Probity In Governance

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Probity In Governance: Transparency and Accountability in Public Service, Citizens’ Charter

To prepare for ETHICS for any competitive exam, aspirants have to know about Probity In Governance. It gives an idea
of all the important topics for the IAS Exam and the Economy syllabus (GS-IV.). Probity In Governance terms are
important from Ethical perspectives in the UPSC exam. IAS aspirants should thoroughly understand their meaning
and application, as questions can be asked from this static portion of the IAS Syllabus in both the UPSC Prelims and
the UPSC Mains exams. Even these topics are also highly linked with current affairs. Almost every question asked
from them is related to current events. So, apart from standard textbooks, you should rely on newspapers and news
analyses as well for these sections.

Syllabus:

1. Concept of public service;

2. Philosophical basis of governance and probity;

3. Information sharing and transparency in government,

4. Right to Information,

5. Code of Ethics,

6. Code of Conduct,

7. Citizen Centric Administration,

8. Citizen’s Charter,

9. Work culture,

10. Quality of service delivery,

11. Utilisation of Public funds,

12. Social Audit,

13. Challenges of corruption

Concept of Public Service in Governance

Public service refers to the broad framework under which government employees extend services with the aim of
advancing greater public good. The term is linked with a social agreement. It includes the services provided, the
contiguous interactions and the grievance redressal linked with those services. All the aspects of day to day life
ranging from health, education, infrastructure and law and order among others that the government provides are
under the purview of public service.

Public services offer the most common interface between people and the state, and their functioning shapes
people’s sense of trust in and expectations of government. They may be related to fundamental human rights.

Public services need to be delivered with honesty, citizen centricity, responsiveness, particularly to the needs of
the most vulnerable. Promoting greater transparency and allowing ordinary citizens to assess the quality,
 adequacy and effectiveness of elementary services, to voice their needs and preferences and to become involved
in innovation offers.

In broader perspective, public service is to be seen as an amalgam of legal and moral obligations that must be
provided in a transparent, efficient and time bound manner. Delivering effective public services needs multi- level
transformation such as changing the way public sector organisations think and act, and how they view their
roles.

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Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Public Service

Social Contract: Thinkers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke propounded that public service is the contractual
obligation of government as the people have surrendered some of their rights and resources to them in return for
certain basic services. Hence, public servants are bound to serve the people.

Spirituality: Thinkers like Mahatma Gandhi viewed public service as a way to salvation. He believed that public
service elevates individual consciousness and produces the highest sense of fulfilment. He said, “The best way
to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”.

Giving Back: It is also believed that public service is the duty of those who have enriched themselves using public
resources, so that a stable and happy society is achieved. It is the duty of those who are capable to serve those
who are in need. This is the view held by rich philanthropists such as Bill Gates, Narayan Murthy etc.

Spirit of Service: Public service is also viewed as a manifestation of individual morality which motivates public
servants towards working for others. Such public service is based on individual conscience and social goodwill.
Swami Vivekananda said, “service of man is the service of God”.

Defining Public Service Professionalism: Principles and Practices

Political neutrality.

Transparency and accountability.

Economy, Efficiency and Equity in utilization/implementation of government schemes.

Citizen Centricity.

Essential Features of Public Services

Public services are usually provided by local or national monopoly especially in sector which are natural
monopoly (e.g. law & order, judiciary)

Certain public services are vital for the existence of the community itself. Eg – water, transport, food etc

These services involve outputs that are hard to attribute to specific individual effort. If anything wrong happens
people blame the government rather than an individual.

They are provided by large scale administration which affect the entire social-economic structure of society.

Public accountability is the essence of public services in democracy.

Social-good oriented rather than profit oriented.

Public service is provided by an administration which works under political direction and scrutiny.

Provided by legal framework.

Needs to maintain fairness of treatment and equity.

Cultivating Public Service Values: Patriotism, Integrity, and Accountability

The Public Service and the Public Servants shall be guided and informed by the following values in the discharge of
their functions:

Patriotism and upholding national pride.

Allegiance to the Constitution and the law of the nation.

Objectivity, honesty, care and diligence, courtesy and transparency.

Maintain absolute integrity.

Discharge official duties with competence and accountability; without discrimination and in accordance with the
law.

Ensure effective management, professional growth and leadership development.

Avoid misuse of official position or information and use the public money with utmost care and economy.

Function with the objective of serving the public.

Public Servants are to serve as instruments of good governance and to provide services for the betterment of the
public at large.

Foster socio-economic development, with due regard to the diversity of the nation but

without discrimination on the ground of caste, community, religion, gender or class and duly protecting the
interest of poor, underprivileged and weaker sections.

Addressing Ethical Challenges in Public Service: Transparency, Accountability, and Integrity

Administrative discretion

Corruption

Nepotism

Crony-Capitalism

Administrative secrecy and Opacity

Information leaks

Policy dilemmas

Inefficiency and Ineffectiveness

Self-aggrandizing

Lack of Accountability

Authoritarianism

Upholding Integrity and Ethics: The Essence of Probity in Governance

Probity in governance is defined as having strong ethical and moral values in the process of governance. Probity
is a word which is derived from Latin which means “good”. Therefore, good values in governance are honesty,
accountability, integrity, compassion etc.

Probity is the quality of having strong knowledge of moral principle and integrity (in personal or public relations).
It includes the honesty and decency of a person or organisation in applying their moral principles in personal and
 public life.

Probity represents the maximalist approach to life in which a person adheres to the best principles and ideals
rather than simply avoiding corrupt or dishonest practices in personal and public relations.

Governance, defined as the process of decision making and the process by which it gets implemented which
involves govt, civil society, NGOs, Interest groups etc.

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Roots of Integrity: Philosophical Foundations of Probity in Governance

Epics, the philosophical basis of good governance that is probity in governance started with epics like Ramayana,
a model of ideal good governance.

Kautilya in his Arthashastra quoted traits of kings and ways to stop corruption. He also written about disciplinary
proceedings against corrupt officials

Aristotle, for him good governance and political stability are vital components of a state and morality is the basic
foundation of political attitudes. Possession of virtues like justice, charity, generosity for the benefit of society.

Thomas Hobbes, Linked concepts of ethics with rationality and objectivity in state and commonwealth

Immanuel Kant, Makes the concept of duty central to morality.

Utilitarian principle, the greatest good to greatest number of people

Max Weber, Present bureaucratic system working on Weber’s Legal-Rationality model.

Social contract is an agreement, between the ruled and their rulers, defining the rights and duties of each.

The central assertion that social contract theory approaches is that law and political order are not natural, but
human creations.

The social contract and the political order it creates are simply the means towards an end – the benefit of the
individuals involved – and legitimate only to the extent that they fulfill their part of the agreement.

When the government fails to secure their natural rights (Locke) or satisfy the best interests of society (called the
“general will” by Rousseau), citizens can withdraw their obligation to obey, or change the leadership through
elections or other means including.

Locke believed that natural rights were inalienable, and therefore the rule of God superseded government
authority.

Rousseau believed that democracy (self-rule) was the best way to ensure welfare while maintaining individual
freedom under the rule of law.

Cultivating Trust: The Importance of Probity in Governance

Probity in governance is an essential and vital requirement for an efficient and effective system of governance
and for socio-economic development.

Ensuring probity in governance results in absence of corruption.

Distributive and Procedural justice

Smooth and better implementation of laws

Transparency and accountability can be ensured

Lack of Technological knowledge to implement e-governance tools

 To ensure integrity, ethical behaviour and accountability in the governance

Builds up trust on state i.e., Legitimises the system

Enhances social capital and trust among the people

Impartiality, non-partisanship and non-discrimination to ensure fairness

Optimum utilisation of resources

Integrity: The Significance of Probity in Public Life

Probity in public life is the standard that society expects from those elected or appointed to public office to observe
and maintain in their conduct. Probity in governance is an essential and vital requirement for an efficient and effective
system of governance and for sustainable development. It incorporates:

1. Rule of law

2. Equity and inclusiveness

3. Consensus orientation (persuasion)

4. Participation

5. Transparency

6. Accountability

7. Responsibility

8. Selflessness

9. Justice

Challenges in Upholding Probity: Addressing Corruption and Indiscipline in Governance

Absence of corruption and fair implementation of laws is a pre-requisite for probity in governance. Indeed, pre-
requisite condition for a proper, fair and effective enforcement of law is discipline.

Unfortunately for India, discipline is disappearing fast from public life and without discipline, no real progress is
possible. Discipline implies public and private morality and a sense of honesty.

While in the West, a man who rises to positions of higher authority develops greater respect for laws, the
opposite is true in our country. Here, a person holding a high position with which he can ignore the laws and
regulations.

We are being swamped by a culture of indiscipline, untruth, no morality, both public and private life. It is true that
instilling a sense of discipline among the citizens is more the function of the society, its leaders, political parties
and public figures and least a legislative instrument. Even so, things have come to such a pass that measures
need to be contemplated.

The values such as selflessness, Integrity, Honesty, Accountability, etc. which measures Probity in governance
were already discussed in various parts of the subject in this document.

Ensuring Probity in Governance: Insights from NCRWC Report

The National Commission to Review the working of Constitution’s (NCRWC) made a detailed report on ‘Probity in
governance’.
 According to the commission, an important requisite for ensuring probity in governance is absence of corruption.
In this regard the commission also quoted the Scandinavian economist-sociologist Gunnyar Myrdal’s Indian state
as a ‘soft society’. He clarified what the expression ‘soft society’ means. According to him, a soft society is:

One which does not have the political will to enact the laws necessary for its progress and development and/or
does not possess the political will to implement the laws, even when made.

Where there is no discipline.

In fact, he has stressed the second aspect more than the first. According to him, if there is no discipline in the
society, no real or meaningful development or progress is possible. It is the lack of discipline in the society –
which includes the administration and structures of governance at all levels – that is contributing to corruption.

Corruption and indiscipline feed upon each other. One way of instilling discipline among the society may be to
reduce the chances of corruption and to deal with it sternly and mercilessly wherever it is found. For this
purpose, the inadequacies in the criminal judicial system have to be redressed. Corruption is also anti-poor.

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Ensuring Probity in Governance: Key Strategies and Mechanisms

Code of conduct and Code of Ethics

Transparency and Accountability – RTI, Lokpal and Lokayuktas

Citizen Centric Administration – Citizen charter, Service delivery

Effective utilisation of public funds

Tackling corruption- Institutional mechanism like Lokpal and lokayukta to deal with corruption

Ethics in government act on the lines of the USA – It created mandatory, public disclosure of financial and
employment history of public officials and their immediate families. It also created restrictions on lobbying
efforts by public officials for a set period after leaving public office. Also, it created an independent office tasked
with investigating government officials.

Challenges to Upholding Probity in Governance: An Assessment

High level of inequalities among communities

No incentive

No fear of accountability

Lack of leadership

Poor work culture

Hedonism

Discretion in absence of transparency

Poor and ambiguous value system

Enhancing Probity in Governance: Strategies for Improvement

Value education

Transformational leadership
High Emotional Intelligence – optimistic attitude

Developing altruism and ethical literacy

Good and ethical governance system

Independent Media

Vibrant civil society

Accountability

People with right aptitude must be chosen

Healthy Work culture

Representative democracy to participatory democracy

Information sharing and Transparency are used interchangeably. One implies another. The information sharing
transparency and transparency ensure availability of information.

Transparency is the core element of democratic society. It is the foundation on which trust and faith can be
formed. It is only when the people know about the functioning of the government that they can trust the
authorities. Thus there has been an emphasis on transparent governance.

Information sharing is a disclosure of information related to govt policies, schemes, list of beneficiaries, status
ongoing projects, fund utilisation etc. Whereas transparency refers to actions of the government which are not
kept hidden from public scrutiny and can’t be opaque.

To make public officials accountable for their actions

To fight corruption

To claim our rights – Public have right to know what the govt doing

To build confidence and trust among public-on-public offices

To ensure probity in governance

To make governments more efficient and effective

To encourage Public and private investments to boost economy

To reduce information asymmetry between what is available and what is existing in official records

To create a level playing field between various sections of the society

Structural constraints – The lack of staff, offline records and files – Lack of digitisation of files, Huge files to
compile to check for required information.

