Information Sharing and Transparency in Government

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Information Sharing and Transparency in Government

This article deals with the topic titled ‘ Information Sharing and Transparency in Government .’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’. For more articles, you can click here.

What is Transparency in Governance?

Information Sharing and Transparency in Government
  • Transparency = Openness in functioning
  • Transparency in governance means that the criteria, processes and systems of decision-making are openly known to all (in simple words, Transparency in Governance means how governance is being carried out should be known to all).
  • Although transparency is often used interchangeably with access to information, transparency is a wider term with information sharing as one of the tools.  
  • Transparency or Openness has three aspects (PIA)
    • Participative Governance  
    • Information Sharing 
    • Accountability 
Components of Transparency
  • Examples of Transparency
    1. Jharkhand Public Distribution System (PDS)
    2. E-auctions of coal blocks: The process made the auction of coal blocks more transparent and uprooted corruption from the sector to a large extent. 

Benefits of Transparency

  • Helpful in curbing Corruption and Nepotism: Transparency has a deterrent effect on corrupt behaviour as public officials know their actions will be subject to public scrutiny. 
  • Transparency increases the state’s legitimacy as citizens are more likely to trust it when the government is transparent about its decision-making processes and is open about its policies and actions. 
  • Enable a citizen to make well-informed decisions, especially while voting: Transparency helps citizens cast votes based on performance rather than narrow considerations of caste or creed.
  • Efficient utilization of funds: Transparency in governance ensures the efficient utilization of funds and prevents financial misdoings. When financial information is readily available to the public, it becomes easier to identify irregularities or discrepancies in financial statements and transactions.
  • Empowering the Marginalized: It empowers the poor and marginalized sections of society by providing them with the necessary information. For example, access to information can help people living in poverty to learn about job opportunities, government services, and educational programs. It can also help marginalized groups such as women, minorities, and people with disabilities to learn about their legal rights and protections.

Issues with Transparency in India

  1. Red Tapism in bureaucracy undermines transparency
  2. Official Secrets Act of 1923, under which government can classify certain information as official which cant be shared.
  3. Monitoring mechanisms aren’t efficient.
  4. Lack of government’s political will to be transparent
  5. Citizens are not interested enough to ensure transparency in governance
  6. Political parties don’t come under the ambit of RTI 

3 Aspects of Transparency

1. Participative Governance

  • Participative Governance means when citizens themselves participate in governance and decision-making. It entails the participation of people in decision-making at the grass root level through the decentralization of powers to the local self-governing bodies.  
  • Participative governance is one of the means to achieve transparency in governance through the bottom-up approach. 

There are different ways by which participative governance can be achieved. 

1.1 Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) & Urban Local Bodies

  • It is a well-known fact that as the distance from the Power of Center increases, proportionately transparency decreases. 
  • PRIs and Urban Local Bodies were given constitutional status via the 73rd and 74th Amendments. 
  • Powers have been devolved to Village Panchayats and Gram Sabhas, in which people make decisions themselves. 

1.2 Social Audit

  • Social Audit is the audit through client or beneficiary groups or civil society groups (i.e. stakeholders) to ensure the social accountability of an organization.
  • It was suggested by Ashok Mehta Committee in 1977. After the 73rd Amendment, when Gram Panchayats got Constitutional Status, rural citizens/gram sabha got legitimacy to conduct Social Audits.
  • The Supreme Court has also favoured it. CAG, in 2016, laid down “auditing standards” for Social Audit.
  •  It isn’t just limited to Government companies and schemes. It is equally valid for Private Companies where its stakeholders can conduct audits. E.g., TISCO adopted this technique of Auditing even before independence.

Conventional Audit vs. Social Audit

Conventional Audit Social Audit
Top-down concept of audit Bottom-up concept of audit
Audit done by Government Functionaries Audit done by the beneficiary group and civil society (stakeholders) 
Audit with economic orientation Audit with  economic as well as social impact consideration

Advantages of Social Audit over Conventional Auditing

  • Increases people’s participation in governance (Participatory Governance)
  • It leads to more transparency and strong accountability. 
  • Social Audit is an audit from the economic and social impact perspective. Hence more effective
  • Infuse effectivity and efficiency in public service delivery (Ghost Beneficiary can be weeded out)
  • Generation and consolidation of Social capital and social enterprise
  • Social Audit becomes crucial after greater devolution of the central fund to PRIs, and ULB on the recommendation of the 14th FC, as CAG’s audit jurisdiction over such entities is nebulous.
  • Social Audits of MGNREGA have played an important role in rooting out corruption from the scheme. 

Challenges in Social Auditing 

  1. It is voluntary & doesn’t enjoy legal backing (although some schemes like MGNREGA have legal backing)
  2. Standardisation problem: Different stakeholders may have varying opinions and expectations, making it difficult to reach a consensus on what constitutes positive social performance.
  3. Time-consuming

1.3 Resident Welfare Associations

Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in India are local community organizations formed by residents of a particular neighbourhood or housing society to address and manage various issues related to the welfare and development of their locality.

Bhagidari Scheme (of the Delhi Government)

  • The Bhagidari Scheme of the Delhi Government directly involves citizens through RWAs in monthly meetings to mobilize the community to take responsibility for their respective zones and areas. These RWAs are also the first point of contact for state utilities while planning development-related and other changes  

2. Information Sharing

  • Information sharing refers to the exchange of data among various governing bodies, organizations and the general public.
  • Indian Parliament has also institutionalized this right by legislating the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005. (CLICK HERE for more on RTI)
  • Further, parliamentary debates are televised in India, government audit reports are published, and government positions on various policy issues are widely advertised through websites, radio and social media. 
  • Most recently, the government has launched the data.gov.in website to promote Open Data Government (ODG). 

3. Accountability

Accountability has three aspects 

  1. Answerability of the officials for their decisions and actions
  2. Enforceability of rules and laws to punish the officials if they fail to effectively discharge their duty
  3. Grievance redressal mechanism for the ordinary people who suffer due to the absence of accountability.

 (CLICK HERE for more on Accountability)

Utilization of Public Funds

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Last Updated: April 2023 (Utilization of Public Funds)

Utilization of Public Funds

This article deals with the topic titled ‘Utilization of Public Funds .’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’. For more articles, you can click here.

Introduction

The Public fund is money that the government generates to provide goods and services to the general public. It is held by the government as a custodian and not an owner. Hence, judicious and effective utilization of public funds is very crucial. However, public funds are often subjected to inefficient utilization, diversions, etc., owing to factors such as corruption. 

There are various aspects to consider when it comes to the utilization of public funds:

Utilization of Public Funds

Problems in the Public Fund Utilization

CAG reports, and other academic studies have revealed the following problems in the public fund utilization

  1. Ministries release funds mechanically without considering the capacity of State Governments to absorb and utilize those funds. For example, in 2018, the Ministry of Health released Rs. 9,000 crores to various states for the implementation of the National Health Mission. But, many states were unable to utilize the funds due to a lack of infrastructure, inadequate human resources etc. 
  2. Misuse of public funds for political purposes: It can be seen in the following examples.
    • Freebies and schemes: Political parties offer freebies such as free laptops, TVs, and other household appliances, which depletes the public exchequer but creates an unfair advantage for the party
    • Development projects: Political parties sometimes allocate public funds for development projects in areas where they have a strong vote bank. 
  3. Internal audit functions within departments are inadequate due to various issues.
    • Insufficient Resources: Internal audit team is generally understaffed or underfunded.
    • Lack of Technical Expertise: Internal auditors may not have the technical expertise required to perform their duties.
    • Ineffective Communication: The higher management generally doesn’t act on the findings and recommendations of the Internal Auditors
  4. State Governments are more interested in getting funds from the Central ministries than in ensuring the quality of expenditure. For instance
    •  Case of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS): CSS are partially funded by the Central Government but implemented by State Governments. State governments focus more on meeting the conditions for receiving the funds rather than ensuring that the schemes are appropriately implemented to benefit the intended beneficiaries.
    • To attract more Central funding, State Governments prioritize the allocation of funds towards projects that are likely to attract central funding rather than those that are genuinely important for the development of the state.
  5. March Madness or March Rush: Central Ministries are also more concerned with expenditure rather than the attainment of the objectives. Large parts of funds are generally released in the last month of the financial year, which could not be expected to be spent by the respective State Governments during that financial year. It is done to avoid the funds being surrendered to the government at the end of the financial year.
  6. Veracity and propriety of expenditure data cant be assured, and generally, expenditure figures given by IAS do not tally with the statistics reported by the District level agencies. On the whole, expenditure information is unreliable.

How the problem of misuse of Public Funds can be corrected 

There are various ways to do this

1. Citizen Participation

Social Audit: The social audit evaluates and assesses the social impact of government policies and programs on various sections of society.

2. Audit

  • CAG: Expenditures from all public funds must be properly accounted for and pass through the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit. 
  • Parliamentary Oversight: Major irregularities which emerge are also examined by parliamentary committees (Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee etc.)

3. Outcome-Based Approach to Evaluation

Outcome-Based Approach to Evaluation (OBAE) is a method of assessing the effectiveness of programs and policies by examining their impact on the desired outcomes. For example

  1. National Rural Health Mission (NRHM): The scheme aims to improve healthcare in rural areas. It is evaluated by measuring the progress towards the desired outcomes, such as reducing infant and maternal mortality rates.
  2. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA): The scheme aims to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged between 6 and 14. It is evaluated by looking at desired outcomes, such as improving enrolment, retention, and learning outcomes

4. Informed Citizenry

The informed citizenry is essential for holding the government responsible for efficiently utilizing public funds. When citizens are aware of where their tax money is being spent, they can hold the government accountable for its spending decisions. For example

  1. Right to Information Act: RTI empowers citizens to access information about government expenditures. It has helped ordinary people to expose the corruption and misuse of public funds.

5. Use of e-Governance

5.1 Central Plan Scheme Monitoring System (CPSMS)

  • CPSMS integrates tens of thousands of implementing agencies through a common system and tracks fund movement at successive stages, starting with the initial release from the Centre till the money actually reaches the ultimate beneficiaries. It has covered over 1000 Central Plan schemes, captured more than 75,000 sanctions for the release of funds, and registered nearly 20,000 programme-implementing agencies with the system. In addition, CPSMS is linking with State treasuries and State AGs to obtain real-time expenditure information for schemes for which funds are transferred from the Central Ministries to the States.

6. Canons of Financial Propriety

Public officials should be guided by following canons of financial propriety.

  1. Government officials are expected to exercise the same level of prudence in managing taxpayer funds as they would when handling their own personal finances.
  2. The expenditure should’ t be more than what the occasion demands. 
  3. It is inappropriate for any authority to use its power to approve expenses resulting in direct or indirect benefits to itself.
  4. Public funds should not be spent for the benefit of a specific individual or group of people except in cases where it can be enforced in a court of law.

Quality of Service Delivery

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Last Update: May 2023 (Quality of Service Delivery)

Quality of Service Delivery

This article deals with the topic titled ‘Quality of Service Delivery .’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’. For more articles, you can click here.

Introduction

Public Services are the services delivered to the public by local, municipal, or federal governments. But in modern administration, Public service goes beyond the administrative functions of the governments and incorporates non-governmental organizations as a lot of public functions are delegated to private organizations.

Understanding the Concept of Service Delivery

The concept has to be understood w.r.t. two different angles. 

