Strengthening of

Ethical and
Moral Values in
Governance

Suresh Misra

Indian Institute of Public Administration

New Delhi
 STRENGTHENING OF ETHICAL
AND MORAL VALUES IN
GOVERNANCE

Prof. Suresh Misra

Professor of Public Administration (Consumer Affairs)
Indian Institute of Public Administration

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

NEW DELHI
2016
Printed at New United Process, New Delhi 110028
 PREFACE

The notion of “Good Governance” has become the buzzword these

days in wake of globalization. Good governance is commonly described as
a style of governance that is efficient, effective, responsive, corruption
free and citizen friendly for ensuring people’s trust in government and
promoting social harmony, political stability and economic development.
Good governance is strictly connected with institutionalized values such as
democracy, observance of human rights and rule of law and greater
efficiency within the public sector. The current concern for good governance
and building public trust in administration has generated the need for following
ethical and moral principles, which emphasize on “justice,” “equity,”
“conscience,” and “moral unambiguity” and give a prominent place to the
idea that public servants are ultimately responsible to the people. In seeking
to maintain high standards of ethical behaviour by public administrators,
agencies rely on a wide variety of enforcement mechanisms like codes of
ethics, legal regulations, professional rules, and ombudsmen to oversee ethical
standards. Though all have proved useful in some respects, none can be
considered fully satisfactory, at least not in the sense that it alone can be
expected to ensure organizational morality. Codes of ethics need to work
hand in hand with proactive managerial strategies, which in turn need to be
bolstered by external checks on behaviour.
The present paper on “Strengthening of Ethical and Moral Values
in Governance” elaborates the concept and contents of ethical and moral
values; their need, importance and applicability in public service; and
highlights some of the issues which are hindrances in achieving the objectives
of good and ethical governance. It also puts forth some of the suggestions
for strengthening ethical and moral governance.
I am grateful to Dr. Tishyarakshit Chatterjee, Director, IIPA for giving
me the opportunity to write this paper. The discussions held with him in the
initial stages helped in framing the structure and contents of the paper. His
valuable comments on the earlier drafts helped in finalising the paper.
I am grateful to Shri. T.N. Chaturvedi, Chairman, IIPA and Prof. M.P.
Singh, Editor, IJPA for their valuable comments and suggestions in finalising
the paper. I would like to thank my colleague Dr. Sapna Chadah, Assistant
Professor (Administrative and Constitutional Law), IIPA for her valuable
iv

help in preparing the paper. My thanks are due to the library staff, especially
Ms. Sunita Gulati, Deputy Librarian, for their help in providing the required
material and references on the subject.

(Suresh Misra)
Place: New Delhi
Date: August 24, 2016
 CONTENTS

Page

Preface iii
1. Introduction 1
Human Values and Society 1
Growing Trust Deficit 3
2. Ethics and Moral Values 6
Ethics: Concept and Definition 6
Ethics: Normative or Relative 9
Ethics and Values: Western Debates 10
Ethics and Values: Indian Context 13
Gandhian View on Ethics in Administration 16
Chinese Ethical Thoughts 18
Middle East: Arab Spring —Dilemma between Ethics and
Self Interest 19
Ethics in Public Life 20
Ethics Infrastructure 21
3. Good Governance: Ethics and Moral Values 22
Good Governance: Conceptual Framework 22
Accountability 26
Transparency 27
Rule of Law 28
Citizen’s Participation 28
Good Governance and Ethics: Global Initiatives 29
OECD Recommendation on Improving Ethical Conduct in
the Public Service 29
Legal Regulations 33
Structural Arrangements 33
vi

4. Misfeasance and Corruption 34

Corruption: Major Challenges 34
Corruption in India 36
Impact of Bribery and Corruption on India’s Economy 38
5. Indian Initiatives to Strengthen Ethical Framework 40
Accountability to Parliament 40
Judicial Accountability 40
Code of Conduct for Ministers 41
The Committee on Ethics of the Rajya Sabha and Lok
Sabha 41
Disclosure of Interest 42
Code of Conduct / Ethics for Civil Servants 43
Institutional Mechanism to Check Corruption 44
Towards Transparent Governance: Right to Information
Act, 2005 46
Lokpal and Lokayuktas 47
Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011 48
Vigilance and Investigative Mechanisms 50
Central Vigilance Commission 50
Central Bureau of Investigation 50
National Investigative Agency 51
Citizen’s Charter and Quality of Delivery of Services 52
Right to Public Service Delivery Legislations 52
Media and Governance 54
Civil Society Organisations: Partners in Good Governance 55
6. Emerging Ethical Dimensions of Public Service Delivery
in 21st Century 57
7. The Way Forward: Issues and Suggestions 61
Political Commitment to Ethics and Moral Values 61
Directive Principles of State Policy 62
National Commission on Integrity and Transparency in
Governance 63
 vii

Transparency in Delivery of Public Services 63

Use of Innovative Technological Tools to Reduce Human
Interface 64
Abuse of Discretionary Powers 64
Protection and Incentives to Honest Public Servants 65
Permanent Civil Service and Re-employment 65
HRD Training in Ethics and Moral Values 66
References 68
STRENGTHENING OF ETHICAL AND MORAL
VALUES IN GOVERNANCE

“You are what your deep, driving desire is,

As your desire is, so is your will,
As your will is, so is your deed,
As your deed is, so is your destiny”.
— Brihadaranyka Upnishad

1. INTRODUCTION

Human Values and Society

One of the serious challenges facing mankind in organized social life is
ethics—the problem of choice between good and bad, do’s and don’ts. All
of nature’s creations follow certain fixed laws of nature but the same is not
true of human behaviour. Human behaviour cannot be predicted as man
has been endowed with the freedom to decide, which other creations do
not possess.1 Man is like an infinite spring, coiled up in a small box; and that
spring is trying to unfold itself; and all the social phenomena that we see
are a result of this trying to unfold.2 In this situation it is the values and
ethics imbibed in all of us since childhood which guide our conduct. Values
are, thus, prime drivers of personal, social, and professional choices.3 Values
influence how individuals live their lives both professionally and personally.
They impact their attitudes, their approach to life situations, their relationships,
their interactions with people and within settings, and the meaning they
assign to situations and the behaviours of others.4
The identification of values starts from the participation of the activities
of the Self in the form of definite conduct of the human being based on
realization and understanding. The values are nothing but the participation
of the human being in different dimensions of living. The universal human
values are the parameters which designate innate harmony and orderliness
in existence at various levels and highlight the universal purpose in terms of
understanding this harmony. Thus, universal human values are nothing but
manifestation of the truth of existence (harmony, coexistence) in various
dimensions of human interaction in terms of the participation in the universal
order. These are naturally acceptable to all human beings and conducive to
2/ THEME PAPER 2016

human happiness.5 All codes of ethics are based upon renunciation:

destruction, not construction, for the individual, on the material plane. The
ideal of all ethics is destruction, and not the building up, of the individual.6
Nivrtti (going away from desire of materialization) is the fundamental basis
of all morality and all religion. All morality can be divided into the positive
and the negative elements. When it says ‘Do not’, it is a check to a certain
desire which would make man a slave. When it says ‘Do’, its scope is to
show the way to freedom and to the breaking down of a certain degradation
which has already seized human heart.7 There is need to evaluate our
conduct at various stages of life, in line with moral principles. Continuous
self-exploration with perseverance is the process for bridging the gap
between our present conduct and ethical human conduct. The life and
profession cannot be seen in a segregated manner. Profession is only a
subset of life.8
The culture of an organization is made up of the values, morals, integrity,
and personal culture of its employees. The issue of ethics in public service
is as old as government itself. Ethical considerations are of fundamental
importance to the quality of democracy and its administration. These can
hardly be overlooked in a time of popular reforms that attempt to transform
the public service ethos in the name of productivity.9 Ethical claims refer to
standards of right conduct which the public has legitimate warrant to demand
of public servants and organizations. Right conduct refers not only to the
honest management of public resources but also to respect for the rights
and dignity of persons within and outside of public organizations. Moreover,
right conduct in government translates into a well-founded respect for and
trust of government on the part of the citizenry. Public service ethics is
concerned with much more than simple financial accountability. The ethical
claims upon government are special and higher as it assumes a duty to
work in the best interests of the people as a whole with special obligations
to vulnerable populations. Most of the services from the government are
provided regardless of ability to pay, social standing or personal qualities or
beliefs. No private institutions assume a similar ethical duty. Thus the ethical
bar is placed higher for government than for the private sector.10
Ethics in public life is all pervading and to be understood in all its
manifestations and dimensions. The unity and stability of society demands
that ethical restraints must operate not only in respect of individuals but
also organized groups—be they industrial, business and trade associations,
labour unions, political parties, military and civil services, judiciary, non-
governmental organisations, academic or professional associations,
agriculturists’ organizations, apart from government itself. How influential
 SURESH MISRA /3

and powerful people conduct themselves in private life and the public domain
set a precedent for others to follow or to seek justification for their own
self-seeking or even scandalous conduct.11 Values and ethics are gaining
importance in the discourse about governance today. There is a general
perception amongst the people that standards in public life are declining.
Questions are being raised regarding misconduct and mismanagement on
the part of those who have been entrusted with guarding public interest and
resources.