Privacy & Secrecy – Constitution provides right to privacy and also official secrets act blocking sharing of
information. Such roadblocks creating obstacles in sharing information and transparency

Grievances– Lack of grievance mechanism also hindering information sharing

Immunities– Immunities enjoyed by civil servants and departmental approvals prior to unclassified and classified
documents

Threat to activists– Those who fighting for transparency in govt are having life threat and previously many such
activists died

Delays– There are delays in disposing of information sharing applications.

 Digital outreach – Though usage of e-governance tools is increasing but urban-rural digital divide is still wider so
rural public offices are unable to utilise the growing e-governance models due to internet connectivity, no
awareness on computer usage etc.

Culture that is resistant to information sharing

Too much Centralisation and misinterpretation of rules calling for secrecy.

Malpractices and corruption

Lack of effective, capable and competent leadership within agencies

The absence of a clear value proposition

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RTI – Govt enacted RTI act to ensure information sharing and transparency. Therefore, it will be implemented in
letter& spirit.

Oath of Transparency– Introduce oath of transparency among bureaucrats and politicians.

Official secrecy act– It should be replaced so there is no conflict between two acts.

E-Governance– Develop e-governance tools for smooth flow of information with periodical updates.

Digital divide– Bridge the gap between rural and urban to rural people who can make use of the services.

Social audit– In rural employment programmes it should be implemented.

Media– Use of media to bring awareness and create confidence among the public.

Citizen Charter – Should be published on services available.

The Evolution of Right to Information: Empowering Democracy Through Transparency

In a democracy, people are the real sovereigns and the elected government and its functionaries are servants of
the public.

As stated by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, everyone should enjoy freedom of opinion and
expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas. Therefore, by the very nature,
transparency should be the norm in all matters of governance.

Right to information has been seen as a step towards ensuring this transparency to strengthen participatory
democracy and ushering in people-centred governance.

RTI opens government’s doings to public scrutiny, thereby arming them with the information that can empower
the poor and the weaker sections of society to demand and get information about public policies and actions.

This transparency in government organisations makes them function more objectively thereby enhancing
predictability.

The credit of pioneering the movement for RTI goes mainly to Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan under the
leadership of Aruna Roy which pressured the government authorities to provide information such as master rolls
and bills relating to purchase and transportation of materials.

This information was then cross-checked at Jansunwai against actual testimonies of workers. Such an
arrangement was successful in drawing attention to corruption and leakages in the system.

Eventually, the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi, considered the paper submitted by Aruna Roy
(also a member of NAC) and the RTI Bill 2004 was adopted by the Parliament in 2005.
The RTI Act, 2005: Empowering Citizens Through Transparency and Accountability

The Right to Information is embedded in Article 19.1 of the constitution and is a fundamental right. It is all about
asking questions and getting answers as a Right. As per the original sections of the RTI act, 2005

The Act applies to all states and union territories of India including the UT of J&K and Ladakh. (since 2019, post
revocation of Art. 370)

Under this Act, any citizen may request information from a ‘public authority’ which is required to respond to the
request within 30 days.

The Act also prescribes that every public authority has to computerise their records for wide dissemination and
to proactively publish certain categories of information (Section 4 – Public Interest Disclosure)

Building of institutions like Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and related
Information officers and Appellate authorities like Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), Chief Information
Commissioner, State Chief Information Commissioner etc.

Before taking any decision, the Central Public Info. Officer shall take into consideration the representation made
by a third party (a person other than the citizen making a request for information and includes a public authority)

Objectives of RTI Act: Empowering Citizens, Promoting Transparency, and Combating Corruption

To empower the citizens with information

To promote transparency and accountability

To contain corruption

To enhance people’s participation in democratic process.

Key Sections of RTI Act 2005

Section Features

Section 1(2) It extends to the whole of India

“Information” means any material in any form, and information relating to any private body which can
Section 2(f)
be accessed by a Public Authority under any other law for the time being in force.

States that “Public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established
or constituted –

by or under the Constitution;

by any other law made by Parliament/State Legislature.
Section 2(h)
By notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes anybody:
Owned, controlled or substantially financed;
NGO substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate
Government.

Section 2(j) “Right to Information” means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or
under the control of any public authority and includes the right to:

Inspection of work, documents, records;

Taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
 Taking certified samples of material;
Obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other
electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any
other device.

Section 4 Suo-motu disclosure of information by each public authority.

Exemption to certain Information –

National security or sovereignty

National economic interests
Relations with foreign states
Section 8 Law enforcement and the judicial process
Cabinet and other decision-making documents
Trade secrets & commercial confidentiality
Individual safety
Personal privacy

Section 8 Provides for disclosure of information exempted under Official Secrets Act, 1923 if larger public
(2) interest is served.

OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT AND ITS DRAWBACKS TO THE RTI

Given that, we retained the colonial Official Secrets Act (OSA) of the British era, even after independence we
continued to operate in a secret manner at an administrative level.

The Central Civil Service Conduct Rules of 1964 also strengthened the OSA by prohibiting the government
servants from communicating the official document to anyone without authorisation.

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Issues with OSA

As stated by the Second ARC report, the most contentious issue in the implementation of the Right to
Information Act relates to official secrets.

Section 5 of OSA stated that, any person having information about a prohibited place, or an information which
may help enemy state, or which has been entrusted to him in confidence, or which he has obtained owing to his
official position, commits an ‘offence’ if s/he communicates it to an unauthorised person.

Any kind of information is covered by this Section if it is classified as ‘secret’.

The word ‘official secrets’ has not been defined in the Act, therefore, making it easier for public servants to
classify anything as “secret”.

The Shourie Committee on OSA stated that ‘it is the OSA that has been regarded in many quarters as being
primarily responsible for the excessive secrecy in the government. Its “catch-all” nature has invited sustained
criticism and demand for its amendment.’

Challenges in RTI Implementation

 Complicated system of accepting requests.

Poor record-keeping practices

Lack of adequate infrastructure and staff for running information commissions

Dilution of supplementary laws like the whistle-blower protection Act.

Insistence on demand drafts.

Varying and often higher rates of application fee.

Large number of PIOs obstructing the process.

Information commissioners do not have adequate authorities to enforce the RTI Act.

Though RTI’s aim is not to create a grievance redressal mechanism, the notices from Information Commissions
often spur the public authorities to redress grievances.

Low public awareness regarding types of organisations covered under the RTI act etc.

75% percent of the citizens are dissatisfied with the quality of information being provided.

Recommendations for Enhancing RTI Implementation

Creation of RTI Implementation Cells by appropriate Governments.

Improving convenience in filing requests by creating multiple access channels, Common Service Centres set up
under National e-Governance Plan to facilitate citizens in filing RTI applications.

CIC and SICs should be entrusted with the task of monitoring effective implementation of RTI in all public
authorities.

A National Coordination Committee (NCC) may be set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Information
Commissioner with the nodal union ministry, the SICs and representatives of States as members.

All organizations listed under Schedule 2 have to appoint PIOs.

Inventory of Public Authorities should be made at the central and state levels and using web-based applications
for public authorities.

Single window agencies should be set up in each district.

Provisions should be made to include annual confidential reports, examination question papers and related
matters in the exemptions under the RTI Act.

Institutionalising third party audit.

Changes Introduced by the RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019

Provision RTI Act, 2005 RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019

Term of Office The act removes this provision

The Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information
and and states that the central
Commissioners (ICs) (at the central and state level) will hold
Conditions of government will notify the term
office for a term of five years.
service of office for the CIC and the ICs.
 The act removes these
The salary of the CIC and ICs (at the central level) will be
provisions and states that the
equivalent to the salary paid to the Chief Election Commissioner
salaries, allowances, and other
Salary and and Election Commissioners, respectively. Similarly, the salary of
terms and conditions of service
allowances the CIC and ICs (at the state level) will be equivalent to the
of the central and state CIC and
salary paid to the Election Commissioners and the Chief
ICs will be determined by the
Secretary to the state government, respectively.
central government.

The Act states that at the time of the appointment of the CIC
and ICs (at the central and state level), if they are receiving
pension or any other retirement benefits for previous
government service, their salaries will be reduced by an amount
Deductions in The act removes these
equal to the pension. Previous government service includes
Salary provisions.
service under: (i) the central government, (ii) state government,
(iii) corporation established under a central or state law, and (iv)
company owned or controlled by the central or state
government.

Concerns Raised Against the RTI Amendment Act of 2019

Information commissions are as important as election commissions. Considering it, lowering the authority of IC
will affect the working of IC. Even SC has directed that CIC and ICs shall be appointed on the same terms and
conditions as applicable to the Chief Election Commissioner of Election Commissioners.

The recent amendment will dilute the autonomy of the Information Commissions against government
interference.

The new provisions that empower the Central Govt to unilaterally decide the salary and allowances as well as
tenure and other service conditions will change the existing framework on which RTI functions.

Amendments are pushed through without the consultation of the citizens, by passing examinations by the
standing committees.

Role and Powers of the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) under RTI Act, 2005

The Central Information Commission has been constituted under the Right to Information Act, 2005. The
jurisdiction of the Commission extends over all Central Public Authorities. The Commission has certain powers
and functions mentioned in sections 18, 19, 20 and 25 of the RTI Act, 2005.These broadly relate to:

Adjudication in second appeal for giving information

Direction for record keeping, suo motu disclosures receiving and enquiring into a complaint on inability to
file RTI etc

Imposition of penalties and Monitoring and Reporting including preparation of an Annual Report.

The decisions of the Commission are final and binding.

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Issues with the CIC office:

With the recent amendment, office of CIC became purely govt discretion in terms of his salary and tenure

Erosion of information regime with degradation of information autonomy in the public offices
 Powers only on paper but in reality, the scenario is different. CIC ordered to disclose funding of political parties
under RTI but no political party willing follow his orders

Frequent judicial interferences

Delay in appointments

Right to Information has provided for the citizens in a democratic country, a valuable opportunity to actively
participate in the process of governance. But in India, because of a stereotypical legacy of colonialism, centralization
and feudalism, people’s willingness and awareness to participate is still relatively dormant.

Nevertheless, RTI has introduced in the politico administrative system the traits of caution, care, vigilance, efficiency,
transparency and other ethical aspects. Hopefully, the RTI act will help affect a shift from the parochial culture of
secrecy to a liberal culture of openness from personalised centralisation to accountable decentralisation and from a
unilateral policy and decisional system to a pattern of participative governance.

CODE OF CONDUCT & CODE OF ETHICS

Code of conduct and code of ethics both are aimed at regulating an organisation’s employee’s behaviour. Similarities
and differences between them are very thin. The following table describes similarities and differences between them.

Evolution and Overview of Code of Conduct for Civil Servants

Code of conduct evolved with Cornwallis code during East India Company rule. Till Independence, these conduct
rules were updated periodically.

After the independence, Santhanam Committee recommended considerable enlargement of such rules resulting
in the 1964 version. These rules have subsequently been updated to include additional norms of behaviour.

Present ‘Conduct Rules’, that is Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules – 1964 and analogous rules applicable to
members of the All-India Services or employees of various State Governments.

The norms prescribed in such rules are much older than the Rules themselves. Thus, specific acts were
proscribed from time to time through notifications under the Fundamental Rules and the Civil Service
Regulations.

This is understandably a continuing process, and reflects the changing, often increasing expectations of society,
from the civil services. The breach of such prohibitions entailed punitive actions like removal from service.

There were, of course, provisions like ‘illegal gratification’ or bribery – Sections 161 to 165 of the IPC – or
‘criminal breach of trust by a public servant’ – Section 409 IPC – which provide for terms of imprisonment.

In 1947, with the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, a new set of offences was also created.

Hence, overall, the summary of conduct rules are:

Disapproval of habitual lending and indiscriminate borrowing

Banning of various actions like accepting gifts

Buying and selling property

Making commercial investments

Promoting companies

Accepting commercial employment after retirement

The requirement of observing courtesy

 Prohibiting demanding and accepting dowry

Prohibiting sexual harassment of women employees

Prohibition to employ children below 14 years of age as domestic help

Maintaining integrity and absolute devotion to duty

Not indulging in ‘conduct unbecoming of a government servant’, is generally directed towards cataloguing
specific activities deemed undesirable for government servants

They should adhere to “Oath to secrecy”

But having this code of conduct with value neutrality is not sufficient for development administration. Code of
conduct failed to promote positive values among the bureaucrats. Therefore, various committees recommended the
need to have a code of ethics for civil servants to promote positive emotions like compassion, empathy,
decentralisation etc. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission in its report on Ethics dealt with what ethical
conduct should civil servants maintain in public life.

