INSIGHTSIAS MAINS TEST SERIES - 2020

IPM 18 / YL 2018: GS – 4: Synopsis

SECTION-A

1. Differentiate between the following: a. Probity and integrity Integrity is defined as the moral uprightness and firm adherence to the morals and values we subscribe for.

Probity is an indication of incorruptibility and ethical behavior that involves honesty, propriety, integrity and decency underpinned by higher standards of professionalism.

Both terms are not only used together but are even interchanged. But the use of the two words will entirely change the meaning of what is being said.

Integrity is the voluntary adherence to morals and ethical values, it means the rock soild capacity to not give up our standards at any cost. Hence it is voluntary. Probity is not voluntary, it is enforced. There exists a mechanism which ensures probity and ethical behavior under such condition is called probity.

Integrity is related to personal sphere of the life whereas probity is about professional sphere of life. Eg. An honest civil servant might practice probity in public life but might not be so in personal life. Like engaging in adultery

Integrity is perceived by ourselves whereas probity is perceived by others. Probity is monitored, integrity is self-assessed and mostly not assessed at all. Integrity is realized in public services by recruiting right people eg. Integrity tests, whereas probity needs enforceable mechanisms like: Code of ethics, Code of conduct, Annual Review, Social audit, etc.,

No code is of utility if the heart is impure, it is hard to achieve probity in a person without integrity. Hence, probity has limited capacity to be realized in comparison with integrity.

b. Good governance and ethical governance Governance is the manner in which power is used by the government in management of public affairs.

Good governance is a concept that emerged from an understanding that presence of government by itself will not promote common good rather the manner of using power by gornment should be proper, reasonable, shortly good. A governance is considerd to be good if it is, 1. Accountable 2. Transparent 3. Responsive 4. Evidence based 5. Bound by rule of law, etc., Good governance is a concept given by World Bank to ensure governance is inclusive and democratic.

Ethical governance is a related term but it is more sophisticated than good governance. In ethical governance, the power-holders are expected to be ethical and the intentions of governance is expected to be ethical. The way of governance is to be guided by a code of ethics, not just code of conduct. Simply ethical governance denotes the administrative procedures and rules, that are based on principles of righteousness. Some cases of ethical governance are: a. Governance by Dhamma by King Ashoka b. Buddhist doctrine of involving Sangha in governance for bringing ethics into politics c. Gandhiji’s idea of spiritualization of politics

Some instances where in independent India we saw ethical governance include: a. Tenure of T N Seshan as Election Commissioner—Honest is my best policy he claimed, b. Recently DM of Gopalganj district ate the Mid Day Meal cooked by a dalit cook when the village upper caste parents disallowed their children from consuming food cooked by Dalits. Thus ethical governance aims at righteousness and good governance aims at welfare. The difference is wider. Also, while good governance can be seen to put into life often, ethical governance largely remains as a benchmark, a utopia! c. Code of ethics and code of conduct

Code of Ethics is a document issued by the top-level management, which consist of a set of principles, designed to guide the members of the organisation to carry out business honestly and with integrity. It describes the core values of the organisation that guides the decision-making. It provides ethical standards which are to be followed by the members. It sets out general guidelines to assist individuals to apply their judgment, concerning a suitable behaviour in a given situation.

Ex: Code of Ethics for Judges in Public Life (1999) of India

Code of Conduct is a document that expresses the practices and behaviour of a person, required or restricted as a condition for becoming a member of the organisation or profession. The code sets out the actual rules, so it lays down the do’s and doesn’t s of an employee. The members are responsible for its adherence and held accountable for its violation.

Ex: All India Services (Conduct) Rules 1968.

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a. Code of Ethics is an aspirational document, issued by the board of directors containing core ethical values, principles and ideals of the organisation. Code of Conduct is a directional document containing specific practices and behaviour that are followed or restricted under the organization. b. Code of Ethics is general is general in nature, whereas code of conduct is specific c. Code of Conduct are originated from the code of ethics, and it converts the rules into specific guidelines, that must be followed by the members of the organisation d. Lengthwise, code of ethics is a shorter document than a code of conduct e. Code of Ethics regulates the judgment of the organisation while a code of conduct regulates the actions f. Code of Ethics is publicly available, i.e. anyone can access it. Conversely, Code of Conduct is addressed to employees only g. Code of Ethics focuses on values or principles. On the other hand, Code of Conduct is focused on compliance and rules. Understanding the nuanced differences between the two is crucial because many organisations have adopved code of conduct alone on the assumption that it would serve purpose of code of ethics also. For instance, while India has code of conduct for civil servants, there is no code of ethics for them.

2. What are the manners in which public values and organizational values can come into conflict in a private organization? Examine.

A private organization can be a for profit or not-for-profit organization but essentially non- governmental. However, every entity of a society from an individual to a larger corporate group there are ethical norms of conduct that wants the organization to not only follow its own organizational values, but also the public values.

Organizational values are those mentioned in the vision and mission statement of a company eg. Business leader or customer-friendliness, etc. public values are the values that are central to the social interests eg. Sustainable development.

But in many ways the two domains can come into conflict. A successful organization should uphold public values apart from its own values because the ultimate performance, its relation with society and state are finally determined by a combination of both. Some companies like TATA have adopted even the public values as organizational values.

The different manner in which conflict could happen includes: 1. LEGALITY—the most instances in which a private organisation violates public value is by violating the laws. It may include violating tax laws, corporate laws, Essential Commodities Act, etc., For own profit motive a company can violate law. 2. ENVIRONMNTAL ETHICS—may be jeopardized for commercial interests eg. softdrinks companies exploiting ground water 3. MERIT vs SOCIAL JUSTICE—in private organisations, efficiency is given priority and so expertise of the employee becomes primary. Thus, there could be very low representation of SCs, Sts, women, etc.

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4. BRAND IMAGE VS PUBLIC INTEREST—to improve the brand image companies can go for advertisements that are against public interest eg. fake promises on hair growth in shampoo ads, fake claims of natural ingredients being used in a chemical product, etc., 5. COMPETITION—for purpose of competition a company can go for monopoly and that would impact the survival of entire field. Eg. Predatory pricing of JiO and its harmful effects on telecom industry

Thus the main conflict areas are: a. Natural resource degradation b. Corruption c. Social justice d. Rule of law e. Consumer interests. It is necessary that public values are not given secondary importance in private organisation. Each such organisation should have a talisman in its policy and should not commit any of the seven sins enunciated by Gandhiji.

3. Who are minority shareholders in corporate sector? What principles should be followed to uphold their interests? Explain.

A minority shareholder is one whose share value is miniscule of the overall share value of the company and it would be considered negligible in comparison with bulk of shares held by select few like angel investors or promoters or anchor investors.

A minority shareholder is a person in a company who does not enjoy much power in the management of the company and their interests are disregarded. For these reasons corporate governance standards are evolved to specially meet their needs.

PRINCIPLES TO BE FOLLOWED: A. Representation—Section 151 of the new Companies Act 2013 mandates, there should be a director elected purely by small shareholders who will represent them in BoD.

B. Participatory decision making, involving minority shareholders in decision making of the corporate: - Democratic—while in day to day administration large shareholders take decisions, in crucial decisions minority shareholders should be involved. Eg. Section 395 of 2013 Act mandates their involvement in transfer of the ownership of company - The tool of e-Voting can also be used to enable their participation - Consultative decisions by consulting consortium of minority shareholders C. Accountability—independent directors needs to be appointed who ensure the large shareholders and directors are held responsible which is not possible for minority holders by themselves D. Transparency—in decision making and conducting the affairs of the organisation. Information sharing to minority holders and also a culture of uploading minutes of meeting of BoD

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E. Relief and rehabilitation—Section 397 and 398 of the companies Act has made a provision wherein any minority shareholder can contact the board, register its grievance and get it redressed. Above are the principles to be focused to preserve the interests of minority shareholders. It could be understood that focus on minorities is a new governance norm in corporate realm. While Companies Act 1956 has given negligible importance to minority shareholders, 2013 Act has given them central importance.

