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Broad Reforms required

1. The development work needs some flexibility from a strict observance of rigid rules and regulations. Rigid rule bound bureaucracies should be changed into flexible and action-oriented.
2. Reforms are required in the field of recruitment of civil servants so that right people could be recruited who can ensure smooth functioning of democracy.
3. Training of civil servants should be able to bring about behavioural and attitudinal changes.
4. Administrative procedures, rules and regulations need to be simplified so that red tapism could be minimized; decentralization of authority and collegiate decision making; de-emphasis of hierarchy in the administrative structure
5. Adoption of modern management techniques such as management by objectives; elimination of corruption so as to secure clean, honest, impartial and efficient administration; creation of new work culture and encouraging creativity.

Observations of 2nd ARC regarding Civil Services in India

It is widely recognised that the civil services have contributed to stability in terms of maintenance of peace, the conduct of fair elections, managing disasters and the preservation of the unity of the nation, providing stability and maintaining order in a vast country prone to various conflicts – ethnic, communal, regional etc. Nonetheless there are certain concerns about the performance of the civil service in the context of realizing a results-oriented government. Some of them are:

1. It has been pointed out that the Civil Service in India is more concerned with the internal processes than with results.
2. The systemic rigidities, needless complexities and over-centralization in the policy and management structures within which the civil service functions are too complex and often too constraining.
3. The structures are based on hierarchies and there are a large number of veto points to be negotiated for a decision to eventually emerge.
4. To compound it, the size and the number of ministries and departments have both overloaded the decision-making system and diminished the capacities of the individual civil servants to fulfill their operational responsibilities.
5. Rapid and fundamental changes are taking place in the country in terms of rapid economic growth, urbanization, environmental degradation, technological change and increased local awareness and identity. The response time to adapt to these changes is much shorter than it used to be. As instruments of public service, civil servants have to be ready to manage such change.
6. On the other hand, the perception is that they resist change as they are wedded to their privileges and prospects and thereby have become ends in themselves.
7. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution have brought about a major change. Rural and urban local governments have to be enabled to become institutions of self government. To bring this about, the existing system of administration at the district level has to undergo fundamental changes. Though sixteen years have passed, the progress remains very slow and local governments are ‘local’ only in ‘form’ but are ‘central and state in content’.
8. With the passage of time, the role of civil society organisations, in governance, has increased with demands for better governance. The same can be said of the private sector, which is increasingly providing services in several areas, which hitherto were the exclusive preserve of the public sector. Consequently, civil servants should view civil society organisations and the private sector as partners in the process of the country’s governance.
9. There is need to shift from pre-eminence of governance to effective governance with a focus on decentralization and citizen-centricity.

Summary of Recommendations: 2nd ARC’s 10th Report

1. A National Institutes of Public Administration should be established to run Bachelor’s Degree courses in public administration/ governance/management. Selected Central and other Universities should also be assisted to offer graduate level programmes in these courses which will produce graduates to further expand the pool of eligible applicants to the civil services. These graduates would be eligible for appearing in the Civil Services Examinations. Further, graduates in other disciplines would also be eligible to appear in the Civil Services Examination provided they complete a ‘Bridge Course’ in the core subjects mentioned above.
2. Structure of Examination: Either of the following two models may be adopted for compressing the examination cycle.

1. The Preliminary and Main Examinations for the Civil Services Examination would be conducted together on two to three consecutive days. Evaluation of papers for the Main Examination should be done in case of only those candidates who have secured a threshold level of marks in the Preliminary Examination. The personality test would follow thereafter.

OR

1. Based on the results of the Preliminary Examination, candidates eligible for taking the main examination and the personality test would be short listed in accordance with their rankings. Only these short-listed candidates would be eligible for appearing in the Main Examination, which would be conducted within two months of the Preliminary Examination. The short list would be limited to about two to three times of the number of vacancies available. Thus it would be possible to start the Personality Test and the Main Examination almost simultaneously.
2. The induction of officers of the State Civil Services into the IAS should be done by the UPSC on the basis of a common examination.
3. In the case of disciplinary proceedings, consultation with the UPSC should be mandatory only in cases involving likely dismissal or removal of a government servant.

