Mini Courses of Ethics, Integrity, Attitude, Aptitude and case studies for IAS Mains Examination

:: PROBITY IN GOVERNANCE ::

PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF GOVERNANCE

Governance relates to the management of all such processes that, in any society, define the environment which permits and enables individuals to raise their capability levels on the one hand, and provide opportunities to realize their potential and enlarge the set of available choices, on the other. These processes, covering the political, social and economic aspects of life impact every level of human enterprise, be it the individual, the household, the village, the region or the nation. It covers the State, civil society and the market, each of which is critical for sustaining human development.

The State is responsible for creating a conducive political, legal and economic environment for building individual capabilities and encouraging private initiative.’ The concept of “governance” is not new. It is as old as human civilization. Kautilya in his treatise Arthashastra elaborated the traits of the king of a well governed State thus: “in the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness, in their welfare his welfare, whatever pleases himself, he does not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he considers as good”. Mahatma Gandhi had propounded the concept of’Swaraj’. Since governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented, an analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing the decisions made and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision.

FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT

Self preservation The authority of the Sink’ needs lobe preserved both from external aggression and internal disturbances. Government discharges this function by raising and maintaining a national army, a police force and other enforcement agencies and empowering these agencies through legislations Supervision and resolution of conflicts - Strengthening of democratic practices and processes, ensuring equity to all citizens, selliiiL’ up ol conflict resolution mechanisms and fair governance are some ways for minimi/aiion of conflicts.

FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT

Self preservation The authority of the Sink’ needs lobe preserved both from external aggression and internal disturbances. Government discharges this function by raising and maintaining a national army, a police force and other enforcement agencies and empowering these agencies through legislations Supervision and resolution of conflicts - Strengthening of democratic practices and processes, ensuring equity to all citizens, selliiiL’ up ol conflict resolution mechanisms and fair governance are some ways for minimi/aiion of conflicts.

OBLIGATIONS OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

Every Public authority shall-

maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerized are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerized and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated;

• publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,-
• the particulars of its organisation, functions and dulies;
• the powers and duties of its officers and employees;
• the procedure followed in the decision making process. including channels of supervision and accountability;
• the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;
• a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control;
• a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other, bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies arc open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public;
• a directory of its officers and employees;
• the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;

OBLIGATIONS OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

Every Public authority shall-

maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerized are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerized and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated;

• publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,-
• the particulars of its organisation, functions and dulies;
• the powers and duties of its officers and employees;
• the procedure followed in the decision making process. including channels of supervision and accountability;
• the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;
• a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control;
• a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other, bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies arc open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public;
• a directory of its officers and employees;
• the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;

MAIN PROVISIONS

• A person, who desires to obtain any information under this Act. shall make a request in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is being made, accompanying such fee as may be prescribed, to-
• the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case maybe of the concerned public authority;
• the Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer, as the case may be.
• Specifying the particulars of the information sought by him or her; Provided that where such request cannot be made in writing, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be. shall render all reasonable assistance to the person making the request orally to reduce the same in writing.

CODE OF ETHICS/CODE OF CONDUCT

ACCORDING TO ALL INDIA SERVICES (CONDUCT) RULES, 1968

“Government” means—

• in the case of a member of the Service serving in connection with the affairs of the Union, the Central Government; or
• in the case of a member of the Service serving under a Foreign Government or outside India (whether on duty or on leave), the Central Government; or

• in the case of a member of the Service serving in connection with the affairs of a State, the Government of that State; A member of the Service whose services are placed at the disposal of a company, corporation or other organisation or a local authority by the Central Government or the Government or the Government of a State shall for the purpose of these rules, be deemed to be a member of the Service serving in connection with the affairs of the Union or in connection with the affairs of that State, as the case may be, notwithstanding that his salary is drawn from the sources other than the Consolidated Fund of India or the Consolidated Fund of that State;

CITIZENS’ CHARTER

The Citizens’ Charter is an instrument which seeks to make an organization transparent, accountable and citizen friendly. A Citizens’ Charter is basically a set of commitments made by an organization regarding the standards of service which it delivers. Every citizens’ charter has several essential components to make it meaningful;

• The first being the Vision and Mission Statement of the organization. This gives the outcomes desired an the broad strategy to achieve these goals an outcomes. This also makes the users aware of the intent of their service provider and helps in holding the organization accountable.

• Secondly, 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.

• Thirdly, the Citizens’ Charter should also stipulate the responsibilities of the citizens in the context of the charter.