4. Suppose for a natural gas mining project large swathes of farm lands in river delta needs to be acquired by the government, what rational policy it should adopt to deal with social and economic effects in the region? Discuss.

Public policy is a core realm of public administration which should be founded on the administrative ethics. Development projects in modern times are not giving unilinear benefits, rather if one group is benefited another group is suffering.

For this reason, the policy should forecast the effects by conducting: a. Economic Impact Assessment b. Social Impact Assessment c. Environmental Impact Assessment, needs to be done. In this context a river delta area where farming is largely practiced if acquired and exploited for natural gas exploration and extraction, basically it can create following effects:

Effects: a. Unemployment due to loss of livelihood b. Displacement of farmers and other sections c. Hunger among farmers or the overall region when food supply is disturbed d. Land pollution due to leakage of gas into land dueirng exploration e. Inflation caused by shortage of farm goods and also labours f. Green cover loss due to mining g. Disaster proneness if vegetation like mangroves or causirina in delta areas are lost h. Soil salination due to seepage of sea water easily into delta soil after mining.

POLICY ELEMENTS: the above issues should be tackled by,

a. Relocation of farmers and other displaced people as per provisions of Land Acquisition Act and by giving due compensation b. Alternative employment to compensate for the livelihood loss eg. employing in mining project c. Skill development so that those who exit farming could find sustainable jobs elsewhere d. Food supplies to the region to meet the disruption of supply chain e. Confidence-building among the affected people so that trust deficit is avoided and unnecessary civil unrest is averted f. Disaster proofing to ensure the erstwhile protections to the area from disaster continues g. Pollution abatement of land, soil and water e.g. desalination plants.

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In this manner the socio-economic impacts in the region could be avoided. Most crucial are relocation and rehabilitation. Such a policy would mean the State is committed to good governance. Such governance is the truly SMART governance—speedy, moral, accountable, responsive and transparent.

5. “To ensure only persons of higher integrity, probity and aptitude are inducted into Civil Services, those who are graduated from a dedicated National Institute of Public Administration meant to mould future civil servants are to be preferred in UPSC recruitment.”—NITI Aayog Three Year Action Agenda. Discuss this proposal.

Reforms in civil services is a continuous process. Reforms at stage of recruitment is considered to have multiplier effect for it decides the performance in all the forthcoming stages and helps to filter the weeds out. Traditionally any person who is qualified in a graduation course is eligible to appear for civil services. Civil Services is considered to be a generalist service and the syllabus of examination is considered to provide the adequate intellect for serving in government.

But with time there have been repeated focus on the fact that theoretical and practical experience in public administration as a discipline needs to be promoted.

Repeatedly, Y K Alagh Committee, Hota Committee, 2nd ARC and NIti Aayog have proposed the same.

Two broad reasons for this are: A. Y K Alagh committee has held that, theoretical knowledge in public administration like— - Law - Public policy - Development and financial administration - Management - Governance and Constitution Needs exemplary focus and by opening an institution to dedicatedly teach them tailored for the purpose of Civil Services has been recommended. B. Hota Committee and 2nd ARC have felt that, practical knowledge and a value system needs to be built for recruiting people of not only higher intellect but also integrity and other civil services values.

The 10th report of Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) titled “Refurbishing of Public Administration” (2008) recommended setting up of National Institutes of Public Administration to run bachelor courses on public administration, management and governance and similarly it suggested that the universities could be assisted to run similar courses to provide a pool of students who could take the civil services exam.

This is indeed beneficial given the fact that: a. Legal and governance system is getting complicated eg. New tools like social audit b. There is rise in criminalization of politics and building a value system is necessary to guard the civil servants

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c. Morale of civil servants is low eg. Resignation of officers d. Politicization of officers eg. Entry of former officer Shah Faesal into politics e. Increasing trust deficit between civil servants and public especially with the police force f. Inefficiency is also in rise eg. Many officers were sent on forced retirement, etc., However, a. The expertise brought by people from diverse background could be missed eg. a B. tech holder can do well in heavy industries b. Excess focus on public administration c. The feasibility of inculcating values under a university set up is debated d. The pressure on Indian students from parents to pursue STEM education—science, maths, etc. As a way out NITI Aayog suggests Bridge course to those who are coming from other fields. This is a radical reform. It needs to be subjected to intense debate. Given the fact that the success rate in the exam is 0.001% and less, it may not look viable to dedicatedly have a graduation course for this examination alone.

6. Analyse the different ways in which Right to Information (RTI) is being misused by citizens in India.

Right to Information Act 2005 is passed in India after a social movement by people to improve transparency in governance. At the passage of this act there were speculations about authorities using the loopholes in the Act to evade the law. However, what is surprising is the misuse of law by people themselves. A noble low is put into mockery by some miscreants. The ways in which the law is misused includes: a. Extortion— Many information seekers would find officers who have done a corrupt practice and demand information that could not be shared by them. If shared the officers will be caught. In such case, the applicants seek a monetary sum from the authorities to withdraw the RTI application. This has developed into a racket now. A sting operation by The Hindu has found that amount ranging from Rs. 5000 to over a lakh is demanded from such officers and this has occurred in almost all the states.

b. Frivolous and irresponsible questions Another way in which the lw is misused includes applying for unacceptable, demeaning and meaningless information. It ranges as follows: 1. How many pan is chewed by officers of Delhi per day? 2. One 47 year old man asked Information Commission how many unmarred women are there in government whom he can look for an alliance 3. A girl from UP has written to External Affairs Minsitry and asked whether the ladoos she sent to George Bush has reached him or not

c. Not in public interest Some of the information sought are blatantly against pubic interest and some are obviously secrets that could not be shared,

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1. Some have sought information about where we have deployed our nuclear weapons which is not known exactly to many in higher levels of Army also 2. A student from Aligarh Muslim University sought information about the place where question papers are printed for the university exams.

d. Many appeals 2011 Annual Report of SICs has revealed that in 12% of cases appeal is taken despite the information is being disclosed. This is done to simply threaten the officer or for mere fun, the reports stated.

e. Publicity There are now activists for RTI but sadly some publicists too. In recent annual report by Delhi Information Commission it was held that some activists file as much as 100 RTIs per week many among them are frivolous and this is done just in search of limelight.

f. Impersonation Some have applied controversial RTIs in name of famous RTI activists like Prasanth Bhushan. This happens because no identity proof is required to apply RTI

Thus RTI is not only widely used, it is also being increasingly misused. RTI related NGOs like RaaG have however said that the misuse is highly negligible and government should not make it a serious issue, while CICs repeatedly have asked for amendments to prevent misuse eg. Demanding identity proof of applicant.

7. What is the thin line of difference between Citizen’s Charter model and Sevottam model of public service delivery recommended by 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission? Explain.

Abraham Lincoln once famously said the success of a nation is to be seen in the way public services are provisioned by it and how well it is perceived by the common man.

In democracies, repeated attempts are being made to improve the service delivery to the public. One such movement has begun in UK year’s age that is called citizen charter movement.

Citizen’s charter is a declaration in which standards of services and stakeholders who give the services are guaranteed and publicly disclosed so that such services can be expected by the people.