Need for a Code of Ethics for Civil Servants in India

For so many years India has had a code of conduct for civil servants but there is no code of ethics although such
codes exist in other countries.

In India we have several conduct rules, which prohibit a set of common activities. These conduct rules achieved
what they intended to design, but they do not constitute a code of ethics.

Also, after the 73rd and 74th amendments of the constitution, the local bodies now have an important role to
play in the nation’s development and have major executive powers. It is essential that the need for relevant codes
for these bodies and their employees, and for any public authority, is recognised.

Overview of the Public Services Bill, 2006: Promoting Ethical Values in Civil Services

A draft “Public services Bill” 2006 was brought by the Ministry of personnel to promote code of ethical values among
the Civil servants. The salient feature of the bill are:

Allegiance to the various ideals enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution

Apolitical functioning

Good governance for betterment of the people to be the primary goal of civil service

Duty to act objectively and impartially

Accountability and transparency in decision-making

Maintenance of highest ethical standards

Merit to be the criteria in selection of civil servants consistent, however, with the cultural, ethnic and other
diversities of the nation Ensuring economy and avoidance of wastage in expenditure

Provision of healthy and congenial work environment

Communication, consultation and cooperation in performance of functions i.e., participation of all levels of
personnel in management

Bill also having a provision regarding Public Services Commissioner, is authorised to evaluate the public servant’s
ethical conduct.
Recognizing the Principles of Good Governance: Insights from the Public Services Bill

1. that good governance is an inalienable right of the citizens in a democracy,

2. that good governance should be participatory, transparent, accountable, governed by the rule of law and be
informed by equity and inclusiveness in governance, and effectiveness and efficiency in service, and,

3. that a politically neutral, professional, accountable and efficient public service is an essential instrument for
promotion of good governance,

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Overcoming Challenges in Implementing a Code of Ethics: A Pragmatic Approach

Wide in nature made subject to multiple interpretations

There is no legal mechanism to implement it

There is no barometer to measure person’s ethical values

There is no punishment for violation of this code

No grievance mechanism for immoral actions

There should be some other requisite elements necessary to support a code such as a viable legal system, in
synchronisation with laws that deal with corruption, ways of adjudicating administrative violations, investigators,
supported by prosecutors and a judiciary.

Difference: Code of Ethics vs Code of Conduct

CODE OF ETHICS CODE OF CONDUCT

Set of values which influences our

Set of rules and regulations which governs our actions
decision making

Guides our behaviour Seeks the expected behaviour

Promotes positive behaviour Prevents negative behaviour

Scope is wider Scope is very narrower

Wide ranging and non-specific Limited range and Specific in nature

Addressed to anyone Addressed to only organisations members

Universal Varies from organisation to organisation

Morally binding and Voluntary in Nature.

There is no formal mechanism to Legally enforceable by civil services conduct rules
implement it.

Examples: Guidelines for accepting private gifts, social media usage,

Examples: Integrity, Honesty, Empathy,
habitual lending and indiscriminate borrowing, accepting commercial
Compassion
employment after retirement etc
Strengthening Public Service Ethics: Recommendations of Second ARC

‘Public Service Values’ towards which all public servants should aspire, should be defined and made applicable to
all tiers of Government and organizations. Any transgression of these values should be treated as misconduct,
inviting punishment

Conflict of interest should be comprehensively covered in the Code of Ethics and in the Code of Conduct for
officers. Also, serving officials should not be nominated on the Boards of Public undertakings. This will, however,
not apply to non-profit public institutions and advisory bodies.

Statutory recognition to code of ethics

Code of conduct should be integrated into code of ethics

Code of ethics should also deal ethical dilemmas

There should be penal provisions and grievance redressal mechanisms to deal with issues with such code.

Promoting Ethical Governance: Steps to Inculcate Probity Among Politicians

Mandatory declaration of assets, liabilities and business interests by politicians before elections should be
accompanied by a proper audit of these declarations by empowering the Election Commission. The Chief
Minister of Tripura is one of the poorest in terms of assets and can be considered as a living example of the
probity practiced by him in his professional life. This is seen from the state faring well in HDI, when other North
eastern states are marred with insurgency and violence.

A dedicated unit to oversee violation of Code of ethics and Code of conduct by politicians be set up both at state
and centre level. CoE & CoC for politicians should be laid down in public domain indicating violations for public
awareness.

Parliamentary conduct ethics must be taught to MPs. For example, a year back an MP used pepper spray to
disrupt proceedings. Similarly, frequent disruptions happen because of MPs coming into well. These must be
stringently acted upon.

Illegal expenditure during elections is the root cause of corruption among politicians, partial state funding of
elections could be the way forward in controlling it.

Schemes like MPLAD and MLALAD should be abolished to do away with the conflict of interests among
legislators.

Short duration training like civil servants on ethical aspects can be provided to first time MPs and MLAs.

Synergy Between Good Governance and Citizen-Centric Administration

The concepts of good governance and citizen centric administration are connected to each other. Citizen centricity
with the aim of ensuring citizens’ welfare and citizens’ satisfaction, is critical for any government, local, state or
national which aims to provide good governance.

Essential Foundations for Citizen-Centric Governance

Sound legal framework

Accountability framework

Robust institutional mechanism for proper implementation of laws and their effective functioning

Competent personnel staffing these institutions; and sound personnel management policies
 Right policies for decentralization, delegation and accountability.

Rule of Law – Zero tolerance strategy

Making institutions vibrant, responsive and accountable

Democratic decentralization and delegation

Transparency and openness

Civil Services Reforms

Ethics in Governance

Procedural Reforms

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Pathways to Achieving Citizen-Centric Governance

Re-engineering processes to make governance ‘citizen centric’ – New Public Management (NPM) and New
Public Administration (NPA)

Adoption of Appropriate Modern Technology

Right to Information

Citizens’ Charters

Social Audits

Independent evaluation of services

Effective and efficient Grievance Redressal Mechanisms

Active citizens’ participation – Public-private partnerships.

As governance is primarily a series of service operations with the ultimate objective of maximizing citizens’ welfare,
use of management principles such as the Six Sigma concepts (data, focus on clients/citizens, quality) combined
with Lean thinking (process flow, minimizing the costs of unnecessary complexity) can help to transform government
service organizations into more efficient and citizen friendly agencies.

It is ultimately hope that, governance in India can be simplified so as to bring to its citizen a “multi-channel single
window delivery structure” for channelizing all types of government services at the local level in the most efficient
manner possible using modern IT technology so that the citizen can access these services easily and conveniently at
his doorstep and even on the run through the use of mobile telephony.

Empowering Citizens Through Citizens’ Charters

A Citizens’ Charter is basically a set of commitments made by an organization regarding the standards of service
which it delivers. The Citizens’ Charter is an instrument which seeks to make an organization transparent,
accountable and citizen friendly.

“A Citizens’ Charter represents the commitment of the Organisation towards standard, quality and time frame of
service delivery, grievance redress mechanism, transparency and accountability.” – Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances.

Citizen’s Charters are public agreements between citizens and service delivery providers that clearly codify
expectations and standards in the realm of service delivery.
Evolution of Citizens’ Charter: From Accountability to Customer-Centric Service

To make bureaucrats accountable to the public citizens’ charter first evolved in the UK in 1990’s. Introduced by
the then PM of UK John Mayor.

The Citizens’ Charter, when introduced in the early 1990’s, represented a landmark shift in the delivery of public
services. The emphasis of the Citizens’ Charter is on citizens as customers of public services.

The aim of the scheme was to ensure that public services are made responsive to the citizens they serve. The
original Citizens’ charter has six principles and three more principles added in later years. They are:

1. Quality – improving the quality of services

2. Choice – for the users wherever possible

3. Standards – specifying what to expect within a time frame

4. Value – for the taxpayers’ money

5. Accountability – of the service provider (individual as well as Organization)

6. Transparency – in rules, procedures, schemes and grievance redressal

7. Innovate and Improve

8. Work with other providers

9. Consult and involve and treat all fairly

Key Components of Citizens’ Charter: Ensuring Transparency and Accountability

According to 2nd ARC Twelfth Report-Citizen Centric Administration, every citizens’ charter has several essential
components to make it meaningful:

1. Vision and Mission Statement of the organization:

This gives the outcomes desired and the broad strategy to achieve these goals and outcomes.

This also makes the users aware of the intent of their service provider

Helps in holding the organization accountable.

1. Subjects & Services provided – In its Citizens’ Charter, the organization must state clearly what subjects it deals
with and the service areas it broadly covers. This helps the users to understand the type of services they can
expect from a particular service provider. These commitments/promises constitute the heart of a citizens’
charter. Even though these promises are not enforceable in a court of law, each organization should ensure that
the promises made are kept and, in case of default, a suitable compensatory/remedial mechanism should be
provided.

2. Citizen Responsibilities– The Citizens’ Charter should also stipulate the responsibilities of the citizens in the
context of the charter.

Guidelines for Developing Effective Citizens’ Charters by DARPG

To be useful, the Charter must be simple, easy to understand and available in vernacular as well.

The Charter must be framed not only by senior experts, but by interaction with the cutting edge staff who will
finally implement it and with the users (individual organizations)
 Merely announcing the Charter will not change the way we function. It is important to create conditions through
interaction and training for generating a responsive climate.

Begin with a statement of the service(s) being offered

A mention is made against each service about the entitlement of the user, service standards and remedies
available to the user in case of non-adherence to standards

Procedures/costs/charges should be made available online/display boards/ booklets/inquiry counters etc at

places specified in the Charter

Indicate clearly, that while these are not justiciable, the commitments enshrined in the Charter are in the nature of
a promise to be fulfilled with oneself and with the user

Frame a structure for obtaining feedback and performance audit and fix a schedule for reviewing the Charter at
least every six months

Separate Charters can be framed for distinct services and for organizations/ agencies/attached or subordinate
to a Ministry/Department.

Critiques of Citizens’ Charters Implementation

Poor design and Content: Promises contained in the charters were vaguely worded and meaningless

Resistance to change: The new practices demand significant changes in the behaviour and attitude of the agency
and its staff towards citizens. At times, vested interests work for stalling the Citizens’ Charter altogether or in
making it toothless.

Very low level of public awareness

Citizens’ Charter has lost public respect because it was seen as being too confused in its objectives

In a majority of cases, the Charters were not formulated through a consultative process

Service providers were not familiar with the philosophy, goals and main features of the Charter

Adequate publicity to the Charters had not been given in any of the Departments evaluated. In most
Departments, the Charters are only in the initial or middle stage of implementation

No funds have been specifically earmarked for awareness generation of Citizens’ Charter or for orientation of the
staff on various components of the Charter

Charters are rarely updated

The needs of senior citizens and the disabled are not considered when drafting Charters

There was general lack of accountability and review mechanisms

Lack of charter availability in vernacular or local languages.

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Enhancing Effectiveness of Citizens’ Charters: Proposed Reform Agenda

Need for citizens and staff to be consulted at every stage of formulation of the Charter

Orientation of staff about the salient features and goals/ objectives of the Charter

Vision and mission statement of the department and skills such as team building, problem solving, handling of
grievances and communication skills

Need for creation of database on consumer grievances and redress

 Need for wider publicity of the Charter through print media, posters, banners, leaflets, handbills, brochures, local
newspapers etc. and also through electronic media

Earmarking of specific budgets for awareness generation and orientation of staff

Emulation of best practices in this field

Recommendations from the Second Administrative Reforms Commission for Effective Implementation
of Citizens’ Charters

The Commission observed, in order to make these Charters effective tools for holding public servants accountable,
the Charters should clearly spell out the remedy/penalty/compensation in case there is a default in meeting the
standards spelt out in the Charter. It emphasized that, it is better to have a few promises which can be kept than a
long list of lofty but impractical aspirations.

1. Internal restructuring should precede Charter formulation:

As a meaningful Charter seeks to improve the quality of service, mere stipulation to that effect in the Charter will
not suffice.

There has to be a complete analysis of the existing systems and processes within the organization and, if need
be, these should to be recast and new initiatives adopted.

Citizens’ Charters that are put in place after these internal reforms will be more credible and useful than those
designed as mere desk exercises without any system re-engineering.

2. One size does not fit all:

This huge challenge becomes even more complex as the capabilities and resources that governments and
departments need to implement Citizens’ Charters vary significantly across the country. Added to these are
differing local conditions.

