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Foundational values for Civil Services
Foundational Values are the core beliefs and principles that guide an individual’s actions.
For civil servants, the Foundational Values are the values which help in achieving the goals of the civil service i.e., establishment and promotion of a welfare state and a Just Society. Most common foundational value of civil services are given below-
- Integrity
- Impartiality and non-partisanship
- Objectivity
- Dedication to public service
- Empathy
- Tolerance
- Compassion towards the weaker sections.
Evolution of Foundational Values in Civil Services
- Max Weber said that it is important to realize that the state bureaucracy might possess its own independent bureaucratic morality.
- Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and the All-India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 mentions values like integrity and devotion to duty.
- In UK, Nolan Committee, 1994 suggest ‘The Seven Principles of Public Life’.
- The Draft Public Service Bill, 2007 enumerated values like allegiance to the ideals of the Constitution, good governance to be the primary goal, apolitical functioning, objectivity, impartiality, accountability and transparency in decision-making, merit-based selection of civil servants, avoidance of wastage in expenditure, etc.
- 2nd ARC, 2005 recommended values like upholding the constitutional spirit, highest standards of integrity and conduct; impartiality and non-partisanship; objectivity; dedication to public service; and empathy and compassion towards the weaker sections.
| Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) is the committee appointed by the Government of India for giving recommendations for reviewing the public administration system of India. The first ARC was established on 5 January 1966. The Administrative Reforms Commission was initially chaired by Morarji Desai, and later on K. Hanumanthaiah became its chairman when Desai became the Deputy Prime Minister of India. The Second ARC was constituted on 31 August 2005, as a Commission of Inquiry, under the Chairmanship of Shri Veerappa Moily for preparing a detailed blueprint for revamping the public administrative system. |
Nolan Committee UPSC, 1994
United Kingdom. The committee was initially established in October 1994 by the then Prime Minister John Major in response to arising concerns that conduct of some politicians was unethical. The committee’s first report in 1995 established ‘The Seven Principles of Public Life’, also known as the ‘Nolan Principles’. They are as following:
1. Objectivity: Public officer should make choices on merit and facts and not on personal judgements.
2. Selflessness: The holders of public office should act solely in terms of public interest
3. Accountability: The holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public.
4. Honest: The holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating to their public duties.
5. Integrity: The holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside organisations.
6. Leadership: Should promote and support these principles through their leadership and by setting examples.
7. Openness: The holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take.
Need of foundational values in Civil Services
Public servant
- Job satisfaction
- Internal peace
- Strengthen conscience
- Perseverance
Public Services
- To established Rule of Law
- To maintain Public Order
- To reduce the chances of corruption and abuse of power.
- To make civil servant Resource Savi.
- Optimum utilisation of fund.
- To fill the gap left by the laws and make administration more effective.
- To sensitize the civil servant to obey the law both in letter and spirit.
- To make the administration more effective, more efficient and proactive.
- To establish a public welfare state so that the ideals of the constitution can be realized.
- To reduce the conflict of interest. To make civil servants able to put the obligations of public service above their own personal interests.
- To make good governance to be the primary goal.
- To Uphold Constitutional Morality
- Transparency and Accountability
Society
- Public servants should be proactive in serving the people.
- Build public trust
- To reduce the distance between the administration and the public and to make the administration more inclusive and effective.
- Public participation or community engagement
- Innovation in public service.
- Better service delivery
- Civic action program
- Social Audit
Reasons for Declining Foundational Values in Civil Services in India
Colonial Legacy
- Steel frame of the British colonial government
- Focus only on law and order
- Apathy towards development
- Elitism
Systemic Issues
- Nepotism and favoritism in appointments, promotions, postings etc.