  1. Quality of services provided to the poor sections of the population: These services are usually offered free of cost or are subsidized by the government—for example, education, healthcare etc. The overall objective of providing these services is to provide social protection for poor and vulnerable sections of society.
  2. Services for which the government charges the citizens for service delivery, e.g. passport, driving license, gas and electricity connection, telephone services etc. Since the citizens pay for the services, they expect time-bound delivery of quality services 

Problems in Service Delivery

  • Weberian Bureaucracy: The working of most government organizations is still based on the Weberian principle, which emphasizes rules and regulations. For Bureaucracy, Rules and Regulations have become end in themselves rather than means for making a just society. It has also resulted in a lack of flexibility & responsiveness to the changing needs of society.
  • Bureaucratic Red Tape: The bureaucratic red tape and slow decision-making process in government agencies can also hamper the quality of service delivery. The long waiting times for approval or processing of documents can discourage people from accessing government services. For example, individuals who apply for a government subsidy or grant must wait months to receive approval, which can lead to financial hardship.
  • Government Monopoly over the Provision of Public Services: In India, the government has a monopoly over the provision of various public services, including healthcare, education, transportation, and utility services such as electricity and water supply. This monopoly can significantly impact the quality of service delivery, like overcrowding, underfunding, understaffing and substandard customer service.
  • Inefficiencies & Absenteeism: In India, absenteeism impacts the quality of service delivery. For example
    1. Healthcare: Absenteeism of medical staff can lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment
    2. Education: A study has revealed 25 per cent absenteeism of teachers in government schools. It leads to a lack of supervision and teaching for students.
    3. Public Services: Absenteeism among police officers and firefighters can lead to delayed response times during emergencies
  • Corruption: Corruption is a significant problem in India, and it also affects the delivery of government services. 
    1. Bribery and Nepotism are common, and they can delay the delivery of services or even denial of services altogether. 
    2. Government officials often demand bribes for basic services like issuing a driver’s license, passport, or ration card. 
    3. Bribery and Nepotism can affect Police investigations, leading to the wrongful arrest or release of individuals. 
    4. In educational services, Students may be asked to pay bribes for admission to top colleges and universities.
  • Leakages: The leakages in the public funds adversely impacts the quality of service delivery. It is corroborated by Rajiv Gandhi’s famous statement that if the government allocates ₹ 10 for public service, only ₹1 reaches the intended beneficiary. 
    1. Education Sector: The leakages in the Mid Day Meal scheme reduce the quantity and quality of food served and undermine the objectives of the scheme
    2. Healthcare Sector: The leakages in the scheme, such as National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), due to payments to ghost health workers and suppliers, inflated drug prices etc., compromise the availability and quality of healthcare services in rural areas 
    3. Food Distribution: Due to leakages in the Public Distribution System (PDS) owing to the diversion of subsidized food to the black market deprives the poor of their entitlements.
  • The Convenience of Service Providers, not Receivers: Public services have been provided based on the convenience of the service providers rather than receivers. For example,
    1. Bank timings: Indian Banks are operational from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, which is not convenient for working people. Hence, people have to take time off work to visit the bank.
    2. Healthcare services: Many healthcare services operate during limited hours and are often closed on weekends and public holidays. 
  • Limited Access: The limited accessibility of government services is another issue. In India, many rural areas lack basic infrastructure, including access to government services. It makes it challenging for people in these areas to access government services.
  • Lack of Incentives to be Efficient: The lack of incentives to be efficient is a persistent challenge in India that impacts the quality of service delivery. For example, 
    1. Delay in processing government applications: The root cause of this problem is the lack of motivation among government officials to complete their work on time as they do not face any penalty or punishment for the delay
    2. Public Education and Healthcare System: Teachers and healthcare professionals do not show a high level of motivation because they do not receive any reward for good performance or face any consequences for poor performance.

Ways to Improve Service Delivery 

  • Inculcation of Public Service Ethos in the Institutions and Individuals. These include values like compassion, empathy etc.) and character-building exercises.
  • Increasing Social Accountability: The quality of public services can be improved by increasing social accountability using mechanisms such as School Management Committees (SMCs), and Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKSs)  
    1. School Management Committees (SMCs): SMCs were constituted as part of the Right to Education Act and consist of parents, teachers, and other community members. They are responsible for managing the day-to-day affairs of schools. This mechanism enhances accountability and improves the transparency of school functioning. 
    2. Rogi Kalyan Samitis (RKSs): RKSs are committees comprising representatives from the community, government officials, and healthcare professionals to monitor and improve the functioning of hospitals.
  • Performance-based bonus payments
    • While salaries of Public Servants are high, the pay does not in any way depend on any measure of performance. Performance-based incentives will encourage public servants to be more efficient. 
  • Involving the Private Sector to infuse competition
    • Competition increases the quality of service delivery. Also, the profit-seeking behaviour of private sector managers leads to cost-cutting, deployment of better technology and greater attention to customer satisfaction.
    • The government should directly provide health and education grants or vouchers to the poor, which would be redeemable at any recognized school or clinic.  
  • Citizen Report Card 
    • Citizen Report Cards are prepared mainly by NGOs and are based on response to the quality of service by Citizens. 
  • The rights-based approach to improving public service delivery
    • A rights-based approach is an approach that focuses on the rights of citizens as enshrined in the Constitution and other legal frameworks, with the goal of ensuring that these rights are upheld and protected.
    • Right to Public Service Acts: Many states, such as Punjab, have passed the Right to Public Service Acts to give timely delivery of services to people.
  • Plugging leakages 
    • To plug leakages, the government could use Aadhar and Direct Benefit Transfers. It will help find the ghost and duplicate beneficiaries and remove profit-seeking intermediaries. 
  • Giving lesser discretion to Bureaucracy
    • The existing Departmental Manuals and Codes should be reviewed. 
    • Phrases like ‘left to the discretion of, ‘as far as possible’, etc should be avoided.
  • Contractual Structure of Employment
    • Modify job to contractual nature, making job renewal subject to satisfactory performance. It will encourage public servants to be more efficient. 

Case Study of Helsinki

One example of good quality public service can be seen in the city of Helsinki, Finland.

Quality of Service Delivery

Work Culture

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Work Culture

This article deals with the topic titled ‘Work Culture.’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’. For more articles, you can click here.

What is work culture?

  • Work culture refers to how rules/regulations, policies, traditions/rituals, shared values, beliefs and practices contribute to an organization’s unique social and psychological environment.  
  • The work culture decides how employees interact with each other and how an organization functions.

Important Note: There are two concepts in the syllabus.

  • Work Culture: It is concerned with the interaction between workers within the organization and between workers & organization
  • Service Delivery: It is concerned with the interaction between the organization and outsiders.

Why work culture is important?

  1. Sense of identity and belongingness: Employees (including Public Servants) obtain a sense of identity and understand that they belong to a larger community with a sense of commitment to achieve something more significant than their individual interest.  
  2. Acts as a regulating mechanism: Organizational culture shapes attitudes and behaviour by providing the necessary incentives and sanctions. These ensure that the behaviour of the employees is aligned with the organization’s values.
  3. Attracting talent: It helps attract and keep talented staff as workers prefer to work in an environment where they enjoy spending time.  
  4. Promotes efficiency: A collaborative environment in the organization encourages the employees to work diligently and inspires people to demonstrate the values of responsiveness and efficiency. It creates satisfied employees and increases productivity.

The 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission states that poor organizational culture has led to the degradation of values and corruption in administration in India.

Characteristics of a Healthy Work Culture

Work Culture - UPSC GS 4
  1. Employees are cordial with each other.  
  2. Each employee is treated as one. Partiality leads to demotivated employees.  
  3. Management should appreciate the top performers. But motivating the low performers is essential.  
  4. Healthy work culture encourages discussions at the workplace. Each one should have the liberty to express their views.  
  5. The organization must have employee-friendly policies and practical guidelines. Expecting an employee to work till late at night on his birthday is simply impractical. Rules and regulations should be made for the benefit of employees.  
  6. Promote team-building activities to bind the employees together.   
  7. The “Hitler approach” does not fit in the current scenario. Instead, bosses should be more like mentors to the employees.

Traits of (Healthy) Work Culture of Government Organizations

  1. Administrative Hierarchy: There should be a clear-cut division of work wherein each level assigns responsibilities to the level beneath it, while each lower level is accountable to the level above for fulfilling those assignments. 
  2. Rules and Procedures: Decisions taken by bureaucrats should be governed by a consistent system of rules, regulations and procedures, which are written, rational and impersonal. 
  3. Communication and consultation: Bureaucratic structure should ensure the free flow of information among all departments and levels in the organization horizontally and vertically regularly.
  4. Process Simplification: There should be a constant endeavour to move towards process simplification. E.g. adoption of web-based single window clearance systems.
  5. Inclusiveness: Work culture should be able to inspire and motivate people coming from different cultural backgrounds to achieve organizational goals. 

Methods of Improving Work Culture

Work culture can be improved in a number of ways:

  • Objective Role Assignment: The role assigned should be as objective as possible
  • Remove Role Ambiguity: Role ambiguity should be totally removed.
  • Reinforcement in the event of creative expression of the given role.
  • Improving communications between management and staff in both directions
  • Providing adequate rest breaks to prevent the build-up of fatigue  
  • Be fair but firm in dealings with subordinates. 
  • Take an active interest in the personal and family needs/problems of subordinates. 
  • Take immediate action in cases of indiscipline and do not condone indiscipline in any form and at any level
  • Ensuring that jobs that pose a risk and cannot be completely eliminated are rotated so that no individual spends long on that task. 

Accountability and Ethical Governance

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Accountability and Ethical Governance

This article deals with topic titled ‘Accountability and Ethical Governance.’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’  . For more articles , you can click here

 

Accountability

What is Accountability

  • Accountability means answerability of the officials for their decisions and actions.
  • Accountability is  required in case of Public Servants because they have lot of discretion
  • Benefits of Accountability
        • Checks Abuse of power
        • Checks corruption and Fraud
        • lack of accountability decreases the legitimacy of government
        • Makes system more responsive
        • Stops Arbitrary and unauthorized exercise of authority

 

  • Against Accountability points
        • Officers spend their time in maintaining records or answering RTIs etc
        • It makes them status quoist in their conduct in fear of public scrutiny.

 

To quote Amartya Sen – ” We don’t need just a democracy, we need accountable democracy.”

 

Quite often Accountability is misunderstood as Responsibility.

      • Responsibility is inner concept like your responsibility to do some work
      • Accountability is outer concept like your accountability of some work you have done.

 

 

Types of Accountability

There can be two type of Accountability in Governance

Vertical Accountability of government to persons outside government is ensured by

  • Elections
  • RTI
  • Media & Social Media
  • Citizens Charter
  • NGO & Pressure Groups
Horizontal Accountability of Public Institutions/ Servants to Government

External Accountability of Public Servant outside his wing

  • Accountability of Minister (Executive) to Parliament (Legislature)
  • Judiciary
  • CAG
  • CVC
  • NHRC
Internal Accountability of Public Servant inside his wing/department

  • Accountability to Superiors
  • Internal Audit
  • Grievance Redressal Mechanisms

Whenever we have to answer how to increase Accountability , we have to cover all these angles.

 

Steps to make  Accountability more effective in India

  • Strengthening RTI act and infrastructure
  • Protection of Whistleblowers through legislation.
  • Strong Lokpal Act
  • Social Audits by local communities, NGOs can enhance accountability in public service delivery, for instance in MGNREGA.
  • Using Information and Technology: Maintaining digital records
  • Encouraging Citizen’s initiative: e.g. Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
  • Promoting Competition and discouraging monopolistic attitude among public service sectors.
  • Need to lay down a statutory Code of Ethics for Civil Services (British Civil Services Code can act as a model.)

 

Side Topic : Lokpal

This is a Central Institution of Accountability in matters of financial impropriety and corruption .

 

Which bodies come under Lokpal

  • Members of Parliament
  • Ministers including PM (Central Executive)
  • Higher Bureaucracy (Lower Bureaucracy under CVC)
  • NGO falling under cases of FCRA

 

Various Challenges to accountability in India

  • Special Expertise  :   public administrators are experts in their specific area  => difficult for outside agency to surpass them in their areas of specialization & question them.
  • Massive Expansion of Bureaucracy:   difficult for the political executive to exercise effective control over them.
  • Lack of Coordination:  The number  of agencies  increased => CBI, CVC,  Lokayuktas, SVC etc without effective coordination among them.’
  • Excessive security : Article 311 of the Indian Constitution makes it almost impossible to remove a civil servant.
  • Employees’ unions: Tendency of employees’ unions to resist the managerial action against their members even when they have blatantly violated ethical norms.

