Current General Studies Magazine: "Code of Ethics for Civil Servants" January 2015

Current General Studies Magazine (January 2015)

General Studies - IV (Code of Ethics for Civil Servants)

“For a country like India, development of her material resources and raising the standards of life of all classes are, indeed imperative. At the same time, the deterioration in the standards of public life has to be arrested. Ways and means have to be found to ensure that idealism and patriotism have the proper place in the ambition of our youth. The lack of moral earnestness, which has been a conspicuous feature of recent years, is perhaps the greatest single factor which hampers the growth of strong traditions of integrity and efficiency.”

The inculcation of values facilitating the subordination of the self to a larger, societal good, and engendering a spirit of empathy for those in need of ameliorative state interventions are not skills which could be easily imbibed after joining the civil services. Such attitudes need nurturing over not merely individual life-times, but through successive generations - the ‘right’ Ethics in Govcrnance\ ethos takes long to evolve. Nevertheless, it must be accepted that our civil service system has a tradition of attitudes and achievements which sets examples to be emulated by current and prospective civil servants. It must also be accepted that the existing framework for maintaining and promoting the norms of ‘right conduct’ cannot be enforced through a rigid mindless enforcement of laws and rules.

The current set of ‘enforceable norms’ are ‘Conduct Rules’, known as the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules - 1964 and analogous rules applicable to members of the All India Services or employees of various State Governments. The norms prescribed in such rules are much older than the Rules themselves. Thus specific acts were proscribed from time to time through notifications under the Fundamental Rules and the Civil Service Regulations. Some examples are:

the disapproval of habitual lending and indiscriminate borrowing (1869),
the banning of various actions-accepting gifts (1876).
buying and selling property (1881),
making commercial investments (1885),
promoting companies (1885)
and accepting commercial employment after retirement (1920)

The breach of such prohibitions entailed punitive actions like removal from service. There were, of course, provisions like ‘illegal gratification’ or bribery - Sections 161 to 165 of the IPC - or ‘criminal breach of trust by a public servant’ - Section 409 IPC -which provide for terms of imprisonment. In 1947, with the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, a new set of offences was also created.

In the 1930s, a compendium of instructions containing ‘do’s and don’t*’ was issued and collectively called ‘Conduct Rules’. The compendium was converted in the form of distinct rules in 1955. The Santhanam Committee recommended considerable enlargement of such rules resulting in the 1964 version. These rules have subsequently been updated to include additional norms of behaviour. Some of the additions are: the requirement of observing courtesy, prohibiting demanding and accepting dowry, prohibiting sexual harassment of women employees, and, recently, prohibition to employ children below 14 years of age us domestic help. This is understandably a continuing process, and reflects the changing, often increasing expectations of society, from the civil services.

The code of behaviour as enunciated in the Conduct Rules, while containing some general norms like ‘maintaining integrity and absolute devotion to duty’ and not indulging in ‘conduct unbecoming of a government servant’, is generally directed towwds specific activities deemed undesirable for government servants There is no Code of Ethics prescribed for civil servants in India although such codes exist in other countries. What we have in India are several Conduct Rules, which prohibit a set of common activities. These Conduct Rules do serve a purpose, but they do not constitute a Code of Emics.

At present, a draft ‘Public Service Bill’ is under consideration of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions seeks to lay down a number of generic expectations from civil servants, which are referred to as “values”. The salient ‘values’ envisaged in the Bill are:

Allegiance to the various ideals enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution
Apolitical functioning
Good governance for betterment of the people to be the primary goal of civil service
Duty to act objectively and impartially
Accountability and transparency in decision-making
Maintenance of highest ethical standards
Merit to be the criteria in selection of civil servants consistent, however, with the cultural, ethnic and other diversities of the nation
Ensuring economy and avoidance of wastage in expenditure
Provision of healthy and congenial work environment
Communication, consultation and cooperation in performance of functions i.e. participation of all levels of personnel in management.