Growing Trust Deficit

Trust is one of the most significant elements upon which the legitimacy
and sustainability of government and governance systems are built. But it
seems to be declining around the world and citizens are losing their
confidence in governments. It is because the reliance, confidence, optimism
of a good will, or confident expectations, which people had viz -a-viz
government, are not being met.12 Considerations of practicality necessitate
that there be devolution of public power to institutions and officials who will
exercise it for the people. But the trust so given is not without its
corresponding burden: accountability to the public is the obligation of all
who hold office or employment in our governmental system. That obligation
is, in part, a direct product of our commitment to representative democracy
in part, the precondition of our devolution of public power to institutions and
officials.13 However, there have been incidences of dramatic failure of
accountability in governmental systems in our country leaving people
vulnerable and resulting in mistrust among the citizenry.
The roots of mistrust can be found in various areas: citizens feel that
politicians and public officials often abuse their powers in the interest of
self-aggrandizement; citizens feel disconnected from government;
government service delivery is perceived as inadequate or improper;
government systems are poor or malfunctioning; a weakened global or
national economy; the effects of globalization and informatization, such as
ICT development; resentment over political scandals and crises; the
incompetence of bureaucrats and politicians; rule violation, honour violation
and many others. Thus the pertinent question which arises in the present
scenario is: How is trust in government built up? Public trust is not something
which can be built in isolation. It is only by targeting issues like legality,
integrity, efficiency, effectiveness, involvement, dependability, transparency
and fairness, which are all part of good governance, improved public trust
will eventually result. In other words, public trust is the pinnacle byproduct
of foothill goals such as good governance agendas. 14
4/ THEME PAPER 2016

Bureaucracy may formally speak about the merits of transparency but

show difficulty in actually carrying measures to promote transparency, since
secrecy is more compatible with authority. Civil servants tend to believe
that they alone have the correct idea of what society needs and how those
needs can be met. They increasingly speak of serving citizens but are unable
to build institutions which make them accountable to citizens. This is because
civil servants have been traditionally taught to respond to their superiors,
not to the citizenry. They may say that they serve the citizens, since it is
fashionable to say that modern civil servants are customer-oriented. But in
many cases, this is still a slogan rather than an effective practice. Civil
servants face a permanent contradiction between their corporate and public
interests. In case they are clear that they are not just agents of the elected
politicians but also of the people or the nation, they will be able to resolve
this contradiction. A public administrator is principally an agent or steward
of the citizen. Hence, the ethics for civil servants, besides being the ethics
of power and efficiency, are the republican ethics of the public interest as a
goal which must be actively pursued.15 The bureaucracy must add value to
society, advance certain objective standards of public welfare and public
well-being. The costs and efforts involved must be judged by people to be
worthwhile.16
India has a massive bureaucracy maintained at a huge cost to the
country’s taxpayer. There is a general feeling of mistrust among the citizens.
The public perception about the members of the civil services is that they
are “burdensome low-performers”. The highly bloated bureaucracy is often
perceived to be corrupt and inefficient in governing the country. Indian
bureaucratic system suffers from several ailments such as a lack of
professionalism, poor capacity-building, inefficient incentive systems that
do not appreciate upright and outstanding civil servants which reward the
corrupt and the incompetent, outmoded rules and procedures that restrict
the civil servants from performing effectively, systemic inconsistencies in
promotion and empanelment, and a lack of adequate transparency and
accountability procedures. There is also no safety for whistle-blowers, and
there are arbitrary and whimsical transfers. The insecurity in tenure impedes
institutionalization and causes political interference, administrative
acquiescence, and gradual erosion in values and ethics.17
Outside of small, simple, isolated governing systems, of which there
are increasingly few, the administration of government is influenced (and
influences) the general society and culture in which it operates. As a result,
civil service ethics throughout time illustrates a diversity of forms and
directives. This diversity itself presents numerous challenges to public
 SURESH MISRA /5

administrators not only at the international level but also within states
themselves. Through the dynamics of globalization, civil servants come into
increasing contact with their counterparts across national boundaries as
necessitated by increased interdependence between states. These
interactions involve a multiplicity of policy areas: finance,
telecommunications, environmental protection, counter-terrorism, capital
flows, public health, and others. It would be a mistake, however, to assume
that these substantive policy and administrative issues can be dealt with on
a purely technical basis: norms will still play a major role in shaping the
alternatives and methods used by civil servants in pursuance of moral goals.
As a result, public administrators will increasingly encounter norms from
other cultures that appear opaque, incomprehensible, and (at extremes)
even irrational.18
In a rapidly changing environment, the public servants have to carry
out their tasks with limited resources, increased demands from citizens and
greater public scrutiny. These reforms have an impact on the prevailing
traditional public service values and standards. Thus, the ethical values
need to be adjusted to ensure accountability and excellence in public service
delivery. Ethics is gaining importance today because though most of the
laws are grounded on ethical principles, for most organizations, following
ethical practices is simply good for their effective functioning. A
demonstrated public service culture that supports and provides appropriate
norms and initiatives for professional and responsible behaviour is essential
for good governance.
In 2014, the Prime Minister’s Office had indicated Prime Minister Modi’s
guiding principles in making his new team. For the first time the Prime
Minister adopted the guiding principle of “Minimum Government and
Maximum Governance”— the latter going beyond the structure of
government and providing some space to the civil society and market
institutions consistent with constitutional principles of legitimacy and
accountability. He also emphasized on rationalization with a commitment to
bring about a change in work culture and style of governance. Prime
Minister’s Office went on to declare that Prime Minister is eventually aiming
at smart governance where the top layers of government will be downsized.
During the decade a large number of scams and instances of
maladministration have only increased the trust deficit. Minimum
government and maximum governance has to ensure that the systems are
accountable, transparent, fair, equitable and above all ethical, which brings
ethics and moral values to the centre stage of governance today.
6/ THEME PAPER 2016

2. ETHICS AND MORAL VALUES

Ethics: Concept and Definition

“...we know that as knowledge comes, person grows, morality is
evolved, and idea of non-separateness begins. Whether men
understand it or not, they are impelled by that power behind to become
unselfish. That is the foundation of morality. It is the quintessence of
all ethics, preached in any language, or any religion, or by any prophet
in the world...”
— Swami Vivekananda
The Oxford English Dictionary defines ethics as the science of morals
or moral principles. It is very often used as a synonym or even an
interchangeable expression for terms like values, norms, standards, morality,
etc. Even the phrase ‘social responsibility’ has been used. Ethics is something
like electricity, not apparent to the naked eye, but felt instantaneously in
specific conditions and visible when power is switched on.19 “Ethics” and
“Ethical” are often used synonymously with morals (or morality) and moral,
as reference is made differently to the ethics or to the morality of a person
or a group, to the ethical or moral virtues or qualities. The study of ethics is
concerned with the moral principles that determine what is right or wrong
conduct. However, determining what is right or wrong behaviour is not an
easy task as the criterion for the same are neither absolute nor universal,
but variable, depending on the person, place, and time.20
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences defines ethics as “the organisation or
criticism of conduct in terms of notions like good, right or welfare…. Ethics
is the secular and critical manner of taking account of the rationalising
process in conduct. Its temper is non-mystical, and its orientation is social
rather than theological.21 The New Encyclopedia of Britannica defines ethics
as “the branch of philosophy that is concerned with what is morally good
and bad, right and wrong: a synonym for its moral philosophy. Traditionally,
ethics has undertaken to analyse, evaluate, and develop normative moral
criteria for dealing with moral problems.22
The word moral(s) is derived from the Latin root moralis, which implies
custom. In other words, it refers to a behaviour that is accepted or rejected
due to an accepted social custom. The word ethics stems from the Greek
word ethike, which attributes to a social environment, referred to as ethos
or social milieu.23 This latter meaning embraces much more than mere
custom. It refers to everything that is part and parcel of society and not just
what is allowed or forbidden. Though the terms morality and ethics sound
 SURESH MISRA /7