 

Capacity Building

 

1. Every government servant should undergo a mandatory training at the induction stage and also periodically during his/her career. Successful completion of these trainings should be a minimum necessary condition for confirmation in service and subsequent promotions.
2. A monitoring mechanism should be set up for overseeing the implementation of the National Training Policy (1996).
3. The objective of mid-career training should be to develop domain knowledge and competence required
4. Public servants should be encouraged to obtain higher academic qualifications and to write papers for reputed and authoritative journals.
5. The composition of governing bodies of the national training institutions such as the LBSNAA, SVPNPA, IGNFA and also the State Administrative Training Institutes should be broadened by inducting eminent experts.
6. A National Institute of good governance may be set up by upgrading one of the existing national/state institutes. This institute would identify, document, and disseminate best practices and also conduct training programmes.

Recommendations of some other committees

A number of Committees and Commissions were set up to make recommendations on various aspects of civil services. These recommendations are included in the

• Report on Public Administration by A.D. Gorwala, 1951;
• Report on the Public Services (Qualifications for Recruitment)Committee, 1956 – also known as Dr. A. Ramaswami Mudaliar Committee Report;
• Report on Indian and State Administrative Services and Problems of District Administration by V.T. Krishnamachari, 1962;
• ARC’s Report on Personnel Administration,1969;
• Report of the Committee on Recruitment Policy and Selection Methods, 1976 – also known as the D.S. Kothari Committee Report;
• Report of the Committee to Review the Scheme of the Civil Services Examination, 1989 – also known as the Satish Chandra Committee Report;
• Report of the Civil Services Examination Review Committee, 2001, also known as Professor Yoginder K. Alagh Committee Report;
• Report of the Committee on Civil Service Reforms also known as the Hota Committee Report, 2004.

Relevant recommendations of recent committees 

On Recruitment

1. The Civil Services Examination Review Committee, 2001 (chaired by Professor Yoginder K. Alagh) favored testing the candidates in a common subject rather than on optional subjects.
2. The Committee on Civil Service Reforms (Hota Committee Report, 2004) recommended that aptitude and leadership tests may be introduced for selection, and that probationers may be allowed one month’s time after commencement of training to exercise their option for Services.

On Training

1. The Committee to Review In-Service Training of IAS officers, (Yugandhar Committee, 2003) recommended the need for three mid-career training programmes in the 12th, 20th and 28th years of service. Trainings at these 3 stages was suggested as there is a “major shift” in the nature of work of the officer, at these stages of their career.

On Domain Expertise

1. The first ARC classified higher civil service posts into two categories: posts in the field, and (b) posts at headquarters.
2. The field posts were held by the members of the ‘functional’ services which included not only the various engineering services but also services such as accounts and income tax. The first ARC noted that the only service that was not functional but occupied most of the higher posts in the civil services was the IAS. The first ARC recommended that the IAS should be converted into a functional service.
3. Consistent with its philosophy of organizing the administrative machinery along functional lines and inducting talent from all sources, the ARC recommended eight broad areas of specialization: Economic Administration; Industrial Administration; Agricultural and Rural Development Administration; Social and Educational Administration; Personnel Administration; Financial Administration; Defence Administration and Internal Security Planning.
4. The Report of the Group constituted to Review the System of Performance Appraisal, Promotion, Empanelment and Placement for the All India Services and other Group ‘A’ Services (Surinder Nath Committee Report, 2003) suggested the following 11 domains – Agriculture and Rural Development; Social Sectors (Education, Health, Tribal Welfare, etc.); Culture and Information; Natural Resources Management including Environment (green side); Energy and Environment (brown side); Communication Systems and Connectivity Infrastructure; Public Finance and Finance Management; Industry and Trade; Domestic Affairs and Defence; Housing and Urban Affairs; Personnel and General Administration. The Committee suggested that officers may be assigned to a maximum of three domains out of the eleven listed.
5. The Hota Committee on Civil Services Reforms, 2004, had recommended that domain assignment should be introduced for civil servants to encourage acquisition of skills, professional excellence and career planning.

On Efficiency

There has been a succession of Committees that were asked to recommend measures for increasing the efficiency of the civil services.

