educational institutions such as college spaces ought to be free of any public displays of religion
 Against Right to freedom: the compulsory wearing of Hijab is imposition of the religious tirade on the
personal freedom of women and girls.
 Reflection of Patriarchal Society: It is also seen as a form of patriarchal dominance. Promotes gender
equality and helps in women empowerment.
 Against uniform Dress code: Wearing a symbol of religion is the disrespect of rules of dress code in the
premises of educational institutions
Why should be allowed?

 Against Equality: Ban is against the tenets of equality to all religions and is seen as a majoritarian
suppression of the minorities in a country.
 Issues of Privacy: Religious faith is a part of the fundamental right to privacy
 Against Secular Principle: Protest on choice of clothes is against the ethos of the Constitution and
composite culture of the country
 Encourage rift in society: It leads to polarisation of the society by targeting a particular community.
International Practice:
The German model recognises the value of including religious education in schools. Article 7 (3) of the German
constitution permits religious instruction in public schools; however, the participation in such classes is strictly
voluntary. In recognition of the growing religious diversity due to immigration, German states have started including
Islamic religious content in their schools.
Conclusion:
 Religious sentiments should not prevail while taking decisions on such matters but it should be based on
the combination of rationality and modern views.
 Educational institutions should avoid the violation of the rights of individual students in the name of their
right to administer a school or college.
 Our daily lives require us to live together with people who look different from us, wear different clothing,
and eat different food, why should those differences be shut out from educational spaces in particular.
 Our Constitution guarantees to everyone an inviolate “zone of freedom” in personal matters, as long as the
effect of this freedom does not cause harm, or discrimination, at a broader social level. In the case of the
hijab, there is no such harm or discrimination. However, an Essential Religious Practices Test is required for
Hijab as it was done for keeping a beard.
BODILY RIGHTS OF WOM EN AND ABORTION LAW
Context:
Recently, The Government has incorporated new rules under the “Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment)
Act, 2021, which was passed in March 2021.
 Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy due to removing an embryo or fetus before it can
survive outside the uterus. An abortion that occurs spontaneously is also known as a miscarriage. When
deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy, it is called an induced abortion, or less frequently an
“induced miscarriage”.
 Abortion considerations require deep reflection on law, convention, social and religious norms, family
contexts, emotions, and relationships.
According to the UNICEF India and World Bank data:

 India has one of the highest numbers of maternal deaths. (45,000 maternal deaths every year or an average
of one maternal death every 12 minutes).
 Unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal deaths in India.
Reasons women give for wanting abortions,

worldwide:
 Disruption of education or employment
 lack of support from father
 Poverty, unemployment or inability to bear
children
 Interrelation problems with husband or
partner
 Women’s feeling that she is too young to have
a child
Ethical Issues with Abortion:

 An act of taking life: Since life begins at conception, abortion is akin to murder as it is the act of taking
human life. It is in direct defiance of the commonly accepted idea of the sanctity of human life.
 Issues of Medical Complication: An abortion can result in medical complications later in life. The chances
of miscarriage and other health issues also increases.
 Psychological Pain and Stress: Abortion frequently causes intense psycological pain and stress.
 Son meta preference: Abortion based on Sex determination is mainly occur because of preference of baby
boy.
 Punishing unborn child: Abortion punishes unborn child who committed no crime, instead it is perpetrator
who should be punished.
 Lack of Bodily Rights: Abortion concerns the autonomy and dignity of the pregnant woman herself. If a
woman who is pregnant wishes to stop being pregnant, it cannot be taken away from her.
 Issues of self Determination: Attitudes to pregnancy are, however, intertwined with how society views sex,
women, and the fertile woman specifically. Pregnancy and birth are not trivial inconveniences, such as
having a headache. They constitute a major life event, which even when desired causes immense
discomfort and disruption to many women.
 History of Oppression of Women: Abortion is seen as a compromise with the liberty, self respect, self right
on body.
Argument in Favour of Abortion:

 Right of Women: A female is considered a moral person, she is entitled to rights, including the right to life.
So, abortion is deemed acceptable as the foetus is not a person. A list of criteria of personhood is identified,
which includes consciousness, reasoning, activity, communication and self-awareness. A foetus undeniably
is incapable of fulfilling these criteria.
 Priority of Female over Foetus: The mother, who is a person, has a right to life and it supersedes the rights
of the foetus to choose whether or not it remains connected to her body.
 To avoid unwarranted pregnancy: Pregnancy is assumed to be a foreseeable consequence of heterosexual
intercourse, that too when there is no intention to ‘have a baby’. So, denying her the right to abort the child
when she was not planning for it, is unwarranted.
 Health issues of foetus or mother: Sometime, delivering a baby could be life threatening to mother, in this
case abortion of foetus could be justified. It may be ethical for a mother to have an abortion to defend
herself from the danger to her mental or physical health than continuing with the pregnancy.
 Gender Equality: The right to abortion is vital for gender equality. The right to abortion is vital for individual
women to achieve their full potential. Banning
abortion puts women at risk by forcing them to use illegal methods that may be more harmful.
Way Forward:
 Adoption can be a viable option to abortion
 Free and Informed choice
 Bodily rights of women to be protected
 Rights of Self determination
 Securing Privacy of women
 Ensure better Medical facility
Conclusion:
The decision of whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. She ought
to be the one deciding it for herself. When the Government superintends that decision for her, she is being treated
as less than a fully adult human accountable for her own choices. We need to bestow much greater support to
women who may want to conceive and raise their children, but opting out of it for financial, psychological, health,
or relationship reasons Criminalising abortion does not stop abortions, it just makes abortion more unsafe.
Above all, the right to life should always outweigh the right of an individual
to equality or to control their own.
TOPIC: SURROGACY
Syllabus: Ethics and Human Interface: Essence,

Determinants and Consequences of Ethics in - Human
Actions; Dimensions of Ethics
Context:
Recently, the Surrogacy Regulation Bill has been passed
in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The act defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman
gives birth to a child for an intending couple to hand over
the child after the birth to the intending couple.
Ethical issues of Surrogacy:

 Violation of fundamental right: The Supreme Court in Devika Biswas V. Union of India, held that the right
to reproduction is an essential facet of 'Right to Life' under Article 21.
o Restricting the Bills to heterosexual couples is in contravention to this.
o ICMR guidelines allow single mothers to benefit from ART but this is missing in the act.
 Takes away women’s reproductive choice: The law takes away from the right of women to make their own
reproductive choices and the right of persons to parenthood.
 Complete ban on Commercial Surrogacy: A total ban on commercial surrogacy will push the industry
underground and render surrogate mothers even more vulnerable.
 Exploitation: The altruistic model expects a woman to go through the physical and emotional tolls of
surrogacy free of cost and only out of compassion. Such an expectation is paternalistic, unrealistic, and
patriarchal in its approach.
 Issues of privacy: Those included within its ambit are required to have a ‘certificate of essentiality stating
that it is biologically impossible for the person(s) to have a child in any other way. This can cause an issue
of Privacy of couples and surrogate mothers.
 Legal issues of surrogate children: There is an issue with the surrogate children, Although, the bill has
provision for this, but in practice tussle among surrogate and biological parents can be possible. It will have
mental pain on the children.
Objective and Ethical aspect of the Surrogacy Act:
 Curb unethical practices: Both the Bills seek to curb unethical practices related to issues of sex selection
and exploitation of the surrogate.
 Regulation: Couples would arrive in India, and buy wombs and take children back. Thus, it has become
more than imperative to regulate both assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy in the
country.
 To curb the exploitation of women: In 2014, a 26-year-old woman died owing to complications during egg
retrieval. Under the ART, ovaries are stimulated for eggs to be extracted. This is a highly technical procedure
which needs to be regulated. Unmarried women sell their wombs to tide over financial crises. This should
not happen.
o Ex - There has been a case in Andhra where a 74-year-old woman gave birth to twins. How will such
an old person bring up their children? It is physically unhealthy and ethically wrong.
 To curb sex selection: there are unregulated IVF centres all over the country and with unregulated
surrogacy taking place sex selection was happening in both ways.
 To stop reproductive medical tourism: India has become a centre of the global fertility industry, with
reproductive medical tourism seeing a huge rise.
Conclusion:
More reforms are still needed, and availing surrogacy should be recognized as a reproductive right, till then
surrogacy regulation in India will not be able to protect the bodily autonomy of the surrogate and the right to
parenthood of the intended parent(s).
MARITAL RAPE AND CONJUGAL RIGHTS
Context:
 The Delhi High Court recently observed said that while there can be no compromise with women's right to
sexual autonomy and any act of rape has to be punished.
 The court questioned as to why the exception from the offence of rape granted to a married couple had
remained in the legislature for several years. This exception remained in spite of the wide scope of Section
375 of Indian Penal Code which included even a single act of “unwilling sex” as rape.
Marital Rape:
Marital rape can be defined as any unwanted sexual intercourse or penetration obtained by force, threat of force,
or when the wife is unable to consent.
Conjugal Rights:
Conjugal rights are rights created by marriage, i.e. right of the husband or the wife to the society of the other
spouse. The law recognises these rights— both in personal laws dealing with marriage, divorce etc, and in criminal
law requiring payment of maintenance and alimony to a spouse.
Ethical Issues:
 Violation of the Right to Live with Human Dignity: Marital rape violates the right of a woman or wife to
live her life with human dignity. The right to live with human dignity forms a part of the right to life (a
Fundamental Right) under Article 21 in the Constitution of India.
 Issues of Sexual Privacy: In the case of the State of Maharashtra v. Madhukar Narayan, the Supreme Court
held that every woman is entitled to her sexual privacy and it is not open to any and every person to violate
her privacy as and whenever one wished.
 Right to Bodily Self- Determination: Every person has the right to make decisions regarding his/her body.
Similarly, the decision of a woman whether to have sex or not or to give consent is amongst the most
individual decisions that a lady holds for herself. It comes as a right to self-expression.
 Violation of the Right to Equality: Similarly, the differential treatment of rape and marital rape in India
under Section 375 of IPC and differential punishments awarded for both under Section 376 of IPC violates
the right to equality before the law (Article 14).
 Rape not ground for Divorce: As marital rape is not a ground for a divorce in any personal laws and even
the Special Marriage Act, 1954, It cannot be used as a ground for divorce and cruelty against the husband
Thus, the women remain helpless and keep suffering in silence.
Arguments Against criminalizing Marital Rape