This is expected to increase transparency and induce accountability in the system. Such charters are adopted in India from around 2000s across different departments and states. 2nd ARC’s analysis has found them to be not working on intended lines. Also, 2nd ARC has proposed different model called Sevottam model.

The word "Sevottam" is a combination of two Hindi words: Seva (Service) and Uttam (Excellent). It means “Service Excellence”, emphasizing the idea of “Service”. It symbolizes the

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change in mindset within the Government, from administration and control to service and enablement.

There are seven basic steps for implementation of Sevottam. These are as under:  Define your services and identify your clients  Set standards and norms for each service  Develop capability to meet the set standards  Perform to achieve the standards  Monitor performance against the set standards  Evaluate impact through an independent mechanism  Continuous improvement based on monitoring and evaluation While sevottam model also includes citizen charter, it is steps ahead of the latter. In citizen charter model there only specification of standards. But sevottam model goes two notches forward inf following sense: a. Monitoring—there is a voluntary monitoring of services by comparing the actual levels with the levels mentioned in citizen charter b. Excellence—there is a commitment to continuously improve the services to reach the best levels of service delivery. Hence, sevottam gives a completion to the citizen charter model. It not just demands transparency, it also brings a in-built accountability mechanism and it also aims at responsiveness of the system. In this manner, sevottam is finely different and superior to citizen charter movement.

8. Discuss Machiavelli’s thoughts on ethics in international politics. Machiavelli is a political philosopher and his core contribution has been to what extent ethics could be followed in governance of a nation and international politics. In this debate there are two conflicting schools—idealists and realists.

Idealists claim that in international politics, ethics is not only important but also feasible to be followed. However the realist school claims that utility of ethics in international relations is very less. They claim it is neither desirable nor feasible.

As per Machiavelli each nation, like individuals has its own interest called national interest. No nation will give up its national interest at any cost according to him. He also claims that each nation is selfish like an individual and they go to any extent to secure their national interest. eg. Invasion of Iraq by USA for oil resources.

Machiavelli has said that to secure national interest every nation will need power. Hence all nation will aim at increasing their power and there will be a power struggle among nations. For this reason he claimed that, war is a natural event and always there will be a war. He claimed that to increase power one nation can invade other nation.

Also, for the purpose of securing our national interest, he supported colonialism. He claimed prosperity of a nation can come only with territorial expansion and so he supports colonialism.

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He also recommended that if a King wages war against another king, even a foetus in the family of opponent king should be destroyed so that it does not come back to take revenge.

He also given advices to rulers like, they should, if necessary falsely claim that war against a nation is necessary for the survival. Since people hardly like war, Machiavelli has asked rulers to go for false propaganda!

He also said, each nation will be in competition with other nation to augment the power. Also, there will be no clarity as to who is powerful. Hence, Machiavelli always asks a nation to aim for ultimate power eg. US had shown consistent aim for being world leader.

Thus for Machiavelli, international relations are nothing but conflicts and the necessary resource to participate in international relations are power.

However, ethicists like Immanuel Kant centuries back have shown that it is possible for the nations to cooperate and also ethics can guide their relations. He even proposed a world level body called Pacific (Peace) Union for bringing peace among nations. The present United Nations is inspired from such idea.

But it is widely believed that the day to day international politics works much in the manner Machiavelli has prescribed, there is neocolonialism, new kinds of wars—space, cyber, currency and information wars.

In a globalized world the domestic affairs is much influenced by international affairs and so it is highly relevant that ethical norms and principles are upheld in foreign policies of each nation eg. no first use policy of Indian Nuclear Doctrine.

9. “Free market economy cannot promote inclusive growth” Do you agree? Discuss the ethical dimensions in light of the statement.

Free market economy is a doctrine in which the intervention of State in economy is sought to be kept to bare minimum and it is believed that when the market works in a unhindered fashion it will give the best possible results with benefits for all. It emerges from a popular slogan of Industrial Revolution times that “Businessman knows more than State about business”.

A theoretical validation to the free market economy was first given by Adam Smith in his work Wealth of Nations. He even goes on to identify humans as ECONOMIC MAN, rather than as ethical man.

The potential of free market economy for promoting inclusive growth is suspected because in free market economy: a. Every person is seen as an economic agent rather than as a human—producer, trader or consumer b. The relationships are based on contracts c. The measure of anything is profit It could be an obstacle to inclusive growth because:

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a. Individualism—the free market economy puts one person in competition with other person and that creates individualism. For inclusive growth a community consciousness is necessary which is only diluted. b. Rights—Free market focuses on liberal rights like right to property of the rich and it does not give validation to socio-economic rights like right to education. For instance, noted proponent of free market economy, Milton Friedman has claimed that taxation by State is like a theft. He said there is no fairness in taxing the rich people to feed the poor.

c. Corruption—in natural resource allocation there is more corrupton under free market economy eg. 2G spectrum case and that hampers inclusive growth as a domino effect d. Cronyism—instead of wider chances for everyone, there could be politician-bureaucrat- corporate nexus that can corner many of benefits to few businessmen and making national policy for businesses purely eg. hire and fire style of labour laws. e. Commercialism—in free mark economy everything is profit-orienved and commercialized. Even social services like education, health, waver, etc., can be commercialized and can be alienated from being accessible to poorer sections. For instance, 12th Plan has noted that after LPG reforms, education in India has become a commercial business.

However, free market economy has some potential to promote inclusive growth. It provides:

a. Equality in opportunity for everyone. It does not restrict resources, ideas and opportunities to few b. It also improves affordability of many goods owing to increased competition eg. cheap electricity supply c. If redistributive justice is factored in our policies, the fruits of free market economy can be widely distributed. But as a larger picture, if steered properly, the free market economy gives opportunity to foster inclusive growth. However, if failed it creates wider inequalities eg. Oxfam report claims after liberalization 1% of Indians own 73% of national wealth.

10. What principles and norms should be followed by a leader of a public organization to set a right work culture? Explain.

Work culture is defined as he se of norms and ethical values that influence the functioning of the overall organization and its environment. Public organizations are the public institutions that work to manage affairs of public interest. They are different from other organisations in that they are non-profit oriented and established by the government.

The leader of an organization is the ultimate decision maker and supreme director of the organization, he has the responsibility to achieve the goals by being captian of the ship.

Since work culture is all about norms, rules, values, ethics, attitudes, etc., these are to be set by the leader. Hence, leaders play a central role in setting a right work culture. Azim Premji

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has noted that “there is hardly any difference between culture of the leader and the work culture!”

Some principles and norms to be followed and preached by him to set right work culture include:

A. FOR EFFICIENCY IN WORK CULTURE a. Punctuality in the work, timeliness to the meetings, no delay in finishing the assignments. The leader himself should show these traits in his conduct b. Discipline in the functioning of leader will inspire obedience, virtuous working in employees c. Hard work—the leader should motivate the employees to be hard workers, the idea of ‘no pan no gain’ should be driven home d. Innovation—it should be encouraged in every person at every stage e. Trusteeship/Economy in fund utilization—this should be inculcated as a crucial value of public organisation, since rather than being owners, public authorities are trustees of public money f. Responsiveness to the clients and citizens g. Planning of the goals and available resources to achieve those goals h. Personal well being is also very necessary to be focused. It will influence work culture enormously since well being of each member decides well being of entire organisation. Fit for Life—initiative of tata for employees. In this each employee is expected to run as many kilometers as possible as an exercise and upload the details which is considered for rewards and even promotion. In this way the health of employee is promoted for success of organisation.

