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(1) Personal vs Professional : The offer of the Minister will improve my economic status, bring good living standards, open new avenues for my children, but it will surely lead to loss for farmers. This deal will lead to displacement of farmers from their own land and hence force them to restart their lives from a scratch.  (2) Transparency vs Confidentiality: It is known that transparency is very important for the good governance. But at times, non-disclosing about the details of a project before the commencement of work is deriable. It serves the interest of the society better as everyone will get equal chance to reap the benefits of the coming projects.  (3) Our interest vs financial burden on the Government: Minister’s proposal will indeed serve his purpose and give me economic gains but it will have a heavy burden on government finances. This money could be used for other welfare programmes for the betterment of the poor and marginalized section of the society.  (...

It has been recognized the world over that good governance is essential for sustainable development, both economic and social. The three essential aspects emphasized in good governance are transparency, accountability and responsiveness of the administration. The “Citizen’s Charter initiative” is a response to the quest for solving the problems which a citizen encounters, day-in and day-out, while dealing with organisations providing public services.  The concept of Citizen’s Charter enshrines the trust between the service provider and its users. The concept was first articulated and implemented in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government of John Major in 1991 as a national programme with a simple aim: to continuously improve the quality of public services for the people of the country so that these services respond to the needs and wishes of the users.  Principles: The basic objective of the Citizen’s Charter is to empower the citizen in relation to public service d...

Morality as we know is individual’s sense of right and wrong. Hence, constitutional morality is broadly a metric of what the constitution deems to be right or wrong. The values of any country’s constitution depends upon its tradition, its social and cultural movements, the vision of its founding fathers, etc. In case of India, the national freedom movement, socio-cultural reform movements, traditions of thousand years, the progressive radical outlook of constituent assembly went into defining what our constitutional morality would be.  Very briefly, our constitution believes that inequality is not right (Article 14), injustice is wrong (Preamble), deprivation of human dignity is not right (Article 21), etc. It doesn’t deem right deprivation of some fundamental rights of individuals in the name of culture (Article 14). It doesn’t allow state to intervene into cultural practices, if they don’t infringe upon basic rights (Article 29/30). So, these are some ideals our constitution give...

The Importance of Efficient use of Public Resources Effective utilization of public resources is critical to meeting development goals. Key programs in education and health are overwhelmingly conducted within the public sector. And although private provision of infrastructure has expanded in areas like telecommunications and energy, private investors remain wary of socially-oriented sectors, such as water and sanitation, and also show little willingness to invest in the poorest countries. At present, though, research indicates that increases in public spending are only weakly correlated with the achievement of development outcomes in most developing countries. Government ineffectiveness — in the form of waste, inefficiency and corruption — is largely responsible.  Reasons for under-utilization and mis-utilizations of funds:  • Corruption: The large sum of money earmarked from public activities are taken away by officials as well as politicians in form of bribes. This results i...

Recently, the government has sought action against ‘The Hindu’ newspaper and news agency ANI under Official Secrets Act, 1923 for publishing documents related to India’s deal to buy 36 Rafael jets from France. Judiciary however made it crystal clear and dispelled the doubts many of us have regarding Officials Secrets Act being an obstacle in effective implementation of Right to Information Act.  Following are the provisions that clarify what happens when OSA and RTI Act come into interaction and have conflict:  •Whenever there is a conflict between the two laws, the provisions of the RTI Act override those of the OSA.  •Section 22 of the RTI Act states that its provisions will have effect notwithstanding anything that is inconsistent with them in the OSA.  •Similarly, under Section 8(2) of the RTI Act, a public authority may allow access to information covered under the OSA, “if the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests”.  •...

“In order to have anything like a complete theory of human rationality, we have to understand what role emotion plays in it.” – (Herbert Simon, American Nobel Laureate scientist) At the point of decision, emotions are very important for choosing. In fact, even with what we believe are logical decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always based on emotion. As Dr. Simon and others have pointed out, emotions influence, skew or sometimes completely determine the outcome of a large number of decisions we are confronted within a day.  Therefore, it is important for all of us who want to make the best, most objective decisions to know all we can about emotions and their effect on our decision-making. People, who are emotionally intelligent, don’t remove all emotions from their decision-making. They remove emotions that have nothing to do with the decision. The secret to making smarter decisions that aren’t swayed by your current emotions, particularly when your emotions are unrel...