 

 

Ethical Governance

Ethical governance is corruption free, moral and people centric Government

 

Philosophical Basis of Ethical Governance

People think that concept of Good Governance is modern concept. But they are wrong. Many times in past, scholars have conceptualised what is  good governance

 

Kautilya

  • Kautilya in his Arthashastra wrote , ” in the happiness of subjects lies the happiness of king and in the welfare of subjects lies the welfare of king. ” Hence , he has written about Citizen Centric Government .
  • Kautilya has also highlighted the corruption & given concept of Kantakshodhana ie king should purge out those elements strictly.

 

Gandhi’s Vision of Ramrajya

  • Vision of Ramrajya involves the governance based on Moral Principles .
  • Infact Gandhi has said that Government which is not working in people’s interest is morally corrupt.
  • Swaraj ie Self Rule is one of the pillars of his concept of Ramrajya or Good Governance .

 

Aristotle

  • He has divided the Government  into two parts
    • Perverted Government : Power is used in the interest of Ruling class
    • Legitimate Government : Power is used in Public Interest

 

8 Characters of Ethical Government  

Rule of Law

  • Rule of Law involves governance based upon rules and regulations
  • In modern times, these rules & regulations are codified in Constitution of country .

 

People’s Participation

  • Real democracy doesn’t just mean voting to elect government but participation of people in governance itself .
  • The mechanism of people’s participation in contemporary times are
Conventional Tools
  • Voting
  • Pressure Groups
New & Contemporary
  • Panchayati Raj Institutions & Gram Sabha
  • RTI
  • Social Auditing
  • Citizen Charter
  • E-Governance (C2G)
  • Social Media (change.org, online petitions)

 

Consensus orientation

  • Ethical Governance is not based on Winner takes all approach .
  • Decisions in the government should be taken based on consensus

 

Equity and Inclusiveness

  • Distribution of resources  should be based on the principle of equity so that different sections of society receive these resources based on their need
  • Inclusiveness involves including weaker sections  in decision making (welfare principle)

 

Effective and Efficient

  • Effective government is one which achieves the target in stipulated time
  • Efficient government is one which deliver maximum with minimum resources

 

Accountable

  • Discussed above

 

Transparent

  • Literal meaning is openness
  • Tool of Transparency : RTI, E- Governance

 

Responsive

  • Responsive government is one which positively responds to people’s demands, needs and aspirations in a timely manner

 

 

 

Right to Information

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Right to Information

This article deals with topic titled ‘Right to Information.’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’  . For more articles , you can click here

 

 

Right to Information  Act
Sweden was the first country in the world to give Right to Information in 1766. USA gave it after 200 years in 1966. Other countries include France (1978), Canada (1982) , Japan (1999) , Britain (2000) & finally India in 2005

 

Role of Political Parties and Government

Constituent Assembly Prof KT Shah gave suggestion to include it in Constitution . But it wasn’t debated properly
1975-77 During Emergency, Rights of Citizen were blatantly violated . JP led movement emphasised on Right to Information
1977 Morarji Desai Government made Taskforce which suggested against making RTI Act
1989 Boforce Scandal – RTI again came to limelight . But governments formed during this period were unstable and nothing came out
1997 IK Gujaral Government made HD Shorey Committee to frame RTI Act. Present RTI act was drafted by HD Shorey Committee
2000 Atal Bihari Vajpayee promised in UN to make RTI Act
2005 14th Lok Sabha passed RTI act

 

 

Role of Judiciary in RTI Act

  • Judiciary has given many judgements since 1950s that RTI is part of Right to Freedom of Expression.
  • PUCL vs GoI (2003) gave right to citizens to ask any information from their representatives (MPs & MLAs)
  • TN was the first state to make RTI Act in 1997 based on Judicial Judgement regarding this .

 

 

Role of Civil Society in RTI Act Movement

Civil Society or NGOs have tried to make informed citizenry. Eg : Rajasthan’s Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) , gathered information about services being  provided to citizens by government and gave it to citizens. They organised Jan Sunwais which was platform to address issues raised by Citizens where Ministers and High Officials were invited and asked critical questions which forced them to become accountable . This Andolan and Jan Sunwais became world famous and in 2000 Rajasthan passed RTI Act at state level

 
  • RTI Act,2005 empowers the citizen of India to seek information from a public authority
  • Under the provisions of the Act,
        • Any citizen may request information from a “public authority” (Act defines what is Public Authority)
        • Public Authority is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days.
        • Every public authority must computerise their records  so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally
        • Applies to all States and Union Territories of India

 

 

Downside of Information Sharing

  • Freedom brings with it added responsibility as well  . Hence, it must be used with responsibility . Non-serious applications should be avoided.
  • Information can be used by anti- social elements to create disharmony  &  sense of mistrust & despair 

 

Thus adequate checks & balances need to be built to ensure that it is not misused

 

Provisions of the Act
Objective : To bring transparency in governance

 

How to apply

  • It is said to be most citizen centric and friendly act
  • No specific format is required . It can be applied by writing on blank paper or online
  • Language : English or Hindi or Any official local language
  • Fees is not barrier : Fee is ₹10 and free for BPL
  • Public Information Officer (PIO) has legal obligation to assist the person in application of form
  • No reason required to be given for seeking information

 

Central Information Commission shall consist of : 1 Chief Information Commissioner and upto 10 Central Information Commissioners.

 

PIO /APIO

  • PIO = Public Information Officer (at Tehsil or District level)
  • PIO are officers who provide information requested under RTI
  • APIO = Assistant PIO .
    • He is the connecting link between rural masses and PIO. Essentially they are created at Post Office level because poor person cant travel to Tehsil and District  to apply to PIO due to transportation costs and losing work day .
    • Actual information is given by PIO in this case too.
  • Duties of PIO
    • PIO will examine requests
    • If desired information is related to some other public authority , then PIO will forward that application within 5 days to that Public Authority and inform the applicant
    • PIO can take help of any other officer for proper disposal of his duties
    • PIO will provide information within 30 days of application or dismiss application under Section 8 or 9 of RTI
    • Where desired information has question of life and liberty , then information is to be provided within 48 hours
    • If PIO fails to provide information within stipulated time  , it is presumed that he has denied to provide information.
  • If PIO dismisses application , he must
    • Tell reasons
    • Tell the time limit in which an appeal must be made against that.
    • Provide details of Appellate Officers

 

Mechanism of processing of information

Time : 30 working days unless stated otherwise .

  • In exceptional cases like issue of violation of Human Rights , it has to be processed in 48 hours
  • If giving application to APIO, add 5 more days (35 working days)
  • If the desired information has vested interests of Third Party , it can take maximum 40 days
  • If PIO fails to provide information within stipulated time  , it is presumed that he has denied to provide information.

 

Appellate Authorities

  • Process of Appeal : Appeal can be made when no information is given in 30 days or  application has been rejected  for some reason or given information is  not satisfactory. There are two appeals
    • 1st Appeal : Officer of the rank higher than PIO of concerned Public Authority within 30 days of decision
    • 2nd Appeal : Can be made in Central or State Information Commission within 90 days of first appeal
  • But CIC is the only appellate authority which may declare a body as public authority if it is convinced that the organization fits into the criteria for being under the RTI Act.

 

When information can be denied

  • Section 8 of RTI (dealt below)
  • If an information violates copyright act (Section 9)

 

Wrt Official Secrets Act

  • Act overrides the Official Secrets Act, 1923. The information commissions can allow access to the information if public interest outweighs harm to protected persons.

 

Exemptions under Section 8

Exemption to certain Information under Section 8 of RTI

  • National security or sovereignty
  • National economic interests
  • Relations with foreign states
  • Law enforcement and the judicial process
  • Cabinet and other decision-making documents
  • Trade secrets & commercial confidentiality
  • Individual safety
  • Personal privacy

 

Public Authorities

Section 2(h) of the RTI Act states that “public authority” means any authority or body established

  • By  Constitution
  • By  law made by Parliament or State Legislature
  • By notification issued by the appropriate Government or substantially financed by government

Issue : RTI Act does not define substantial financing. Consequently, courts are often required to decide whether a particular form and quantum of financial aid constitutes substantial finance.)

 

Different Obligations on Public Authorities

  • Act imposes obligation on public agencies to disclose the information suo-moto to reduce requests for information
  • To make all the information online (digitization of information)
  • Proactive disclosure of public information on website
  • Timely appointment of PIOs & APIOs
  • Creating the awareness wrt Act

 

Different Rights under Right to Information Act

  • Right of Inspection
  • Right to obtain Carbon Copies of information . This can be in form of Physical Copies (Xerox) , Digital form (CD, DVD)
  • Right to take the certified samples

 

Amendment to RTI Act in 2013

  • Amendment said that Political Parties are not Public Authorities under RTI Act ie  they are outside the purview of RTI Act
  • The amendment will ensure that political parties are not obliged to disclose the basis to choose their candidates & the source of their funding

 

 

2019 Amendment

1 . Security of Tenure of CIC , IC & SIC taken away

        • original law = Fixed 5 year tenure or 65 years age
        • Amendment =  Center to decide their tenure.

 

2. Position of CIC, IC , SIC

  • Original Act : Position was as follows

Chief Central Information Commissioner

Same as Chief Election Commissioner
Central level Information Commissioner Same as Election Commissioners
State Information Commissioners Same as Chief Secretary of State
  • Amendment :  empowers Central government to unilaterally decide the tenure, salary, allowances and other terms of service of Information Commissioners, both at the Centre and the States
  • Rationale : Election Commissioners are Constitutional Body while Election Commissioners are Statutory

 

Issue

  • Will impact independence of the institution
  • Against Federalism

 

Analysis of RTI

Pros
  • Transparency
  • Accountability
  • Efficiency increased
  • Strengthened democracy
  • Increase in people’s participation in governance

Number of scams RTI has helped unearth in past decade include Adarsh Housing Society scam, 2G scam, Commonwealth scam, MNREGA etc

 
Issues 1 . Lack of Awareness

  • There is very less awareness in people about provisions of Act .
  • It is mostly used by NGOs and enlightened people
  • Over the last decade, less than 2 % of the Indian population has used the law

 

2. Victimisation of RTI Activists : large number of RTI Activists are killed and there is no effective act to provide security (Whistle-blower’s Act is too weak) .

 

3. Misuse of RTI :

  • To harass and blackmail public functionaries .

 

4. Section 8 of RTI Act (exceptions under RTI) : This affect transparency

  • Political Parties are not under ambit of RTI .
  •  collegium System of Judiciary not under RTI .

 

5. Issues wrt effective implementation

  • Under-staffing .
  • Issues wrt maintenance of information.

 

6. High Pendency

  • CIC & SIC post remains vacant and other appointments are not made with urgency.  Ruling parties want to make RTI ineffective

 

 

Reforms required

  1. Greater voluntary disclosure of information held with public Authorities.
  2. Strong Whistleblower Act .
  3. Some sort of protection should be provided to honest officers to stop harassment
  4. Timely appointment of PIOs, CIC, SIC, IC etc
  5. Extra finances for logistics Create awareness by organising awareness drives .
  6. Bring political parties under RTI .
  7. Some state level initiatives which can be used
        • Jankari Call Centre: Bihar Government has initiated a call centre which facilitates the  caller in drafting the RTI application and the fee is collected through the phone bill.
        • “Train the Trainer” concept in Assam: Government trains the NGOs to impart training to citizens on RTI in order to maximize the reach of RTI

 
(2013 UPSC Study ) A Public Information Officer has received an application under RTI Act. Having gathered the information, the PIO discovers that the information pertains to some of the decisions taken by him, which were found to be not altogether right. There were other employees also who were party to these decisions . Disclosure of the information is likely to lead to disciplinary action with possibility of punishment against him as well as some of his colleagues. Non-disclosure or part disclosure or camouflaged disclosure of information will result into lesser punishment or no punishment.