The highly uneven distribution of Citizens’ Charters across States is clear evidence of this ground reality.
Therefore, the Commission is of the view that formulation of Citizens’ Charters should be a decentralized activity
with the head office providing broad guidelines.

3. Wide consultation process:

Citizens’ Charters should be formulated after extensive consultations within the organization followed by a
meaningful dialogue with civil society. Inputs from experts should also be considered at this stage.

4. Firm commitments to be made:

Citizens’ Charters must be precise and make firm commitments of service delivery standards to the
citizens/consumers in quantifiable terms wherever possible.

With the passage of time, an effort should be made for more stringent standards of service delivery.

5. Redressal mechanism in case of default:

Citizens’ Charter should clearly lay down the relief which the organization is bound to provide if it has defaulted
on the promised standards of delivery.
 In addition, wherever there is a default in the service delivery by the organization, citizens must also have
recourse to a Grievance’s Redressal Mechanism.

6. Periodic evaluation of Citizens’ Charters:

Every organization must conduct periodic evaluation of its Citizens’ Charter preferably through an independent
external agency. This agency while evaluating the Charter of the organisation should also make an objective
analysis of whether the promises made therein are being delivered within the defined parameters.

The result of such evaluations must be used to improve upon the Charter. This is necessary because a Citizens’
Charter is a dynamic document which must keep pace with the changing needs of the citizens as well as the
changes in underlying processes and technology. A periodic review of Citizens’ Charter thus becomes an
imperative.

7. Benchmark using end-user feedback:

Systematic monitoring and review of Citizens’ Charters is necessary even after they are approved and placed in
the public domain.

Performance and accountability tend to suffer when officials are not held responsible for the quality of a
Charter’s design and implementation.

In this context, end-user feedback can be a timely aid to assess the progress and outcomes of an agency that
has implemented a Citizens’ Charter. This is a standard practice for Charters implemented in the UK.

8. Hold officers accountable for results:

All of the above point to the need to make the heads of agencies or other designated senior officials accountable
for their respective Citizens’ Charters.

The monitoring mechanism should fix specific responsibility in all cases where there is a default in adhering to
the Citizens’ Charter

9. Include Civil Society in the process:

Organizations need to recognize and support the efforts of civil society groups in preparation of the Characters,
their dissemination and also facilitating information disclosures.

There have been a number of States where involvement of civil society in this entire process has resulted in vast
improvement in the contents of the Charter, as well as educating the citizens about the importance of this vital
mechanism.

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The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011
(Citizens Charter)

The Bill seeks to create a mechanism to ensure timely delivery of goods and services to citizens.

Every public authority is required to publish a citizen’s charter within six months of the commencement of the
Act. The Charter will detail the goods and services to be provided and their timelines for delivery.

A citizen may file a complaint regarding any grievance related to:

Citizen’s charter
 Functioning of a public authority

Violation of a law, policy or scheme.

The Bill requires all public authorities to appoint officers to redress grievances. Grievances are to be redressed
within 30 working days. The Bill also provides for the appointment of Central and State Public Grievance
Redressal Commissions.

A penalty of up to Rs 50,000 may be levied upon the responsible officer or the Grievance Redressal Officer for
failure to render services.

But the bill has not yet passed due to limitations like central govt does not have authority over state officials, and
many of its provisions are already there in various laws and overlapping with existing rules. But most of its
provisions are aimed at time bound delivery of services.

Positive Work Culture: Enhancing Employee Engagement and Organizational Loyalty

Work culture is a concept which deals with beliefs, thought processes and attitudes of the employees. It is the
work culture which decides the way employees interact with each other and how an organisation functions. An
organisation is said to have a strong work culture when the employees follow the organisation’s rules and adhere
to the existing guidelines.

It is essential for the employees to enjoy at the workplace for them to develop a sense of professional loyalty.
The organisation must offer positive ambience to the employees for them to concentrate on the work rather than
interfering in each other’s work. Such a work culture plays an important role in extracting the best out of
employees and making them stick to organisation for longer time.

Key Elements of Work Culture: Shaping Organizational Identity and Employee Behavior

Legacy of its earlier leadership – Founder fathers’ vision should be carry forward and it will be part and parcel of
organisational culture

Organisation’s Mission, goals, objectives should reflect in its work culture

Work Ethics – Discipline, confidentiality, loyalty, integrity, commitment to the duty, delivery of services on time,
Transparency etc.

Treatment of customers – Customers or consumers should be treated as gods to any organisation. They should
be respected and their grievances should be addressed on earliest time

Recognition to work – Rewards, promotions, increments, bonus.

WORK CULTURE: PUBLIC SECTOR Vs PRIVATE WORK CULTURE

PUBLIC SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR

Public welfare is the main goal of the public sector Profit and business is the main goal

Deadlines, speedy work, competition with

Strict code of conduct and rules and regulations, formal dress code
another organisation

Justice, due process of law to be followed while delivering services Efficiency, customer satisfaction

There is no much scope to creativity Beyond limits to one’s own creativity

 Red-tapism, low level delivery, low skills, hierarchy are common
Workers exploitation, workers’ rights at stake
traits in public work culture

Characteristics of a Vibrant Work Culture

Employees must be cheerful, polite and punctual. One must respect his fellow worker. Backbiting is considered
strictly unprofessional.

Appreciating the top performers is important. Let them feel indispensable for their organization.

Organisation must have employee friendly policies and practical guidelines. Expecting an employee to work till
late night on his birthday is simply impractical.

Encourage discussions at the workplace to reach better conclusions. Transparency is essential at all levels for
better relationships among employees and a healthy work culture.

Promote team building activities to bind the employees together. Conduct training programs, workshops,
seminars and presentations to upgrade the existing skills of the employees.

Partiality leads to demotivated employees and eventually an unhealthy work culture. Employees should be
judged only by their work.

Signs of an Unhealthy Work Culture

Office politics – Politics plays a vital role in organisational productivity. Therefore, rules and systems should be
transparent and there should be limits on discretionary powers on superiors.

Inefficiency: A poor work culture shows high resource use, slow pace of work due to the ‘chalta hai’ attitude and
complacency among workers. This is itself a result of lack of accountability and weak supervision.

Work pressure and stress – Due to the heavy load of work employees went under tremendous pressure and
stress.

Lack of accountability: Poor performance is not penalized and workers are not made to account for their poor
quality of work. This pattern of behaviour slowly spreads to other workers as it is not penalized.

Poor grievance redressal: Sufficient care is not given to needs and complaints of the clients who are unsatisfied
with the services. It results from a lack of commitment to service and weak institutional mechanisms to redress
grievances.

Personal life-work balance – There should be enough time to spend with family members. It will not only relieve
their work stress and also boosts employee morale and helps in organisational productivity.

Nepotism and favouritism: Human resource management is based on favouring loyalists and favourites instead
of being based on performance. This goes on to encourage sycophancy among employees and feudal attitude
among supervisors and at the same time, fails to reward good performance.

Low morale and motivation: Workforce suffers from lack of motivation due to low compensation, poor human
relations, poor working conditions, lack of recognition and so on. This results in a fall in productivity and a casual
attitude among employees.

Red-tapism: Organization works with a process-orientation rather than result- orientation. It is caused by rigid
rules and procedures and lack of incentive for risk taking and swift decision making.

Lack of Inclusivity – Organisation should be equally represented with from different sections of the society.
 Conflicts: Disputes between managers and subordinates and among fellow employees are rampant and remain
unresolved. They lead to logjams, stagnation and loss of productivity.

Challenges in Bureaucratic Work Culture: Structural Issues, Coordination Hurdles, and Ethical Erosion

Structural issues – Issues like centralised decision making, hierarchy and superiority and subordinates. It will
cause structural and procedural delays to get things done. Results in inefficiency in the organisation.

Coordination & Cooperation – With so many government departments and many public offices, coordination with
them is a difficult task. An office filled with corrupt subordinates and cooperation with honest superior is a myth
in that office.

Means but not an end – Work culture mainly focussed on timely completion of projects without thinking of its
consequences.

Lack of Trained personnel– Most of the lower employees at retiring age. They are not able to adopt changing
work conditions

Erosion of work ethics – Govt offices known for “1 ‘0 clock offices” i.e., employees come to office at lunch time
and leave before sunset. There is no discipline, arrogance towards customers, no punctuality.

Technology – Lack of digitisation at public offices, so they not able to meet private competition

Corruption, Red Tapism, endless paperwork and other such problems in the work culture of administration.

Interference from political leadership

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Steps for Cultivating a Healthy Work Culture: Enhancing Engagement, Retention, and Communication

Every organization has its own distinct culture, shaped by its values, priorities, and the people who work there. These
factors mix together to naturally form the makeup of a company’s everyday environment – its work culture. Healthy
work culture refers to the one where employees feel valued, safe, comfortable, and flush with opportunity for growth.
A happier workforce makes for more productive employees, and successful managers are constantly assessing
employee satisfaction.

Increase Employee engagement – Employee engagement and having employees who are “emotionally and
psychologically attached to their work and workplace”, is crucial to creating positive employee relationships and
a successful bottom line. In order to increase employee engagement:

Increase Employee retention – Pay hikes, Secure workplace for women, upward mobility. Such conditions retain
most of its employees.

Work flexibility – Work at home, five-day work became the norm of the day in today’s work culture. Therefore,
employees should be given flexibility to work anywhere and anytime.

Improve communication with employees – Measures like availability, fixed to slot to hear employees’ grievances
helps in communicate with employees

Build a strong employer brand – A strong public trust improves organisational brand.

Recommendations for Enhancing Work Culture in Bureaucracy: Accountability, Training, and

Transparency
 Second ARC recommended 360-degree performance evaluation to measure its personnel work performance.
This also ensures feedback from employees.

Performance management system- This is the new Performance Appraisal Report introduced for All-India-
Services provides for regular, participative, detailed, quantitative performance evaluation.

Mid-career training for employees for motivation and reskilling

Regular Feedback from the employees regarding their grievances

Transparency and accountability in public services for ensuring quality service delivery

Guarantee of quality-of-service delivery before the time limit and at the doorstep

Rewards and recognition to hard working and disciplined employees for example, employees of the month.

Our administrative system must become more goal-oriented.

A new work-ethic, a new work culture must be evolved in which the Government is result-bound and not
procedure bound.

Ethical sensitisation and team spirit are required to develop a work culture that is empathetic to citizens’ needs
and is resilient to undue external pressures.

Reward and punishment must be related to performance

Delegation changes the work culture, improves job satisfaction, motivation and morale of employees.

Interaction and presentations to higher authorities. Example: PRAGATHI platform where all district collectors
connected.

Grievance redressal mechanism. Examples: CPGRAMS

Accountability in bureaucracy needs to be improved. The recent initiatives taken by the government such as
biometric attendance, punctuality are long due towards improvement of work culture. Encourage use of IT to
reduce discretion and bring in transparency and accountability.

Why the Private Sector Often Exhibits a Superior Work Culture

Better communication: All the top corporations believe in wide spread communication of its policies and
decisions to all its employees, while in the government sector there is a strict hierarchy of flow of
communication, and it generally gets filtered in the way downwards.

Rewards: Corporates work on the principle of rewards for the individual efforts and results. While on the other
hand, government departments do not give enough recognition to the efforts of individuals. They generally have
seniority based promotions rather than merit based.

Enabling infrastructure: Most of the top corporates, provide shuttle services, after office relaxation clubs, creche
facilities etc. Infrastructure in government organizations lacks in comparison.

Code of Ethics and code of conduct: Professional code in corporate and code of civil services followed in
government sector.

Enhancing Public Service Delivery: Ensuring Efficient Service Provision and Customer Satisfaction

Public service delivery refers to the relationship between policy makers, service providers and consumers of those
services. Service delivery is a mechanism used by an organization to meet the needs and aspirations of the people it
is meant to serve.

Aims and Objectives of Public Service Delivery: Prioritizing Citizen Needs and Efficiency
 Aim of any public Services delivery is to ensure ease of living to citizens.

Public Service Delivery is very important as citizens are now focussed on getting their work done.

The system should be made simple and not complicated.

While emphasising on ‘ease of living’ to citizens, the Government need not control the delivery of services, but
facilitate efficient, transparent and time-bound delivery.

For optimum use of Information technology to benefit the citizens.