A public servant is a person employed in the public sector on behalf of a government department or agency. In other words, public servant is person who works for the government (Centre, State, and Local), such as a teacher, IAS officer, police officers, Judge, etc. to serve the interests of citizens. A public servant is someone who values public good over his/her personal interests in his official capacity. They have to deal with the management of resources that are publicly owned in a way that enhances public interest. Further, the individuals carrying out the task are publicly accountable for their actions.  Public interest means allocation of resources in a way that further collective well-being and is consistent with ethical and constitutional norms, thereby helping individuals develop fully into citizens. A public servant while performing his role should exercise certain values like accountability, integrity, honesty, commitment to public service, effective implementation of p...

The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency can be understood as probity. But there’s a slight difference. Whereas on one hand honesty is about being truthful and transparent, not hiding facts and not lying, probity on the other hand is when there comes an outwards orientation to it, when one attempts to appear to be honest, when one makes sure that people get to know that one is not dishonest or simply it is the evidence of ethical behavior in a particular process.  Probity in governance is an essential requirement for efficient and effective delivery of socio-economic development and governance through strict adherence to code of ethics based on honesty, integrity and impartiality, confidentiality and transparency. An important requisite for ensuring probity in governance is absence of corruption.  The other requirements are effective laws, rules and regulations governing every aspect of public life and, more important, an effective and fair implementa...

Cyber Dome Project has been conceived by Technological Research and Development Centre of Kerala Police as a public-police participation model and is aimed at combating emerging cyber threats through effective policing.  • Cyber dome is a Centre of Excellence for Kerala Police, to meet the long-term security challenges in the digital arena of the modern world, by bridging the gap between the latest changes and innovations in the cyber space and the skill set development of Kerala Police, in combating the emerging cyber threats.  • It envisages as a hi-tech public-private partnership centre of collaboration for different stakeholders in the domain of cyber security and handling of cyber crimes in a proactive manner.  • It is envisaged as a collaboration centre for both the public and private fraternity to converge and share information, as well as resources that will escalate the safety of our cyber space.  It can be useful in controlling internet crimes in India...

The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the conduct of election to the Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections.  Grounds for Disqualification  • On conviction for certain election offences and corrupt practices in the election.  • Conviction for an offence punishable under certain acts of Indian Penal Code, Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002 etc.  • Conviction for any offence resulting in imprisonment for not less than two years such legislator shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue t...

Secularism is the constitutional principle of separation of the state from religious institutions. Secularism forms the core element of the basic structure of the Indian constitution. And even France is an indivisible, secular democratic social Republic guaranteeing that all their citizens regardless of their origin, race or religion are treated as equals before the law and respecting all religious beliefs.  The ideal of secularism envisaged in India is different from that of France:  • The paradigms of republicanism , as practiced in France, or multiculturalism as implemented in a number of Western democracies, such as the UK and the US, or indeed employment-based integration models of Sweden or Germany, are all in crisis.  • This can be seen in the banning of Islamic clothing, kosher or halal meals and “burkinis” in France .  • France was a largely homogeneous Catholic country, where the clergy had an unduly high degree of influence over the state’s apparatus....

Women are the building blocks of the society. They are traditionally referred as Goddesses. However, in the Indian society, they continue to be exploited for the sake of the conventions of the society and face challenges even today.  The following are the various challenges faced by the women: • Patriarchy: Women face the male dominance in various institutions, structures of the country. This has hampered the overall development and rise of women in the societal roles.  • Political participation: Women are not able to express themselves politically. The bill for reservation women is still pending in the parliament.  • Economic participation: Women are not able to reach the topmost positions in the corporations, private or public except a few. Also, women are imparted roles which are regarded as specifically for women like Pink color Jobs, Health sector, etc.  • Education: They are still considered as burden in the villages of many states, though the situation has ...

 “Crisis of conscience” is a state in which it is very difficult to decide what is right thing to do. Conscience becomes inconspicuous through human weakness. Crisis of conscience is when you feel guilty after realisation of any wrong action that you did. One always thinks of what he has done wrong. He can’t be happy with the feeling of guilt within himself.  It is a case of ethical dilemma, but often in a strong sense. In this particular case of crisis of conscience a person fears that his actions may be against the voice of conscience and hence ethically wrong. Once I was going in my car for an interview and I was getting late. So I thought of jumping the red light though I knew it is a wrong action. But in hurry I hit a passerby. I took him to the hospital and got his treatment done. I was very much regretting for whatever I did.