CAPACITY BUILDING ON CITIZENS’ CHARTERS

Regional Seminars

Four Regional Seminars on Citizen’s Charters were organised during the year 2001-02, with a view to bring national and state level organisations along with other stakeholders including NGOs, intelligentsia, media etc. on the same platform and to share experiences in formulation and implementation of Citizen’s Charter. These seminars were organised at Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, R. C. V. P. Noronha Academy of Administration, Bhopal and Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati. In all 24 State Governments/UT Administrations and 15 Central Government Departments/Organisations participated.

Department-Specific Workshops

The Department is also organising “1-day Department-specific workshops” with a twin objective of generating awareness amongst the public as well as employees and initiating the process of consultation. 13 Department-specific workshops have been organised in the States of Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during the Year 2002-03.

Information and Facilitation Counters (IFCs)

Information and Facilitation Counter (IFC) is a facility set up by selected Central Government organisations to provide information to citizens about their programmes/schemes, rules and procedures etc. as well as status of cases/applications. An IFC also acts as a nodal point for redress of public grievances. The IFC, therefore, is a physical manifestation of Citizen’s Charter. Hence, it has now been decided to set up IFCs in all government ministries/departments having Citizen’s Charters. 105 Information and Facilitation Counters/May I Help You/Inquiry Counters have been set up so far.

Evaluation of the functioning of the IFCs was carried out by the DARPG and the Consumer Coordination Council. The organisations concerned have taken action on deficiencies pointed out in these evaluations. This Department also regularly monitors the working of the IFCs through a half-yearly return prescribed for all the organisations that have set up IFCs.

What is corruption?

As per the Transparency International (TI): Corruption is operationally defined as the misuse of entrusted power for private gain or the use of public office for private gain. In other words, use of official position, rank or status by an office bearer for his/ her own personal benefit. Therefore the corrupt behaviour would include, bribery, fraud, stealing the public resources, partiality/ favouritism, seizure of public assets for private use, etc.
Transparency International (TI) further differentiates between “according to rule” corruption and “against the rule” corruption. Facilitation payments, where a bribe is paid to receive preferential treatment for something that the bribe receiver is required to do by law, constitute the former. The latter, on the other hand, is a bribe paid to obtain service.

Causes of corruption in India

• Lack of effective management and organisation: Due to mismanagement and misorganisation, there is a weak control on various departments and their working. This leads to lack of coordination and control among departments and levels of organisation. This uncontrolled and unsupervised administration gives rise to corruption on large scale. Besides, appointment of inefficient and incapable managers and executives on various levels of hierarchy also leads to mismanagement and misorganisation. The only cause of mis wrong appointment is corruption. Hence, corruption breeds corruption.

• Lack of economical stability: Economical crisis and price hike are major causes of corruption. Economical crisis leads to unemployment and change in standard of living. It develops a feeling of insecurity in the minds of affected people. Most of the people do not have patience and courage to face this situation. In order to regain their employment and to maintain standard of living and status.this affected people engage themselves in illegal and immoral activities. They do not want to work hard again for achieving the same position and post. They use various illegal short cuts for achieving them.

• Lack of effective leadership: Good leaders can only lead people towards growth, development and progress. They play significant role in eradication of social evils. In India, there is tremendous shortage of good leaders. Leaders convey message of citizens to the administration and government.They lead the people against corruption and social evils. A country cannot survive without honest and sincere leaders. There is urgent need of leaders like Mahatma Gandhiji. We need more Anna Hazares and Medha patkars.

• Lack of support: There are few good leaders in India. They strive hard to eradicate corruption from the society But due to lack of support and cooperation from people, the voice and efforts of these great leaders arc often suppressed. People of India are more concerned with their lite than ihe development and protection of their country against social evils. Many citizens have accepted corruption as a part ol their life. They think, it is useless and waste of time, to support leaders against corruption.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MODELS AROUND THE WORLD

There are many different models of corporate governance around the world. These differ according to the variety of capitalism in which they are embedded. The Anglo-American “model” tends to emphasize the interests of shareholders. The coordinated or Multistakeholder Model associated with Continental Europe and Japan also recognizes the interests of workers, managers, suppliers, customers, and the community. A related distinction is between market-orientated and network-orientated models of corporate governance.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The corporate governance legal framework in India primarily consists of the following legislations and regulations:

1. The Companies Act, 1956:
2. The Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956:
3. The Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992:
4. The Depositories Act, 1996:
5. Listing Agreement of Stock Exchanges

Institutional Framework

1.National Foundation for Corporate Governance:
2.Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs:
3.Serious Fraud Investigation Office:

Committees on Corporate Governance

1.CH Code Committee (1998):
2.Kumar Mangalam Birla Committee (1999):
3.Naresh Chandra Committee (2002):
4.Narayana Murthy Committee (2003):
5.J.J. Irani Committee (2005):

ADMINISTRATIVE ETHICS

MEANING

Administrative ethics denotes the professional code of morality in civil service. They constitute the moral fibre of civil servants. They regulate the conduct and behaviour of different categories of civil servants. Thus, they provide ‘rules of the game’.