B. FOR ETICS IN WORK CULTURE Public service ethics a. Integrity—the leader should showcase exemplary uprightness of moral values b. Probity—higher level of incorruptibility in behavior to be shown by leader c. Compassion—a commitment to alleviate suffering of others Example: Mahatma Gandhiji/Abdul Kalam, etc. Administrative ethics a. Accountability for the action and inaction done b. Transparency in our working, assets maintained, etc., c. Legality in our actions. Rule of law should guide the public organisation otherwise it could lead to despotism Example: U Sagayam IAS/Ashok Khemka IAS Professional ethics a. Excellence in service delivery or highest standards of dedication to the service b. Cordiality with each colleague, senior or junior.

Business ethics, social ethics and environmental ethics Social responsibility of overall organisation. Eg. focus on sustainable development by ONGC

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These norms when encompassed by the leader and preached in an organisation the work culture could be set right, the different ways of doing it are value training, motivation or performance assessment.

11. What does each of the following quotation mean to you? a. “The concept of ‘official secrets’ is a specific invention of bureaucracy.”—Max Weber

Bureaucracy or the Civil Servants is largely a modern arm of State. With time the complexity of public administration has increased for the kings and so specially appointed officers to carry out administrations and give policy advice were required.

The coming of modern production system, distribution, trade, sale, transportation, banking, etc., are testimony to this new stage of human life. Such complex system needed greater decision making power in hands of bureaucracy.

Lord Palmerstone has said “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The bureaucracy's wider powers were put to misuse in many cases in initial decades of modern era. Power abuse demands opaqueness in administration and so many of the official information were classified under a new title called Official Secrets.

Very importantly, the core mandate of bureaucracy is to maintain order. It is also called status quo or public order. In this context, any small protest for instance demanding water supply could also mean a disorder and considered a threat. Flow of information has always been a cause of protests hence there was need to keep many information under the category official secrets. For instance, the bureaucracy used the official secrets norm to prevent many labour protests against industrialists in 1700s of UK.

So for sake of public order and for many bureaucratic conveniences, official secrecy emerged. Some instances are: i. Information about foreign relations to prevent espionage ii. Trade secrets and IPRs iii. Purchase of weapons by government eg. Rafale deal iv. Personal information about VIPs v. Census data on religion vi. Unemployment data (this could lead to protests) vii. Sealed affidavits given to judiciary, etc. Hence, official secrecy was an invention of bureaucracy.

Max Weber has given the theory of ideal type bureaucracy. Accordingly, he meant that there are many ideals which make up a bureaucrat of which maintenance of rules based order is an ideal for which official secrecy was essential.

Also he held that for long the power to have official secrets by bureaucrats was respected by people because of the concept of AUTHORITY. Weber felt anyone can rule other with help of authority. He gave three types of authority: i. Charismatic authority—Nehru

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ii. Traditional authority—Village headman iii. Legal rationale authority—ias officer He claimed that bureaucracy invented the concept of official secrets by using the authority it enjoyed under law. So we had laws like OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT.

The statement also means the despotic way in which bureaucracy is controlling the information today. Official secrecy is a major obstacle to transparency and so to good governance.

Annual Report of CIC in 2017 noted that Official Secrets Act of India has become a threat to the revolutionary potential of RTI Act. This is despite the fact that RTI Act is given overriding powers over OSA.

However, the concept of official secrecy continues to have relevance in light of the incidents of espionage or information war as we see in cases like Cambridge Analytica. Hence it is a double edged sword.

b. “In law, a man is guilty if he violates the rights of others. In ethics, he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.”—Immanuel Kant

While in simpler understanding both are nothing but norms, law and ethics belong to different domains. Law is an enforced rule while ethics is code of right and wrong actions.

Law is in rulebook but ethics is in social conscience. Gandhiji even went to the extent of using the phrase PURITY OF MIND interchangeably with the term ethics often.

Hence it is understandable that law is action oriented and ethics is thought oriented also.

For instance, Pew Institute research in last decade found that 13% more men would do rape women if there was no law to criminalize rape. That means whom we consider normal men are actually wrong men. Their thoughts are impure but their actions are pure because law has acted as a deterrent on them. Thus in law violation is wrong but in ethics thinking of unethicality is wrong.

Punishment for legal violation is prescribed in the law itself, but the first and foremost punishment for violating ethics is CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE eg. The pricking of conscience when we think to judge an ant and kill it. Hence, it is clear that law is action oriented and ethics is thought oriented. Also some may be very much legal but not at all ethical as in killing an ant.

However the two are not watertight compartments. They are mutually complementing. Law is nothing but the social codes put in form of rules and executed with help of force. Such social code is what is ethics.

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There cannot be a legal society without broad ethical society. Machiavelli has said “rule of law cannot be observed in a polity where there are no virtuous people”. Thus both are complementing.

Kant has given this statement to emphasise that there should be continuity in thought and action.

Today the quote is also meaningful in the sense that while every child is given legal education in form of Civics as a discipline there is a need to complement it with ethical education. If secularism in Constitution is taught, the ethic of religious tolerance should also be taught.

c. “Prosperity to people can be brought by two things: Government and the rains. People living without the support of the Government is the same as people living without rains.”— Thiruvalluvar. The statement hints at the significance of State as an institution for human survival. Aristotle has said “if any one can live without state he should either be a beast or an angel”.

Human beings are not islands in themselves. They are not self-sufficient, they are dependent on each other for their survival. This creates a compulsion for interaction between individuals.

Aristotle said, a. First human beings were individuals b. Then they established family. Yet their needs are not fulfilled c. Then they established villages as a group of families d. Finally they established State/government. Many philosophers have analysed why people created government. Some interesting observations were: a. Hobbes—individuals have uncontrollable desires and that brings people into conflict with each other, if there is no government to prevent this each person will be in a war against every other person b. Locke—state is a like a security guard which protects the right to life, liberty and property of all individuals. Without states there is threat to these possessions of an individual. Hence, state is necessary for peaceful existence of people as a community and meet their mutually complementing needs. In this context it is clear that like how rain is necessary for the prosperity of people, government is also necessary for the prosperity of the people.

Today the goods and services we consume can be broadly classified into two categories— private goods and public goods. Former constitutes elements like food, clothing, etc., latter constitutes many essential items like— a. Roads, railways, airways, etc., b. Water c. Electricity

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d. Forests e. Linking rivers f. Dams, etc., These goods are very essential to the survival of humans and they are given to the responsibility of the State. In fact for this reason, many such item’s production and distribution are also regulated under the Essential Commodities Act in India. These goods are called public goods because they cannot be created, distributed and consumed by individuals alone. It is a social process and a social institution is necessary for such actions. However, a question could be raised that social process can be best provided by society than State. But there is a thin but very crucial difference between society and state. Max Weber has given such crucial difference that makes state essential for human prosperity and survival. “State is an institution which has monopoly on force”, he said. Thus, with use of force State can guarantee security and survival. It is this character of State that enables us, a. To store our excess wealth in banks b. Enforce our contracts c. Safety of women d. Freedom of religion, etc., Thus state is necessary for our prosperity. Though, of late, neoliberals have claimed for “rolling back of the state”. The state is considered to be a nuisance. But soon after the wave of globalization the poverty was increasing due to withdrawal of state support. Hence we got the concept of welfare state back which underscores the fact that State is a necessary institution for human prosperity, security and survival.

SECTION-B

12. Mr. Rajesh is the District Superintendent of Police (SP). In his district, a 23-year-old woman has been raped and a local MLA has been accused in the case for the crime. Initially FIR against the MLA was not taken despite family of the victim has protested. Later, Supreme Court directed the local station to register FIR against the MLA. The MLA and four other accused have been taken into custody for investigation now.