This very statement does not mean that ethics are antagonistic to politics. Our founding fathers gave an entire generation of ethical and nationalist politicians. But now politicians do politics on the parochial lines like castem, community, region etc. and as do the voters vote and is a result ethics gets cornered from the sphere of politics. It discourages ethical people from entering the politics.  Voters who vote along these parochial lines cannot rectify their mistakes and due to them the entire system has to pay the indemnity. There is an unholy nexus between the politicians, bureaucrats, criminals, mafia, industrialists. Honest officials are relegated and corrupt are promoted. Nepotism is being practised in almost every sdoector very openly.  Many public issues like infrastructural bottle necks are left unattended deliberately to impoverish and render disenchanted electorate dependent upon pre-election doles.

In today's transnational world, a sustainable national security policy cannot be achieved through national capabilities alone. Sustainable national security instead rests on three pillars: 1. A multi-sum security principle based on justice at all levels, multilateralism and multidimensionality (including human, environmental, national, transnational and trans cultural/transcivilizational security); 2. Symbiotic realism in international relations, whereby mutual cooperation among states results in non-conflictual absolute gains that is peace. 3. Transcivilizational synergy which results from mutual respect, multiculturalism, cosmopolitanism and cross-fertilization, and will lead to global justice, security and prosperity. This is essential reading for anyone interested in an innovative approach to the complex yet central subject of sustainable strength. Strength: • Economic Strength. • Military • Infrastructure • Diplomacy • Able Leadership (Ex: Putin) • Science & Technology • T...

Governance: Governance refers to formulating and executing policies and ensuring proper functioning of society and interaction between people according to the established set of rules.  For Example : Constitution provides a set of rule according to which nation has to be run. Elected government comes up with policies to achieve socio-economic goals as enshrined in constitution.  Good governance: Good governance refers to a type of governance which streamlines functioning of society. It eliminates chaos and address the grievances of people effectively. Some characteristics of Good Governance are :  (1) People are able to avail good basic facilities like hospitals, schools, transportation.  (2) Happiness index of people increases and crime rates are under control.  Ethical governance: Ethical governance refers to taking morality, ethics into consideration while making policies for people.  For example: ‘’Give it up’’ scheme is the perfect example of ethica...

2nd Administrative Reforms Commission has suggested the inclusion of the following principles in the Code of Ethics for civil servants in India:    • Integrity : Civil servants should be guided solely by public interest in their official decision making and not by any financial or other consideration either in respect of themselves, their families or their friends.    • Impartiality: Civil servants in carrying out their official work, including functions like procurement, recruitment, delivery of services etc, should take decisions based on merit alone.    • Commitment to public service: Civil servants should deliver services in a fair, effective, impartial and courteous manner.    • Open accountability: Civil servants are accountable for their decisions and actions and should be willing to subject themselves to appropriate scrutiny for this purpose.    • Devotion to duty: Civil servants maintain absolute and unstinting devotion towa...

36. Definition. —In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, “the State” has the same meaning as in Part III.  37. Application of the principles contained in this Part .—The provisions contained in this Part shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws. 38. State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people. (1) The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of the national life. (2) The State shall, in particular, strive to minimise the inequalities in income, and endeavour to eliminate inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities, not only amongst individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in differ...

Values are the individual principle or beliefs that guide judgement and behavior of a person or a group. Values are like an anchor in a ship. Values flow from the highest of our own self which are in inbuilt mechanism which distinguish the right from the wrong, the Do’s and Don’ts of any action even when no one is looking.  The word ethics has been derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’ meaning ‘character’. Ethics is a branch of philosophy that refers to a study of rightness or wrongness of human action in the context of a good human life. Professional competence is always evaluated within the boundary of ethics and norms associated with the profession.  A person can be professionally competent and expert but if the practices certain immoral acts, it will be refereed as unethical which will in turn hamper the transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, public trust etc. And thus these unethical conducts will erode the roots of the profession itself, harming the stakeholders.

‘Accountability’ in context of public service means answerability for one’s actions and decisions. It is obligation of a public servant to accept responsibility for what he does. Several steps can be taken to ensure individual and collective responsibility.  Strengthening legal dimension by promoting civil servants to follow rule of law in public expenditure and decision making will promote accountability.  Clear job description and well defined chain of command with adequate checks and balances will further ensure accountability.  External control through legislature and judiciary will also help strengthen accountability in the system. A well informed citizenry and a proactive civil society can help ensure accountability in a better way.  In order to ensure compliance to procedures and laws by civil servants, a set of rewards and punishments should also be set up. They should also disclose their personal income at the end of financial year on a public website. ...