 Destabilise marriage as an institution: It may create absolutely anarchy in families and destabilise the
institution of marriage and thereby destroy the family platform which upholds family values and helps in
sustaining the country. Indian society believes that marriage is a sacrament
 Misuse of law: It may become an easy tool for harassing the husbands by misusing the law similar to the
growing misuse of section 498A (harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws) of
the IPC.
 Awareness is more important: Merely criminalizing marital rape may not stop it as “moral and social
awareness” plays a vital role in stopping such an act.
 Burden of proof: The concept of burden of proof is a complex issue. When marital rape would be
considered a crime, there will be a burden either on the wife to prove the offence or the husband to prove
himself innocent and therefore it will be very difficult to apply.
 Against privacy: Some argue that making marital rape a crime would allow the State to interfere in the
personal affairs of individuals. This will be a violation of the right to privacy inherent in the Right to life
guaranteed under Article 21 in the Indian Constitution.
 Cultural Diversity: India has its unique problems due to various factors like literacy, lack of financial
empowerment of the majority of females, the mindset of the society, vast diversity, poverty, etc. and these
should be considered carefully before criminalizing marital rape.
Conclusion:
Marital rape is a complex issue that needs a deep and detailed discussion. Criminalizing marital rape will not merely
help. Rather there is a need for rectifying and filling the gaps in existing laws and doing away with archaic ones that
tend to function against the well-being of women and the society as a whole. Public consultation and discussion
with all the stakeholders may be the way forward.
MARRIAGE AGE FOR WOMEN