After few days, Supreme Court finds that there is no fair trial in this case. It was understood that, the entire district police team is biased and favourable to MLA. The MLA’s circle has asked the girl to withdraw the case and gave death threats also.

Supreme Court transferred the case to other State so that fair trial occurs. Now, the MLA is sure of getting convicted under a fair trial. Hence, the victim who is prime petitioner in the case was burnt to death in daylight by gangsters recruited by the MLA. This was done to ensure the case is closed without completion of trial.

In this case Mr. Rajesh is the DSP who is considered to be the guarantor of law and order and larger security of life to the dwellers of the district. Also, he is head of the investigation arm

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of criminal justice system. A sheer lack of dutifulness in him for political reasons had cost a valuable life of a already victimized girl in an another brutal manner.

a. What are the ethical issues in this case due to dereliction of duty by Mr. Rajesh? Failure of duty by Mr. Rajesh amounts to following ethical issues of various dimensions: a. Civil Services ethics i. Impartiality is the cornerstone of civil service value system. By blatantly supporting the MLA Mr. Rajesh has jeopardized the noble value of our police force ii. Integrity—was lacking in him which made him to succumb to political pressures and be a yes-man iii. Compassion to weaker sections is markedly absent in him b. Administrative ethics i. Dutifulness is not upheld by Mr. Rajesh, the Police Act 1861, expects civil Servants to work without fear and favour and discharge duty with highest administrative standards ii. All India Services (Conduct) Rules 1968 claims failure to do one’s duty is a form of administrative corruption iii. There is a lack of process that can hold such personnel accountable for dereliction iv. Responsiveness to security concerns of the public has not been shown by him c. Feminist ethics Feminist ethics demands gender equality. Incidents like rape sends a wrong signal to patriarchal sections of our society. By failing to take action, Mr. Rajesh has given impunity to people who treat women as machines. 2nd ARC report has identified that much of the crimes against women could be controlled if timely response by police force was ensured. Ethicist of feminism like CYNTHIA ENLOE said “When I look at State it appears male”. They meant that, the laws made by government and the way laws are enforced are biased to men. Thus, Mr. Rajesh has added fuel to the fire and done injustice to women as a whole.

d. Political ethics Political equality means one person-one vote-one value. However, in this case, i. Men are treated above women ii. VIP culture in a unjustifiable manner is also practiced e. Human rights Various rights like: i. Right to life ii. Right to live with dignity iii. Right to equality iv. Right to seek justice and fair trial Are not guaranteed to the girl due to dereliction of duty by Mr. Rajesh. f. Personal virtues Mr. Rajesh has failed to show: i. Honesty in thoughts and action

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ii. Courage of conviction iii. Sincerity iv. Fairness, etc.,

b. Considering the high-profile political pressures, what could have been the approach of Mr. Rajesh?

Political pressure on Mr. Rajesh has been one of causes for his inaction. Officers who lack the courage and believe in getting favours from political bosses are prone to dereliction of duty when exposed to political pressures.

The inaction by Mr. Rajesh does not augur well for a civil servant nor it is in compliance with code of ethics.

His courses of action should have been as follows: a. Register FIR immediately when the woman raised the complaint. Once Rajesh came to know that the station has denied to take the complaint as a leader of the police force it was his responsibility to encourage and embolden the station authorities to register FIR without fear or favour b. Security cover to the victim—understanding the high-profile of the accused in this case it is pertinent to predict the victim will face life threats. Hence 24x7 security cover should have been given to her. Also, she should have been counselled for being brave and courageous when any harmful threat is encountered. He should have taken a written statement from MLA and others that they would not cause any harm to the girl.

c. Preservation of evidences—the evidences should have been preserved since the MLA could use his money and muscle power to erase them. d. Witness protection—as repeatedly held by Supreme Court in different instances, witness protection is a core duty of police department. Witnesses like father of the victim should have been protected. e. Disapproval of bail for MLA—considering the political power and the muscle power MLA wields it would have been obvious that the victim will suffer security threats. Hence, Rajesh should not support any bail for MLA and his subordinates f. Fair investigation of MLA without any fear or favour should have been done by Mr. Rajesh and his team. An objective investigation to unearth the truth should have been done. Polygraph test could have been conducted to detect truth from the MLA. The findings of the investigation should have been objectively reported to the judiciary g. No favouritism in police custody—if the MLA was not made unacceptable favours within the premises of police custody he could not have arranged for goons to kill the victim h. Rehabilitation of victim to ensure she comes back to normal state and she is given the confidence to move ahead. The guidelines given by Supreme Court in form of VICTIM COMENSATION SCHEME should have been followed.

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Mr. Rajesh could have handled the political pressure by showing courage in actions and also seeking support of his seniors. He should have motivated his entire team to stand behind the girl and create a moral pressure on MLA and make him helpless.

Once S. Radhakrishnan, former Vice President and a noted writer on integrity claimed that, “lacking either courage or integrity could mean we are lame, but lacking both at once would mean we are dead”.

13. You have just completed your graduation in Engineering and you are recruited to a high- paying Multi-National Corporation (MNC). Your father has expired in your childhood days and that pushed your family into abject poverty. Your mother struggled to educate you and she now finds solace and meaning for her agony in the fact that you have got a job and she wishes to lead the life ahead peacefully under your care.

You have become the favourite subordinate of your boss. After three months, some shocking facts comes to your revelation. Your boss is a Hindu from upper caste background and he likes you for being not only a Hindu but also for belonging to his caste. Above all, every year he has recommended poor performance rating to his subordinates from Islamic community. This not only reduced their increment in salary but also led to loss of job for some. Also, he allocates burdensome tasks to Muslims and easier ones to Hindus. He is rude to Muslims and polite to Hindus.

You are deeply disturbed by this conduct of your boss; you are unable to work enthusiastically and productively under him. You come to know from a colleague that he does not take any opinion on religion that is contrary to his opinion and he even discriminates Hindus if they are secular. He suggests you to resign the job if he is psychologically uncomfortable in this company.

What are the options before you in this situation? Analyse their merits and demerits.

In this case, there is an ethical dilemma between personal commitments and some personally cherished ethical values like secularism and humanism. Being son of a widowed mother there is a non-negotiable commitment to earn to care her and also the conscience needs to be heeded to for its voice against irrational discrimination done by the superior. Thus, there is a conflict of priorities and it’s a clear case of ethical dilemma.

FACTS OF THE CASE: a. It is a long aspiration of my mother that I settle in a high-paying job b. My mother has struggled much to bring me to this position c. My superior is a bigot and communal in his consciousness and conduct d. The reason for me being his favourite junior is my caste and religion e. Many of the colleagues from Muslim community are discriminated and power is misused f. Sometimes that costed job of many such employees g. This has not gone to notice of higher authorities h. My boss is not receptive to any religious or secular views that are contrary to his communal thoughts since he has bigotry i. Psychologically I’m disturbed to work under such superior

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ETHICAL ISSUES IN THIS CASE: a. Lack of giving value to human dignity by the boss b. Unfair division of labour is against the norms of professional ethics. My boss has assigned undue work burden to employees from one community c. Tolerance is a human value that hardly exists in him d. Compassion is lacking in him owing to which he has pushed many into a condition of losing their job e. Lack of ethical leadership in him who discriminates between subordinates f. Setting a wrong work culture in the organization

OPTIONS—MERITS AND DEMERITS S.NO. OPTIONS MERITS DEMERITS 1 Do not mind the It will ensure my By maintaining silence, attitude of the boss relation with boss is a. Im not raising and be unmindful of smooth. He can assist voice against it. Divert the interest me to learn and excel in casteism and towards tasks the career. communalism assigned to me It would be way to b. Im diluting the completely respect the goodwill he secular fabric of has for me. my own value If complained, extra system burden of works will be c. I will undergo assigned to me. Matters crisis of like permission for leave conscience for or late arrival to office not heeding to may be complicated. it These can be avoided d. It will often now. remind me that I lack courage Above all, I would not and I am be jeopardizing the spineless dreams and aspirations of my mother in any way. 2 Personally meet the It will relieve me from It will upset the fine boss at his home and the ethical trauma my relation we share and use the rapport with mind is undergoing. will impact my career him to communicate progression. your concern It gives a sense of fulfillment to me that I It can spoil my acted with integrity by tranquility in workplace following my ethical like increased work values. burden.