different but intrinsically both of them refer to the same reality of human
actions. Both refer to the same social reality wherein a certain body of
accepted norms forms a code of conduct in society.24
Morality is the realm of individual appreciation of the fundamental or
first-principle definitions of “good” or “bad”. Morality is the public expression
of one’s comprehensive doctrine, such as religion.25 Morality is concerned
with the norms, values and beliefs embedded in social processes which
define right and wrong for an individual or a community. Ethics is concerned
with the study of morality and the application of reason to elucidate specific
rules and principles that determine right and wrong for a given situation.
Morality precedes ethics. All individuals and communities have morality, a
basic sense of right or wrong in relation to particular activities. Ethics
represents an attempt to systematize and rationalize morality, typically into
generalized normative rules that is supposedly a solution to situations of
moral uncertainty.26
The ethics that any individual or organization espouses, are deeply
intertwined with the moral views held by the individual or the consortium of
individuals that found and manage the organization. Ethics, or the prudential,
public expression of morality, are standards of good or bad behaviour and
action.27 Ethics is the character or ethos of an individual or a group, the
hierarchy of values and norms which he/she or they identify for him/herself
or themselves against a prevailing moral code. Ethics, as a set of principles,
give a rational justification for behaviour. They define individual and group
priorities, and in the end, they may arrive at a systematic body of moral
norms, as individual and group practices get interwoven.28 Ethics may be
commensurate with legal pronouncements or statements on the actions
that political powers may reasonably enforce under an agreed constitutional
framework. Or, ethical standards may be supererogatory when compared
to legal standards. Yet, at the roots of laws and codes of ethics lie morality,
and standing in defense of morality is a history of dialogues and narratives
that help individuals make sense of “good” and “bad” when seeking to
comprehend or act upon those morals (Be ethical).29
Ethics has several attributes, some of which are universalistic in nature
and some change with time and place. It may be specific to a particular
task situation, profession or area of responsibility, e.g. ethics of a doctor or
a chartered accountant. Certain things are expected from everyone while
there may be a few specific things expected according to the nature of
groups or responsibilities. Ethics is something related to a state of mind, a
way of looking at things which may develop into a pattern of behaviour or
way of life and social conduct.30
8/ THEME PAPER 2016

Social conduct has evolved along with the evolution of society over a
period of hundreds of years. The codes of conduct have been passed down
from generation to generation, and there is a pattern to the evolution of
such codes. Acceptable behaviour is promoted and elevated as a social
value, and unacceptable behaviour is rejected and condemned. The object
of the social codes of conduct is to maintain, promote, and elevate harmonious
relationships.31 Thus ethics cannot be shaped and sustained in isolation.
The heuristic process requires a supportive environment in which public
opinion plays a significant part. Its application and operation in specific
situations become evident so that the generality of people recognise it. It is
maintained and sustained by a sense of responsibility—not merely
accountability to some external agency but also to something within.32
The unwritten rules of the code of ethical conduct are the historical
product of social mores, i.e., customs, conventions, and standards generally
regarded as essential to the well-being of a particular community. Although
perceptions of the nature of ethics may vary between cultural and ethnic
groups, there tends to be broad agreement within national communities on
what is right and what is wrong. Thus, ethical issues are probably best
understood in the context of what is considered to be morally correct by the
standards prevailing in particular societies.33
Philosophers today usually divide ethical theories into three general
subject areas: meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics.34
• Meta-ethics: Meta-ethics focuses on the meaning of ethical terms
themselves rather than on mere applied question of ‘what should
be done in a particular situation?’. Meta-ethical answers to these
questions focus on the issues of universal truths, the will of God,
the role of reason in ethical judgments, and the meaning of ethical
terms themselves. It is, therefore concerned with the nature of
ethical properties, statements, attitudes and judgments. Meta-ethics
examines such themes as what moral questions mean, and on what
basis people can know what is ‘true’ or ‘false’.
• Normative ethics: Normative ethics takes on a more practical
task, which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right and
wrong conduct. It is the study of ethical acts. It, therefore, focuses
explicitly on questions of ‘what is the right thing to do?’ in general.
Normative ethics is concerned with questions of what people ought
to do, and on how people can decide what the ‘correct’ moral
actions are. This may involve articulating the good habits that we
should acquire, the duties that we should follow, or the consequences
of our behaviour on others.
 SURESH MISRA /9

• Applied ethics: Applied ethics, is concerned with how people

can achieve moral outcomes in specific situations. Therefore, it is
concerned with the philosophical examination of particular – and
often complex – issues that involve moral judgments. It involves
examining specific controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide,
animal rights, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital
punishment, or nuclear war. By using the conceptual tools of meta-
ethics and normative ethics, discussions in applied ethics try to
resolve these controversial issues.

Ethics: Normative or Relative

Ethics is generally looked upon as a “normative” science, the object of
which is to find and formulate moral principles and rules possessing objective
validity. That implies that they have a real existence apart from any
reference to a human mind. What is said to be good or bad, right or wrong,
cannot be reduced merely to what people think to be good or bad, right or
wrong. It makes morality a matter of truth and falsity. The objectivity of
moral judgments does not presuppose the infallibility of the individual who
pronounces such a judgment, nor even the accuracy of a general consensus
of opinion; but if a certain course of conduct is objectively right, it must be
thought to be right by all rational beings who judge truly of the matter and
cannot, without error, be judged to be wrong.35
None of the theories of normative science has proved that moral
judgments possess objective validity, that there is anything good or bad,
right or wrong, that moral principles express anything more than the opinions
of those who believe in them. Basically, normative ethics has adopted the
common sense idea that there is something right and wrong independently
of what is thought to be right or wrong. People are not willing to admit that
their moral convictions are a mere matter of opinion, and took upon
convictions differing from their own as errors.36 In theory it may be admitted
that every man ought to act in accordance with his conscience. But this
phrase is easily forgotten when, in any matter of importance, the individual’s
conscience comes into conflict with the common sense of his community;
or doubt may be thrown upon the sincerity of his professed convictions, or
he may be blamed for having such a conscience as he has.37 However,
moral judgments spring from person’s moral consciousness. Each of us
judge the conduct of other men not from their point of view but from ours,
not in accordance with their feelings and opinions about right and wrong
but according to our own. And these are not arbitrary; our moral
consciousness belongs to our mental constitution, which we cannot change
as we please. Thus all moral judgments, all moral concepts, are ultimately
10 / THEME PAPER 2016

based on emotions, and that, as is very commonly admitted, no objectivity

can come from an emotion. Hence a theory which leads to an examination
of the psychological and historical origin of people’s moral opinions should
be more useful than a theory which postulates moral truths enunciated by
self-evident intuitions that are unchangeable. In every society the traditional
notions as to what is good or bad, obligatory or indifferent, are commonly
accepted by the majority of people without further reflection. 38 There have
been extraordinary differences between different races of mankind, and in
different stages of society, in respect of actions which have been regarded
as right and wrong. Such differences of feeling are found not only in men
in different stages of society, but do quite often exist even among
contemporaries, when they are members of very different societies; so
that one and the same action may be quite often be at the same time both
right and wrong. Sometimes two members of the same society may really
have opposite feelings towards one and the same action it is even possible
that even one and the same individual may experience such a change of
feeling towards one and the same action.39 It is undeniable that some actions
which are generally approved in one society may be disapproved in other
societies.40