1. The Appleby Report (1953) contained recommendations relating to the establishment of O&M machinery and an Institute of Public Administration. These two recommendations were implemented by Government.
2. The Fifth Central Pay Commission (2000) stressed upon the need to optimise the size of the government machinery.
3. The Expenditure Reforms Commission (2001) emphasised on a drastic downsizing of the government staff strength for securing modern and professional governance and also reducing the increasing salary bill of the Government of India.
4. The Committee on Civil Services Reforms (Hota Committee, 2004) emphasised the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to transform Government by making it more accessible, effective and accountable. It stressed on the need to recognise that e-governance is about discarding old procedures and transforming the process of decision making and that technology is merely a tool and a catalyst for such transformations.

On Accountability

1. The Committee on Prevention of Corruption (Santhanam Committee) made a range of recommendations to fight the menace of corruption. It recommended the constitution of the Central Vigilance Commission, and administrative vigilance divisions in all Departments and major organizations of the Government. Changes were also suggested in Article 311 of the Constitution of India for conducting disciplinary proceedings against government servants. It was also recommended that offering of bribes should be made a substantive offence.
2. The first ARC recommended that the departments and organizations which were in direct charge of development programmes should introduce performance budgeting. The ARC also recommended the establishment of two special institutions, the Lok Pal to deal with complaints against the administrative acts of Ministers and Secretaries to the government at the Centre and the Lok Ayuktas to deal with such complaints in States.
3. The Hota Committee recommended that Sections 13 (1) (d) and 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure may be amended to protect honest civil servants from malicious prosecution and harassment. It also recommended that a Code of Ethics should be drawn up for civil servants incorporating the core values of integrity, merit and excellence in public service. Another recommendation of the Hota Committee was that each department should lay down and benchmark services to be delivered, methods of grievance redressal and public evaluation of performance. It also recommended that a Model Code of Governance should be drawn up benchmarking the standards of governance to be made available to the citizens.
4. The Report of the Group constituted to review the system of Performance Appraisal, Promotion, Empanelment and Placement of the AIS and Other Services (Surinder Nath Committee, 2003) recommended that – performance appraisal should be primarily used for the overall development of an officer and for his/her placement in an area where his/her abilities and potential can be best used.
5. Only those who can demonstrate a credible record of actual performance and possess the necessary knowledge and skills required for higher responsibilities should be promoted. There is no benefit in retaining officers who lack demonstrated competence, or who are unqualified, or of doubtful moral or financial integrity or who are in unacceptably poor health.
6. The Hota Committee on Civil Services Reforms, 2004, recommended replacing the ACR with a system of performance assessment in which greater emphasis is placed on objective assessment against agreed work plans.

Accountability of a civil servant

1. In any democracy, Ministers are responsible to the people through Parliament and therefore the civil servants have to be accountable to the Minister.
2. However, an impartial civil service is responsible not only to the government of the day but to the Constitution of the land to which they have taken an oath of loyalty.
3. At the same time, implementing the policies of the duly elected government is a core function of civil servants.
4. Civil Servants (Eg: Secretaries) have the constitutional mandate to advice the political executives (ministers).

To enhance accountability in civil services, experts have recommended following measures:

1. Strengthening and streamlining reporting mechanisms
2. Streamlining and fast-tracking departmental enquiries
3. Linking performance with incentives
4. Overhaul of employee grievance procedures
5. Action on audit findings
6. Implementation of Citizens Charters’ for monitoring service delivery
7. Right to Information Act and its enforcement
8. Code of conduct for civil servant
9. Major criticisms of Indian civil services are as follows:
10. Lack of expertise and poor capacity building
11. Alienation from the public and they do not have good understanding of what people want.
12. Inefficient incentive systems that do not appreciate upright and outstanding civil servants but reward the corrupt and the incompetent.
13. Outdated rules and procedures that restrict the civil servant from performing successfully.
14. Lack of performance culture and focus on outputs and outcomes and inappropriate performance appraisal.
15. Systemic irregularities in promotion and empanelment.
16. Lack of adequate transparency and accountability procedures. There is also no safety for whistle blowers.
17. Arbitrary and whimsical transfers. Insecurity in tenures impedes institutionalization.
18. Political interference and administrative compliance.
19. A gradual erosion in public service values, ethics and self-esteem.