Three aspects of Public Service Delivery are:

1. Citizen-centric administration

2. Transparency

3. Time-bound.

The ability of a government to meet national service delivery needs is a source of credibility on their part thereof.
Conversely, governments face a critical test when they fail to meet peoples’ expectations. At the centre of service
delivery is accountability, value for money, efficient and effective use of resources, improved communication and
decision-making processes. If the accountability process is weak, value for money will not be realized. Effective
service delivery is about providing the services that meet the needs of the users in the most efficient and effective
ways. Sharing best practices leads to effective and efficient service designs and implementation.

Criteria for Evaluating Quality of Service Delivery

Quality means excellence or inferiority at something. There Is something difference between standard quality and
reality. Quality of service delivery refers to the public service which is delivered by public offices which are as per
meeting public aspirations or fail to meet public expectations. The parameters or guiding principles to measure to
quality-of-service delivery depends on:

Availability: A service should be available at the time and scale that the user needs it.

Deliverability: A service should be delivered regularly and on time.

Usability: A service should be presented in user specific formats so that the client can fully understand.

Usefulness: A service should be designed to respond appropriately to user needs.

Credibility: A service be designed in such a way that the user can confidently and conveniently apply it in solving
his/her problem or need.

Authenticity: A service should be delivered in such a way that entitles it to be accepted by stakeholders in given
decision-making contexts.

Responsive and flexible: A service should directly respond to the evolving user needs.

Sustainability: A service should be affordable and consistent over time.

Expandability: A service should be applicable to different kinds of approaches.

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Factors Contributing to Poor Quality of Service Delivery in Public Offices

Lacking in morale towards public duty and indiscipline among public officials

Lack of proper infrastructure at public offices

 Not catching up with growing technology

Failed to meet last mile delivery

Arrogance towards public and sense of lazy attitude among public servants

Some of the Public servants acting as a public master.

Lack of resources i.e., insufficient funds though who committed to work for public cause

Lengthy procedural formalities for example, PMMVY scheme requires 29 pages application form to get benefits
under scheme

Low educational levels among rural people to know their rights

Strategies for Enhancing Service Delivery

Conscious Strengthening of Service Standards in terms of quantity, quality, time and cost of service delivered.

Uncompromisable Quality of Service to meet consumers’ expectations and satisfaction with the quality of
service delivered.

Professionalism and technical adequacy of contracting firms to which firms providing services adhere to their
ethical and technical competencies.

Effective and rigorous supervision of contracts to the extent to which technical and political leadership holds
service providers to account.

Citizens’ Satisfaction with Service Delivery to ensure that the ordinary citizen is the focus of service delivery and
realizes the value for money.

Transparent and open outsourcing of services to fair play in business and public procurement of service
providers.

Accountable and equitable civil society This refers to civil society taking the lead in delivering services in an
exemplary manner to all stakeholders.

Good governance-focused institutional framework for good service delivery processes and practices.

Adequate mobilization of resources for service delivery to meet intergovernmental fiscal relations and local
revenue raising mechanisms in local governments.

Efficient utilization of resources to prudent use of available resources by local governments.

Inclusive and participatory planning to make participation of the ordinary people in deciding their choices of
service delivery.

Socio-economic empowerment of ordinary citizens through national and regional programmes. This refers to
effectiveness in implementation of poverty reduction projects that benefit citizens at the local level.

The Sevottam Model: Advancing Public Service Delivery Excellence

Sevottam is a Service Delivery Excellence Model which provides an assessment improvement framework to bring
about excellence in public service delivery.

The need for a tool like Sevottam arose from the fact that Citizens’ Charters by themselves could not achieve the
desired results in improving the quality of public services.

Besides, the absence of a credible grievances redressal mechanism within organizations was also becoming a
major impediment in improving service delivery standards.
 Thus, it was felt that unless there is a mechanism to assess the outcomes of various measures, the reform
initiatives would not yield the desired results.

The Sevottam model works as an evaluation mechanism to assess the quality of internal processes and their
impact on the quality-of-service delivery.

The Sevottam model has three modules:

1. The first component of the model requires effective Charter implementation thereby opening up a channel for
receiving citizens’ inputs into the way in which organizations determine service delivery requirements. Citizens’
Charters publicly declare the information on citizens’ entitlements thereby making citizens better informed and
hence empowering them to demand better services.

2. The second component of the model, ‘Public Grievance Redress’ requires a good grievance redressal system
operating in a manner that leaves the citizen more satisfied with how the organization responds to
complaints/grievances, irrespective of the final decision.

3. The third component ‘Excellence in Service Delivery’, postulates that an organization can have an excellent
performance in service delivery only if it is efficiently managing the key ingredients for good service delivery and
building its own capacity to continuously improve service delivery.

Public Services Management Code: Enhancing Professionalism and Accountability

Public Service Management Codes are codes notified by the Central Government from time to time for the Public
Services and Public Servants. The Government shall prepare Public Services Management Code based on the
following principles:

Public Services is established as a professional, merit-based institution for promoting government policies and
good governance.

Mechanisms and incentives to achieve and maintain high levels of productivity, efficiency and excellence.

Policies and structures to promote the viability and sustainability of the public services keeping in view the
finances of the government.

The interface between the political executive and the public services based on the principles of neutrality,
professional excellence and integrity.

Public Servants shall be accountable for their decisions or the decision-making process in implementation of the
management of code.

UTILISATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS

Utilization of Public Funds: Importance of Financial Management

Finance is the lifeblood of socio-economic development. Financial management relates to the system, which
generates, regulates, and distributes monetary resources needed for the sustenance and growth of
organisations.

Financial management is an important component of public systems management. Financial management

assumes great significance for every government, as most of its activities have a financial bearing.

It is primarily related to the question as to how the limited resources can be utilised to the utmost and to achieve
the maximum of national objectives.
 In many developed countries, accountability is enhanced by independent work on public spending conducted by
civil society groups like NGOs, think tanks etc. In contrast, in developing countries there is no review mechanism
for public spending.

They are missing local capacity to review government expenditure. If credible domestic groups can be aided to
develop this capability, they can promote greater transparency and foster informed public pressure for more
effective and equitable public programs.

Sources of Public Funding: Diversification and Sustainability

Budgetary allocations

Raising money through the public through disinvestment, listing on stocks, Issuing bonds etc.

Loans from Multilateral institutions like world bank, IMF, ADB

Aid from foreign countries

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Importance of Effective Utilization of Public Funds: Promoting Sustainable Development and Societal Well-Being

Effective utilisation of public funds is very important in the functioning of a sustainable society.

To meet development goals like hunger, poverty, Education, Environmental conservation, health aspects etc.

Capacity building among unemployed youth

To achieve political, social and economic equality

To meet any unforeseen contingencies like floods, drought, pandemics etc

Ethical Considerations in Public Funding Utilization

Using public money for loss making PSUs or corporate bailouts

Corruption in utilising public funds

Where most of people suffering with hunger, poverty and malnutrition but govt coming up with new unnecessary
expenses and luxury hotels meetings

Public money for ruling party campaigns

Factors Contributing to Ineffective Utilization of Public Funds

Irrational freebies

Political rivalry in an act of vendetta

Policy paralysis

Redtapism

Lack of public participation

No citizen centric administration

Social apathy towards corruption

Lack of awareness and low education levels to understand govt financing

 Lack of social accounting and social audit

Consequences of Ineffective Utilization of Public Funds

Misutilisation – Without govt approval, using public assets for private gains, unnecessary expenditure, capturing
public assets by private people and failing to protect such captured assets.

Examples:

1. Purchasing furniture for the office whenever there is a transfer to you and occupying a new office.

2. Using govt money for personal trips with family.

Underutilisation – Procedural and institutional blockades in sanctioning funds, Poor cost-benefit ratio while
sanctioning projects, lack of funding to local bodies, delay in releasing funds, allocating funds to particular
scheme though it’s not necessary i.e. general allocation but there is no specific region-based funding.

Examples:

1. Central grants to local bodies transferred through the state finance ministry. There is delay in releasing funds to
local bodies though centre releasing funds

2. Certain diseases are prone to only north Indian states but central govt allocates funds to every state to prevent
such diseases

3. March rush – Ministries and departments try to spend allocated funds before the financial year without looking
at pros and cons.

Misappropriation – Diverting funds to binamis, trusts, societies and blocking projects to get implement
intentionally to get more funds

Examples: MPLADS funds diverts to trusts and societies named on binamis of MP

Enhancing Public Finance Management: Strategies for Transparency, Accountability, and Efficiency

Transparency – Ensure transparency in public expenditure through voluntary declaration of information. And
implementation of RTI act in letter & spirit.

Examples: Jan Soochana Portal of Rajasthan state – the government Information about all the schemes
implemented in the ward / panchayat should be provided in one place.

Accountability – Accountability of officials enhances answerability and enforceability.

Value for money – Every rupee spent by the government should aim at maximum social welfare.

Use of ICT – Usage of ICT in governance i.e., e-governance eases the governance process while awarding
contracts, delivery of services and optimum utilisation of resources.

Examples: Govt e-Marketplace (GeM)- It is a dedicated e market for different goods & services procured by
Government Organisations / Departments / PSUs. This meant transforming to a digital ecommerce portal for
procurement and selling of goods and services.
 Evaluation Mechanism – Without monitoring of usage of public finance led to divergent and corrupt practices. To
ensure effective usage of public funds there should be an auditory mechanism.

Examples:

1. Budgetary control by Parliamentary committees

2. CAG audit

3. Social audit

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Role of CAG in Financial Accountability and Governance

Exercise of financial control is one of the principal responsibilities of the legislature. Parliamentary financial
control on government spending is implemented in two stages:

1. Primarily at the time of policy making

2. Subsequently by controlling the implementation of the policy.

The initial parliamentary financial control is exercised through the Annual Budget Estimates of the Government
for the ensuing financial year, which is presented to the House for approval.

The second stage, controlling the implementation of policies’ is exercised by examining that the funds voted by
the Parliament Legislature have been utilised for the purpose and in the manner in which the Parliament
Legislature had desired. The control is exercised through the Financial Committees in Parliament and States
Legislatures. During the second stage, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) comes to the aid of
Parliament and State Legislatures.

Audit is the principal instrument to ensure the financial accountability of the Executive to the Legislature of the
Union and State. The Comptroller and Auditor General in India, has been made responsible by the Constitution
under article 148 to conduct the audit of the transactions of the Union and the States and Union Territories with
Legislature.

Duties and Powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)

Audits related to all expenditure from the Consolidated funds of India and states and contingency funds of India
and states.

Audits all trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets

Receipts and expenditure of centre and states

Audits all transactions related to debt, deposits, advances etc

Advises president in financial administration

Submits audit reports to president/governor who shall in return places such documents before the
parliament/legislature

Aid & Advice to Parliamentary committees.

Though it has powers to audit accounts of centre and states but it has no power to control public finance allocations.
It is purely Advisory and auditory role.
Social audit generally refers to engagement of the stakeholders in measuring the achievement of objectives under any
or all of the activities of a government organization, especially those pertaining to developmental goals.

Aim: The basic aim here is to have an understanding of an activity from the perspective of the vast majority of people
in society for whom the institutional/administrative system is designed and to improve upon it.

Various participation techniques are used to involve all stakeholders in measuring, understanding, reporting and
improving the social performance of an organization or activity. The whole process is intended as a means for social
engagement, transparency and communication of information, leading to greater accountability of decision makers,
representatives, managers and officials. It can be a continuous process covering all the stages of the target
activity/programme.

Social audit through client or beneficiary groups or civil society groups is yet another way of eliciting information on
and prevention of wrong doing in procurement of products and services for government, in the distribution of welfare
payments, in the checking of attendance of teachers and students in schools and hostels, staff in the hospitals and a
host of other similar citizen service-oriented activities of government. This will be a useful supplement to surprise
inspections on the part of the departmental supervisors.

Assessing the physical and financial gaps between needs and resources available for local development.

Creating awareness among beneficiaries and providers of local social and productive services.

Increasing efficacy and effectiveness of local development programmes.

Scrutiny of various policy decisions, keeping in view stakeholder interests and priorities, particularly of rural poor.

Estimation of the opportunity cost for stakeholders of not getting timely access to public services.

Trains the community on participatory local planning.

Encourages local democracy.

Encourages community participation.

Benefits disadvantaged groups.

Promotes collective decision making and sharing responsibilities.

Develops human resources and social capital

Corruption: Its Definition, Implications, and Challenges in Governance

Corruption is an important manifestation of the failure of ethics. The word ‘corrupt’ is derived from the Latin word
‘corruptus’, meaning ‘to break or destroy’.