 

The PIO is otherwise an honest and conscientious person but this particular decision, on which the RTI application has been filed, turned out to be wrong. He comes to you for advice

 

The following are some suggested options. Please evaluate the merits and demerits of each of the options:

  • The PIO could refer the matter to his superior officer and seek his advice and act strictly in accordance with the advice, even though he is not completely in agreement with the advice of the superior.
  • The PIO could proceed on leave and leave the matter to be dealt by his successor in office or request for transfer of the application to another PIO.
  • The PIO could weigh the consequences of disclosing the information truthfully, including the effect on his career, and reply in a manner that would not place him or his career in jeopardy, but at the same time a little compromise can be made on the contents of the information.
  • The PIO could consult his other colleagues who are party to the decision and take action as per their advice.

 

Also please indicate (without necessarily restricting to the above options) what you would like to advise, giving proper reasons. (20 marks| 250 words)
Present case presents a dilemma of Public Interest vs Private interest . Not giving correct information will jeopardise people’s right to information and giving it will make public his wrong decisions

 

First Option

Merit
  • Senior is experienced person and he can give better advice to resolve the dilemma
  • Following the orders of Higher official is in line with Code of Conduct.
Demerit
  • Against provisions of RTI Act.

 

Second Option

Merit
  • There is case of Conflict of Interest . So , this action is completely in line with Code of Conduct .
Demerit
  • Shows cowardice and lack of courage and running from responsibility  .

 

Third Option

Merit
  • Personal interest of person can be protected and can save person from any blot on career that can harm future prospects .
Demerit
  • It will compromise integrity of person and credibility of office
  • It will compromise the rights of person who wants genuine information which is legal right under RTI
  • If his action of camouflage of information is detected in future , he will have to suffer double punishment .

 

Fourth Option

Merit
  • They are stakeholders too and consulting them beforehand can save him from future bitterness in relations .
Demerit
  • As PIO , his duty is towards giving correct information to person who is demanding it and not to protect his colleagues
  • In legal sense, in future if wrongdoing in giving information is discovered, only he will be responsible and liable for this act.

 

Under RTI, it is the legal obligation of PIO to give Carbon Copy of Information available with authority without any modification. Right of citizen to have access to correct information cant be curtailed under RTI. Giving manipulated information can lead him to more troubles in future in case wrongdoing is discovered .

 

Hence, best decision is to give objective information without any manipulation which is his legal duty and give justification in future if any of his past actions are questioned based on the information disclosed.

 

 

Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct

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Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct

This article deals with topic titled ‘Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct.’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’  . For more articles , you can click here

 

 

Why we need Code of Ethics & Conduct for Public Servants ?

Consider the situations

  • What should be done about men who do not directly and blatantly sell the favours of their offices for money and so not place themselves within the penalties of the law?
  • How do we deal with those who, under the guise of friendship, accept favours, which offend the spirit of the law but do not violate its letter?

A system of laws and rules, however elaborate, cannot provide for all situations. It is no doubt desirable, and perhaps possible, to govern the conduct of those who occupy positions in the lower echelons and exercise limited or no discretion. But the higher the echelon in public service, the greater is the ambit of discretion. And it is difficult to provide for a system of laws and rules that can comprehensively cover and regulate the exercise of discretion in high places.

 

Hence, although all citizens are subjected to the laws of the land, in the case of Public Servants there must be standards of behavior more stringent than those for an ordinary citizen. Due to this, need arises for establishing not just a code of conduct but a code of ethics.

 

Note from 2nd ARC Report : Most disturbing aspects of this problem of moral conduct is the revelation that morality has become identical with legality. We are certainly in a tragic plight if the accepted standard by which we measure the integrity of a man in public life is that he keep within the letter of the law.

 

Side Topic : Code of Conduct vs Code of Ethics

Code of Conduct
  • Dos & Donts
  • Prescribes mainly unacceptable behavior
  • Minimalist approach ie tells minimum to be required of person in particular capacity
  • Is enforceable
Code of Ethics
  • Contains Core values (like Honesty, Tolerance etc)
  • Aspirational (what that person must strive for)
  • Are mainly Benchmarks (maximalist approach)
  • Aren’t enforceable

 

ARC II Recommendation on Code of Conduct

  • Present set of Code of Conduct is  too vague , complex and difficult to interpret. There is need to re-write Code of Conduct in order to make them simple , precise and easily interpretable .
  • Still we don’t have written set of Code of Ethics and there is need to write Code of Ethics for civil servants

 

 

Code of Conduct for Civil Servants

  • Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules – 1964 and analogous rules applicable to members of  All India Services
  • It was a continuous process
1869 Disapproval of habitual lending and indiscriminate borrowing
1876 Ban on accepting gifts
1920 Ban on accepting commercial employment after retirement
1964 Formation of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules , 1964  based on the recommendations of Committee on Prevention of Corruption headed by K Santhanam

 
Later These rules have subsequently been updated . Eg

  • Prohibiting demanding and accepting dowry,
  • Prohibiting sexual harassment of women employees

 

There is no Code of Ethics prescribed for civil servants in India 

 

 

Central Civil Service Conduct Rules , 1964

General

  • Direction of the official superior shall  be in writing.
  • Government servant who has received oral direction shall seek confirmation  in writing as early as possible

 

  • MPs or MLAs should be given preference over other visitors (as they have various other public works to perform) and in the very rare cases where an officer is unable to attend MP or MLA of which he had no previous notice, the position should be politely explained to him and another appointment fixed in consultation with him.

 

  • India = Secular State. Civil Servant is free to practice any religion in private life but in Public life his conduct should be such that it is not seen as favouring particular religion.

 

  • No Government servant shall indulge in any act of sexual harassment of any women at her work place.

 

  • No Civil Servant  shall, except with the previous sanction of Government, permit his son, daughter or other dependent, to accept employment in company  with which he has official dealings

 

  • If son or daughter or dependent of Civil Servant is employee of company which is interested in allotment of contract, then Civil Servant shouldn’t be part of process to  award of a contract  . 

 

  • Civil Servant shouldn’t be member of any Political Party and shouldn’t take part in any political movement.

 

  • A Government servant publishing a book or participating in a public media shall at all times make it clear that the views expressed by him are his own and not that of Government.

 

  • Government servant shouldn’t make statements in press which adversely criticises government policy or action , impact relation between Union-State or Union & other foreign government.

 

  • Civil Servant should provide Information demanded under RTI Act provided it is not classified information.

 

  • Civil Servant shouldn’t accept gift (including free transport, lodging etc) from anybody

 

  • Civil Servant shouldn’t take or give Dowry.

 

  • No subletting of Official Residence .

 

  • Civil Servant shouldn’t indulge in speculative investments or buy share in IPO or FPO of PSU in whose decision making he was involved.

 

  • Submit record of Assets and Liabilities on joining and submit annual return

 

  • A Government servant shall strictly abide by any law relating to intoxicating drinks or drugs in force in any area in which he may happen to be for the time being + Not be under the influence of any intoxicating drink or drug during the course of his duty

 

  • No Government servant shall employ to work any child below the age of 14 years.

 

 

 

Reasons for minimal impact of Code of Conduct 

  • Not all the provisions of code of conduct are legally binding. For example, provisions of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules which are violated under the Prevention of Corruption Act invite punishment. Else, their enforcement boils down to departmental discretion.
  • Code of Conduct has to be supported by strong accountability and transparency mechanisms.
  • Erosion of moral values in public life has occurred to an extent that the cumulative impact is negligible.

 

Regarding Code of Ethics for Civil Servants

Although there is Code of Conduct for Civil Servants in India but there is no Code of Ethics (although there is urgent need to formulate Code of Ethics)

 

Reason/Need :

  • They have lot of Discretionary Power
  • They should live a life of high standards so that legitimacy of Civil Servants as a whole is not eroded .

 

Various Committees which have proposed to formulate Code of Ethics for Civil Servants

  • Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1964)
  • Hota Committee (2004) :  Code of Ethics should be laid down for the civil servants
  • 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission : Recommended drafting a Bill on ethics to give code of ethics a statutory basis

 

Attempt has been made twice to formulate Code of Ethics

  • First Initiative in 1997 by Department of Administrative Reforms of the Government of India
  • Second Initiative : Public Service Bill 2006

 

Main provisions which should be included in Code of Ethics (according to 2nd ARC)

  • uphold rule of law and respect for human rights and act solely in public interest.
  • They must maintain the highest standards of probity and integrity.
  • Allegiance to the Constitution and the law
  • Function in apolitical manner
  • Act objectively, impartially, honestly, equitably, and in a fair and just manner
  • They should conduct themselves in such manner that the public feels that the decisions taken  by them are objective and transparent and are not calculated to promote improper gains for the political party in power, for themselves, or for any third party.
  • Conflict of Interest: Employees in public service should  disclose any clash of interest when there is conflict between public interest and private interest.
  • Ensure that public money is used with utmost economy and care

 

 

 

Case Study (UPSC)

Suppose one of your close friends, who is also aspiring for civil services, comes to you for discussing some of the issues related to ethical conduct in public service. He raises the following points :

  • In the present times, when unethical environment is quite prevalent, individual attempts to stick to ethical principles may cause a lot of problems in one’s career. It may also cause hardship to the family members as well as risk to one’s life. Why should we not be pragmatic and follow the path of least resistance, and be happy with doing whatever good we can?
  • When so many people are adopting wrong means and are grossly harming the system, what difference would it make if only a small minority tries to be ethical? They are going to be rather ineffective and are bound to get frustrated.
  • If we become fussy about ethical considerations, will it not hamper the economic progress of our country? After all, in the present age of high competition, we cannot afford to be left behind in the race of development.
  • It is understandable that we should not get involved in grossly unethical practices, but giving and accepting small gratifications and doing small favours increases everybody’s motivation. It also makes the system more efficient. What is wrong in adopting such practices?

Critically analyze the above viewpoints. On the basis of this analysis, what will be your advice to your friend? 250 words.
Questions raised by my friend are quite common which can put Civil Servant in dilemma during service too but there are some inherent flaws in that. During my analysis , touchstone on which I will analyse this will be securing public interest over private interest, maintaining integrity and probity, upholding civil service values and abiding by Code of Conduct.

 

Analysis of First Option

  • While choosing to be part of Civil Services , person has chosen Civil Service as value . Civil Servant has to place Public Service at highest priority even at cost of personal interest . Hence, Civil Servant has to be selfless &Civil service demands courage and fortitude as value
  • Apart from that , there is legitimate protection given to Civil Servant and his family . It is not essential that every honest and ethical Civil Servant is prosecuted . If Civil Servant has taken his decisions rationally and objectively, he needn’t fear . Civil Servants like Ashok Khemka etc have survived and is good example

 

Analysis of Second Option

  • Means are more important than ends .
  • Minority can become motivation for others . Hence, by being ethical , person can lead by example . Eg TN Sheshan led by example and uprooted corruption from Elections to large extend
  • As Gandhi has said , ” be the change you want to see in the world.” As common people, we want that Bureaucracy must be ethical and non-corrupt. When we become part of it, we cant indulge in same practices

 

Analysis of Third Option

  • Again means and end debate . Developing by wrong means is to define development narrowly. Such development cant be Sustainable . Such development will be limited to particular section of society only. Holistic development , fruits of which can be enjoyed by all sections of society can be achieved only by adopting ethical and pure means
  • If we allow MNCs to exploit poors and tribals by violating their rights , displacing them from their habitats and allow them to adopt all unethical means, it will end up in Naxal Movements and uprisings . In end, such practices backfire

 

Analysis of Fourth Option

  • Slippery Slope Argument : Such actions create slippery slope. How will one define corruption is small or big.
  • Think of people who don’t have anything to give.
  • Incentive for Civil Servant should be reward by government and not small bribes and gifts.

 

 

I will advice him that

  • While discharging all functions as Civil Servant , Always adopt pure means to achieve pure ends
  • After becoming Civil Servant, our aim should be helping the general public selflessly .
  • Becoming part of Indian Civil Services give chance to change life of millions for good and satisfaction that person can get by serving the needy is the best reward and motivation.