It may have a Im a young person in persuasive influence on terms of age and

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him and he could experience to advice a attempt to change his senior. attitude It was communicated by my colleague that it is not possible to even make him hear the advices about religious affairs. 3 Seek the opinion of This can ensure, Since she is obsessed of my mother and act regardless of my action, a settled life, she will accordingly my mother is in same warn me not act page and she is not hurt against my boss. since I just follow her instruction 4 Mobilise the This can bring them But it could be seen as employees of Islamic justice immediately and groupism and politics in religion and protest my boss would face a organization and not all against my boss moral pressure to colleagues would change his attitude support such extreme measure.

For fear of the boss not all victimized employees may join.

It will affect the work flow in the organization and may cause loss of money and time. 5 Complaint the issue This will be a moderate There is a chance for to super-senior i.e. and safe manner of my boss to not heed to boss of my boss and whistle blowing. warnings of his senior. educate each victim to be courageous Since my boss is not It may not be easier to and face the issue on ready to listen to any immediately show their own. They advices, he would be evidences for the could resist to take nudged to hear from his communal conduct of undue burden and senior my boss. raise complaint to HR department. Also, I could request the It is not a guarantee super senior to not that some affected disclose my name to my employees will come boss so that our relation forward and give is not spoilt. testimony to the super- senior.

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Individually if each concerned employee start opposing unfair practices of my boss that will not look like groupism also he cannot sustain the increasing resistance to his conduct

6 Seek a transfer to It will give me complete It will be a courage less other department peace of mind and I will action and it is an and if possible other be not be under escapism. branch of the same burdens like MNC. jeopardizing the Also, by seeking relation or struggling to transfer I only ensure I prove the guilt of my do not see such boss. misconduct. But I do not attempt to bring I would be living true to justice to the victims. the wishes of my mother

From above pros-cons analysis I could be concluded that Option 5 is best among all. It is a moderate and safe option and also has a likelihood of bringing justice to the victims. Even after complaint to his senior if my boss continues the same, with no other way I should choose option 6.

14. You are the independent director of a leading automobile manufacturing corporate company. The government has come out with National Policy on Clean Energy. Accordingly, the policy states that as part of Corporate Social Responsibility and environmental ethics, it has mandated every company to shift directly from BS-IV to BS-VI emission standards.

Despite repeated lobbying, the automobile manufacturers have not been successful in convincing the government that such drastic shift could increase production cost and affect profitability or reduce consumer demand.

In this context, the Board of Directors of your company have arranged an emergency meeting to chalk out a strategy. As independent director of the company you have been invited. The board has discussed multiple options but finally came to a conclusion that if consumer demand or profitability is to be maintained the quality of automobiles should be compromised. This could affect product longevity or safety.

You have been requested unanimously by the board to agree for this. Since, your company is making losses for many quarters, unless this is done, the company could undergo bankruptcy and cost everyone’s employment.

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a. What are corporate governance standards at stake in this case? The corporate governance standards violated in this case are: a. Legality—corporate governance believes that a corporate organisation cannot work in isolation and can never function in violation of laws of the land. Obedience to law of the land is a crucial standard and it is even considered to reduce the brand image of a company if it violate law (Maggi controversy). In this case violating law of the land is intended. For instance, the proposal is a violation of Motor Vehicles Act.

b. Consumer-centricity—the interest of consumer should be of prime importance. No corporate succeeds without achieving sustainable customer satisfaction. Gandhiji has said customer should be the first God to be worshipped within premises of a company c. Excellence in profession involves providing excellent products. Aristotle has said excellence is the only ingredient that gives us longevity. Warren Buffet has claimed his success in business comes by keeping excellence first and profit next

d. Social responsibility is a newly emerged norm in corporate governance. By providing unsafe products the social interests is given backseat

e. Healthy competition is also a trait of corporate governance. Predatory practices by one organisation can destroy entire field and in turn the company which begun such practice will also be ruined.

f. Transparency will be compromised to hide the design changes and quality compromises planned in this proposal

g. Accountability mechanisms—If independent directors encourage such acts there will be failure of accountability mechanisms in the system h. Shareholder interests in long term will be affected when the illegality comes to light the market value of the company reduces i. Brand image will get a hit with time when quality issues are raised. Product quality is an important factor to be considered for business survival.

b. What could be your response to the request from the Board of Directors? The proposal should not be accepted because it is not in interest of the company or consumers. It will finally lead to a condition where company could be shut and the brand image will be vanished. Issues in accepting the proposal are: b. Professional ethics related Independent director is a profession of high integrity and professionalism. The core purpose of independent director is to hold the board accountable on behalf of minority holders, government and even larger society. Hence my work ethic would not allow me to do so at any cost c. Business ethics related

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As independent director it is also my responsibility to take care the success and survival of the business in interest of the company. In short run the proposal could cost the business survival. Business ethics does not allow adulteration, quality compromises, dilution of standards, etc. d. Personal virtues My own personal virtues of a. honesty, b. Truthfulness, c. Propriety d. Trusteeship e. Loyalty Will not permit me to accept this proposals. CONSEQUENCES: accepting this proposal also has consequences like a. Influence—if I accept one illegality in future I will add influenced by the board often b. Career opportunities—will be hampered if the crimes comes to light c. Imprisonment—of entire management including me will be the ultimate consequence ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS As a well wisher in companies organisation I could suggest some alternatives : a. Reduce luxuries for some time like navigation mapping, sun roof in the cars and so reduce overall cost of the product b. Seek government support in form of tax concessions c. Outreach to fraternity—rather than thinking the competitors as threats in such dire situations the entire fraternity can come together and find common solutions eg. Sharing new technology or price limit norms, etc. As Thoreau said “to be ethical we need a commitment to ethics, where there is a will to be ethical, there is a way to be ethical". Hence despite the constraints posed by the situation it is necessary to be ethical and uphold the highest level of corporate governance standards.

15. You are the District Collector of a largest district in your Country. At the end of the year, it is time to do performance assessment and update Annual Confidential Report for each of your immediate subordinate. There are four Deputy Collectors working under you. Their personality can be summarised as follows: 1. Mr. A is a person well known for his integrity and proven probity. He has been however charged to have anti-women ideology and many of the staff in your office have reported about his patriarchal views 2. Ms. B is known for her intellectual acumen and administrative caliber. She is also a no- nonsense officer and is known for putting her relatives behind bars when they attempted to bribe her for some favours. But you have repeatedly found that she is a casteist and discriminates against lower castes and especially Dalits 3. Mr. C is a compassionate soul and always dedicates half of his income to orphanage in local area. He also believes that since corruption cannot be rooted out, it is better to accept some bribes and use the illegal money to fund many orphanages and blind- schools in the district

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4. Mr. D is a compassionate person and is equally willing to alleviate suffering of weaker sections including women. But he is a realistic officer, who understood that without heeding to political pressures and making some compromises for political bosses, the survival in powerful posts like Deputy Collectors is impossible and for serving public by continuing in such posts he believes limited amount of cooperation with politicians for their favours is not wrong. Only one person can be promoted, considering the above description, whom would you promote to next level in the pay-scale? Justify your decision. Each of the statements here about each of the subordinate is describing their value system. It is popularly believed that no one is completely ethical in judgment of every other person in the world. Some principles may be ethical in some context but not in other.

