The former governor of West Bengal has recently highlighted the importance of ethical governance in India. Ethical governance is the infusion of high moral values and behaviours into the governmental process, with compassion and human dignity at its core. This approach fosters trust and mutual cooperation between citizens and public servants. It involves certain key elements like probity, integrity, compassion, empathy, responsibility, and social justice.
The Intricacies of Ethical Governance
Ethical governance revolves around a value-based premise that ensures administration prevalent in the public interest, devoid of any wrong-doings. Its main components include probity and responsibility. Probity highlights that the sole purpose of administration must be public interest, eradicating any misdeeds. Responsibility encourages an environment of internal accountability for every act of commission or omission, based on individual conscience. If achieved, this environment could potentially eliminate corruption.
In the global competition, removing corruption is not only a moral obligation but also an economic necessity for any country. To help abolish corruption and minimise bureaucratic delays, the rule of law plays a crucial role as a key element of ethical governance. It prevents arbitrary governance and reduces the risk of misuse of discretion.
Understanding Ethical Issues in Indian Governance
Various ethical issues plague the Indian governance system. These range from violations of authority or rank position, negligence, corruption and bribery, complacency, patronisation, administrative secrecy, nepotism, to lack of compassion.
Violation of authority involves officials overstepping their roles and responsibilities, leading to damages to state interests or citizens. Negligence involves public officials either not performing their professional responsibilities or performing them inadequately. Corruption and bribery have sadly become accepted parts of society. Patronization comes into play when senior officers are assigned post-retirement positions without clear guidelines.
Administrative secrecy often overshadows the transparency needed in ethical governance. Nepotism disregards merit-based appointments in favour of familial or friendly relationships, leading to a degradation in the quality of public services. Lack of compassion and an obsession with bureaucratic authority lead to insensitivity towards individual needs or injustices.
Moving Towards Ethical Administration
To tackle these ethical issues, several measures can be taken. Legally, civil servants should be required to provide justifications for their official decisions. Changes in management approaches could create more incentives for officials to combat corruption effectively. Whistle-blower protection laws could encourage disclosures of wrongdoings by officials.
Ethics audits can be carried out to identify risks to integrity in crucial processes. The Second ARC recommends partial state funding of elections, tightening of anti-defection laws, and development of a code of ethics for ministers, legislators, judiciary, and civil servants. It also proposes tightening the provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
On a final note, the UPSC Civil Services Examination contains questions on topics like distinguishing between “Code of ethics” and “Code of conduct” and resolving ethical dilemmas in public administration. These are important considerations for candidates aspiring to serve the Indian public dutifully and ethically.