 

 

 

 

Challenges of Corruption

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Challenges of Corruption

This article deals with topic titled ‘Challenges of Corruption.’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’  . For more articles , you can click here

 

Introduction

  • According to World Bank: Corruption is use of public authority for private gain.
  • (Transparency International – Misuse of entrusted power for private gain (wider definition covering both private and public sector)
  • India is ranked 78  in Corruption Perception Index prepared by Transparency International (Jan 2019)
  • There is also supply side of corruption . Eg  Crony Capitalism (ie nexus between Politico-Administrative Class & Business group). There is danger of state becoming Banana Republic (corporate driven state) if it is continued to go on
  • Corruption is an important manifestation of the failure of ethics.

 

 

Corruption can acquire various forms

Bribe It is the payment offered by a citizen either voluntarily or on demand to a public servant to perform his official duties in his favour , despite the fact that the public servant is paid salary for his duty
Extortion Practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
Rent Seeking Use of the resources of  organization to obtain economic gain from others without reciprocating any benefits to society through wealth creation.
Nepotism Practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends
Clientalism & Patronage Client giving political or financial support to a patron (as in the form of votes) in exchange for some special privilege or benefit
Embezzlement It is theft of public funds and resources or causing loss to Public Exchequer.
Fraud

In India, corruption has become habit. There is tolerance for corruption in India. People now don’t consider it unethical. Hence, we need both values and institutional support to change situation.

 

 

Reasons of high corruption in India

Moral Issues
  • Penetration of greed and materialism in society
  • Lack of moral values like honesty, integrity

 
Administrative & Legal  Issues
  • Complex laws and procedures
  • Acts & policies made in our country are such that they leave lot of discretion for Civil Servants.
  • Colonial Legacy of unchallenged authority with no checks
  • Enormous asymmetry of Power
  • Lack of accountability and Transparency
  • Lack of Independent investigation agency: India has no independent investigation agency . Existing agencies like CBI  is  named by the SC as caged parrot .

 
Political Causes Political Pressures on Bureaucrats to indulge in corruption

 
Type of Indian Society India being Soft Society : soft state is one which doesn’t have the political will to enact the laws necessary for its progress and development and / or not posses the political will to implement the laws , even when made .

 
Other
  • Lack of protection to honest officers (Weak Whistle-blower Act)
  • Security of tenure for civil services.

 

Cost of Corruption

  • Corruption in developing countries like India hurt more because money earned via corruption goes out of country in safe havens and not reinvested in country (Flight of capital)
  • Harm to public perception towards government
  • Increases poverty : Corruption is anti poor . Take example of PDS & other welfare schemes  where money meant to reach poor are siphoned out  .
  • Destroys the moral fibre of society . People develop perception that anything that enhances your self interest is fine
  • Quality of policy making reduces
  • Destroys image of country in world : lower ranking given by Transparency International

 

Mehbub ul Haq on Corruption in South Asia

Mehbub ul Haq set out the ill effects of corruption in South Asian Developing Countries like ours 

    1. Corruption in South Asia occurs upstream (at top level) & not downstream . Corruption at the top distorts fundamental decisions about development priorities
    2. Corruption money in South Asia has wings and not wheels => money smuggled out to safe havens .
    3. Corruption in South Asia often leads to promotion and not prison. The big fish – unless they belong to opposition rarely fry .
    4. Corruption in South Asia occurs with 515 million people in poverty , not with per capita incomes above 20,000 $ .

 

 

Types of Bribery 

There are two kinds of Bribery prevalent in India

Coercive Bribery
  • Bribe giver is a victim of extortion
  • Compelled to pay for a simple service, because if he doesn’t pay, he ends up losing much more than the bribe.

 
Collusive Bribery
  • Bribe-giver and bribe-taker together fleece society
  • Bribe giver is as guilty or even more guilty than the bribe-taker.
  • These are cases of
        • execution of substandard works,
        • distortion of competition,
        • commissions in public procurement,
        • tax evasion by collusion, etc

 

Even though the general conviction rate in cases of corruption is low, it is observed that the rate of conviction in cases of coercive corruption is more than in collusive corruption.

 

Combating Corruption

Moral & Value based interventions
  • Inculcation of values of honesty, integrity , impartiality etc
  • Code of Ethics for Civil Servants should be made
Administrative Interventions
  • Simplification of Administrative procedures and laws
  • Increasing transparency and accountability in administration
  • Use e-governance : e-tendering etc

 
Legal Measures Making laws more stringent

  • Strengthen Whistle Blower Act
  • RTI Act should be strengthened
  • False Claims Act (USA) – If you think that there is wrongdoing in some organisation, gather evidences & produce it before court. If fine is imposed on that organisation , some portion of money from that fine will be given to litigant .

 
Civil Service Reforms
  • Security of tenure of civil servant
  • Making promotions and transfers more transparent and objective .

 
Strengthening Institutions
  • Strengthening of CVC, Lokpal and Lokayuktas
        • Increasing their autonomy
        • Increasing their powers
  • Strengthening of justice system for speedy decision making

 
Social Interventions Society must be made more sensitive to corrupt practices. Peer pressure against corrupt people can be used to disincentivise corruption

 

Singapore Model : Civil Servants are very highly paid after administrative reforms undertaken by Lee Kuan Yew which decreased corruption there . This can be adopted in India too

 

 

Evolution of Anti – Corruption Laws in India

Before Independence
  • Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 161 to 165  dealt with corruption
  • At that time the need for a special law to deal with corruption was not felt.
2nd World War & Aftermath
  • Second World War created shortages led to large scale corruption.
  • Situation continued even after the war=> Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 was enacted .
Why present Amendments
  • Bring it in line with UNCAC (UN convention against Corruption) .
  • Bill incorporates the recommendations given by Law Commission

 

 

Analysis of Prevention of Corruption Act

 

  • It seeks to punish bribe givers as well as bribe takers

 

  • Protection to Public Servant
      • Police Officer cant begin probe without prior approval of relevant authority  (except when caught red handed)
Favour Earlier limited to  joint secretaries and above and  was struck down by SC . This universal inclusion will provide protection to all honest officials
Against Prior sanction requirement already exists for prosecution, => incorrect to create  another layer of protection

 

  • Sanction for prosecution of Officials
      • Sanction needed for prosecuting serving as well as former officials for offences done while in office

(Earlier sanction was required for Serving Officers only)

 

  • Giving Bribe is offence
      • Giving bribe is also made a punishable offence (Earlier just taking bribe was offence)
        • Punishable by 7 years prison
        • Except when one is forced to give bribe and  reported it within 7 days.

 

  • Distinction made between  collusive bribe givers and coerced bribe givers
        • Coerced : If person is coerced to give bribe, he can report it to the enforcement authorities within 7 days.
        • Collusive : No such exception
Favour Empower the public to make complaint in case of Coercive Corruption without fear of prosecution
Against Anti-corruption law has been brought in line with the UN Convention Against Corruption.

 

  • Redefined the Criminal Misconduct
        • Criminal misconduct covers only two types of offences ie Misappropriation of property entrusted to public servant and intentionally enriching oneself illicitly.

(Earlier there were 5 kinds)

Favour
  • Will help Public Officials to take bold decisions in policy making without fear

 
Against
  • Amended law would protect honest officers (and that is laudable), but the flip side is that many dishonest ones would slip through the cracks because of it.

 

  • Trial Time Line = Speedy Justice
        • Guidelines will be setup to resolve cases within 2 years . In case of delay, reason has to be stated every 6 months
        • Total time period cant exceed 4 years in any case

 

  • Forfeiture of property
        • Section introduced for Special Court to attach and confiscate property

Analysis : This helps to avoid a fresh procedure to confiscate property obtained through corruption

 

 

Whistle Blowing

  • Whistle blowing is the act of disclosing information by an employee or stakeholder on illegal or unethical conduct of an organisation.
  • Whistle-blowers can help Public servants who work in a department know more about unethical practices going on in the organization. But they don’t come forward due to fear of reprisal. If  protection is granted, it can help to get substantial information about corruption.
  • Whistle-blowing  came in lexicon post Watergate Scandal in US . After that Whistle-blowing was not only encouraged but considered as ethical duty on part of citizens
  • India is also a signatory to the UN Convention against Corruption, which includes provisions for protecting whistle blowers.

 

In India

Two most important cases of Whistle-blowing in India

Manjunath Shanmugam
  • working with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) | graduate of the IIM, Lucknow.
  • Whistle-blowing on adulteration by the petrol pump owners.
  • He was shot dead in 2005
Satyendra Dubey
  • National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), exposed the rampant corruption in construction
  • Found dead on 27th November, 2003.

 

 

 

Types of Whistle-blowing

Internal
  • Raising voice within organisation
  • Presenting wrongdoing to Internal Ombudsman
External Leak of information in public domain

 

 

 

Different Ethical Dilemmas of Whistleblower

First Dilemma : Loyalty to Organisation vs Public Interest

  • Should be loyal to Organisation ordinarily but when issue involves  people’s lives like corruption in defence procurement; toxic leaks from a chemical factory etc, Whistleblowing becomes duty
  • An individual may be an employee but he is also a citizen  and member of society

 

Second Dilemma : Personal Safety vs Larger Public interest

  • Whistleblowing can lead to departmental victimisation  or  threat to life and property
  •  eg : Satyendra Dubey and Manjunath Shanmugam were murdered

 

Third Dilemma : Whether to go for Internal Whistle blowing or External Whistle-blowing

 

 

 

Features of good Whistle-blowing

  • Intention should be larger public interest
  • It should be adopted as last resort
  • Whistle-blowing should be backed by objective evidences
  • Right to privacy of anyone shouldn’t be hampered

 

Case Study

Rameshwar successfully cleared the prestigious civil services examination and was excited about the opportunity that he would get through the civil services to serve the country. However, soon after joining the services, he realized that things are not as rosy as he had imagined.

 

He found a number of malpractices prevailing in the department assigned to him. For example, funds under various schemes and grants were being misappropriated. The official facilities were frequently being used for personal needs by the officers and staff. After some time, he noticed that the process of recruiting the staff was also not up to the mark. Prospective candidates were required to write an examination in which a lot of cheating was going on. Some candidates were provided external help in the examination. Rameshwar brought these incidents to the notice of his seniors. However, he was advised to keep his eyes, ears and mouth shut and ignore all these things which were taking place with the connivance of the higher-ups. Rameshwar felt highly disillusioned and uncomfortable. He comes to you seeking your advice.

 

 

Indicate various options that you think are available in this situation. How would you help him to evaluate these options and choose the most appropriate path to be adopted? 250 words.
Case study presents dilemma that whether my friend becomes a mute spectator to all wrongdoings happening in Department which are jeopardizing the public interest or act against the wrong doings even if his personal security is threatened .

 

Accept the orders and do nothing

Merit
  • Safety of career and no personal harm
Demerit
  • Dissonance which can result in depression
  • Against value of Public Service

 

 

Resignation or getting transfer

Merit
  • He will not be part of wrong doing and hence there will be no burden on his conscience
Demerit
  • Running from duty
  • Although honest but shows lack of courage and fortitude

 

 

Leak of information to public domain anonymously

Merit Will check the wrong doing
Demerit Will tarnish image of organisation. Should have exhausted all other options before whistle-blowing

 

 

Collecting the evidences, informing the Internal Ombudsman and if nothing happens blow the Whistle

Merit
  • Will end wrong doing
  • In line with procedure because after exhausting all options to redress the problem, he has no other option than to blow whistle to protect public interest
  • Objective evidences will ensure that his case looks legitimate
  • In line with the values of public service, courage and selflessness
Demerit

 

In any case, I will advise my friend to raise the voice against wrong doings and don’t be a mute spectator . But at the same time, I will advise him, before going outside organisation to stop wrongdoing , he must exhaust all internal redressal mechanism because he is part of that organisation and has duty of loyalty towards organisation too. If after exhausting all mechanisms, issue is not addressed than he has higher duty towards humanity and public at large and blow the whistle .