- Increasing Politicization
- Lack of Transparency and Accountability
- Bureaucratic Red Tape
- Chalta he Attitude
- Low salaries compared to private sector
- Corruption and bribery
- Inadequate training and ethics education
- Outdated bureaucratic systems
- Weberian modal
- Steel frame mentality
- Lack of innovation
Societal Factors
- Acceptance for corruption
- Erosion of moral values like honesty and public service
- Growing materialism and consumerism
- Lack of Public Awareness
- Reduce accountability of CS
Individual Factors
- Inner weakness
- Greed
- Desire for prestige
- Social Media
- Prime Posting
- Promotion
- Financial benefits
- Desire for prestige
- Fear
- Suspension
- Punishment posting
- Threat to life
- Danger to family
- Annual assessment report
- Focus on shortcuts for Career Advancement
- High Lifestyle Expectations
- Lack of Ethical Training
Ways to develop of Foundational Values (Individual Level)
Fear, Greed, desire for prestige and inner weakness are the main cause of deviation from Integrity.
How to get Inner Strength
- Meditation
- Helpful in self-introspection, self-awareness, and evaluation
- Developed relationship between mind, thought, and action.
- Self-Improvement
- Self-evaluation, self-reward, and self-punishment
- Consider the reason for deviation from integrity in life and try to resolve them
- Setting Boundaries
- Learn to say no when asked to do something that compromises your integrity.
- Deep inculcation of Ethical Belief
- Bad means cannot produce good result
- Selflessness
- Altruism
- Godliness of all human
- Interconnectedness
- Duty towards society
- Seven sin by Mahatma Gandhi
- Hierarchical order between different values:
- Like in the Chauri Chaura incident, Gandhi gave priority to non-violence over freedom.
- Displaying your character
- Keep image clean and displaying strongly.
- No one can approach officer like Ashoka Khemka for unethical and illegal proposals.
- Conflicts between ideologies can also undermine integrity.
- Coherence and compatibility between the various moral principles
- Socialism is compatible with equality and capitalism is compatible with freedom.
How to overcome desire for prestige
- Try to become Supriya instead of Lokpriya
- Instead of being good in the eyes of others, one should try to be good in his own eyes.
- Greed of social desire is Endless
- Wrongdoing can also invite legal liabilities in the future which cause permanent loss of prestige.
- Ek din mit jayega mati ke mol.
How to overcome fear of defeat, bad consequences
- Short-term benefits vs Long-term disaster analysis
- Courage of conviction
- Only comes from inner strength
- Firm belief in his values
- Perseverance
- Only comes from inner strength
How to overcome Greed
- Learn to differentiate between needs and wants
- ‘There is enough on this earth for everyone’s need but for no one’s greed.’ Mahatma Gandhi
- Greed is Endless
- Simplify your life, Adopt a minimalist mindset
- Mere jameer me dam he kyonki meri jrutrte kam he
- Explore the root causes of your greed
- It can also invite legal liabilities in the future.
- Wealth without work is a sin.
Ways to develop of Foundational Values (Government Level)
How to increase integrity in civil servants?
Govt > Civil Servants
- Bringing transparency and accountability in governance
- RTI, Citizen Charter, eGovernance etc.
- 2nd ARC recommended the surprise mock drills (sting operations) to check the integrity of CS
- Frequent counselling of civil servants
- Right Brain Development Program at regular interval
- Explicit and Implicit provision in Constitution
- Administrative Tribunal
- Principle of Anonymity
- Incorporate of ethics in exam processes
- UPSC GS IV
- Training
- Sensitization of civil servants towards social problems and society
- Civic action program
- Ground Visit, like in Movie Jai Bhim
- Value inculcation in society as civil servants ultimately come from the society
- NEP 2020 focus on holistic development through Education.
- Social audit
- Public grievance mechanism
- Continuous feedback and improvement
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Best Ethics Notes UPSC. Foundational Values for civil services.
Ethics Notes UPSC.
Best Ethics Faculty UPSC. Best Ethics Teacher UPSC. – Mohit Sharma (Director Sankalp IAS Academy)