Many experts argued that role of the civil service as a tool in a state’s socio-economic and political development is undisputable. In some regions of world, however, the civil service seems incapable to cope with the fundamental ideological, political and economic changes as well as the management innovations.

In other parts of the world, particularly in Africa, the institutional and capacity weakness of the civil service is considered one of the fundamental causes of socio-political disturbances and economic crunch. With awareness of such facts, since last decade, many countries are introducing major changes in the structure and operations of their civil services.

Major challenges of civil services

1. Political support and will
2. Management capacity to implement reforms
3. Nurturing support from civil servants themselves
4. Safety nets must be in place for those people who are adversely affected
5. Reforms must reflect the political and institutional environment of a country and developing communication between all the stakeholders

Conflicts between civil services and democracy

1. Rigid organization structures and cumbersome procedures
2. Elitist, authoritarian, conservative outlook
3. Men in bureaucracy fulfill segmental roles over which they have no control. Consequently, they have little or no opportunity to exercise individual judgment.
4. The requirement that a bureaucrat should follow the principles of consistency and regularity automatically limits his capacity to adapt to changing circumstances.
5. The general rules which may take for overall efficiency produce inefficiency and injustice in individual cases.
6. Civil services’ difficulty to cope with uncertainty and change is a key limit on its efficiency.

Major benefits of an independent, permanent and impartial civil service

1. Having a trustworthy recruitment process through a neutral agency provides a defence against such abuse.
2. Public policy today has become a difficult exercise requiring in-depth knowledge and expertise in public affairs. A permanent civil service offers continuity and develops expertise as well as institutional memory for effective policy making.
3. A permanent and unbiased civil service is more likely to assess the long-term social payoffs of any policy while the political executive may have a tendency to look for short term political gain.
4. A permanent civil service assists to ensure consistency in public administration and also acts as a uniting force particularly in immense and culturally diverse nations.
5. A permanent civil service is likely to develop over time on principled basis for its functioning.

It is well recognized in theoretical studies that smooth functioning civil service helps to nurture good policymaking, effective service delivery, accountability and responsibility in utilizing public resources which are main attributes of good governance.

“Good Governance” is being used as an all-inclusive framework not only for administrative and civil service reform, but as a link between Civil Service Improvement and an all-embracing framework for making policy decisions effective within practical systems of responsibility and citizen participation. 

Main intent of civil services is to strength the administrative capacity to perform important government functions. These reforms raise the quality of services to the citizens that are essential to the advancement of supportable economic and social development. There is continuous need of civil services reforms for betterment of society.

Difference between Indian Civil Services and American Civil Services

Though civil servants are there in almost all countries, the selection and nature of job differs. The main difference between Indian and US system are as below:

1. Indian Civil Services are permanent. US Civil Servants in higher echelons change with government (spoils system).
2. Indian system is based on merit, judged through competitive exams. US system, at-least in higher civil services, is given as a reward for favors done to the political executives.

Civil services perform the following important functions

1. Basis of government: No government can exist without administrative machinery. All nations, irrespective of their system of government, require some sort of administrative machinery for implementing policies.
2. An instrument for implementing Laws and Policies: Civil services are responsible for implementing the laws and policies of government. By carrying out laws, it regulates the behaviour of the people in society. By implementing public policies and programmes, it delivers the promised goods and services to the intended beneficiaries. The ideals and objectives of government may be very popular, the plans for national development may be extremely progressive and the resources of the country may be abundant, but without civil services nothing can be achieved. An efficient civil service can avoid waste, correct errors; limit the consequences of incompetence or irresponsibility while implementing laws and public policies.
3. Participation in policy formulation: In modern world, civil service is the chief policy maker in government. It is a source of facts; experience; ideas and solution. Public administration participates in policy making by giving advice to ministers and providing them the necessary information. The administrative tasks of public bureaucracy include formulation of policies and plans, executing and monitoring programmes, laying down laws, rules and regulations, which affect human actions in almost all walks of life.
4. A great stabilizing force: Civil services acts as a stabilizing force in society. It settles social tensions and conflicts and thus creates social unity and harmony.
5. Provides continuity: Civil servants carry the role of governance even when government changes after elections. Ramsay Muir has remarked that while governments may come and go, ministers may rise and fall, the administration of a country goes on forever. It is needless to say that civil services form the backbone of administration.
6. An instrument of social change and economic development: The developing nations are mostly traditional and poor agricultural societies without adequate basic amenities of good life. These nations are struggling to achieve modernisation of society and economic development and realize welfare goals. The state is called upon to achieve these goals. These objectives have placed challenging tasks on public administration such as formulation of economic plans and their successful implementation to economic growth and social change. The accomplishment of these goals requires honest and competent civil servants.
7. Provides a wide variety of services in the public interest: Public administration run by civil servants provides a large number of services to the people such as:

Protective Functions

1. They protect the life and property of the people by maintaining law and order. The survival and progress of human beings depend on the proper enforcement of laws against lawbreakers.
2. In recent times, protection of the environment is added to the protective functions of the government. As a result of rapid industrialisation, there is the problem of environmental pollution which threatens our lives and environmental pollution. Now almost all the governments are making efforts at the enhancement of environmental quality.

Facilitative services

 They provide facilitative services such as transportation, communications, and supply of power and so on.

1. Management of public enterprises: Civil servants are managing public enterprises and public utilities in the interest of socio-economic justice. Public utilities are either publicly owned or strictly regulated in most countries. Government also imposes controls over private economic and business activities in the public interest.
2. Welfare services: The welfare services provided for the people include social security, old age pensions, welfare of the weaker sections, poverty alleviation etc.
3. Developmental functions: They perform a vital function of promoting agriculture, industry, internal and international trade, banking, insurance etc.

In addition to above, some other functions performed by civil service are as under:

1. Assisting ministers in fulfilling their responsibilities towards the parliament and its committees.
2. Handling financial operations of the state.
3. Reforming and improving administration through O and M (i.e. organization and methods)
4. Administrative adjudication: This is a quasi- judicial function performed by the civil service. The civil servants settle disputes between the citizens and the state. For this purpose, the Administrative Tribunals, with civil servants as judges are established. For example: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal

Major responsibilities of civil servants to government and society

It has been found that the Civil Servant has a crucial role to ensure continuity and change in administration. The civil servants are dictated by the rules and procedures.

1. The prime responsibility of civil services executives to society is to serve the government it has elected. It denotes that civil services must offer same standard of free, frank, impartial and responsive advice, and the same level of professionalism in administration and delivery of services, policies, programs irrespective of political party in power.
2. Another accountability of civil services executive is to openly involve in all actions within the framework of ministerial actions to government and legislature.
3. Specifically, civil servants are responsible for public interest in maintaining the law and ensuring that proper procedures are followed.
4. Civil servants have close relations with society as they serve array of services. It entails that they must adopt ethical practices to deal with public.
5. Civil servants need to serve the society by ensuring that entitlement and services provided to it under law and government policies are delivered effectively, impartially, courteously and professionally.
6. Civil services officers also responsive to the needs of people, treating its members with courtesy and with sensitivity to their rights and aspirations.

Constitutional Provisions Related to Civil Services in India

1. In terms of Articles 53 and 154, the executive power of the Union and the States vests in the President or Governor directly or through officers subordinate to him. These officers constitute the permanent civil service and are governed by Part XIV of the Constitution (Services under the Union and States (Article 308-323)).
2. Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules: Work is allocated among Ministers as per the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules.
3. Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules: The manner in which the officers are required to help the President or Governor to exercise his/her executive functions is governed by the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules.
4. Article 308 – Definition of state.
5. Article 310 – Tenure of office of persons serving the Union or a State.
6. Article 311 – Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State.
7. Article 312 – All India Services.
8. Article 313 – Transitional Provisions.

India is a democratic country and in this system, power confers with the people. The power is exercised through its designated representatives who have the command to manage them for particular period.

The civil services by quality of its knowledge, experience and understanding of public affairs support the chosen representatives to device effectual policy and have great responsibility to implement these policies for the welfare of society and enhancement of nation.