 

 

 

Aptitude

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Aptitude

This article deals with the topic titled ‘Aptitude’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’. For more articles, you can click here.

What is Aptitude?

  • Aptitude means an individual’s ability to acquire adequate training, some set of skills (like the ability to produce music, play boxing, or perform administrative functions). 
  • Aptitude is the ability to acquire proficiency in a given area and has a futuristic reference.
  • To become an officer in police, one needs mental and physical aptitude, whereas a sportsman requires psycho-motor coordination. The problem arises when one is in a profession not suited by their aptitude. A person becoming a cricketer because his father was great may not deliver the best results unless he has the aptitude required for the sport.

Attitude vs Aptitude

Attitude Aptitude
It is a person’s positive or negative feeling towards a person, object, event, idea or environment. It is an individual’s ability to acquire, with adequate training, some set of skills, like the ability to produce music or the ability to perform administrative functions.
Associated with character & values. Associated with competence & skills.
It is regarded as a predictor of one’s behaviour. It is the capacity or ability to acquire skill or knowledge on the basis of which future performance can be predicted.
It is largely a mental aspect. It involves both physical and mental aspects.
Attitude is hard to change and requires personal experience, cognitive dissonance, exposure etc. It can be changed relatively easily through learning, training and skill enhancement.

Why we want Civil Servants to be high on Aptitude?

  • If civil service machinery fails to deliver, the entire governance system is bound to fail.  
  • Also, due to the latest developments & fast-changing environment, Civil Servants must adapt to the situations rapidly and train in new skills at the fastest speed.  

Aptitude Required for Civil Servant

Three kinds of Aptitude are required from civil servant

  1. Intellectual Aptitude 
  2. Moral Aptitude  
  3. Emotional Aptitude 

Skill (Aptitude) + Value = Best Combination for Civil Servants

Value Skill For Society Type of person
Low Low Useless Minor thief
High Low Useful Honest ordinary person  
Low High Dangerous Corporate Thugs  

They should be detected & avoided from entering into civil services.

Examples of persons belonging to this category include
1. Nirav Modi: He scammed crores from banks by manipulating the system.
2. Satyam Scam: They manipulated their Balance Sheets Harshad Mehta: He was the wizard of commerce but used his knowledge for doing frauds.  
High High Most desirable Civil Services require this type of people.

For example, Persons like SR Sankaran and E Sreedharan.
Aptitude

‘Integrity without knowledge is useless, whereas knowledge without Integrity is dangerous.’ Comment  (UPSC Mains Question)

Foundational Values for Civil Servant

Values

  • Value is the worth that we as individuals or society allocate to something. These are a set of standards-based on which we judge things as right or wrong. 
  • Civil Servants can use values for reaching decisions in a short period. For example: If the question arises about participation in the political rally, instead of testing his decision on various theories of ethics, they can quickly conclude not participating in it as ‘political neutrality is included in one of the foundational values.
  • There are many values, and which may be arranged in a hierarchy. In the case of conflict between the values, one tends to go with the higher value. For example, Gandhi regarded truth as the highest value, followed by non-violence.

Why do we need foundational values? / Why Civil Servants  should have high ethical standards

  • Civil Servants have extensive discretionary powers & they can misuse them unless they have a robust value system and self-restraint.  
  • Civil Servants are responsible for managing resources entrusted to them by the general public, directly or indirectly. 
  • They should always uphold the public trust, and for this, they should be a person of virtue. Foundational Values ensure this.
  • Various committees have recommended foundational values for civil services. The two prominent names are (1) Nolan committee and (2) Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC).

Nolan Committee (the UK, 1996)

  • Nolan Committee listed seven foundational values. These include
    1. Leadership
    2. Honesty
    3. Selflessness
    4. Openness
    5. Accountability
    6. Integrity
    7. Objectivity
  • Reasons, why the Indian Government didn’t copy foundational values of the Nolan Committee as such were  
    • Values are culture-specific. Civil Servants in Great Britain require the values suggested by the Nolan Committee, but the same values are not required in India. 
    • We can see that values like Compassion, Empathy, Tolerance etc., are missing, which are not required in a society like Britain as it is a rich 1st world country. But these values are needed in India. 
    • On the other hand, the value like Selflessness suggested by  Nolan Committee is not required in India because Indian Society is already a Collective Society. 

Recommendations of 2nd ARC

  • 2nd ARC has suggested making a Code of Ethics for Civil Servants. 
  • Along with that, it has suggested the following values to be imparted in Civil Servants)
    1. Integrity 
    2. Objectivity & Impartiality 
    3. Commitment to public service 
    4. Open accountability 
    5. Devotion to duty  
    6. Exemplary behaviour 

List of values  mentioned in the UPSC  GS4 Syllabus

Integrity

  • Integrity is the integration of one’s inner values with outer actions. There will always be consistency (keyword) in a person’s behaviour, both with time and space. 
  • Quote – Integrity is doing the right thing even when nobody is going to know whether you did it or not (Oprah Winfrey) 

Integrity includes following

  • What a person believes, what he says & what he does must be consistent. In India, what people believe is generally not in line with what they do. E.g., Corruption (all believe that it is terrible, but all indulge in it).
Integrity
  • Having just 1 set of morality: In India, generally, people have two sets of morality: One based on which they judge their action and the other for judging the actions of others.  
  • The value system in itself should be rational. Examples of Rational Value Systems are Utilitarianism, Kantism etc. 
  • A person with integrity will never do the duties that his conscience doesn’t agree with. 
  • In historical figures
    • Socrates stands apart from all historical figures in integrity and is worth mentioning. He stood by his values and chose to die instead of doing something that his conscience didn’t allow. 
    • Raja Ram Mohan Roy stood for the rights of women and opposed Sati. For this, he had to face social ostracism. Even after that, he didn’t change his stance and continued to work for it.
    • Mahatma Gandhi: He ended the Non-Cooperation Movement due to violence during Chauri Chaura Incident.

(2017 UPSC: One of the tests of integrity is complete refusal to be compromised. Explain using a real-life example.) 

Types of Integrity

There are three types of Integrity

Moral Integrity – Moral Consistency, i.e. consistency in applying the same moral principles to determine right and wrong. 
Intellectual Integrity – Being consistent wrt one’s viewpoints and opinions.
– Plagiarism, infringing someone’s intellectual property rights etc., shows a lack of intellectual integrity.
Organisational / Professional Integrity – What are the organisation’s values that become the values of the person working in that organisation / Profession, i.e. Integration of Organisational / Professional Values with a Person’s values. 
– It involves following the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics of the organisation.

Integrity for Civil Services

  • According to Nolan Committee, holders of public office shouldn’t place themselves under such financial or any other obligation which might interfere with their official duties.
  • As a civil servant of integrity, 
    1. You must fulfil your duties responsibly.
    2. You must make sure public money is used correctly & efficiently.
    3. You must comply with the law & uphold the administration of justice.
    4. You must not misuse your official position. 
    5. You must not disclose information to others, and this continues to apply after one leaves service.

How to inculcate integrity?

  • Training: Civil Servants are trained for this. 
  • Through Model Learning: If a young recruit is posted under an honest officer, his likelihood of remaining honest increases.  
  • Reward and Punishment: Appropriate behaviour must be rewarded to consolidate a newly developed value, while inappropriate must be punished by adopting a ‘carrot and stick’ policy.
  • Sensitivity Training: Under this kind of training, the person learns the desired value through role-playing to understand its nuances.
  • Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct: 2nd ARC recommends setting up a code of ethics for all government departments. It’ll have a broad principle- that all participants have to follow, and its reports will be given and evaluated by the departmental head.
  • Integrity testing: A random officer is selected and given a Bribe to check their integrity in integrity testing. It is different from CBI Raid. In contrast to CBI raids which are rare, Integrity Testing is done very frequently, and hence Public Officials are always afraid while taking bribes from any person.

Honesty

  • Honesty is being truthful & open.
  • Honesty is a subset of Integrity. To be integral, one has to be honest, but not vice-versa.  

For civil servants, Honesty includes

  • You must set out the facts & relevant issues truthfully & correct any errors as soon as possible. 
  • You must use resources for the purpose it was provided.
  • You must not mislead ministers or others. 
  • You must not be influenced by pressure from others. 

Objectivity

  • It is the opposite of subjectivity. It simply means not taking any sides.
  • Objectivity means basing your decisions on empirical evidence & rigorous analysis of the issue. 
  • Being impartial, though, is very difficult. People have their biases about most things.
  • Civil Servant shouldn’t make a decision based on their values and emotions. On the contrary, it should be based only on facts and merits.

Why Objectivity is important for Civil Servants?

  • Civil Servants have large discretions (eg: during selection/ recruitment/ posting/ transfer/ promotion) . They must always take decisions based on merits and facts so that all the decisions look fair.
  • While selecting an agency for contract/tendering, they should decide objectively so that public interests are served in the best possible manner (Nolan Committee). 
  • Information & advice provided to the ministers should be objective and not based on the emotions & beliefs of Civil Servants.

How to inculcate objectivity in Civil Servants?

  • Training: In training, officers are taught to think objectively.
  • Reduce discretions: The number of discretions should be minimal. Civil servants should function based on some written rules, regulations, and laws to eliminate or reduce the discretions.
  • Provisions like Grievance Redressal Mechanism and social audit should be utilised.
  • Robust Information & data management systems: officers can take Objective decisions only if they have data and stats to arrive at a particular conclusion.
  • According to Nolan Committee, the requirement of recording the reasons behind any action or decision will ensure that decisions are not subjective.
  • Increase Transparency: For example, the right to information act. Officers will fear to take decisions based on his emotions and beliefs because, in future, they can be questioned about why they took this particular decision.

Impartiality and Non-Partisanship

  • Impartiality means to act without bias of client nature (rich vs poor) or social pressure (caste, religion etc.) solely on the merits of the case. 
  • It often requires public servants to refrain from opinions, positions or actions that demonstrate a bias toward or against a particular cause.  
  • It includes serving equally governments of different political orientations, irrespective of the civil servant’s personal opinion.
  • Impartiality requires that civil servants carry out their official work, like procurement, based only on merit.
  • It is especially required in India because our society is divided on caste and religious lines. Civil servants also come from the same community and have caste, religious and linguistic affiliations. But if he remains conscious of these affiliations, he can’t act impartially.

Political Neutrality

  • A civil servant shouldn’t be associated with any political party or ideology. The values of the Civil Servant should flow from the constitution, not from the philosophy of any political party.
  • Civil Servants in India don’t change with change in government. Hence, they are expected to cooperate with the political party in power without any bias. Civil Servants should implement the given policy as it is without any personal considerations.
  • At the same time, the bureaucrat must not hesitate to correct the politician or provide an honest opinion. Their job is not to be a ‘Yes-man’ or a ‘committed bureaucrat’.
  • Political neutrality doesn’t mean politicized bureaucracy, where the administrative system functions only to serve the narrow interest of the political party in power—for example, the functioning of the administrative system in Nazi Germany.

Political Neutrality is of two types

1 . Passive neutrality

  • Officer following Government directives even if they are against law and constitution. But in this, he may end up violating some legal/constitutional provisions.

2. Active neutrality

  • Allegiance of Civil Servant is towards Constitution and General People. Officer will do what constitution, rules, laws and office manual says, without following any particular party.
  • But sometimes, it leads to civil services activism.

Do’s and Don’ts in Conduct rules for Neutrality

Dos Serve the Government to the best of your ability no matter what your own political beliefs are.
Don’t Civil Servant
1. Must not give election funds to any political party.
2. He can vote but must not tell his preference to other people.
3. Must not display any election symbols on his personal vehicle or home.