The civil service, being a profession in the modern state, has developed a code of morality for its members. This code consists of traditions, precedents, and standards which have to be kept up by the civil servants. The civil servants are expected to set-up high moral standards not only for themselves but also for the community at large.

ELEMENTS

The various elements or components of administrative ethics are:

(i) Integrity
(ii) Loyally to the nation
(iii) Honesty
(iv) Efficiency
(v) Non-partisan attitude
(vi) Humbleness
(vii) Non-corruptiveness
(viii) Devotion to the duty

PUBLIC SECTOR REFORMS

MEANING OF REFORMS

To improve the overall performance of the Indian Economy, the Central Government announced in 1991 the New Industrial Policy. It came to be known as the ‘New Economic Policy’ as it made a ‘radical’ departure from the Nehruvian Economic Philosophy contained in the 1956 policy. In essence, it heralded the era of liberalisation which led to privatisation and globalisation.

REASONS FOR REFORMS

The various reasons for this change in the government’s policy towards public sector are as follows:

1. The dismal financial performance of the public sector.
2. Low returns against heavy investments in public enterprises.
3. Government is no longer in a position to provide budgetary support to sick enterprises.
4. The need to create competition for the public enterprises so that they are forced to earn profits through improved efficiency.

THE STANDARD AS PLEASURE

THE THEORY OF JOHN STUART MILL

Mill’s account of utilitarianism may be summarized in the following five statements: (a) Pleasure is the only thing that is desirable. (b) The only proof that a thing is desirable is the fact that people do actually desire it. (c) Each person’s own pleasure or happiness (to use Mill’s more usual term) is a good to that person, so the general happiness is a good to everybody, (d) Men do desire other objects, but they desire them as a means to pleasure, (e) If one of two pleasures is preferred by those who are competently acquainted with both we are justified in saying that this preferred pleasure is superior in quality to the other. In criticizing Mill’s theory, we shall state certain implications of the above propositions and consider whether they are valid or not.

(ii) Men always desire pleasure. This indicates that Mill based his ethical hedonism on psychological hedonism; but we have already shown that, if psychological hedonism were true, the only possible theory for a moralist would be egoistic hedonism and not utilitarian­ism. If a man were so made that he could only seek his own pleasure and nothing else, it would be impossible for him to seek the pleasure of other men which utilitarianism maintains that he ought to do. In any case, we have seen that there are good grounds for denying the truth of psychological hedonism; men do not always desire plea­sure. Mill admitted somewhat inconsistently that men do seek other things than pleasure, but he holds that men seek such things either as ‘parts of pleasure’1 or as ‘means to pleasure’. The expression ‘parts of pleasure’ is not clear, but Mill presumably meant that we seek those wider experiences like the enjoyment of music because of the element of pleasantness they contain; the pleasantness is one part of the pleasure while the harmony and the timbre of the music are other parts of the pleasure. Mill saw that the object which we seek originally as a means to pleasure may come by association to be itself the object of our seeking, just as the miser who originally seeks money for the good things that it can buy comes to seek money for itself. This whole argument is a reversing of what modern psychology suggests to be the actual facts of the case; the desire for particular objects comes first, and the desire for the pleasantness derived from them comes later by a kind of association or ‘conditioning’. Man naturally desires food when he is hungry; to eat for the sake of pleasure rather than for the sake of satisfying hunger is a later development.

ARISTOTLE’S CONCEPTION OF VIRTUE

Aristotle said that the moral end is ‘eudaimonia’, which may be translated ‘happiness’, and he said that ‘eudaimonia’ consisted in the exercise of a man’s soul in accordance with virtue. To put it in Aristotle’s own terminology, ‘eudaimonia’ is the end,1 or what was later called the final cause of the moral life, while virtue is what was later called the ‘form’ or the ‘formal cause’ of the moral life. The ‘form’ is analogous to the conception of his picture in the mind of an artist which guides and limits his activity as he works, and which gives shape to his creation. Aristotle defined virtue as a habit of choice, the characteristic of which lies in the observation of the mean or of moderation (relative to the circumstances of the individual concerned), as it is determined by reason or as the practically prudent man would determine it.

The outcome of the teaching of the Greek philosophers on virtue . May be expressed in modern language by saying that goodness implies a certain point of view, and this would be generally accepted among moralists. A man who does good deeds simply by impulse or from outside pressure can hardly be regarded as truly virtuous. The view of the Greeks that this point of view is predominantly intellectual or rational, so that coherent reasoning must always be the dominant guide, is not so generally acceptable in modern times except among idealists who have been influenced by Hegel. In the lives of good men the point of view implied in goodness has been more often religious than intellectual. The religious outlook, in the case of the higher religions at any rate, does imply that the good life is rational and consistent, but it implies a great deal more for it holds that goodness gets its inspiration from a personal loyalty rather than from the need of being intellectually consistent. It is with this question of the relation of a man’s metaphysical and religious outlook to his moral life that we shall deal in our concluding chapter.