Parliamentary democracies are generally pigeonholed by a permanent civil service which helps the political policymakers and political executives. India is a constitutional fairness and its operations are usually depends upon four supports that include Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, and Free Press.

Each one of these has been assigned its role in democratic establishment.

First pillar is associated with the governance of the State. Effective and efficient institutions form the strength of an efficacious development and governance process.

One of the basic components of Indian governance planning is the concept of an unbiased, honest, efficient and valiant civil service which is the core of the Executive whether it is All India Services or the other Civil Services. They form the stable structure and support of Indian Administration System.

Civil society of nation

The civil service is a subdivision of government which is usually grouped with the Executive, and without which governments cannot function. These are men and women who establish the permanent staff of the departments of governments. They are expert administrators. 

Some academicians refer jointly to these employees as public administration or the bureaucracy, or public service. Olaopa (2008) stated that civil service, although commonly used, is usually misinterpreted. According to Lawson, (1974), the civil service is the term used to designate servants of the state or the central government employed as civilians. It does not include ministers or cabinet members or the Judiciary. 

In some countries, it usually does not cover local government employees nor the staff of public enterprises. In this framework, the civil service will embrace civilian employees of state and federal governments only, excluding cabinet ministers and the judiciary.

Idode, (1986), explained civil service as the “array of administrative and professional staff employed, on permanent and pensionable basis to established posts, by the state, to advise on and execute its policies”.

Historical review of civil services

Civil service is described as the body of government officials who are recruited in civil administration that are neither political nor judicial. The public administration system in India has been established since ancient times.

Therefore, the notion of civil service was predominant in India from earlier period in history. In the past era, the civil servants performed the role of servants of the king. The Mauryan administration employed civil servants in the name of adhyakshas and rajukas.

The investigation for civil servants in those days too was very stringent as revealed by Kautilya’s Arthasastra. The expanse of the region and the need to hold it intact made it vital for the Mauryan administration to recruit civil servants based on excellence.

In the medieval period, civil servants became State Servants, who contributed their efforts in the development of land revenue system during the Moghul period.

The East India Company has a civil service to perform their commercial functions. Afterward, during the British rule they started as servants to the Crown, but slowly they started becoming ‘Public Servants’. The British Government established the civil services basically with the aim of strengthening the British administration in India.

In this period, the role of civil services was to promote the British interest and its role was totally regulatory. Later on, they assumed developmental roles also. After the coming into force of the Constitution of independent India, the civil services has modified considerably.

The modern history of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) began with the East India Company. In the period of 1800 AD, Lord Wellesley realised that the administrators of the Empire must be qualified, expertise, and character established the College of Fort William where every worker of the company was to be sent for a three-year course of education of the standards of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. 

Among other subjects taught were ethics and international law, and in addition, Indian history and oriental languages. The Directors, however, while accepting the proposal decided that the college should be in England. 

This is how that, for a whole half-century and more, all members of the Civil Service were qualified and specially trained at the East India College at Haileybury. The method of employment was by competitive examination but the method of entry was by the nomination of the Directors.

There is immense importance of the civil service system in the administrative system which acts as the most vital tool for governance of India. In post-independent, India civil service was re-organized. 

There are three tiers of administration that include Union/Central Government, State Government, and Local Government.

At the central level, the civil services include the All India Services, namely the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Forest Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS).

Besides these, there are other Central Services such as the Indian Revenue Service, Indian Railways Service, etc. at the central level. The State Governments have their own set of services like State Civil Service.

Gradually, with time, the role of civil services has transformed that depend on the schedule of the governance of that specific period.

During the British period, enforcement of law and order and collection of revenue was major issue of civil services officers. After the independence of India, when the Government has attained the role of Welfare State, civil services has an imperative role in implementing national and state policies of welfare and planned development.

Importance of the civil service to the Indian administrative system

1. Service presence throughout the country and its strong binding character.
2. Non-partisan advice to political leadership in the midst of political instability and uncertainties.
3. Effective policy-making and regulation.
4. Effective coordination between institutions of governance.
5. Leadership at different levels of administration.
6. Service delivery at the cutting edge level.
7. Provide “continuity and change” to the administration.