Political Neutrality is  in danger

  • The present age is an age of corruption and nepotism. The number of civil servants following political neutrality is minuscule.
  • During elections, politicians spend crores. Hence, when they come into power, they want to earn crores. In such a situation, political bosses want Civil Servants who bend according to the needs of politicians.
  • Even within services, there is rivalry (IAS vs IPS). These ‘lobbies’ can favour the Political Party if it appears to be beneficial for their group.
  • Caste or religion-based parties prefer Officers of their group creating In-Groupism. 
  • During emergencies, Civil Servants completely neglected this principle. To quote Shah Commission, ” Bureaucrats crawled even where slight bending was required.” 

Arguments against Neutrality

  • Political Neutrality promotes Status Quoist Attitude. Civil Servants aren’t committed enough to carry significant reforms.’ 
  • In the US, President has his executive, which is co-terminus with the tenure of the President.  
  • How Indian society is structured, it is tough to be Politically Neutral. This concept works well in western cultures.
  • In developing societies, there are weaker sections that the administration must support. In this context, one of our former Prime Ministers said, “In developing countries, civil servants, to be genuinely neutral, has to take the side of the poor.”

Conclusion: Just as the absence of democracy would lead to the destruction of individual rights, similarly, a lack of neutrality would cause chaos in the functioning of public administration. Therefore, this ideal is worth pursuing.

Anonymity

  • The bureaucrat is supposed to 
    • Work with anonymity, i.e. they should work behind the curtain. 
    • They should avoid going to the media to air their grievances or differences of opinion.
    • They usually don’t get credit for the success, nor they are blamed for the failure. It is usually the political executive who gets applaud for success and criticism for failure.  
  • The first case which clearly defined this principle was the Mundhra deal scam (1957). Chagla commission constituted to deal with it held that Minister T.T.Krishnamachari is constitutionally responsible for the actions of his secretary (H.M.Patel).

Dedication to Public Service

  • Dedication to public service means a person should have inner motivation or passion for working in the larger public interest. 
  • It is the commitment with passion and the personal urge to do something without any external formal instrument to enforce that urge.
  • It helps him while working in adversities. E.g., If posted in a Naxalite area or far-flung rural area. 

Why is this important in present times? 

  • Today we are moving towards a consumeristic society. There is a general lack of compassion, concern & devotion for others & the community. Everyone wants to achieve their worldly ambitions & civil services are considered by many to achieve that.  
  • Without it, civil servants would find it difficult to perform their duties under challenging situations.

Note: It has been found on several occasions that while the bureaucracy responds to crises with efficacy and has admittedly made major contributions in strengthening our democratic polity, there is often tardiness and failure on its part to deal with normal situations and with citizens sensitively and responsively. One of the reasons for this state of affairs is the belief in the civil services that its authority and legitimacy are derived not from the people’s mandate but from an immutable corpus & rules that it has prescribed for itself.

Empathy

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand & share the feelings (emotions) of others. It is the power of entering into other’s situation & imaginatively experiencing other person’s feelings. Empathy is to blur the line between self and others. 

  • Earlier, philosophers believed that man is a rational animal and humans make decisions based on rationality (as shown by Aristotle’s statement – “Man is a rational animal “)
  • But present belief is that Man is a Social & Emotional animal (along with Rational Animal). They describe the man as Homo Empathicus and believe that emotions have a role to play in human decisions. 

Sympathy

  • Sympathy is based on belief and cognitive aspects. 
  • Example: If some beggar comes to you and you give him some money without feeling anything. You just thought that since he is begging and poor, you should give him some money to eat food (without any emotional feeling at all).

Empathy

  • It has both cognitive and emotional aspects (emotion can be because you have faced that situation, or you can imagine another person’s situation even if you haven’t encountered such a situation in the past). Simply put, empathy means putting yourself in their shoes & feel what they must be feeling in the circumstances they are facing. 
  • It is not just knowing what poverty is, but the power to enter into a poor man’s situation to experience how hard his life is. 
  • Empathy is a better indicator of behaviour since it is a stronger attitude than sympathy.
  • Empathy is one of the many bases of pro-social behaviour and altruism. 
  • Note – Empathy is associated not only with sad feelings but happy feelings as well. Celebrating the festival with people of other religion/ culture is such an example.
  • We talk about empathy most commonly as a single attribute. But a close look reveals three distinct kinds, each important for leadership effectiveness:
  1. Cognitive empathy— the ability to understand another person’s perspective;
  2. Emotional empathy—the ability to feel what others feel;
  3. Empathic concern — the ability to sense what others need for someone.

Altruism

  • Altruism is always related to ‘action’.
  • Altruism is one step ahead of Empathy. In Empathy, you can understand other’s situations, but in Altruism, you know as well as working to improve other’s conditions. 
    • You recovered from cancer and feel pain for other cancer patients; that is Empathy.
    • Subsequently, if you build a charitable cancer hospital, that is Altruism.
  • Empathy is one of the bases of Altruism, but there are many more. A person may be doing charity to avoid tax. 

Compassion

  • It is one step ahead of empathy.
  • Compassion means “to suffer together”. It is not just how poor man’s family sleeps without eating food at night but desire to help them come out of poverty (it is possible that you don’t work on that even after having desire. It would still be considered Compassion). It is about intention.
  • If we rank them: sympathy < empathy < compassion. Hence, Compassion is a better predictor of behaviour than empathy
  • Empathy means understanding another person’s pain/feeling. It can be for everyone higher or lower than you. But Compassion is targeted towards weaker beings.
  • Examples of Empathy  
    • Mother Teresa left her own country to serve the poor in Kolkata.
    • Buddhism teaches the practice of Compassion, called karuna.
  • Civil servants are the agents of change. Therefore, Compassion is ranked as one of the great virtues for civil servants, which has a bearing on the functioning of the administration and society. Compassion drives the civil servant to help people and ensure the welfare of people.

Why Indian Civil Servants should have Empathy as Foundational Value?

During the British Raj, those deployed in Indian Civil Services (ICS) were among the sharpest and intelligent brains within the whole Empire. But ultimately, what they left on the eve of independence was a trail of misery and famine caused deaths. Indian Administrative Services was just a continuation of ICS, but we wanted them to help the poor implement various welfare schemes. Therefore, empathetic officers were the need of the hour in modern-day administration targeted towards inclusive growth. Imparting Empathy in them is essential in such a situation.

This is the reason why Empathy has been one of the foundational values of Civil Servants. Empathy will trigger altruistic behaviour and, they will try to help the poor.

How to teach empathy?

  • Sensitivity training: Role-playing games that involve putting on another person’s shoes.
  • Open conversation: Interacting with people of different sections of society in a relaxed environment.
  • Following the Indian philosophy of Sarvadharma Sambhav like celebrating festivals of different cultures or religions.
  • Art and literature: They can also sensitize people about the conditions of some specific group of people.
  • Cultivation of interest in other cultures means extending our knowledge of unfamiliar ways of life and appreciating the underlined ethical values.
  • Using art, theatre, cinema and literature: People living in Cities don’t know about the hardships of people living in a remote tribal village in Jharkhand. In such a situation, these mediums can help to portray their miserable condition. E.g., Pathar Panchali movie beautifully depicts poverty in Villages. 
  • Celebrate the festivals together like Eid, Diwali etc. 

Leadership

Some of the attributes of a leader are

  1. Motivate others
  2. Enrol others in their vision 
  3. Persuasive 
  4. Visionary 
  5. Communicator (so that he can communicate his vision to masses) 
  6. Lead by example 
  7. Courageous (in decision making & actions) 
  8. Consensus building ability 
  9. Emotionally Intelligent

Example of leadership 

  • Singapore’s rapid success from a poor island to the most developed country in the world was possible due to the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew.
  • Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi are examples of leaders who enrolled others in their vision of independence for their respective nations and led by example and courage.

Tolerance

  • Tolerance is a fair, objective & permissive attitude toward those opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation etc., which differ from one’s own.
  • Tolerance means a fair and objective outlook towards those whose lifestyle differs from a person. 
  • Tolerance, as an essential attitude, usually develops under the following conditions:-
    • Awareness of plural truth claims. 
    • Spiritual autonomy or inner freedom.
    • Awareness of distinction between subjective & objective truth.
    • Respect for other minds or persons.
    • Capacity for empathy.
  • In Jainism, tolerance is captured in the ideal of Syaadavaada, which means that every view is correct from its perspective, but no particular view is right.

Why is it needed?

  • A tolerant society is a sine qua non for the lasting peace of the community. 
  • Tolerance encourages freedom of expression, which is necessary for the perusal of truth and progress. Without it, one cant express differing views freely, and thereby the society would become status-quo and decadent, where new inventions can’t occur.
  • It is necessary to uphold the moral worth of every individual, as according to J.S. Mill, all individuals have equal moral worth, and therefore should be allowed to express their views without any constraint.
  • Human development is possible only when we allow everyone to express their views and pursue their interest.
  • In a diverse society like ours, civil servants are required to serve all the sections equally well, which is not possible if they are not tolerant.

Compassion towards weaker section

  • Compassion means “to suffer together.” 
  • Compassion is the feeling that arises in person when he observes another person’s suffering and feels motivated to remove suffering.
  • Compassion is different from empathy. Empathy means the ability to feel other’s emotions, while compassion means when those feelings include the desire to help. 

Why should we practice compassion? 

  • Employees working under compassionate leaders are more committed to their work and organisation.
  • Compassionate acts activate the pleasure circuits of the brain and rejuvenate the person.
  • Compassion helps in making better relationships.
  • Persons high on compassion are socially adept and less vulnerable to isolation.

Attitude

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Attitude

This article deals with the topic titled ‘Attitude.’ This is part of our series on ‘Ethics’. For more articles, you can click here.

Attitude: Meaning & Types

  • Attitudes are learned enduring predispositions to respond consistently either in favourable or unfavourable manners towards objects, events and persons.  
  • In entrance exams, interviews are specifically designed to check the attitude of a person.  
  • Attitudes can be positive or negative
    • Positive Attitudes includes Optimism, Tolerance etc.
    • Negative Attitudes includes Pessimism, Intolerance etc.
Attitude
  • Studying attitude is important because it shapes people’s perceptions of the social and physical world and influence their behaviour.

Why Studying Attitude is important for Civil Servant?

The main point for the Administrator is how to change the attitude of people. Following examples will help you to appreciate this fact

  1. Swachh Bharat Scheme: Even if the government helps the common people in building latrine via the Swatch Bharat Scheme, people use it as a storage room instead of a latrine. Hence, just pouring money can’t help. There is a need to change the attitude of people.
  2. Mid Day Meal: If a school employs a cook of lower caste to prepare food to be distributed under Mid Day Meal Scheme, people belonging to higher caste stop sending their children to school.
  3. Immunization Scheme: In countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, people don’t immunize their children thinking it to be an American scheme to make them infertile. 
  4. Temple Entry: Women aren’t allowed to enter the temple based on the Purity – Pollution Concept.

Characteristics of attitudes

  • Attitudes are abstract constructs, not something we can directly observe.
  • Attitudes are enduring. 
  • Attitude reflects the readiness for a response. 
  • Attitudes are acquired and learned. 
  • Attitudes are held because they perform some function for the holder.
  • Attitudes change with experiences and knowledge.
  • Attitudes are subjective experiences.
  • Attitudes conform to the principle of consistency. 
  • Attitudes may involve individual or group.
  • Attitudes are evaluative judgements.
  • Attitudes can be expressed verbally or non-verbally. 

From where does attitude come?

Attitude is the product of Genetics and Socialization (Environmental) factors

Attitude for UPSC

Models to Study Attitude

There are three broad ways for analysis of Attitude

  1. Structure of Attitude
  2. Function of Attitude
  3. Formation of Attitude

Model 1: Structure of Attitude – CAB/ABC Model

Attitude towards a particular object is formed by three components i.e. Affective, Behavioural & Cognitive. 

C: Cognitive / Belief

  • The cognitive Component is based on ideas, belief and opinion (knowledge).  
  • It has to be noted that belief can be factually correct or incorrect 
  • Examples: Tiger can eat human beings.

A: Affective / Emotional

  • Affective Component consists of emotions and feelings of attitude holder towards the attitude object. 
  • Examples: I am scared of tigers.