Context:
The government decided to raise the legal age of marriage of women from 18 to 21 years. The Union Cabinet
cleared the proposal and a bill to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, was introduced in
Parliament. The decision to raise the legal age of marriage for women is based on the recommendation of a panel
led by Jaya Jaitly.
Quote: For any society to make sustainable progress it is necessary to empower women and for that, two most
important weapons are quality of education and skills and for this they should not be under any pressure to get
married early.
Ethical Issues:
 Rights of the girls are threatened: Increasing the age of marriage to 21 years would mean that girls will
have no say in their personal matters until they are 21.
 Illegal marriages: Such legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages
leading to non-institutional births.
 Ineffectiveness of existing laws: Decrease in child marriages has not been because of the existing law but
because of an increase in girls’ education and employment opportunities.
 Unnecessary coercion: The law would end up being coercive, and in particular negatively impact
marginalised communities, such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, making them law-breakers.
 Exploitation of law by parents: The law has been used by parents against eloping daughters. It has become
a tool for parental control and for punishment of boys or men whom girls choose as their husbands.
 Social validity of marriages: Even if the law declares a marriage before the specified age as void, in the eyes
of the community, arranged marriages will have social validity. This worsens the condition of the girls who
are widowed even before reaching the new legal age for marriage.
 Increased female infanticide: Raising the female marriage age in India that have high son preference and
high poverty may have the unintended consequence of increasing the prevalence of female infanticide and
sex-selective abortion.
Way Forward:
 Marriage as an institution is not a situation of age but has been built on many other things, including
economic pattern, fear of violence on young girls, early pregnancies, sexual relationship, a lot of these
things impact marriage but age does not. Before increasing the legal age for marriage, the government
should work on the Right to Education Act (RTE). It should be extended beyond 14 years and should be
guaranteed to at least senior secondary schooling.
 Girls need to get equal opportunities in terms of health, education, and living. Bringing in more women to
the workforce like South Korea and Japan can also help to improve gender imbalance and solve issues of
early marriages.
 Replicate the best-performing state: The Niti Aayog recently acknowledged the Odisha government with
the SKOCH award for combating child marriage by empowering adolescents and declaring villages as child
marriage-free. Such practices need to be replicated by other states.
 Girls belonging to socio-economically weak families are forced into child marriages and providing them
financial support, especially for pursuing education, will automatically raise the age of marriage among
women.
 Early Pregnancy issues: Steps to be taken to address early pregnancies instead of focusing on the age of
marriage by extending family planning and reproductive health support which focus on preparation for
pregnancy and delaying the first birth.
 Awareness Programme: An awareness campaign is required on a massive scale on the increase in age of
marriage, and to encourage social acceptance of the new legislation, which they have said would be far
more effective than coercive measures.
 The country has a long way to go before Indian women manage to be on equal footing with men irrespective
of their caste, creed, religion, and socio-economic status.
EUTHANASIA
Context:
 A nine-year-old boy died of a rare blood disease just within two hours after his mother had applied for his
mercy killing in court.
 A famous case, Aruna Shanbaug was heard in the Supreme Court (SC) and final judgement came in the year
2018 making the Right to die in a dignified way a part of Right to Life under Article 21.
 Only passive Euthanasia is allowed in India by the Supreme Court.
Euthanasia is a controversial issue in medical ethics. It is defined as an act or practice of painlessly putting to death
or withdrawing treatment from a person suffering an incurable euthanasia is intentionally killing another person to
relive his or her suffering.
Moral Dilemma:
Arguments For Euthanasia-
 Right to Self Determination: The essence of human life is to live a dignified life and to force the person to
live in an undignified way is against the person’s choice. Thus, it expresses the choice of a person which is
a fundamental principle. People have a right to self-determination, and thus should be allowed to choose
their own destiny.
 End of Pain: Euthanasia provides a way to relieve the intolerably extreme pain and suffering of an
individual. It relieves the terminally ill people from a lingering death. Assisting a subject to die is a better
option than continuing to suffer.
 Treatment for others: In many developing and underdeveloped countries like India, there is a lack of funds.
There is a shortage of hospital space. So, the energy of doctors and hospital beds can be used for those
people whose life can be saved instead of continuing the life of those who want to die.
 Dignified Death: Article 21 of the Indian Constitution clearly provides for living with dignity. A person has a
right to live a life with at least minimum dignity and if that standard is falling below that minimum level
then a person should be given a right to end his life.
 Addressing Mental Agony: The motive behind this is to help rather than harm. It not only relieves the
unbearable pain of a patient but also relieves the relatives of a patient from the mental agony.
 Right based Approach: People got an explicit right to die. Death is a private subject and if there is no harm
done to others then, the state and other people have no right to interfere (libertarian case)
Arguments against the Euthanasia:
a) Weaken society’s respect for the sanctity of life: Human life is sacred. Human lives are special because God
created them. Human beings are made in God’s image. Therefore human life should be protected and
preserved, whatever happens
b) Issues of Regulation: Accepting euthanasia would mean that some lives (those of the sick or disabled) are worth
less than others. It exposes vulnerable people to pressure to end their lives.
c) Value of life: Voluntary euthanasia could start on a slippery slope that may lead to involuntary euthanasia and
the killing of people who are thought undesirable.
d) Non-harm – the principle of Non- Violence -Hinduism and Buddhism regard all life as precious. (not just human
life). They say that we should try to avoid harming living things and therefore this also rules out killing people,
even if they want to die. Euthanasia might not be in a person’s best interests.
e) Issue of care: Permitting euthanasia will lead to less good care for the terminally ill. It could undermine the
commitment of doctors and nurses to save lives.
f) Discourage Medical Research: Allowing euthanasia could discourage the search for new modes of treatment
for the terminally ill.
Issues of Euthanasia:
a) Medical Ethics: Medical ethics call for nursing, caregiving and healing and not ending the life of the patient. In
the present time, medical science is advancing at a great pace making even the most incurable diseases curable
today. Thus instead of encouraging a patient to end his life, the medical practitioners have to encourage the
patients to lead their painful life with strength.
b) Moral Wrong: Taking a life is morally and ethically wrong. The value of life can never be undermined.
c) Vulnerable will become more prone to it: Groups that represent disabled people are against the legalisation
of euthanasia on the ground that such groups of vulnerable people would feel obliged to opt for euthanasia as
they may see themselves as a burden to society.
d) Suicide v/s Euthanasia: When suicide is not allowed then euthanasia should also not be allowed. A person
commits suicide when he goes into a state of depression and has no hope from the life. Similar is the situation
when a person asks for euthanasia. But such a tendency can be lessened by proper care of such patients and
showing hope in them.
e) X-Factor: Miracles do happen in our society especially when it is a matter of life and death, there are examples
of patients coming out of coma after years and we should not forget human life is all about hope.
Way Forward:
 Achieving peace with God and pain control are nearly identical in importance for patients and bereaved
family members.
 The futile treatment that doesn't have any reasonable chance of doing good - other than keeping the
patient from dying could be stopped to lessen the agony of the family.
 At the same time, allowing voluntary euthanasia makes it easier to commit murder, since the perpetrators
can disguise it as active voluntary euthanasia. That must be avoided.
 We should look at the brighter side of it than thinking of it being abused.