It is necessary to judge the above four assesses in light of Civil Services Values. ESTIMATING SUITABILITY OF EACH SUBORDINATE: a. Mr. A While he is well appreciable for the exemplary integrity shown in the career an unacceptable demerit is his patriarchal mindset. Half of the population is women. A general hatred to women would mean lack of, - Objectivity in decision making - Impartiality in dealing with public - Non partisanship in hearing disputes - Fairness in making judgments Thus integrity alone would not make an officer wholesome. We live in a modern 21st century world where 5th WAVE OF FEMINISM is going on. In this times, it is unsuitable for an officer to be a patriarch.

Simon de Beauvoir, a stalwart of feminism has said that those in power have hardly attempted to change the conditions of women. The power holders have given lip- service to gender equality and put the blame on large society for continuation of patriarchy. Hence, an officer with anti-women attitude is a threat to gender equality. Other issues that could occur if he is promoted are: a. Non-cooperation with women officers b. Indoctrinating other Male colleagues and subordinates with his anti women ideology Allegiance to Constitution is one of the 7 codes of the ethics recommended by 2nd ARC in the Public Services Code. Indian Constitution outrightly aims at gender equality. Hence Mr. A has unconstitutional attitudes and he cannot be promoted.

b. Ms. B As in case if Mr A, Ms B is also a person of integrity. But she is a casteist. It is a violation of basic human rights. Civil servants in countries like India are to modernize the society and brings social empowerment. Presence of officers like her will be encouraging casteist elements to propagate discrimination and also support caste system. Albert Camus has said “INTEGRITY CANNOT BE A BOTTOMLESS POT". It means more presence of integrity will not make a person wholly ethical. Many values need to be at play. They are United and strengthened by integrity.

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Again, Constitution bans untouchability and caste discrimination. So Ms. B is also unconstitutional and cannot be promoted .

c. Mr. C Mr. C has commendable compassion but lacks integrity. The most intolerable act in governance is tolerance to corruption. Kautilya has said “Corruption is cancerous and it will destroy the foundations of nation".

Charity from corruption cannot mean an ethicality. Sin is a sin. As Mr. C believes just by donating the corrupt sums of money to downtrodden one cannot ensure weaker sections are secured. Corruption hits weaker sections in worst manner—for instance, Some bribe could have been taken for land acquisition in which weaker sections could have been displaced. Giving this to other weaker sections cannot fix the former sin.

Hence corruption and charity are not correlative.

But unlike the value deficiency in Mr. A and Ms. B, it should be noted that Mr. C is not interested in corruption. His understanding is corruption cannot be rooted out, it is not that he believes corruption is not a sin.

He is in a misunderstanding rather than having a sinful faith like the previous two. There is a need to appreciate his urge to be ethical. It is pertinent to educate him that it is possible to serve public without involving in corruption.

Hence there is a ground to consider him for promotion.

d. Mr. D Like Mr. C, Mr. D has exemplary level of compassion and it is impressive. What is lacking in him is the determination to stick to the norms and rules of administration in letter and spirit under all conditions. While it is clear that he has not violated laws and rules, he has made some compromises to ensure political bosses are kept in good light. He has taken a realistic approach to handle the political pressure. He is not: a. Greedy for money b. Not believes in corruption and neither encourages it c. He is compassionate d. He believes continuity in Deputy Collector post is necessary for public service. After all, public spirited people enter civil services to get the power to serve public and make change. It is well know that honest officers have been deprived of powers: - Ashok Khemka has been transferred 40 times in 20 years hampering his ability to contribute to the public - U Sagayam IAS has been moved from post of Collector to Archaeology department - Durga Shakti Nagpal was suspended for action against sand mafia.

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Keeping these practical challenges in mind he has devised a realistic strategy to make little compromises to political bosses without making larger illegalities and scams.

But Gandhiji has repeatedly said ends does not justify means. There should be purity of both ends and means. He said one cannot plant bamboo and expect rose flowers to blossom. Kantian CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE also tells ends and means both should be ethical. However, it is necessary to factor in the noble intentions of Mr. D. He is not a corrupt minded politically biased officer who entered the service to earn huge sums of money. He has come out with his own strategy to sail through the compulsions created by political interference.

Hence, he should also be considered for promotion.

COMPARATIVE MERITS: a. Mr. A and Ms. B should be outrightly rejected for their unconstitutional and inhuman values as elaborated earlier. They should be given stern WARNINGS and if evidences are found they can be subjected to disciplinary proceedings under conduct rules. b. Comparing merit of Mr. C and Mr. D:

Person Ethical Legal Social Economic Mr. C While C is not His action is not It is not in Corruption creates huge claiming legal also and it interest of economic burden. It is corruption is is a violation of society as earlier predicted that (NIPER ethical he has PCA Act 1988 said corruption study), black money is 35% a habit of affects socially of our GDP and it become taking the weaker sections a parallel economy voluntarily given bribe to do charity. He could have avoided taking bribes Mr. D While it is not His tendency to His habit of There is no clear indication ethical to be make small making small of economic impact due to make smaller compromises concessions to his actions, even if one compromises, are also stated political class exists it is not as diabolical there is clarity to be not need not always as that of C. that D is not violation of law create social involved in but using the impact but it has corruption flexibilities eg. the potential. using However the discretionary effect on society powers is far less

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From the colour coding it is clear that on grounds of ethics and other factors, Mr. D is comparatively in a good position to be promoted. While all four have some ethical issue, in real time we are subject to a condition where we are ought to choose one best among worst. In this case, it is reasonable, logical and pertinent to give promotion to Mr. D. But both C and D should be warned for their undesirable attitudes and a deep culture of integrity should be cultivated in them.

16. You are an Indian Engineering Services officer in Public Works Department. Under the National Metro Policy, in your jurisdiction Metro lanes are to be constructed. Your jurisdiction is also incidentally the Constituency of Prime Minister (Mr. X). In 13 months, national election is to happen. Many bye-elections across the nation in last few months have indicated that the party of Mr. X is not winning the elections and opposition has campaigned this shows demise of Mr. X’s party.

Being conscious of this development, Mr. X plans to hasten the metro construction in his constituency that could help him make electoral gains in the upcoming national elections. The project is going at right pace. However, the PM accuses it is dead-slow and intends to speed it up by changing the private company which handles this project. Now the Chief Engineer seeks your final authorisation of the changes. You are broadly confused between two conflicting goals now: a. If you are supposed to provide quick service delivery, you have to change the company. But the new company charges Rs. 520 crore more for the same project to complete it in 13 months. Hence one of your colleagues say it could mean bad utilization of public funds,

b. Conversely, if you continue the project under same company, the project will be completed after 26 months only. Another colleague of yours tell that, the core aim of public administration is quick service delivery rather than economy in utilization of funds. Also, he warns you that PM is obsessed about completing the projects and so there is no choice expect changing the company and finishing the project by paying Rs. 520 crores more. What will be your choice given the fact that two noble goals of administrative ethics, namely, economical use of public funds and quick service delivery are in conflict? Justify your choice. In this case, as an Engineering Services officer, the core mandate is to maintain higher technological standards, functional efficiency of public constructions. However, like any public servants working towards good governance is an undeclared mandate. It involves timeliness, economy, innovation, responsiveness, etc.