It has been observed that civil services are considered as the main component of Indian administrative system that has the responsibility to accomplish the development objectives and welfare of the state. If these objectives have any failure or shortcomings, it has been thought that it is a failure of civil services.

It is thought that India’s vast administration is maintained at huge cost by the country’s taxpayer whose average income is among the lowest in the world. But public perceives for the members of the civil service, who are responsible for higher coordination and policymakers as `burdensome low-performers’ and corrupt and incompetent to govern the country.

Note4Students

Year on year, questions in ethics paper have become more dynamic in nature. This is not just for static syllabus portion but also for case studies.

These 60+ case studies for Mains 2017 are based on current affairs and have been mapped to subtopics of Ethics syllabus in order to provide a better understanding of issues related to Ethics.

Click on the individual subtopics links below to view and answer case studies:

Get compilation PDF here, now FREE- http://imojo.in/5y6jyh

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1. Emotional intelligence: concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance
2. Moral and political attitudes
3. Social influence and persuasion
4. Ethics in private and public relationships
5. Strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance
6. Accountability and ethical governance
7. Quality of service delivery
8. Codes of Conduct
9. Philosophical basis of governance and probity
10. Work culture
11. Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality, and nonpartisanship, objectivity
12. Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behavior
13. Probity in Governance: Concept of public service
14. Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems
15. Laws, rules, regulations, and conscience as sources of ethical guidance

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Edited and enhanced by Civilsdaily

Syllabus mapping

Paper 4 | Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude | Work culture

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Note4Students

This initiative is a part of Target Mains programme for Mains 2017.

You can post your answers in the comment section. But mentor review of answers will not be available. Just like various other CD community initiatives, this will also be a peer-to-peer review exercise.

Model answers are available below in PDF format and can be used for personal evaluation.

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Question 1:

You are posted in a government office. Your staff is not punctual when it comes to timings as the last officer had no complaints about late coming as long as people did their work efficiently. However, one of your friend who is in other department advices you to be strict with you staff.

He tells you that punctuality comes first even if people are doing their work efficiently. You know that your staff though comes late but is well efficient in work and their coming late to office doesn’t have any negative effect on work.

What will you do? Will you follow your friend’s advice and be strict with your staff? Discuss the various options that are available to you along with their merits and demerits suggesting which course of action would you take and why?

Question 2:

In a District Government Hospital there exists a powerful nexus among senior doctors, private nursing homes, pharmacy and testing labs. The doctors mislead patients discouraging them from availing the hospital’s medical facilities, making them opt for costly medicines, forcing them to get medical tests done outside, and encouraging them to use private nursing homes.
You are appointed as the new Superintendent of the Hospital. After taking charge you discover that this dirty game is going on in your hospital. You face pressure from your own people to allow this evil to continue. There are hints given of huge rewards. You are new and have just begun your career. The fate of the patients is in your hands. What are the various options available to you? Evaluate each of the options and suggest what course of action will you take and why?

Question 3:

A wordy incentive proves very worth in raising the morale of the workers which ultimately results in an increased output of works. Two girls Komal and Ritika are working in a multi-national company and assigned to complete a project together. Ritika had invested everything in terms of time, knowledge and expertise. Komal also did a bit of work in the project. At the completion of the project, the boss gave complete credit to Komal, when it was in fact her colleague who did most of the work.
1. Should Komal accept the praise nullifying Ritika? What are moral principles involved in this case?
2. What should Komal do and why? Suggest the suitable course of action.

Syllabus mapping

Paper 4 | Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude | Strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance

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Note4Students

This initiative is a part of Target Mains programme for Mains 2017.

You can post your answers in the comment section. But mentor review of answers will not be available. Just like various other CD community initiatives, this will also be a peer-to-peer review exercise.

Model answers are available below in PDF format and can be used for personal evaluation.

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Question 1:

The showing up of the strength, power through the use of beacons, etc is very much prevalent in India. It brings hatred and discomfort among the minds of general public.

What are the pros and cons of the government’s decision of curbing VIP culture by banning red beacons?

Do you think a certain class of people should be given special benefits and important status in the society? Give arguments in support of your answer.