Ethics and Values: Western Debates

Ethics is basically that branch of philosophy which deals with questions
concerning the nature of value in matters of human conduct. There have
been different philosophers during different time phases who have given
different theories on ethics and values which explain the nature of such
judgments in general, provide criteria for determining what is ethically right
or wrong, and analyze the grounds or reasons we have for holding them to
be correct.
Socrates who observed that “the unexamined life is not worth living,”
must be regarded as one of the greatest teachers of ethics.41 Socrates
customarily regarded as the father of Western ethics, asserted that people
will naturally do what is good provided they know what is right, and that evil
or bad actions are purely the result of ignorance: “There is only one good,
knowledge, and one evil, ignorance”. He equated knowledge and wisdom
with self-awareness (meaning to be aware of every fact relevant to a
person’s existence) and virtue and happiness. So, in essence, he considered
self-knowledge and self-awareness to be the essential good, because the
truly wise (i.e. self-aware) person will know what is right, do what is good,
and therefore be happy.42
Socrates taught his pupils a method of inquiry which threatened
 SURESH MISRA / 11

conventional beliefs and the destruction of beliefs that could not stand up to
criticism as a necessary preliminary to the search for true knowledge. He
thought that virtue is something that can be known and that the virtuous
person is the one who knows what virtue is. He also thought that anyone
who knows what virtue is will necessarily act virtuously. Those who act
badly, therefore, do so only because they are ignorant of, or mistaken about,
the real nature of virtue.43
Socrates’ greatest disciple, Plato, maintained that true knowledge consists
not in knowing particular things but in knowing something general that is
common to all the particular cases. The implication is that one does not
know what goodness is unless one can give such a general account. But
the question then arises, what is it that one knows when one knows this
general idea of goodness? Plato’s answer is that one knows the Form of
the Good, a perfect, eternal, and changeless entity existing outside space
and time, in which particular good things share, or “participate,” insofar as
they are good. According to Plato, justice exists in the individual when the
three elements of the soul—intellect, emotion, and desire—act in harmony
with each other. The unjust person lives in an unsatisfactory state of internal
discord, trying always to overcome the discomfort of unsatisfied desire but
never achieving anything better than the mere absence of want. The soul
of the just person, on the other hand, is harmoniously ordered under the
governance of reason, and the just person derives truly satisfying enjoyment
from the pursuit of knowledge.44
Plato in his philosophy has given a prominent place to the idea of justice.
Plato was highly dissatisfied with the prevailing degenerating conditions in
Athens and democracy was on the verge of collapse. Plato believed justice
to be the remedy for curing these evils. He used the Greek word “Dikaisyne”
for justice which comes very near to the work ‘morality’ or ‘righteousness’,
it properly includes within it the whole duty of man. It also covers the whole
field of the individual’s conduct in so far as it affects others. Plato contended
that justice is the quality of soul, in virtue of which men set aside the irrational
desire to taste every pleasure and to get a selfish satisfaction out of every
object and accommodated themselves to the discharge of a single function
for the general benefit.45
Greek Philosopher Aristotle holds with Plato that the life of virtue is
rewarding for the virtuous as well as beneficial for the community. Aristotle
also agrees that the highest and most satisfying form of human existence
involves the exercise of one’s rational faculties to the fullest extent. One
major point of disagreement concerns Plato’s doctrine of Forms, which
Aristotle rejected. Thus, Aristotle does not agree that in order to be good
12 / THEME PAPER 2016

one must have knowledge of the Form of the Good.46 The concept of
ethics and ethical behaviour is very much influenced by Aristotle´s distinction
between virtues and vices. According to Aristotle, virtues and vices are
contrary forms of human attitudes. Virtues are positive and vices are negative
aspects of human behaviour. A virtue is a behaviour showing a high moral
standard, and is a pattern of thought and behaviour based on high moral
standards. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defined a virtue as a balance
point between a deficiency and an excess of a trait.47
According to Aristotle, “Nature does nothing in vain”. It is only when a
person acts in accordance with their nature and thereby realizes their full
potential, that they will do good and therefore, be content in life. He held
that self-realization, the awareness of one’s nature and the development of
one’s talents, is the surest path to happiness, which is the ultimate goal, all
other things (such as civic life or wealth) being merely means to an end. He
encouraged moderation in all things, the extremes being degraded and
immoral, (e.g. courage is the moderate virtue between the extremes of
cowardice and recklessness), and held that Man should not simply live, but
live well with conduct governed by moderate virtue. Virtue, according to
him denotes doing the right thing to the right person at the right time to the
proper extent in the correct fashion and for the right reason—something of
a tall order.48
Bentham’s ethics began with the proposition that nature has placed
human beings under two masters: pleasure and pain. Anything that seems
good must be either directly pleasurable or thought to be a means to pleasure
or to the avoidance of pain. Conversely, anything that seems bad must be
either directly painful or thought to be a means to pain or to the deprivation
of pleasure. From this Bentham argued that the words right and wrong
can be meaningful only if they are used in accordance with the utilitarian
principle, so that whatever increases the net surplus of pleasure over pain
is right and whatever decreases it is wrong. One must take account of the
pleasures and pains of everyone affected by the action, and this is to be
done on an equal basis. John Stuart Mill, Bentham’s successor in his essay
“Utilitarianism” introduced several modifications, all aimed at a broader
view. Although his position was based on the maximization of happiness
(and this is said to consist of pleasure and the absence of pain), he
distinguished between pleasures that are higher and those that are lower in
quality. Mill sought to show that utilitarianism is compatible with moral rules
and principles relating to justice, honesty, and truthfulness.49
Rousseau called for rule by the “general will.” For Rousseau, the general
will is not the sum of all the individual wills in the community but the true
 SURESH MISRA / 13

common will of all the citizens. Even if a person dislikes and opposes a
decision carried by the majority, that decision represents the general will,
the common will in which he shares.50
Philosopher Kant doubted whether simple distinctions between good
virtues and bad vices make sense. According to Kant, most virtues, as well
as vices, are highly ambivalent and should always be judged in a specific
context and whether (or not) they would serve a moral principle.51 Kant
insisted that actions resulting from desires cannot be free. Freedom is to be
found only in rational action. Rational action cannot be based on an
individual’s personal desires but must be action in accordance with something
that he can prove to be a universal law. Kant’s most distinctive contribution
to ethics was his insistence that one’s actions possess moral worth only
when one does his duty for its own sake.52
The philosopher Friedrich Hegel’s idea of the civil servant and the
state as such was conceptualized as a Leviathan which stood above the
society and citizens. Its main role was to protect the society by enforcing
regulations to achieve fairness and to balance the diverging egoistic interests.
According to Max Weber, the essence of administrative behaviour is to
follow legally given orders. Following this, at a minimal level, administration
was considered to be good and ethical if it achieved the implementation and
enforcement of the existing laws and policy goals of the Government of the
day. Moreover, ethically good or acceptable behaviour was also defined in
terms of law obedience, impartiality and standardization. The purpose of
rule-orientation was also to achieve fairness and equity, to implement the
merit principle, to allocate rights to citizens and to protect public employees
against arbitrary administrative decisions. Weber suggested that civil
servants should administer without fight, passion and emotion.
Communication should be “dehumanised” by eliminating feelings like hate
and other irrational and emotional elements.53
In the modern times the underlying forces that shape ethics have
undergone many changes. Between what Max Weber called the protestant
ethics to what Wayna A.R. Leys calls the social ethics, there is a wide gap.
The protestant ethics emphasized the quest for individual salvation through
individual effects, thrift and competitive forces. The social ethics emphasized
that morally good is determined by pressures of society against the individual.54

Ethics and Values: Indian Context

In the Indian context we have a rich heritage of religious influences on
ethics and moral values. Indian society being religious has valued the
principles of ethics. The ancient texts have emphasized the importance of
14 / THEME PAPER 2016

ethics and moral values in governance. In ancient India there are two broad
sources of ethical exhortations in the Indian tradition –the primary and
secondary Veda texts and the epic texts. There are two great epic texts
that characterize the Indian tradition – the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
These two epic texts continue to be definite sources of ethical and
philosophical knowledge today. Many recognize the Mahabharata only as
that work encompassing the well-known Bhagwad Gita. But Mahabharata
as a whole is a fascinating and dynamic tale that captures, nearly in full, the
narratives of a time and people. Both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
contain explicit instances elaborating on right conduct for civil servants,
referred to as ministers. In the Ramayana one can find a compelling and
artful discussion of the conduct of great ministers.55
From a brief excerpt from the lengthy Ramayana, we can distill a few
maxims of civil service ethics that reappear constantly throughout the epic
texts. Chiefly ministers ought to be honest, faithful, intelligent and well versed
in secular and sacred law, willing to offer advice, bold, free of jealousies
towards each other and allied to their political masters (i.e. King). The
Bhagwad Gita includes a number of exhortations on the power of action as
well as expositions challenging the idea of renunciation (of self-interest
broadly constructed) as the idea that one ought not to work at all. A summary
of the ethics of action in the Bhagwad Gita includes the following:
performance of all actions requires right intention, without prejudice to the
good consequences (fame, wealth) that come from those actions. Actions
in short are the product of work motivated by duty. The preference for
actions independent of desires for “worldly” benefits has important
implications for the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness.56
In Ramayana, Maharishi Valmiki has underscored a very basic principle
of governance in simple words, Yatha Raja Tatha Praja. The general
erosion in values, ethics, morality or integrity that is seen in a society only
mirrors the character of those who run the affairs of that society.57
On the other hand, Kautilya’s’ Arthashastra is an elementary reading
for any analysis of Indian political ethics. In this extensive text, written as a
guide book for the new Mauryan Kings around 300 BC discussion of state
administration goes to great lengths. Kautilya re-emphasizes the importance
of politics, its conduct and study for the full human life. Kautilya works to
synthesize the knowledge of the Arthashastra texts of his time into a
coherent guidebook for the king. As a guidebook, this Arthashastra is a
comprehensive one reviewing the ideal policies and practices for governing
the market place, taxation, economic and political development, the internal
court, war and even political composition.58
 SURESH MISRA / 15