FACTS OF THE CASE Before –Under metro policy of the nation a metro rail has to be constructed in my jurisdiction. It was going on in right pace under PPP partnership with a private organisation.

Now—due to political calculations, the project management is sought to exchanged which unfortunately comes with additional cost.

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ANALYSING THE TWO OPTIONS: a. Changing the company and incurring Rs. 520 crores more By changing the company there will be following merits: - It is completed 13th months in advance - Such a development will pre-pone the possible economic opportunities to the region eg. Rise in real estate value or employment opportunities - More number of labourers would be employed for faster completion of the project - It would be helpful to the PM and that can in turn earn me goodwill with prospects for my career in future - New technologies and best practices that are used to complete a project faster will also be available to the nation now - The private partners will be diversified and opportunities to many private players rather than one to partner with government will make the system efficient and competitive. However this has many demerits: i. Unnecessary burden on exchequer. Chanakya in ARTHASASTRA said “not even a handful of husk belonging to State can be spent unless it is rational and fair". To determine whether the change of company is necessary or not we should consider that: - There is no delay in the project with the present company. It is clearly mentioned that the project is going in right pace. Hence there is no delay and there is no genuine question of quick service delivery - The delay is in eyes of the PM whose motive is political and populist. While it is necessary for his election prospects it is not necessary for good governance - Hence this expenditure of 520 crores is not necessary ii. CAG will identify it as extravaganza and that can be implicated as a motivated corruption for which company was changed as happened in Common Wealth Games scam and accusations iii. Public Accounts Committee can condemn this as uncalled for and politically motivated iv. It is violation of canons of fiscal propriety v. It will increase the fiscal deficit and spoil the bond rating to government securities vi. It also violates ethical standards like: 1. Transparency in utilizing public funds 2. Financial accountability 3. Economy in public fund utilization 4. Resource optimization 5. Financial integrity It is to be noted that there is no urgent need of completing the project in the area. Also by changing the company in midway issues could be: a. Change in labourers and so hampering of work flow b. Discontinuity can create quality issues c. It will only cause delay because when the present private party moves to court for violation of PPP agreement (Model Concessionaire Agreement) by government, since the

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government lacks any convincing reasons to prove that the company has delayed it will create a pause of the project and increase the overrun costs Hence, it is not advisable to change the company by incurring high cost for a political purpose. The ethical issues in doing so will be: a. Against principles of justice The excess money of 520 crore could be spent in an area which needs urgent investment eg. Malnutrition or manual scavenger rehabilitation. It is not right to spend money in an area more than what it deserved. It is against principles of justice given by JOHN RAWLS. Allocation benefits and burdens fairly and proportionately is called justice by Rawls. Here excess benefit is given to PM constituency at cost of needy areas.

b. Using others as means for our ends Public fund is used for private gain of PM which is against norm of IMMANUEL KANT that no body should be used as a means for others ends

c. Maximum happiness for maximum number The utilitarian approach of JEREMY BENTHAM also tells that any policy of state can be considered right if it promotes maximum happiness of maximum number of people but conversely here only PM and his party is benefitting. Hence on ethical, financial, technical and logical grounds the option to change company at high cost is not advisable. Such misuse of policy lower for electoral gains is also against MODEL code of conduct though it has not come into force it should act as moral code of conduct. Hence, I will not finalize and kindly suggest continuation of the project in present condition.

17. You are an RTI activist and your husband is an IAS Officer. You are popular for courageously applying RTI that revealed corruption and illegality by numerous high-profile officers and politicians.

Recently, you have applied RTI against Joint Secretary of Coal Department of a State. You suspect there is huge corruption in allocating coal to private players. Few days later, the Joint Secretary has called you personally and requests you to withdraw the RTI application. When you were stubborn, he discloses to you that, the irregularities in coal allocation happens in all states of the country in a networked fashion. He claims that, your husband who is Deputy Secretary of Coal Department in other state, is also involved in this crime.

Upon interrogation with your husband, he confirms you of his involvement and also that already many RTI activists have been killed in other states for the same coal allocation irregularity.

He wants you to consider consequences for him and your life if you go ahead and expects you to withdraw the RTI application. What will be your decision? Give reasons for the same.

In this case there is a conflict of interest between personal interest and professional interest. Personally, the husband could be implicated and face legal punishment if professionally I move ahead in using an RTI application of unearth an irregularity. The case presents a clear ethical dilemma and I’m undergoing crisis of conscience.

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FACTS OF THE CASE a. Myself a consistent RTI activist and had successfully unearthed many irregularities in past b. In present case if an irregularity is unearthed along with others my husband will also be implicated c. My husband has came to me truly that he has been involved in the crime d. I should choose either to get the reply or withdraw the application

OPTIONS BEFORE ME: a. Withdraw the application and save my husband b. Consult any senior in the field and act accordingly c. Ask my husband to erase the evidences against him and then go ahead to unearth the irregularity d. Withdraw the application but ask another activist to file the same RTI so that I can personally avoid the conflict of interest e. Completely come out of the RTI field and get rid of the conflict of interest f. Convince my husband to face the law and be a moral support to him while taking the RTI process forward to unearth the scam. MY DECISION: I will go with last option. The courses of action will be: a. Convince my husband that the scam will be unearthed one day and he will be implicated b. Instead of getting caught a voluntary acceptance will invite less punishment c. He can raise the issue to the senior and subject himself to the IN HOUSE DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS and if legal can avoid judicial process d. If the case goes to Court I will be a moral support to him. I can understand his side and help him to put it forward eg. Political pressure to do such irregularity or forced involvement, etc. e. I will ask him to immediately introduce remedial actions like e-Auctions for coal allocation

JUSTIFICATION The reason to choose this option are as follows: a. LOGICAL JUSTIFICATION - Since the application has been filed its withdrawal will create suspicion in the RTI fraternity and if found to be withdrawn for my husband then it will affect my entire track record a - Since it is a networked crime across many states if not my application other applications would have been filed by others or will be filed in future - Changes in party in power will also lead to unearthing of irregularities eg. VVIP Chopper scam - CAG audit will unearth the irregularity in form of losses to exchequer eg. As in 2G spectrum case b. ETHICAL JUSTIFICATION - Coal is a natural resource. In environmental ethics they are called common property resource. They belong to entire community and misusing them for private gain is a crime - Personally my integrity and uprightness to uphold truth will not allow me to put the crime under carpet to save my relative - RTI is a people’s movement. More than government people have the responsibility to protect the spirit of the law. Being one of the few activists I cannot take backseat. The ethic of transparency in governance of our great nations should be given precedence - Individualism should not override common good. Dharma has been placed above kith and kin in our soil for long: I. The war waged against unethicality of own brothers in Mahabarata II. The test to Seetha by Lord Ram in Ramayana to test her integrity Hence in public service there cannot be ethical dilemma because common good is non-negotiable

However, it would be sensible to preserve the personal relations. The norms in personal relations like love care loyalty and faithfulness should also be considered.

Aristotle has said no force can uproot the institution of family from human life. Family is a crucial institution for self and progeny. Hence, the institution should be preserved by, - Convincing the husband to submit to law - Help him to face the trial - Be a moral support if imprisoned - Not make the events adversarial between us. Hence a delicate balance is required in handling the courses of the action to be made. But no compromise can be made in upholding public interest. RTI is the lifeblood of our democracy today and it cannot be made subservient to personal relationships.