Corruption is operationally defined as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain or the use of public office
for private gain. The corrupt behaviour would include bribery, fraud, stealing the public resources favouritism,
seizure of public assets for private use, etc.

Second ARC report on Ethics in Governance came up with a formula to define what is corruption in public life.

It is unfortunate that corruption has, for many, become a matter of habit, ranging from grand corruption involving
persons in high places to retail corruption touching the everyday life of common people.

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Factors Promoting Corruption: Perspectives from Public Demand and Government Supply
The factors or causes that promote corruption affect both the demand side that is public for corrupt acts as well as
supply side public officials of their corrupt acts.

THE FACTORS FROM DEMAND SIDE i.e. PUBLIC: FACTORS FROM SUPPLY SIDE i.e. GOVT.

Bureaucratic traditions
Regulations and Authorisations Level of public sector wages
Rigid Tax system Penalty provisions
Certain spending systems Institutional controls
Availability of goods and services Transparency in laws, rules
Examples set by Leadership

It is not possible to measure corruption but it is possible to measure perceptions of corruption.

The Various Types and Forms of Corruption

Any asymmetry between desired conduct and actual conduct led to corrupt practices. Some of the types and their
forms of corruption are:

1. Political Corruption: Bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influence peddling, graft, and
embezzlement etc

2. Bureaucratic Corruption: Discrimination, Partiality, Political affiliation, Bribery, nepotism, accepting private gifts,
misuse of public funds, violation of rules & regulations etc

3. Economic Corruption: Crony Capitalism, conflict of interest etc.

4. Behavioural corruption: Non-performance of duty, lack of discipline, no respect towards downtrodden sections of
society, no moral and ethical values etc.

Analyzing Corruption in South Asia: Insights from Transparency International’s Corruption Index

Corruption in South Asia occurs up-stream, not down-stream. Corruption at the top distorts fundamental
decisions about development priorities, policies and projects. In industrial countries, these core decisions are
taken through transparent competition and on merit, even though petty corruption may occur down-stream.

Most of the corrupt gains made in the South Asia region are immediately smuggled out to safe havens. In other
words, it is more likely that corruption money in South Asia is used to finance business than to fill foreign
accounts.

Third, corruption in South Asia often leads to promotion, not prison. In contrast, industrialised countries often
have a process of accountability where even top leaders are investigated and prosecuted. For instance, former
Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi was forced to live in exile in Tunisia to escape extradition on corruption
charges in Rome.

Fourth, corruption in South Asia occurs with 500 million people in poverty. While corruption in rich, rapidly
growing countries may be tolerable in developing countries. Combating corruption in the region is not just about
punishing corrupt politicians and bureaucrats but about saving human lives. There are two dimensions of
corruption.

Factors Contributing to High Corruption Levels in India

 Unfair and opaque political financing

Lack of effective management and organisation.

Lack of economic stability.

Lack of effective leadership.

Usually, corrupt practice creeps in when officials enjoy power and

authority but have lost their self-respect. The causes for loss of self-respect could be various, ranging from
insufficiency of legal remuneration to make both ends meet to constant harassment at the workplace by the
senior administrative or political bosses.

A young officer cannot retain his idealism for long if, over a period, he suffers adverse consequences in his
official career because of his honesty and integrity. The honest get demoralised by frequent transfers.

Undue influence and interference in decision-making

Lobbying by powerful corporate interest groups

Impact of Corruption in South Asian Countries

Poverty: Nepotism, bribery and fraud can cause economic stagnation and deepen poverty. These corrupt
practices siphon off money intended for public services, which often hits the poorest the hardest as they are
most in need of social safety nets.

Investments: Corrupt practices scare off investors who contribute to economic development and concentrate
wealth in the hands of a few.

Economic Growth: Corruption is on the rise in South Asia and failure to tackle it will threaten the region’s
economic progress, as well as efforts to share that progress equitably. Despite 6 per cent average economic
growth in the past 20 years, more than40% of the world’s poor live in South Asia.

Erosion of Public trust on Public offices: South Asia’s corruption epidemic is caused by opaque public
institutions, lack of protection for anti-corruption actors and widespread government interference in the work of
anti-corruption watchdogs.

Corruption is one of the main obstacles to peace, stability, sustainable development, democracy, and human
rights.

These are the findings of a Transparency International report analysing 70 key institutions’ vulnerability to corruption
in six south Asian countries – Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. As long as nobody brings
the corrupt to justice, South Asia’s leaders run the risk that future growth only benefits the powerful, doing nothing to
help the half billion South Asians who still live-in poverty.

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Strategies to Combat Corruption: Measures and Initiatives

Economic development: The most honest countries of the world are those which are richest. The least honest
countries are also the poorest.

Simplification of rules and procedure: Complicated rules promote corruption.

Severe punishment: Expedite the disciplinary proceedings in a time bound manner.

Transparency: One of the main instruments to check corruption in public life is to ensure greater openness in the
decision making process. Transparency in decision making will also eliminate delay. Delay is one of the reasons
 for payment of speed money.

Accountability: All services must be delivered within a time frame. Action against officers who fail to deliver
services in time.

Incentives: Financial rewards, out of turn promotions, performance linked pay for honest officers.

Public campaign: Awareness campaign to change the attitude of people towards corruption. Rewards to the
informers/public for giving information against corrupt officers.

Citizens feedback: Independent agency to take feedback from the citizens. Feedback through phone, email, SMS,
etc.

Proactive action: Laying traps, identification of illegal assets etc. needs to be done

Minimum tenure for officers: Reduces political-bureaucratic nexus.

Finally, sanction for prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 should not be with the Government
of the day as the political executive may be subject to political and other pressures.

Challenges and Approaches in Anti-Corruption Efforts in India

Anti-corruption interventions so far made are seen to be ineffectual and there is widespread public cynicism
about them. The interventions are seen as mere posturing without any real intention to bring the corrupt to book.

They are also seen as handy weapons for partisan, political use to harass opponents. Corruption is so deeply
entrenched in the system that most people regard corruption as inevitable and any effort to fight it as futile.

There are two, somewhat contrary, approaches in dealing with corruption and abuse of office.

1. Restoring ETHICS: The first approach is to overemphasis on values and character. Many people lament the
decline in values and the consequent rise in corruption. The implicit assumption is that until values are restored,
nothing much can be done to improve the conduct of human beings.

2. Punishing culprits: The second approach is based on the belief that most human beings are fundamentally
decent and socially conscious, but there is always a small proportion of people, which cannot reconcile individual
goals with the good of society. Such deviant people tend to pursue personal gain at the cost of public good and
the purpose of organized government is to punish such deviant behaviour. If good behaviour is consistently
rewarded and bad behaviour consistently punished, the bulk of the people follow the straight and narrow path.

Ethical Principles and Behavioral Guidelines for Fighting Corruption

Second, ARC is very much stressed about restoring ethical values and behavioural reforms should be undertaken
to improve public service quality and to fight corruption.

One of the most comprehensive statements of what constitutes ethical standards for holders of public office
came from the Committee on Standards in Public Life in the United Kingdom, popularly known as the Nolan
Committee, which outlined the following seven principles of public life. These principles of public life are of
general applicability in every democracy.

Arising out of such ethical principles a set of guidelines of public behaviour in the nature of a code of conduct
becomes essential for public functionaries. Indeed, any person who is privileged to guide the destiny of the
people must not only be ethical but must be seen to practice these ethical values.

1. Selflessness: Holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of public interest. Simply put, they
subserve public interest as against interest of the self.
 2. Integrity: Holders of public office must insulate themselves from external influence in matters concerning official
duties.

3. Objectivity: In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts or
recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices on merit. The
choices cannot be allowed to be made on any criteria other than merit. The requirement of recording reasons is
by itself a great safeguard that inhibits the decision maker from being subjective.

4. Accountability: Any public office is an office of trust. Therefore, a public figure exercising any state function is
accountable for all actions taken in performance of the functions of that office. It naturally flows from this that
every act of commission or omission has to yield to scrutiny, whether by way of internal or external audit
mechanism. Here audit means not just audit of accounts but cause and consequences of every state action.

5. Openness: There is no better disinfectant than sunlight. Transparency has to be the mantra of all official acts.
Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions they take. They should
give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands

6. Honesty: Those who are working in public service to be honest in dealing with private interests. It is essential that
holders of public office must be obliged to declare their private interests so that they can always be held
accountable in case there has been any conflict involving their public duties. This also means the assets and
liabilities of public functionaries must be a matter in the public domain. The mandatory declaration at the time of
entry in public office and periodically, thereafter, would only ensure the kind of probity we would like to be in
place.

7. Leadership: A true leader will always lead by own example. If a leader is honest, sincere and committed to the
task assigned to him, the vibes created percolate down the hierarchy cleansing the system that he controls.

Distinction Between Gift and Bribe in Public Service

Gift is given to someone without any expectation in return and is given as a token of gratitude or appreciation.
Value of a gift is often based on closeness in relation, time of gifting, economic condition of the giver and
receiver.

Bribe is given with expectation of favour toward giver, its economic value is incoherent to closeness in relation,
timing and costly. Timing of such gifts makes them bribe. Suppose a gift from someone just before you are
going to roll out a tender is a bribe and not a gift.

Reporting to the department about any gifts that are received from whom, value and date details. This part is
already applicable to judges in India.

There should be monetary limits placed on the gifts one can receive. Any gifts above certain monetary values
should be avoided.

No gifts received with brand name should be put on the desk as it will tarnish the image of an official/public
servant for being lenient toward a certain brand.

Provision of filing gift tax by receiver. The IT department should tally the gift received as mentioned in
department books and filed by the receiver. Failure to file tax for a gift should be taken seriously.

Scrutiny of gifts received by officials regularly and checking of property declaration regularly. Repeated gift from
same person should be brought under directorate enforcement

Bribes are a complex thing for the receiver because it puts him into a moral dilemma about how to return the
favour and makes them corrupt once they receive it.

Navigating Conflict of Interest in Public Service

A conflict of interest is a situation when there is a clash between a person’s public duty and private interests. Conflict
of interest comes under the principle of natural justice and is not codified.

This Can Arise In The Following Situations:

Person’s conscience does not allow him to act in a manner his organisation wants him to act. Ex: Shooting a
person in an encounter might be against the personal ethics of the officer.

Religious notions and customs might come against his professional course of action. Ex: A religious judge, who
opposes gay marriage, encounters a gay marriage case in a country where it is legalised.

Person’s selfish motives might supersede organisational goals. Ex: Son of a public servant working in an
organisation where govt. has majority stakes.

The malpractices of the organisation might not be acceptable to the employee. Ex: He might resort to
whistleblowing.

Critiques of Conflict of Interest Legislation: Challenges and Alternatives

While the intention is correct, framing a law is fraught with dangers. For criminal conduct, criminal intent must be
proved. This is however very difficult if not virtually impossible in such cases.

The legal provisions of conflict of interest are already codified in conduct rules of the many services. So, no need
to create another law.

What should be done instead is to codify the principles which need to be followed by officials in cases of conflict
of interest.

For example, Canada has laid down a conflict of interest and post-employment code while in the UK, MPs need to
declare pecuniary interests in a register of financial interest.

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Strategies for Managing Conflict of Interest in Public Service

Public interest above private interest: A public servant should always work in public interest. In situations
involving conflict of interest he should take a principled stand.

Voluntary disclosure: A public servant should voluntarily declare in situations involving conflict of interest. It will
help in taking suitable steps for avoiding the conflict. It is often done by judges to resolve conflict of interest.

File noting: Public servants should always mention the reason for taking a particular decision, in the files. This
ensures a greater degree of transparency and accountability.

Identifying risk-areas: It will help in providing clear cut guidelines to the public servants, in order to tackle conflict
of interest in those situations.

Developing organisational culture: It will help in addressing such situations in a better manner. It will also help in
motivating public servants to disclose the potential conflict of interest.

Asset and interest disclosure: Civil servants must report assets and liabilities when first appointed and provide
updates on transactions above a certain amount. These are not made public and so far have not been accessible
under the RTI Act. However, some states are working to make some information public. Disclosures are not
audited, but are open to scrutiny from the CBI and CVC.

Regulation of gifts: Officials shall be penalised for accepting gifts while discharging duty with imprisonment and
fines. The Rules prevent lavish or frequent hospitality from any individual or firm an officer has official dealings
 with.