SOLI SORABJEE COMMITTEE ON POLICE REFORMS

The Government of India (Ministry of Home Affairs), having visualised the long-felt need to replace the 145-year old Police Act of 1861, set up a Committee in September 2005, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Soli J. Sorabjee, former Attorney-General of India, to draft a new Police Act that could meet, inter alia, the growing challenges to policing and to fulfill the democratic aspirations of the people. The Committee, known as the Police Act Drafting Committee (PADC), submitted its report in October, 2006.

FEATURES OF THE MODEL POLICE ACT

The proposed Model Police Act has 16 chapters, consisting, in all, 221 sections. In drafting the Act, the Committee was guided by the need to have a professional police ‘service’ in a democratic society, which is efficient, effective, responsive to the needs of the people and accountable to the Rule of Law. The Act provides for social responsibilities of the police and emphasises that the police will be governed by the principles of impartiality and human rights norms, with special attention to protection of weaker sections including minorities. It also contains a provision that the composition of the police will reflect social diversity. The other salient features of the Act are mentioned below:

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE COMMISSION

The Commission suggested measures to achieve a proactive, responsive, accountable, sustainable and efficient administration for the country at all levels of the government. The Commission, inter alia, considered the following:

1. Organisational structure of the Government of India
2. Ethics in governance
3. Refurbishing of Personnel Administration
4. Strengthening of Financial Management Systems
5. Steps to ensure effective administration at the State level
6. Steps to ensure effective District Administration
7. Local Self-Government/Panchayati Raj Institutions

REPORTS OF THE COMMISSION

In all, the commission submitted 15 reports to the Government. They are mentioned below in the order of submission:

1. Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance (2006)
2. Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlements and Governance - a Case Study (2006)
3. Crisis Management: From Despair to Hope (2006)
4. Ethics in Governance (2007)
5. Public Order: Justice for Each ... Peace for All (2007)
6. Local Governance: An Inspiring Journey into the Future (2007)

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION

I. ON RIGHT TO INFORMATION

1. The Commission has recommended that the Official Secrets Act, 1923, be repealed saying it is incongruous with the regime of transparency in a democratic society. It stated that the safeguards for state security should be incorporated in the National Security Act.
2. Total reorganisation of public records for effective implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. An office should be set up in each state as a repository of expertise, to monitor all records. One per cent of the funds for all flagship government programmes should be earmarked for five years for updating records and building infrastructure.

II. ON PUBLIC ORDER

1. The Commission has recommended repeal of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958, stating that its scrapping would remove the feeling of discrimination and alienation among the people of the northeastern States. To provide for an enabling legislation for deployment of armed forces of the Union in the NE States, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, should be amended by inserting a new chapter.
2. It favoured a new doctrine of policing and criminal justice embedded in an inclusive approach to governance.

III. On Ethics in Governance

1. The Commission has called for providing in the Constitution a national ombudsman, Rashtriya Lokayukta, which will cover all the Union ministers and chief ministers, MPs and others but will not cover the PM’s office.
2. In the electoral and political spheres, it suggested partial state funding of elections, tightening of anti-defection law, a collegium for appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and other Commissioners, code of ethics for ministers and a law to define “office of profit”.

IV. On Local Governance

1. The commission has recommended promotion of local democracy, which is much more than decentralisation and which seeks to build up local bodies as self-governing institutions.
2. It recommended that the government place before Parliament a framework law for local bodies on the lines of the South African Act for laying down the broad principles of devolution of power, responsibilities and functions to the local bodies.

V. On Combating Terrorism

1. The Commission favoured enactment of a comprehensive and effective legal framework to deal with all aspects of terror and a federal agency to investigate terrorist offences.
2. It said that dealing with terrorism would require a multi-pronged, comprehensive strategy in which different stakeholders—the government, political parties, security agencies, civil society and media—would have an important role to play.

VI. On Refurbishing of Personnel Administration

1. The Government of India should establish National Institutes of Public Administration to run Bachelor’s Degree courses in public administration/governance/management. The selected Universities should also be assisted to offer such graduate level programmes in public administration/governance/public management. These graduates from the National Institutes of Public Administration and selected universities would be eligible for appearing in the Civil Services Examination. Further, other graduates would also be eligible to appear in the Civil Services Examination provided they complete a ‘Bridge Course’ in the core subjects. The Bridge Course should be ran by the same national institutes/universities.

This is Part of Online Coaching & Study Kit of IAS Mains General Studies - IV

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