B: Behavioural / Action Based

  • The behavioural component is related to Action. It reflects the behavioural readiness of the attitude holder i.e. how a person tends to act/behave regarding the stimulus.  
  • It is in line with Self Perception Theory which states that people don’t have access to their opinions about different objects, and sometimes infer their attitudes by thinking about how they have behaved to objects in the past.
  • Example: I will scream and run away when I see a tiger.

Attitude = Combination of Cognitive, Affective and Behavioural components

CAB Model

Criticism of CAB Model

  • This model is not validated by empirical research as clear distinctions between thoughts, emotions, and behaviour cannot be established.
  • This model shows a large number of inconsistencies. For example, despite having a negative attitude towards people from some caste, our behaviour is mostly driven by the situation.

Model 2: Functions of Attitude

Instead of trying to think about the attitude in the very abstract way explained above, it is beneficial to study in terms of the functions they serve.

2.1 Need / Want Satisfaction Function

  • Some attitudes are held by the attitude holder because they help in satisfying their needs and wants. 
Need Satisfaction Function
  • These attitudes are termed as
    • Adjustive: As they help us in adjusting to life situations.
    • Utilitarian: A person will form this type of attitude to maximise reward & minimise punishment. 
  • The person will hold some attitude only till that attitude is helping the person to satisfy his needs.  
  • Hence, Attitudes serving Need or Want Function will change when 
    • Individual’s needs are changed. 
    • The individual is convinced that new attitudes that are suggested to him can meet his existing needs better (this can be used in case studies of convincing people with old ideology to change their attitude. Eg: Village elders stopping girls from going to school).

2.2 Knowledge

  • Attitude helps the Attitude holders to organize and interpret diverse sets of information.  
  • In simple words, when for the first time we see a person with a particular attitude doing particular work, we make a picture in our mind that another person showing a similar attitude will do the same work & create generalization (or stereotyping).
Knowledge Function of Attitude
  • Knowledge function doesn’t provide us with a factually truthful picture of the world, in fact, it provides a picture that is meaningful and understandable.
  • Such attitudes are likely to change in situations when due to the addition of certain facts or experiences, it becomes difficult for the attitude holder to continue with his existing attitude. 

2.3 Ego Defensive

  • Attitudes help to prevent us from guilt feeling by holding attitudes that enhance our self-esteem and defend us against the arrows of life. 
  • It is also known as ‘Scape-Goat View’ as Scapegoating helps us to release pent up feelings and emotions.
Ego Defensive of Attitude
  • Ego Defensive attitudes are difficult to change as they result from the inadequacies in the individual’s personality rather than the attitude object (all other functions are wrt Attitude object).  Thus merely providing the individual with counter attitudinal information is not sufficient. Therefore the need is to provide an environment where the individual feels truly valued & manifests readiness to lower his defences.   

Other examples of Ego-Defensive Attitudes

  • America is one of the largest Green House Gas emitters in the world. Their industrialists/academicians are in ‘climate denial mode’- by arguing that global warming is a fictional theory.  

2.4 Ego Expressive

  • Ego Expressive attitudes help a person to establish his identity & convey the kind of person he is.
  • Eg: Gandhi switched to Khadi from Coat-Pant to express his value of SELF RELIANCE & SIMPLE LIVING.
  • Value expressive attitudes, therefore, helps us in the exercise of expression management.
  • Like Ego Defensive Attitudes, they are difficult to change as they are deeply entrenched in the individuals’ personality.
  • Change may however occur if 
    1. Individual’s values have changed 
    2. A person is convinced that the attitudes that are suggested to him will express his underlying values better. 

Model 3: Attitude Formation

  • Attitude is formed by ‘stimuli’ – it can be internal or external.
  • Application to learn how Attitudes are formed is that we can use the same to change Attitude as well.

3.1 Pavlovian/ Classical Conditioning

  • A learning process occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired: a response that is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone.
  • It was first discovered by Igor Pavlov in his dog, bell & food experiment. Hence, it is also known as Pavlovian Conditioning.
  • In humans, it can be used to create phobias. This was shown by Watson and Rayner in their Experiment on Albert (1920).
    • Albert (9-month-old infant) was shown a rat, a rabbit, a monkey and various masks and Albert remained unemotional. But if a hammer was struck against a steel bar, sudden loud noise would make him burst into tears.
    • In the experiment, he was shown a rat and simultaneously the hammer was struck against the steel bar. This was repeated.
    • After that, when he was just shown rat he started to cry. 
Pavlovian Conditioning
Watson and Rayner Experiment
  • Application: Creation of Phobias to change attitude (Cut Challan for not wearing a helmet with full strictness. Gradually person will start to equate not wearing a helmet with Challan (Operant Conditioning is also at work here)).

3.2 Operant Conditioning

  • Related to Reward and Punishment 
    • If certain behaviour leads to a positive outcome or reward, the attitude related to that behaviour will be strengthened. 
    • If certain behaviour leads to a negative outcome or punishment, the attitude related to that behaviour will be suppressed.
Operant Conditioning
  • Application 
    • If a person is doing wrong things, punish him and he will form a negative attitude towards that.
    • If a person is doing good work, reward him/her and he/she will form a positive attitude towards that.

3.3 Observational / Social learning

A person forms attitude by watching other people around them or people they admire. 

Family

  • Children observe the attitude of their parents and most of the times their attitude is conformant with that of their parents. 
  • If parents follow the caste system, children will follow too.

Media

  • Whatever one sees on TV & other social media, there is a high likelihood that person will try it in his life.
Observational Learning in Attitude Formation

3.4 Direct personal experience

  • Direct Personal Experiences have a huge impact on the formation of attitudes towards that thing.
  • One might have heard negatives about Pakistanis throughout his life. But if his direct encounter with them even for an hour is good, that will have an overpowering influence on the person.

It should be noted that Attitude formation or learning is a lifelong process, as it is based on experiences we gather or the lessons we learn from people around us.

Agencies of Attitude Formation

Agencies of Attitude Formation
Agencies of Attitude Formation

Factors influencing Behaviour – Attitude Link

The attitude and Behaviour link is not so simple. Many times, a person doesn’t act according to the attitude he holds. Attitude – Behaviour link can be seen in the following ways:-

Attitude Relevance

  • The greater is the vested interest, the stronger would be Attitude-Behaviour link.

Attitude Strength

  • The stronger is the attitude held, the more consistent the would be Attitude-Behaviour link. 
  • Strength will be high when
    1. If attitude is formed by direct experience.  
    2. If one is expecting a favourable outcome. 
    3. If attitude is formed because of his vested interests.  

Attitude Specificity

  • Specificity here means how specific an attitude do we have towards something. Having hazy or multiple attitudes towards something reduces their specificity. For example, political attitude towards an issue can be fuzzy and change according to the group that we are in.

Attitude Accessibility

  • The more accessible are the Attitudes, the more likely it is that they will dominate our consciousness. 
  • Those attitudes which are expressed more frequently are more accessible. 

Social /External pressure

  • We are less likely to display our true attitudes if we believe that others hold a different attitude regarding the same object and we have high regard for those others. 
  • Bandwagon Effect: When people do something primarily because other people are doing it. It is seen commonly in political and consumer behaviour. 
  • Peer Pressure: You might be against Caste System but still marry in your caste because of peer pressure. 
  • Bottom line: Relation between attitude and behaviour is not straightforward. “Social influence / peer-pressure” matters and it can force a person to behave differently from his Attitude.

Congruence

  • Congruence refers to the consistency among different components of our attitude. If the knowledge component and affective component are inconsistent then our behaviour would depend more on the situation than on attitude per se.

Direct Experience

  • Attitudes based on direct experience are more strongly held and influence behaviour more than attitudes formed indirectly (for example, through hear-say, reading or watching television).

La Pierre Case Study (1934)

  • Aim: To investigate the relationship between attitudes and behaviour.
  • Method: La-Pierre travelled around American hotels with a Chinese couple, expecting to meet discriminatory behaviour, because of anti-Chinese feeling prevailing at that time. At the time prejudice against Asians was widespread and there were no laws against racial discrimination. They visited 67 hotels and 184 restaurants. Six months later, after their return, all the establishments they had visited were sent a letter, asking whether they would accept Chinese guests.
  • Results: While visiting hotels personally, they were refused at only one of the establishments they visited, and were generally treated very politely. But while responding to the letter, of the 128 establishments which responded to the letter, 91% said they were not willing to accept Chinese guests.
  • Conclusion: Attitudes do not always predict behaviour. Cognitive and affective components of attitudes are not necessarily expressed in behaviour. Thus, La-Pierre’s study shows that the cognitive and affective components of attitudes (e.g. disliking Chinese people) do not necessarily reflect in their actual behaviour (e.g. serving them).

Behaviour-Attitude mismatch and its use  in Governance

  • There are many instances where we don’t behave in accordance with our attitude  
  • In Administration too, this has utility. The reason is, changing Attitude is a time-consuming process. Hence, as a first measure, the Administrator must change behaviour.

Cognitive Dissonance

  • Cognitive Dissonance is the situation of intense psychological stress due to conflict or inconsistency in feelings, beliefs and behaviour (the three components of attitude).
  • For example: When people smoke (behaviour) and are aware that smoking causes cancer (cognition), they are in a state of cognitive dissonance.
  • The principle of Cognitive consistency states that human beings have an inner drive to hold their attitudes and behaviour in harmony and avoid disharmony. So, when there is an inconsistency between attitude and behaviour, something must change to eliminate the dissonance. Hence, a person will adopt one of the following ways to deal with this
    1. An individual can change or eliminate inconsistent behaviour. E.g.- giving up smoking.
    2. Acquire new information that outweighs the dissonant beliefs. For e.g. new information such as “research has not proved definitely that smoking causes lung cancer”.
    3. Reduce the importance of the cognitions (i.e. beliefs, attitudes). For e.g. a person could convince himself that it is better to “live for today” than to “save for tomorrow”, thus decreasing the importance of the dissonant cognition.

Stereotypes, Prejudices & Discriminations

Stereotypes and Prejudices are special types of Cognitive Component of Attitude and Attitude respectively. 

Stereotypes

  • A stereotype is the cognitive component of Attitude but with some special characteristics 
    • It is rigid. 
    • It overlooks individual differences (it is held towards a group).
    • It is irrational.
    • It represents a case of OVER-GENERALIZATION.
  • Note: Stereotypes can be negative as well as positive 

Examples

  • Indians are IT Programmers (Stereotype held by Americans towards Indians).
  • Jains are traders.
  • Gujaratis are business-minded.
  • Punjabis are party lovers.

Prejudice

  • Prejudice is an irrational negative inter-group attitude.
  • It has the same three components but with special (and negative) characteristics. 
    1. Cognitive/ Belief: But Belief, in this case, is replaced by a ‘Negative’ Stereotype. 
    2. Affective / Emotion: The emotion component is negative like hate, dislike etc.  
    3. Behaviour / Action: Desire to harm or destroy. 
  • Eg: I dislike (attitude towards an object) Africans (attitude object) because they are drug dealers. 

Discrimination

  • If that prejudice is guiding your behaviour.
  • E.g.: Refusing to rent the house to an African in the society.

Implicit and Explicit Prejudice

Explicit Prejudice

  • These are visible prejudices.
  • Example: Untouchability against so-called lower castes in Indian society.

Implicit Prejudice

  • When society develops, explicit prejudices start to decline. But they are not eradicated and are present in psychology. 
  • Eg: Slavery has been banned in the US. But this doesn’t mean that White men think about Blacks in the same way as other Whites. 

In India, prejudices such as caste prejudice and discrimination due to such prejudices are more frequent and strong because

  • Legitimising discrimination through history, folklore and perception. Eg: Legitimising the Caste system through shastras and exploitation of lower caste people. 
  • Separate settlements result in a lack of intergroup contact and communication.
  • Multiple groups compete for the same limited resources. Hence, a socio-economically powerful group brandishes others as incompetent.