Incompatibility provisions: Officers should not speculate in any stock, share or other investments, participate
directly or indirectly in business or trade, among other measures. Civil servants are barred from taking up
commercial employment for a year after retirement.

Political neutrality: No Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political
party or any organisation which takes part in politics nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any
other manner, any political movement or activity.

Comprehensive Political and Electoral Reforms

Participative democracy

Decriminalisation of politics

Reducing money power in elections – State funding of elections should be studied

Political parties should be brought under RTI

Institutional autonomy – Recently the Election commission of India was highly criticised for being partial to the
ruling govt. We should maintain autonomy for this institution

Elections are a huge economic burden on state exchequer. Therefore, simultaneous elections to both parliament
and state legislative assemblies should be studied.

Strengthening of Anti-defection law where power to decide on matters related to disqualification lies with the
election commission.

Amendment to Election and Other Related Laws Act (2003): A Step Towards Electoral Reform

Parliament in 2003 unanimously enacted the Election and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act in a spirit of
bipartisanship.

It took into consideration the recommendations of the Committee on Electoral Reforms (Dinesh Goswami
Committee, 1990), the Committee on State Funding of Elections (Indrajit Gupta Committee, 1999) and the Law
Commission of India (170th report on Reform of Electoral Laws, 1999).

The Act contains the following key provisions:

Full tax exemption to individuals and corporations on all contributions to political parties.

Effective repeal of Explanation I under Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act. Expenditure by third
parties and political parties now comes under ceiling limits, and only travel expenditure of leaders of parties is
exempt.

Disclosure of party finances and contributions over Rs.20,000.

Indirect public funding to candidates of recognized parties – including free supply of electoral rolls (already in
vogue), and such items as the Election Commission decides in consultation with the union government.

Equitable sharing of time by the recognized political parties on the cable television network and other electronic
media (public and private).

Second Administrative Reforms Commission’s Recommendations for Combating Political Corruption

A system for partial state funding should be introduced in order to reduce the scope of illegitimate and
unnecessary funding of expenditure for elections.
 The issue of disqualification of members on grounds of defection should be decided by the President/Governor
on the advice of the Election Commission.

Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 needs to be amended to disqualify all persons facing
charges related to grave and heinous offences and corruption, with the modification suggested by the Election
Commission.

The Constitution should be amended to ensure that if one or more parties in a coalition with a common
programme mandated by the electorate either explicitly before the elections or implicitly while forming the
government, realign midstream with one or more parties outside the coalition, then Members of that party or
parties shall have to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.

A collegium headed by the Prime Minister with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok
Sabha, the Law Minister and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha as members should make
recommendations for the consideration of the President for appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner
and the Election Commissioners.

Special Election Tribunals should be constituted at the regional level under Article 323B of the Constitution to
ensure speedy disposal of election petitions and disputes within a stipulated period of six months. Each Tribunal
should comprise a High Court Judge and a senior civil servant with at least 5 years of experience in the conduct
of elections (not below the rank of an Additional Secretary to Government of India/Principal Secretary of a State
Government). Its mandate should be to ensure that all election petitions are decided within a period of six
months as provided by law. The Tribunals should normally be set up for a term of one year only, extendable for a
period of 6 months in exceptional circumstances.

Appropriate legislation may be enacted under Article 102(e) of the Constitution spelling out the conditions for
disqualification of membership of Parliament in an exhaustive manner. Similarly, the States may also legislate
under Article 198 (e).

Controversy Surrounding Political Parties Under RTI Act

The PIL was filed in the Supreme Court arguing that political parties registered with Election Commission to be
brought under section 29A of Representation of People Act, 1951 to be declared as ‘public authority’ under the
RTI Act, 2005.

Six national parties – the BJP, the Congress, the BSP, the NCP, the CPI and the CPI(M) were brought under the
ambit of the RTI Act by a full bench of the Central Information Commission in 2013. (Trinamool Congress was
also recognised as the seventh national party in 2016). However, the political parties have refused to entertain
the RTI applications directed at them.

Several activists have approached the Supreme Court on the grounds of non-compliance of the CIC order and the
matter is pending.

ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR ARGUMENT AGAINST

Need to ensure Transparency in Funding Obstruct party functioning – Political parties

cannot disclose their internal functioning and
Sprouting and deepening crony capitalism in political
financial information under the Act as it will
discourse.
hamper their smooth functioning.
Black money – According to ADR, 34% of the
RTI can be a tool of misuse – RTI can become a
donations have been received with no address or any
weak spot and rivals with malicious intentions
other detail of the donor.
may take advantage of RTI.
Illicit foreign contributions – National parties have
Not ‘public authorities’ – Political parties are not
been accepting foreign contributions despite The
established or constituted by or under the
Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 1976.
Constitution or by any other law made by
 Parliament. Even the registration of a political
Political parties are vital organs of the State –
party under the 1951 Act was not the same as the
According to CIC, critical roles played by these political
establishment of a government body.
parties point towards their public character.
Transparency provisions for parties already exist
Political parties are public authorities – The CIC held
in the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Representation
that political parties enjoy various benefits directly or
of the People Act, 1951, which demand
indirectly like land for offices of political parties on
“necessary transparency regarding financial
concessional rates, allotment of free time on
aspects of political parties.
Doordarshan/All India Radio and supplying electoral
roll copies free of cost during elections. Information in public domain – Government holds
the view that required information about a
Larger Public Interest – The disclosure of the
political body is already in the public domain on
information is in larger public interest.
the website of the Election Commission.
The 170th report of the Law Commission of India on
Not envisaged in the RTI Act – According to the
reform of the electoral laws recommended introducing
Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)
internal democracy, financial transparency and
when the RTI Act was enacted, it was never
accountability in the working of the political parties.
visualised that political parties would be brought
within the ambit of the transparency law.

CONCLUSION – Considering the role played by the political parties in our democracy, it is important that their work be
transparent in such a manner that induces trust in the whole election process. Given the fact that existing laws have
not performed upto the mark in regulating the working of political parties, bringing them under the RTI with certain
safeguards seems to be a logical step.

Restoring Judicial Integrity for Ethical Governance

Independence of the judiciary is very much essential and vital in ethical governance. An independent judiciary
enjoying public confidence is a basic necessity of the rule of law. Any conduct on the part of a judge, which
demonstrates a lack of integrity and dignity, will undermine the trust reposed in the judiciary by the citizens.

Restatement of Values of Judicial Life: Code of Conduct for Judges

The Supreme Court of India in 1997 unanimously adopted a charter called the ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial Life’,
generally known as the Code of Conduct for judges. It contains following provisions

The behaviour and conduct of members of the higher judiciary must reaffirm the people’s faith in the impartiality
of the judiciary.

A Judge should not contest the election to any office of a club, society or other association. Further he shall not
hold such elective office except in a society or association connected with the law.

Close association with individual members of the Bar, particularly those who practise in the same court, shall be
eschewed.

A Judge should not permit any member of his immediate family, such as a spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law or
daughter-in-law or any other close relative, if a member of the Bar, to appear before him or even be associated in
any manner with a cause to be dealt with by him.

No member of his family, who is a member of the Bar, shall be permitted to use the residence in which the Judge
actually resides or other facilities for professional work.

A Judge shall not hear and decide a matter in which a member of his family, a close relation or a friend is
concerned.
 A Judge shall not enter into public debate or express his views in public on political matters or on matters that
are pending or are likely to arise for judicial determination.

A Judge is expected to let his judgments speak for themselves. He shall not give interviews to the media.

A Judge shall not accept gifts or hospitality except from his family, close relations and friends.

A Judge shall not hear and decide a matter in which a company in which he holds shares is concerned unless he
has disclosed his interest and no objection to his hearing and deciding the matter is raised.

A Judge shall not speculate in shares, stocks or the like.

A Judge should not engage directly or indirectly in trade or business, either by himself or in association with any
other person.

A Judge should not ask for, accept contributions or otherwise actively associate himself with the raising of any
fund for any purpose

A Judge should not seek any financial benefit in the form of a perquisite or privilege attached to his office unless
it is clearly available. Any doubt on this behalf must be resolved and clarified through the Chief Justice.

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SECOND ARC ON JUDICIAL REFORMS:

A National Judicial Council (NJC) should be constituted, in line with universally accepted principles where the
appointment of members of the judiciary should be by a collegium having representation of the executive, legislature
and judiciary.

The Council should have the following composition: The Vice-President as Chairperson, PM, Speaker of the Lok
Sabha, Chief Justice of India, Law Minister, The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha.

In matters relating to the appointment and oversight of High Court Judges, the Council will also include the
following members: The Chief Minister of the concerned State and the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court

The National Judicial Council should be authorized to lay down the Code of Conduct for judges, including the
subordinate judiciary.

The National Judicial Council should be entrusted with the task of recommending appointments of Supreme
Court and High Court Judges. It should also be entrusted with the task of oversight of the judges, and should be
empowered to inquire into alleged misconduct and impose minor penalties. It can also recommend removal of a
judge if so warranted

Based on the recommendations of the NJC, the President should have the powers to remove a Supreme Court or
High Court Judge

Article 124 of the Constitution may be amended to provide for the National Judicial Council. A similar change will
have to be made in Article 217. Also, since the Council is to have the authority to oversee and discipline judges,
further changes will need to be made to Article 217 (Clause 4)

A Judge of the Supreme Court should be designated as the Judicial Values Commissioner. He/she should be
assigned the task of enforcing the code of conduct. Similar arrangements should also be made in the High
Court.

The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill 2010

This bill was introduced in parliament to bring judicial integrity among the judges.
 The Bill seeks to:

1. Lay down judicial standards

2. Provide for the accountability of judges

3. Establish mechanisms for investigating individual complaints for misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge of the
Supreme Court or High Courts.

It also provides a mechanism for the removal of judges.

The Bill requires judges to practise universally accepted values of judicial life.

Judges will also be required to declare their assets and liabilities, and also that of their spouse and children.

The Bill establishes two authorities to investigate complaints against judges. The Two authorities are:

1. National Judicial Oversight Committee – Initial complaints will be made to the Oversight Committee, and they
will be referred to the Scrutiny Panel

2. Scrutiny Panel – A Scrutiny Panel will be constituted in the Supreme Court and every High Court. If the Scrutiny
Panel feels there are sufficient grounds for proceeding against the judge, it shall report on its findings to the
Oversight Committee. If proved, motion for removal of judge introduced in Parliament after investigation.

Supreme Court’s Recent RTI Judgements: Transparency and Governance

In the Central public information officer, Supreme Court of India vs Subhash Chandra Agarwal case a five-judge
Constitution Bench of Supreme Court (SC) declared that the Office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a ‘public
authority’ under Section 2(h) of RTI Act, 2005.

INFORMATION CAN BE DISCLOSED INFORMATION CANNOT BE DISCLOSED

Reasons cited by collegium for

Information about personal assets of judges and CJI is not a
recommendation of judges
violation of their right to privacy.
Information protected under Section 8 of
Names of judges recommended by the Collegium.
RTI Act

Legal Framework for Combating Corruption: The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988

The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988:

Definition of Corruption: The act does not provide a definition of corruption so the act should be amended to
define what is corruption and what acts do come under corrupt acts. Indirect definition of corrupt practices is
paradoxically restrictive and detrimental to public interest.

Collusive Bribery: Need to be dealt with by effective legal measures so that both the bribe giver and bribe taker do
not escape punishment.

Sanction for prosecution – Act provides that previous sanction of the competent authority is necessary before a
court takes cognizance of the offences defined under various sections of the act. The objective of this provision
is to prevent harassment to honest servants through malicious complaints.
 Public servants should be made liable to pay damage for causing loss to the state or citizens by their corrupt
acts. But Adequate safeguards should be provided so that bonafide mistakes should not end in award of such
damages, otherwise public servants would be discouraged from taking decisions.

Speeding up trails under the act and fixing a time limit for various stages of trail.

Private sector corruption should be addressed by effective enforcement of regulations on corporate governance.
Bringing private sector corruption within the fold of PCA,1988 is neither desirable nor practical.

The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 & Amendment act 2016:

A benami who acquired the property in the name of another person from claiming it as his own. Assets of any kind —
movable, immovable, tangible, intangible, any right or interest, or legal documents are considered as benami
transactions. As such, even gold or financial securities could qualify to be benami.