Through Arthashastra we get a clear picture of the complexity of

court life and troubled times of the Magadha empire.59 We also find a
description of the political and administrative complexity as well as ethics
of the time60 (Evidence of the modern administrative character of the
Arthashastra comes most through Kautilyas’ expressions of efficiency),
described in a unique imagery of corrupt officials improperly eating the
wealth of the state.61 Kautilyas’ concept of efficiency depends on an
extensive elaboration of efficiency-guaranteeing techniques. Kautilya makes
quite clear the link between civil service malfeasance and the reduction in
wealth. Contravening the standards of efficiency was among the highest
ills that a civil servant could commit in Kautilyas’ state.62
Kautilya believed that “men are naturally fickle minded” and are
comparable to “horses at work [who] exhibit constant change in their
temper”. This means that honesty is not a virtue that would remain consistent
life long and the temptation to make easy gains through corrupt means can
override the trait of honesty any time. Similarly, he compared the process
of generation and collection of revenue (by officials) with honey or poison
on the tip of the tongue, which becomes impossible not to taste. He
prescribed a strict vigil even over the superintendents of government
departments in relation to the place, time, nature, output and modus operandi
of work. Kautilya reflected serious concerns about opacity in the operations
of the world of the corrupt. Illegal transactions were so shrouded in mist
that he compared embezzlers to fish moving under water and the virtual
impossibility of detecting when exactly the fish is drinking water. He also
noted that while it is possible to ascertain the movements of bird flying in
the sky, it is difficult to gauge the corrupt activities of government officials.63
Kautilya provides a comprehensive list of 40 kinds of embezzlement.
In all these cases, the concerned functionaries such as the treasurer
(nidhayaka), the prescriber (nibandhaka), the receiver (pratigrahaka),
the payer (dayak), the person who caused the payment (dapaka) and the
ministerial servants (mantri-vaiyavrityakara) were to be separately
interrogated. In case any of these officials were to lie, their punishment
was to be enhanced to the level meted out to the chief officer (yukta)
mainly responsible for the crime. After the enquiry, a public proclamation
(prachara) was to be made asking the common people to claim
compensation in case they were aggrieved and suffered from the
embezzlement.64
Kautilya also recognized corruption in the judicial administration. He
prescribed the imposition of varying degrees of fines on judges trying to
proceed with a trial without evidence, or unjustly maintaining silence, or
16 / THEME PAPER 2016

threatening, defaming or abusing the complainants, arbitrarily dismissing

responses provided to questions raised by the judge himself, unnecessarily
delaying the trial or giving unjust punishments. Kautilya also dealt with the
concept of whistleblowers. Any informant (suchaka) who provided details
about financial wrong-doing was entitled to an award of one-sixth of the
amount in question. If the informant happened to be a government servant
(bhritaka), he was to be given only one twelfth of the total amount as it
was considered to be the duty of the government servant to strive towards
corruption free society.65

Gandhian View on Ethics in Administration

Ethics in Gandhian paradigm has no religious, sectarian or creedal
implications. For Mahatma Gandhi there is no water tight compartment
between personal/ private/ social ethics. For him, Dharma is everything.
Gandhiji used the concept of dharma in three senses; as duty, religion and
ethics. The whole discourse of ethics and ethical conducts evolve around
purushartha. His ethics is guided by what Lord Krishna enunciated several
thousand years ago and recorded in Bhagwad Gita.66 Gandhiji set an example
of self-sacrifice, demonstrated the highest standards of personal integrity,
honesty, pristine purity, transparent public and private life, fairness and justice,
which are the basic ingredients of Gandhiji’s ethics and ethical conduct.
Dharma, in the Indian tradition, commands morality in the sense of righteous
conduct. Mahatma Gandhi has raised dharma to a higher pedestal, signifying
a quality through which we know “our duty in human life and our religion
with other selves”.67
The salient features of Gandhian ethics are: Truth, ahimsa, celibacy,
control of palate, non-stealing and non-possession. Gandhiji considered
religion and morality coterminous. Navajivan published a small booklet
entitled Ethical Religion which describes ethics as morality and morality
as a religion. Further, there is no difference between social ideal and personal
morality or religious morality or moral religion.68 Gandhiji presents a balanced
view of life wherein, wealth, power, pleasure, aesthetics, beauty, ethical
integrity and freedom of the spirit are sought at the same time. He explains
how and why that seeking should be the basis of modern India’s public
philosophy.69
Gandhiji’s ethical principles are ethics of non-violence, humanity, truth,
responsibility for self and principled rejection of the distracting ills of
modernity.70 He later explained ahimsa (non-violence) politically through
submission to a virtuous life led by the pursuit of truth. He reminds that
non-violence was not about fomenting revolution directly, but was about
 SURESH MISRA / 17

obeying rule of law, through virtue-led practical action that is expressed a

principled disagreement with its implementation or certain content. As a
doctrine of peaceful resistance, the practice of ahimsa meant politely
accepting responsibility for transgressing the law while also stating cogently
one’s reason for disagreement.71 For Gandhiji as an ethical principle applied
to public life, non-violence means avoiding all thoughts or actions that do
violence, even mental, against any other living thing. For him maintaining
ahimsa position requires constant supervision of one’s thoughts and actions.
Supervision of one’s thoughts and actions requires virtues related to ahimsa
namely pursuit of truth, humility, and responsibility, or satyagraha.72
Gandhiji’s philosophy was one of direct, virtuous, political engagement
with the state and economy, or purusartha.73 Engagement with the economy
was engagement with a “right” economy or one in which moral progress
kept pace with material progress and in which technology did not replace
human beings, but instead made their labour and sufferings less.74 Gandhiji
captured this notion in the concept of Swadeshi. One could own private
property but one could not steal. One could pursue wealth (artha) as part of
the four aims of life but could not do so with selfish intentions. As pertains to
nation, selfish behaviour, particularly corruption and economizing without
regard to the material and moral needs of people, was immoral in eyes of
Gandhiji.75 If one was to be good person, and certainly a good public servant,
one had to embody virtue constantly in one’s private and public life. Virtue
without a community in which to practice it, was insufficient for the good life.
The sum of Gandhi’s system of ethics as applied to public service is devotion
to non-violence, thorough-going public service to the nation and world, humility,
engagement, and taking responsibility for one’s actions.76
“Ministership”, Gandhi stressed were not prizes but “avenues to
service” and had to be held lightly and tightly. Gandhi expected the Congress
rule not through the police backed by the military but through its moral
authority based upon the greatest goodwill of the people ‘won through’ the
service of the people whom it seeks to represent in every one of its actions77.
Building a nation free of past problems and shortcomings was the dream of
Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. He emphasized the fundamental
aspect by saying that you must “be the change you wish to see in this
world,” which speaks volumes of the kind of system to which India wanted
to adhere.78 The Seven Social Sins, as quoted by Mahatma Gandhi were:79

(1) Politics without principles; (2) Wealth without work; (3) Leisure
without conscience (4) Knowledge without character; (5) Commerce
without morality; (6) Science without humanity and (7) Worship without
sacrifice.
18 / THEME PAPER 2016

Public Service ethics throughout time illustrates a diversity of forms

and directives. This diversity itself presents numerous challenges to public
administrators. The contemporary government ethics movement appears
to have essentially the same purpose as the reform movement of a century
ago—to reduce government corruption and enhance efficiency,
accountability and transparency. The present ethics debate has, however,
considerable different emphasis structures and programmes such as
whistleblowing, ethics boards and commissions, ethics education
programmes, professional codes of ethics typify the modern approach to
guarantee against or reducing public corruption.