PRAHAAR Ethics For CSE Mains 2022

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PRAHAAR

The final hit to UPSC Exam

EXCLUSiVE FOR MAiNS 2022

Join 60 Day Daily Mains Answer Writing program

key component of 60 Day daily rigorous mains answer writing

Qualities of moral attitude __________________________________________________________________ 39

Foundational values for civil services __________________________________________________________ 53

Impartiality and non-partisanship ____________________________________________________________ 57

NEUTRALITY OF CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICES ___________________________________________________ 59

DEDICATION TO PUBLIC SERVICE _________________________________________________________ 63

EMPATHY AND COMPASSION ____________________________________________________________ 65

OTHER IMPORTANT VALUES______________________________________________________________ 67

Emotions and Intelligence _____________________________________________________________72

Emotional intelligence _____________________________________________________________________73

Role of EI in Public Services _________________________________________________________________ 81

social intelligence _________________________________________________________________________82

Moral thinkers & philosphers from India & world __________________________________________84

Indian philosophies ________________________________________________________________________93

Indian philosophers _______________________________________________________________________96

Sarvodaya: _____________________________________________________________________________ 100

Administration and leadership ______________________________________________________________107

ETHICS IN Public Administration _______________________________________________________109

Ethical dilemma in government and private institutions _________________________________________112

Laws, rules, regulations and conscience as source of ethical guidance ______________________________114

Crisis of conscience: ______________________________________________________________________ 117

Accountability and Ethical governance _______________________________________________________117

Governance, good governance and Ethical governance __________________________________________120

Ethical issues in international relations and funding_____________________________________________122

Corporate governance ____________________________________________________________________126

Probity in governance _______________________________________________________________131

Problems with working of the act ___________________________________________________________ 137

Controlling administration _________________________________________________________________153

Current affairs from Ethical point of view ________________________________________________157

ETHICS & HUMAN INTERFACE

 Ex – Abusing partner, passing castiest comments, cheating someone etc.

Descriptive ethics Meta Ethics

 Descriptive ethics is the study of people's beliefs  Metaethics, the subdiscipline

Normative Ethics Applied Ethics

E XAMPLES OF APPLIED ETHICS

N ORMATIVE ETHICS THEORIES

E THICS – IN PRIVATE & PUBLIC RELATIONSHIPS

E THICS IN P RIVATE RELATIONSHIPS

E THICS IN P UBLIC R ELATIONSHIP

N OLAN C OMMITTEE : S EVEN PRINCIPLES IN PUBLIC LIFE

I MPORTANCE OF E THICS IN P UBLIC R ELATIONSHIP

Effort to correct this—

R ELATION B ETWEEN P UBLIC AND P RIVATE E THICS

 Morals are the social, cultural and religious Constitutional Morality

D IFFERENCES BETWEEN E THICS & M ORALS

Ethics, Morality and values

How to be honest when the entire system is corrupt

R OLE OF FAMILY IN VALUE INCULCAT ING

R OLE OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN VALUE INCULCATING

R ECOMMENDATIONS FOR VALUE EDUCATION

S TRENGTH OF SOCIETY FOR VALUE INCULCATION

R EASONS FOR EROSION OF VALUES

Previous year question on this topic

K EY TERMS & THEIR MEANINGS

 Attitude is defined as tendencies to behave in certain ways in social situations.

A TTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR :

F ACTORS WHICH DETERMINE THE DEGREE OF INFLUENCE OF ATTITUDE ON BEHAVIOUR ARE :

E XPLICIT ATTITUDE AND IMPLICIT ATTITUDE