The new law amends the Benami Transactions Act, 1988

The law provides for up to seven years’ imprisonment and fine for those indulging in
such transactions.
The amendments aim to strengthen the Act in terms of legal and administrative
Provisions of the new procedure.
act:
As per the Act, properties held benami are liable for confiscation by the government,
without payment of compensation.
An appellate mechanism has been provided under the act, in the form of an adjudicating
authority and appellate tribunal.

Protection for Whistleblowers: The Whistle-blower Protection Act

The Whistle-blower Protection Act, which was passed in 2014 after an inordinate delay, lays down the rules that
protect whistleblowers in non-corporate cases. Under this Act, the Central Vigilance Commissioner has to receive
complaints, review public disclosure requests and ensure that the complainants are protected. The Act stipulates
imprisonment of up to two years and fine of up to ₹30,000 if the complaint is false. The government has proposed a
few amendments to these rules still under parliament scrutiny. Whistle- blower may himself seek transfer in case he
apprehends any victimisation in the current position. Govt yet to set a mechanism to implement the act.

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Establishment of a Serious Frauds Office (SFO) and Strengthening Oversight Mechanisms

Economic offenses became high gain low risk activity. Second ARC felt that provisions in the Banking regulations act,
1949, SEBI act 1992 and companies act 1956 are not strong enough to prevent large scale fraudulent practices so
there is need to define “Serious economic offence” Under a statue and prescribe punishment for it.

A Serious Frauds Office (SFO) should be set up (under the new law), to investigate and prosecute such offences.
It should be attached to the Cabinet Secretariat. This office shall have powers to investigate and prosecute all
such cases in Special Courts constituted for this purpose. The SFO should be staffed by experts from diverse
disciplines such as the financial sector, capital and futures market, commodity markets, accountancy, direct and
indirect taxation, forensic audit, investigation, criminal and company law and information technology. The SFO
 should have all powers of investigation as stated in the recommendation of the Mitra Committee. The existing
SFIO should be subsumed in this.

A Serious Frauds Monitoring Committee (SFMC) should be constituted to oversee the investigation and
prosecution of such offences. This Committee, to be headed by the Cabinet Secretary, should have the Chief
Vigilance Commissioner, Home Secretary, Finance Secretary, Secretary Banking/ Financial Sector, a Deputy
Governor RBI, Secretary, Department of Company Affairs, Law Secretary, Chairman SEBI etc as members.

In case of involvement of any public functionary in a serious fraud, the SFO shall send a report to the Rashtriya
Lokayukta and shall follow the directions given by the Rashtriya Lokayukta

In all cases of serious frauds, the Court shall presume the existence of mens rea of the accused, and the burden
of proof regarding its non-existence, shall lie on the accused.

Parliamentary Privileges

NCRWC recommended Article 105(2) may be amended to clarify that the immunity enjoyed by the MPs under
parliamentary privileges should not cover corrupt acts committed by them in connection with duties in the House or
otherwise.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

Establishment and Role of Lokpal in India

First ARC recommended the establishment of Lokpal. After several attempts in introducing the bill, it became an
act only in 2013.

The Lokpal is the first institution of its kind in independent India, established under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas
Act 2013 to inquire and investigate allegations of corruption against public functionaries who fall within the
scope and ambit of the above Act.

The Lokpal of India is committed to address concerns and aspirations of the citizens of India for clean
governance. It shall make all efforts within its jurisdiction to serve the public interest and shall endeavor to use
the powers vested in it to eradicate corruption in public life.

India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The commitment of the Government to
provide clean and responsive governance is reflected in passing of the legislation and creation of the body of
Lokpal, to contain and punish acts of corruption.

Role and Functions of the Central Vigilance Commission

Central Vigilance Commission the principal agency for preventing corruption in the central govt. It was set up by the
recommendations of the Santhanam committee. It is the only designated agency to take action against complaints
making motivated or vexatious complaints.

Role and functions of CVC: Even though detection and punishment of corruption and other malpractices are certainly
important, what is more important is taking preventive measures instead of hunting for the guilty in the post
corruption stage. Therefore, the role and functions of CVOs has been broadly divided into two parts, which are (I)
Preventive and (II) Punitive.

1. On The Preventive Side:

To examine in detail the existing Rules and procedures of the Organisation with a view to eliminate or minimise
the scope for corruption or malpractices
 To identify the sensitive/corruption prone spots in the Organisation and keep an eye on personnel posted in such
areas

To plan and enforce surprise inspections and regular inspections to detect the system failures and existence of
corruption or malpractices

To maintain proper surveillance on officers of doubtful integrity

To ensure prompt observance of Conduct Rules relating to integrity of the Officers, like the Annual Property
Returns, Gifts accepted by the officials, Benami transactions, regarding relatives employed in private business
etc.

2. On the punitive side:

To ensure speedy processing of vigilance cases at all stages.

To ensure that the charge-sheet, statement of imputations, lists of witnesses and documents etc.

To ensure that there is no delay in the appointment of the Inquiring Officer, and that no dilatory tactics are
adopted by the accused officer or the Presenting Officer

To ensure that the processing of the Inquiry Officer’s Reports for final orders of the Disciplinary Authority is done
properly and quickly

To scrutinise final orders passed by the Disciplinary Authorities subordinate to the Ministry/Department, with a
view to see whether a case for review is made out or not;

To see that proper assistance is given to the C.B.I. in the investigation of cases entrusted to them or started by
them on their own source of information;

To take proper and adequate action with regard to writ petitions filed by accused officers;

To ensure that the Central Vigilance Commission is consulted at all stages where it is to be consulted and that as
far as possible, the time limits prescribed in the Vigilance Manual for various stages are adhered to

To ensure prompt submission of returns to the Commission

To review from time to time the existing arrangements for vigilance work in the Ministry/Department for vigilance
work subordinate officers to see if they are adequate to ensure expeditious and effective disposal of vigilance
work

To ensure that the competent disciplinary authorities do not adopt a dilatory or law attitude in processing
vigilance cases, thus knowingly otherwise helping the subject public servants, particularly in cases of officers
due to retire

To ensure that cases against the public servants on the verge of retirement do not lapse due to time-limit for
reasons such as misplacement of files etc. and that the orders passed in the cases of retiring officers are
implemented in time

To ensure that the period from the date of serving a charge-sheet in a disciplinary case to the submission of the
report of the Inquiry Officer, should, ordinarily, not exceed six months.

Strengthening Investigation And Prosecution:

Prosecution is a weak link in the chain of anti-corruption law enforcement and there are instances where prosecutors
have facilitated the discharge of a delinquent officer. It would be desirable that the lokayuktas/State Vigilance
commissions are empowered to supervise the prosecution of corruption related cases.
 Citizens’ Initiatives – Citizen charter, school awareness programmes, assessment and maintenance of ethics in
public offices very effective in bringing about attitudinal changes in society.

False claims act – Existing provisions in the IPC are not adequate to enable interested citizens and civil society
groups to approach courts for recovery of proceeds of corruption and provide share of proceeds. There is need
for legislation on the lines of the US false claims act, which will make it possible to seek legal relief for the
recovery of the proceeds of the corruption cases. Such law would help in curbing corruption where the fraud has
been committed in collusion with a public servant. But more importantly, such a law would help in building a
culture of fair play in private and public organisations.

Role of Media – Free media crucial role in the prevention, monitoring and control of corruption

Social audit – Should be made operational guidelines of all schemes.

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Systemic Reforms to Combat Corruption

Promoting competition – Element of competition in the provision of public services is thus very useful to curb
corruption. However, deregulating one area may increase corruption elsewhere. Therefore, regulating
mechanisms to ensure performance as per prescribed standards so that public interest is protected.

Simplifying transactions – Most of the procedures dealing with permissions, licenses and registrations. A single
window clearance of all requirements or one-stop service centres is a step which can cut down corruption as it
simplifies procedures and reduces layers.

Use of ICT – There are successful stories of e-governance like railway ticket booking. Therefore, lack of good
infrastructure and inadequate capability of the personnel have proved to be major bottlenecks in the spread of e-
governance. They should be reskilled and familiarize the relevant processes.

Integrity Pacts (By Transparency International) – It is an agreement between the public agency involved in
procuring goods and services and the bidder for a public contract to the effect that bidders have not paid and
shall not pay any illegal gratifications to secure the contract in question. This pact involves oversights and
scrutiny by independent, outside observers. It will help in promoting transparency and creating confidence in the
public.

Reducing discretion – There are a large number of activities where discretion can be totally eliminated. All such
activities could be automated and supported by IT.

Ensuring Accessibility and Responsiveness – Concentration of tasks within a few hands should be avoided as
they are prone to corrupt activities. As far as possible, they are broken down into different officers and Public
interaction should be limited to the head of office or some designated officers. This can be supported by a single
window front office for providing information.

Monitoring complaints – We have a complaint monitoring system but that system rarely does its job. Setting up
deadlines to solve such complaints and end results should be achieved within a time frame.

Intelligence gathering – A supervisory officer should gather the intelligence and assess the integrity of his/her
subordinates based on his/her handling of cases, complaints and feedback from different sources.

Vigilance network – There are a large number of disciplinary and criminal cases relating to corruption pending
with various authorities. It would be desirable to create a national database of such cases, which should be in the
public domain. CVC may take the lead in establishing such a networked database.

Audit – Along with CAG and AG audits, forensic audits should be conducted to monitor irregularities.

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

Theme Question Year

Concept of public What do you understand about the term ‘public servant’? Reflect on the expected
2019
service role of a public servant.

Philosophical basis
of
What do you understand about probability in governance? Based on your
2019
understanding of the term, suggest measures for ensuring probity in government.
governance and
probity

Challenges of “Non-performance of duty by a public servant is a form of corruption”. Do you agree

2019
corruption with this view? Justify your answer.

Information Sharing
and transparency in There is a view that the Official Secrets Act is an obstacle to the implementation of
2019
government, Right to the Right to Information Act. Do you agree with this view? Discuss.
Information.

Explain the basic principles of the citizens charter movement and bring out its
Citizen’s Charters 2019
importance.

Codes of Ethics,
Distinguish between “Code of ethics” and “Code of conduct” with suitable examples. 2018
Codes of Conduct

Challenges of What is meant by conflict of interest? Illustrate with examples, the difference
2018
corruption between the actual and potential conflicts of interest.

Information Sharing
and transparency in “The Right to Information Act is not all about citizens’ empowerment alone, it
2018
government, Right to essentially redefines the concept of accountability. Discuss.
Information

Conflict of interest in the public sector arises when (a) official duties, (b) public
Challenges of
interest, and (c) personal interest are taking priority one above the other. How can 2017
corruption
this conflict in administration be resolved? Describe with an example.

Discipline generally implies following the order and subordination. However, it may
Work culture 2017
be counter-productive for the organisation. Discuss.

Corporate social responsibility makes companies more profitable and sustainable.

Citizen’s Charters 2017
Analyse.

Codes of Ethics, Discuss the Public Services Code as recommended by the 2nd Administrative
2016
Codes of Conduct Reforms Commission.

Some recent developments such as introduction of RTI Act, media and judicial
activism, etc., are proving helpful in bringing about greater transparency and
Information Sharing
accountability in the functioning of the government. However, it is also being
and transparency in
observed that at times the mechanisms are misused. Another negative effect is that 2015
government, Right to
the officers are now afraid to make prompt decisions. Analyze this situation in detail
Information
and suggest how this dichotomy can be resolved. Suggest how these negative
impacts can be minimized.

Today we find that in spite of various measures like prescribing codes of conduct,
Information Sharing
setting up vigilance cells/commissions, RTI, active media and strengthening of legal
and transparency in
mechanisms, corrupt practices are not coming under control. A) Evaluate the 2015
government, Right to
effectiveness of these measures with justifications. B) Suggest more effective
Information
strategies to tackle this menace.
 Public servants are likely to confront the issues of ‘Conflict of Interest’. What do you
Challenges of understand by the term ‘Conflict of Interest’ and how does it manifest in the decision
2015
corruption making by public servants? If faced with the conflict of interest situation, how would
you resolve it? Explain with the help of examples.

Philosophical basis
What do you understand about ‘probity’ in public life? What are the difficulties in
of governance and 2014
practicing it in the present times? How can these difficulties be overcome?
probity

It is often said that poverty leads to corruption. However, there is no dearth of

Challenges of instances where affluent and powerful people indulge in corruption in a big way.
2014
corruption What are the basic causes of corruption among people? Support your answer with
examples.