Chinese Ethical Thoughts

The tradition of Chinese ethical thought is centrally concerned with
question about how one ought to live; what goes into a worthwhile of life,
how to weigh duties towards family versus duties toward strangers, whether
human nature is predisposed to be morally good or bad, how one ought to
relate to the non-human world, the extent to which one ought to become
involved in reforming the larger social and political structures of one’s society
and how one ought to conduct oneself in a position of influence or power.80
Confucian ethics is focused around ideals of character and the
constituting traits or virtues. Confucianism can be traced even before the
birth of Confucius, to the general culture of the Zhou dynasty, which
emphasized politeness and consideration, though generally with more of a
spiritual bent. Confucius was born in 551 BC and reportedly grew up in a
time of instability in the region, present day China and failed in his ambition
to become a high minister of the national governments. He is known for his
attempts to analyse and codify rules of society and behaviour. The system
of ‘virtue ‘he proposed was one of respect for others, including for their
position in society, focusing on this as a system of principles, not mysticism.
Confucianism is a system of ‘philosophical’ and ethical – socio-political
teachings sometimes described as a religion. Confucianism developed in
response to Buddhism and Taoism and was reformulated as Neo-
Confucianism. With particular emphasis on the importance of the family
and social harmony the core of Confucianism is humanistic.81 Confucianism
regards the ordinary activities of human life and especially in human
relationships as a manifestation of the sacred because they are the expression
of our moral values which has a transcendent anchorage in Heaven.
This worldly concern of Confucianism rests on the belief that human
beings are fundamentally good and teachable, improvable and perfectible
through personal and communal endeavour especially self-cultivation and
 SURESH MISRA / 19

self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue and

maintenance of ethics.82
A key Confucian concept is that in order to govern others one must
first govern oneself according to the universal order. People must be guided
by clear edicts and strong punishments. Furthermore, rulers must be wary
of their ambitious ministers and take care not to reveal their own likes and
dislikes so as not to be manipulated by their scheming subordinates. As to
rulers themselves, it is a mistake to found government on the presumption
that they are or can become virtuous. While exceptionally good rulers have
existed, the vast majority of rulers have been mediocre. Governments must
be structured so that these can run satisfactorily because that is what rulers
will be like almost always.83

Middle East: Arab Spring—Dilemma between Ethics and Self

Interest
The Arab Spring which commenced in 2010 was a revolutionary wave
of demonstrations and protests in the Arab world and spread throughout
the countries of Arab League and its surroundings.84 The Arab Spring is
widely believed to have been instigated by dissatisfaction with the role of
local government by youth and unions, though some have speculated that
wide gaps in income levels may have had a hand as well.85 Numerous
factors led to the protests, including issues such as dictatorship or absolute
monarchy, human rights violations, political corruption, economic decline,
unemployment, extreme poverty and a number of demographic structural
factors.86 Catalysts for the revolts included the concentration of wealth in
the hands of autocrats in power for decades, insufficient transparency of
its redistribution, corruption and especially the refusal of the youth to accept
the status quo.
The Arab Spring is widely viewed today as one of the greatest historical
moments of political transformation. The longstanding dictators who seemed
impervious to political change, in a region known for persistent
authoritarianism, were suddenly toppled by largely non-violent protests
invoking the universal themes of political freedom, dignity and social justice.
The Arab Spring was not a single event but rather a long-term process of
political change.87 The dramatic set of events in the Middle East created a
tremendous bias for hope of the future of open and pluralistic political
systems in a region, which has often been identified as being one of the
major exceptional strong holds of authoritarianism. The upheavals in the
Arab world, therefore, created a dilemma between ethics and self-interest
amid the flux of geopolitical shifts in one of the world’s unstable regions.88
20 / THEME PAPER 2016

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring in various countries, there was a

wave of violence and instability commonly known as the ‘Arab Winter’ or
‘Islamist Winter’. The Arab Winter was characterized by extensive civil
war, general regional instability, economic and demographic decline of the
Arab League and overall religious war between Sunni and Shia Muslims.89
The effects of Arab Spring varied greatly across the Middle East and North
Africa. A variety of factors of which hinge on the relationship between the
strength of the state and the strength of civil society. Countries with strong
civil society networks in various forms underwent more successful reforms
during the Arab Spring.90 One of the primary influences that have been
highlighted in the analysis of the Arab Spring is the relative strength or
weakness of a society’s formal and informal institutions prior to the revolts.91

Ethics in Public Life

The role of ethics in public life has many dimensions—at one end is the
expression of high moral values and at the other, the specifics of action for
which a public functionary can be held legally accountable. A system of
laws and rules, however, elaborate, cannot provide for all situations. It is,
no doubt, desirable, and perhaps possible, to govern the conduct of those
who occupy positions in the lower echelons and exercise limited or no
discretion. But the higher the echelon in public service, the greater is the
ambit of discretion. And it is difficult to provide for a system of laws and
rules that can comprehensively cover and regulate the exercise of discretion
in high places.92
We tend to take the core principles and values that underpin our public
service for granted but ethics are a rare and fragile phenomena. All
organizations benefit from a strong set of values and standards and from
solid ethical leadership. This is particularly so of public service organisations
because of the influence and power exerted over decisions affecting
citizens. It is, therefore, imperative for a public service organization to
conduct itself in ways that preserve and enhance public trust and confidence
in the integrity of government and its institutions.
Although all citizens are subject to the laws of the land, in the case of
public servants there must be standards of behaviour more stringent than
those for an ordinary citizen. It is at the interface of public action and
private interest that the need arises for establishing not just a code of ethics
but a code of conduct. A code of ethics would cover broad guiding principles
of good behaviour and governance while a more specific code of conduct
should, in a precise and unambiguous manner, stipulate a list of acceptable
and unacceptable behaviour and action.93
 SURESH MISRA / 21

Any framework of ethical behaviour must include the following elements:

a. Codifying ethical norms and practices.
b. Disclosing personal interest to avoid conflict between public interest
and personal gain.
c. Creating a mechanism for enforcing the relevant codes.
d. Providing norms for qualifying and disqualifying a public functionary
from office.94
The Committee on Standards in Public Life in the United Kingdom,
popularly known as the Nolan Committee, has outlined the following seven
principles of public life:
1. Selflessness: Holders of public office should take decisions solely
in terms of public interest. They should not do so in order to gain
financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family or
their friends.
2. Integrity: Holders of public office should not place themselves
under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or
organizations that might influence them in the performance of their
official duties.
3. Objectivity: In carrying out public business, including making public
appointments, awarding contracts or recommending individuals for
rewards and benefits, holders of public office should make choices
on merit.
4. Accountability: Holders of public office are accountable for their
decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to
whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.
5. Openness: Holders of public office should be as open as possible
about all the decisions and actions they take. They should give
reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the
wider public interest clearly demands.
6. Honesty: Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private
interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve
any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest.
7. Leadership: Holders of public office should promote and support
these principles by leadership.95

Ethics Infrastructure
The Public Management Committee (PUMA) of the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducted a survey in
22 / THEME PAPER 2016

199696 to determine how public servants can be given support in observing

the highest standards of integrity and ethics in a rapidly changing public
sector environment, without undermining the main thrust of public
management reforms which aim to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
In its analysis, PUMA invented the notion of the ethics infrastructure, as a
cornerstone for a comprehensive strategy. The term Ethics Infrastructure
defined by OECD employs a range of tools and processes to regulate against
undesirable behaviour and to provide incentives for good conduct. The eight
key elements of the Ethics Infrastructure as identified by OECD are as
follows:97

1. Political commitment; 2. Workable codes of conduct;

3. Professional socialisation mechanisms; 4. Ethics co-ordinating body;
5. Supportive public service conditions; 6. Effective legal framework;
7. Efficient accountability mechanisms; and 8. Active civil society

3. GOOD GOVERNANCE: ETHICS AND MORAL VALUES

Good Governance: Conceptual Framework

As per the well-known formulation of government by Easton98 (1953-
1957) the government is the authoritative allocation of values. Individual
citizens, an economic firm, or an interest group or an organization asking
for government intervention—are each requesting an authoritative resolution
of a value conflict. This apparatus, the collection of offices and officers
responsible for authoritatively allocating values, is what we know under the
names “the administrative state,” “the bureaucracy,” “the civil service,”
“public administration,” or public management.” Lack of moral specificity
– the dearth of accepted pronouncements on the standards of justice,
rightness, and truth – is comforting as it leaves the horizon of interpretation
open to newness. Specificity, some fear, is too prescriptive to cope with a
changing objective world of technological innovation and too polemical to
cope with the inevitability of pluralism in the inter-subjective world. Yet,
ambiguity in the authorization of morality leaves open room for chicanery;
without a fixed morality of universal proportions, ethics becomes relative to
the person, the moment, or, worse, the technology at hand. Moral ambiguity,
a scholar like Arendt might charge, is even the wellspring of the banality of
evil in administrative affairs.99 Lacking a moral compass and an attendant
body of ethical norms, evil can seep in through the cracks of law and policy,
unnoticed by those enforcing it, until an abyss of evil swallows them and
countless others whole.100
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Governance is a dynamic connotation which according to the Oxford

Advanced Learner’s Dictionary means, the way in which a country is
governed.101 Governance is not about government; it is partly about how
governments and other social organizations interact, how they relate to
citizens, and how decisions are taken in a complex world. Thus, governance
is a process whereby societies or organizations make their important
decisions, determine whom they involve in the process and how they render
account.102 Since a process is hard to observe, governance (as opposed to
“good” governance) can be defined as the rule of the rulers, typically within
a given set of rules. Governance is the process by which authority is
conferred on rulers, by which they make the rules, and by which those
rules are enforced and modified. Thus, understanding governance requires
an identification of both the rulers and the rules, as well as the various
processes by which they are selected, defined, and linked together and
with the society generally.103 World Bank has defined Governance as the
manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s
economic and social resources. The World Bank has identified three distinct
aspects of governance: (i) the form of political regime; (ii) the process by
which authority is exercised in the management of a country’s economic
and social resources for development; and (iii) the capacity of governments
to design, formulate, and implement policies and discharge functions.104
Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in
a country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments
are selected, monitored and replaced; the capacity of the government to
effectively formulate and implement sound policies; and the respect of
citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social
interactions among them.105 The United Nations Development Programme’s
(UNDP) definition of good governance is set out in a 1997 UNDP policy
document entitled “Governance for Sustainable Human Development”. The
document states that governance can be seen as the exercise of economic,
political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all
levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes and institutions through which
citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet
their obligations and mediate their differences.106As per OECD the concept
of governance denotes the use of political authority and exercise of control
in a society in relation to the management of its resources for social and
economic development. This broad definition encompasses the role of public
authorities in establishing the environment in which economic operators
function and in determining the distribution of benefits as well as the nature
of the relationship between the ruler and the ruled.107 Governance
encompasses the nature of functioning of states, institutional and structural
24 / THEME PAPER 2016

arrangements, decision-making processes, policy formulation, implementation

capacity, information flow, effectiveness of leadership, and the nature of
the relationship between ruler and the ruled. Governance, therefore, concerns
not just the integrity, efficiency and economy of government but also the
effectiveness in terms of the needs to which government organisation and
activity is directed. 108
When the term governance is preceded with the connotation “good”,
some value-assumptions and attributes such as efficiency, accountability,
transparency, participation, rule of law, justice and control of corruption are
added to it. There are many competing views on what the term ‘good
governance’ should mean, but most donors argue that it should include
some (if not all) of these: increased public accountability and transparency;
respect for and strengthening of the rule of law and anti-corruption measures;
democratization, decentralization and local government reform; increased
civil-society participation in development; and respect for human rights and
the environment.109 “Good Governance” is an umbrella concept embracing
within a system of governance that is able to unequivocally discover the
basic values of the society where standards concern economic, political
and socio-cultural issues including those involving human rights, and one
that follows the same through an accountable and upright administration.
Good governance is not a mirage or a utopian concept. It only signifies the
way an administration ameliorates the standard of living of the members of
its society by creating, and making available, the basic amenities of life;
providing its people security and the opportunity to better their lot; instills
hope in their hearts for a promising future; providing, on an equal and
equitable basis, access to opportunities for personal growth; affording
participation and capacity to influence, in the decision-making in public affairs;
sustaining a responsive judicial system which dispenses justice on merits in
a fair, unbiased and meaningful manner; and maintaining accountability and
honesty in each wing or functionary of the Government.110 Ethics is an
integral element of good governance. Both concepts share a number of
common features. Generally speaking, good governance policies should
aim at more citizen orientation, transparency, accountability, anti-
discrimination, fight against corruption, and participation. 111
Good governance implies service to the people. Government’s task is
to govern in a way that optimises the security and welfare of citizens. The
measure of good governance is how far the government is able to improve
the quality of life of people tangibly as well as intangibly. Even if there is
good democracy and good constitution but people are hungry, good
democracy and good constitution would mean little. Democracy,
 SURESH MISRA / 25

accountability, honesty, commitment to service are only processes by which

good governance is delivered. Good governance must have its own measures
based on the overall performance of the state as measured by the
improvement in the quality of life of the people. There is an inherent danger
in measuring good governance on the basis of process alone.’ In brief, good
governance is defined as the use of political authority and the exercise of
control over society and the management of its resources for societal and
economic development. Good government provides a responsive
governmental and state administrative framework, facilitating good
governance and, while good governance and economic development must
be longer-term goals than good government, the former will not be achievable
without attaining the latter. Good government in practice would mean:
political legitimacy for the government through democratic elections and
transfer of power, political opposition and representative government;
accountability through the provision of information, separation of powers,
effective internal and external audit, low levels of corruption and nepotism;
official competency such as having trained public servants, realistic policies
and human rights as indicated by freedom of religion and movement, impartial
and accessible criminal justice systems and the absence of arbitrary
government power’. 112
In the UNDP policy document entitled Governance for Sustainable
Human Development it is explained that governance has three dimensions:
economic, political and administrative. Economic governance includes the
decision-making processes that affect a country’s economic activities and
its relationships with other economies. Political governance is the process
of decision-making to formulate policy. Administrative governance is the
system of policy implementation. Encompassing all three, good governance
defines the processes and structures that guide political and socio-economic
relationships. Governance includes the state but transcends it by taking in
the private sector and civil society, all of which are critical in sustaining
human development. The institutions of governance in the state, civil society
and the private sector must be designed to contribute to this sustainable
human development by establishing the political, legal, economic and social
circumstances for poverty reduction, job creation, environmental protection
and the advancement of women. Good governance comprises the existence
of effective mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens
and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their
obligations and mediate their differences. Its essential characteristics are:
(a) Participation: All men and women should have a voice in decision-
making, either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions
26 / THEME PAPER 2016

that represent their interests. Such broad participation is built on

freedom of association and speech, as well as on the capacity to
participate constructively.
(b) Rule of law: Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced
impartially, particularly the laws on human rights.
(c) Transparency: This concept is built on the free flow of information.
Processes, institutions and information should be directly accessible
to those concerned, and enough information should be provided to
render them understandable and monitorable.
(d) Responsiveness: Institutions and processes should serve all
stakeholders.
(e) Consensus Orientation: Good governance should mediate differing
interests in order to reach broad consensus on the best interests of
the group and, where possible, on policies and procedures.
(f) Equity: All men and women should have equal opportunity to
maintain or improve their well-being.
(g) Effectiveness and Efficiency: Processes and institutions should
produce results that meet needs while making the best use of
resources.
(h) Accountability: Decision-makers in government, the private sector
and civil society organizations should be accountable to the public
as well as to institutional stakeholders. This accountability differs
depending on the organization and whether the decision is internal
or external to an organization.
(i) Strategic Vision: Leaders and the public should have a broad and
long-term perspective on good governance and human development,
together with a sense of what is needed for such development.
There should also be an understanding of the historical, cultural
and social complexities in which that perspective is grounded.113
Accountability, transparency, rule of law and citizens’ participation in
the process of governance are basic postulates of good and open governance.
It would be useful to briefly discuss each one of these:

Accountability
Accountability has numerous meanings which vary from country to
country. In socialist and many developing countries, accountability refers to
compliance to rules, laws and regulations. Once this is well established, the
accountability that people can expect at the next level is relying on an
honest and ethical character of public servants by the citizens, and from
 SURESH MISRA / 27

there move to satisfying the needs and demands of citizens in relation to

contract and reporting requirements, as well as the financial and ethical
policies and procedures.114
There are three fundamental principles of public accountability of the
government. First and foremost is that ‘sovereign power resides in the
people’. The second which derives from the first is that: ‘Where the public’s
power is entrusted to institutions and officials for the purposes of government,
they hold that power of the people to be exercised for the people. They are
the public’s trustees.’ The third, which links the second back to the first, is
that: ‘Those entrusted with public power are accountable to the public for
the exercise of their trust.’115 The avenues of public accountability can
take three forms: (1) to members of the public directly, either as individuals
(e.g. through the administrative law system), or as a community (e.g. in
elections); (2) to agencies such as the Auditor-General, the Ombudsman
and the Parliament which act, or should act, for and on behalf of the public;
and (3) to official superiors and peers.116
More recently, in line with the worldwide trend to restructure or reinvent
the state, in line with the ideological and policy shifts, the role of the state
and its public sector has changed from direct to indirect activities and from
the leading to facilitating tasks related to the delivery of services. This has
resulted in gradually shifting the functioning which was in government domain
to private sector through measures like privatization and outsourcing. The
impact of this policy shift can also be seen in the increasing emphasis on
downsizing the public sector. Since the early 1980s, the criteria of
accountability have considerably changed under the reinvented state. Now
there is greater emphasis on performance, efficiency, value-for-money, and
customer satisfaction. Performance, measured in terms of outputs or results,
has become one of the central benchmarks for public accountability. Thus
there has been a shift in the criteria of accountability from ‘equity and
fairness’ to ‘efficiency and economy’, ‘citizen’s entitlement and public
opinion’ to ‘value-for-money and customer satisfaction’. This shift in focus
may result in marginalizing government’s accountability for ensuring citizens’
rights, representation, and welfare, and thus, weaken the democratic
principles of accountability.117

Transparency
Transparency in governance basically means people should be able to
access public information when they want it. They should be able to know
what public officials are doing and how the policies are being implemented.
Citizens demand greater transparency from governments and require
information on who, why and how of decision making. Other aspects of
28 / THEME PAPER 2016

transparency in the public service require clarity, that there is integration

with other decisions, that it is logical and rational, accountable, truthful and
accurate, and open. If citizens have a problem with getting information, in
public service delivery, then they may expect presence of an effective and
efficient complaint redressal channel. Greater transparency is also key to
upholding integrity in the public sector by reducing the risk of fraud, corruption
and mismanagement of public funds. All the departments and public bodies
should have computerised information counters so that information and
assistance is available to the public on various essential services and
approvals.

Rule of Law
The rule of law primarily means that everything must be done according
to law. Applied to the powers of government, this requires that every
government authority which does some act which would otherwise be a
wrong or which infringes a man’s liberty, must be able to justify its action
as authorised by Law and in nearly every case this will mean authorised
directly or indirectly by legal provisions. However, the rule of law demands
something more, since otherwise it would be satisfied by giving the
government unrestricted discretionary powers, so that everything that they
did was within the law. The secondary meaning of the rule of law, therefore,
is that government should be conducted within a framework of recognised
rules and principles which restrict discretionary power. An essential part of
the rule of law, accordingly, is a system of rules for preventing the abuse of
discretionary power. A third requirement of the rule of law, is that disputes
as to the legality of acts of government are to be decided by judges who are
independent of the executive. The rule of law remains nonetheless a vital
necessity to fair and proper government. The enormous growth in the powers
of the state makes it all the more necessary to preserve it.118
The governance and administration of any social enterprise must be
realized within the framework provided by the rule of law. This precept
establishes the obligation of individual and collective obedience to the system
of public rules that define the legal limits of what can and cannot be done.
Disobedience to the law leads to corrupt and criminal behaviour.119

Citizen’s Participation
Citizen’s Participation in governance is fundamental to democracy as
ultimate power vests with the people. Interaction is one important aspect in
governance. There are complex ways in which public, private and social
organizations interact and learn from one another. It is also the manner in
 SURESH MISRA / 29

which citizens contribute to the governance system, directly and indirectly

through their collective participation in civil, public and corporate institution.120
Greater participation is crucial for good governance in two ways: greater
participation by citizens in the decision-making process allows greater
transparency and can help ensure that political decisions are adapted to the
needs of the people affected by them. Second, greater participation is
important for democratic legitimacy, which depends on the investment people
have as citizens in their own governing.121

Good Governance and Ethics: Global Initiatives

Good governance can be regarded as a moral stance: a supreme value
that maximizes the common good and therefore, be perused both in public
and private spheres. As a result, the credibility of the public organizations
depends much on the perception that they hold the values they claim to
represent, such as democracy, social justice, equity, transparency,
accountability, effectiveness and the rule of law. All of these values are key
components of the wider good governance institutional agenda.122 Therefore,
world over there has been an increased emphasis on ethics and morality to
promote good governance there. A number of countries have taken steps
to ensure their public servants discharge their services in an ethical manner.
Ethics in public administration traditionally has been divided into two schools,
the normative and the structural. The normative perspective, often drawing
upon organizational development, examines how ethical values are inculcated
and put into operation in organizations. The structural approach probes
formal-legal arrangements, primarily regulatory and legal prescriptions and
prohibitions through which governments seek to channel and control
administrators’ behaviour.123

OECD Recommendation on Improving Ethical Conduct in the

Public Service
In an OECD Recommendation adopted in April 1998124, Member
countries expressed their commitment to regularly review policies,
procedures, practices and institutions which encourage high standards of
conduct and prevent misconduct as well as counter corruption. In order to
provide a strategic tool, a reference checklist – a set of twelve principles
for managing ethics in the public service – was developed and agreed by
representatives of OECD Member countries to support governments in
their review of ethics management systems. Through this instrument, the
OECD Council recommended that Member countries take action to ensure
well-functioning institutions and systems for promoting ethical conduct in
the public service by:125
30 / THEME PAPER 2016

• Developing and regularly reviewing policies, procedures, practices

and institutions influencing ethical conduct in the public service.
• Promoting government action to maintain high standards of conduct
and counter corruption in the public sector.
• Incorporating the ethical dimension into management frameworks
to ensure that management practices are consistent with the values
and principles of public service.
• Combining judiciously ideal-based aspects of ethics management
systems with rule-based ones.
• Assessing the effects of public management reforms on public
service ethical conduct.
• Using as a reference the Principles for Managing Ethics in the
Public Service to ensure high standards of ethical conduct.
The recommendation also recognized 12 Principles for Managing Ethics
in the Public Service which are as under:126
1. Ethical standards for public service should be clear;
2. Ethical standards should be reflected in the legal framework;
3. Ethical guidance should be available to public servants;
4. Public servants should know their rights and obligations when
exposing wrongdoing;
5. Political commitment to ethics should reinforce the ethical conduct
of public servants;
6. The decision-making process should be transparent and open to
scrutiny;
7. There should be clear guidelines for interaction between the public
and private sectors;
8. Managers should demonstrate and promote ethical conduct;
9. Management policies, procedures and practices should promote
ethical conduct;
10. Public service conditions and management of human resources
should promote ethical conduct;
11. Adequate accountability mechanisms should be in place within the
public service; and
12. Appropriate procedures and sanctions should exist to deal with
misconduct;
All OECD countries have a set of stated core values for the public
 SURESH MISRA / 31

service. There are eight most frequently stated core public service values
in OECD countries which are: impartiality, legality, integrity, transparency,
efficiency, equality, responsibility, and justice. Besides this, the countries
have also defined a wide variety of values which reflect their respective
national, social, political and administrative environments. The countries
hold a combination of “traditional” and “new” public service values.
Traditional values reflect the fundamental mission of the public service,
while new values articulate the requirements of a new ethos.127
The public service values are available in various forms. In most cases,
statutes and general laws comprise the core values. In OECD core public
service values are declared through the Constitutions, basic laws and the
special civil service or public service regulations to declare. Australian Public
Service (APS) Values have been incorporated in Public Service Regulations.
128
The form of legal documents ranges from Constitutions (Turkey), general
acts on civil service (Denmark, France, Hungary) or public service (Japan),
administrative procedures law (Greece, Portugal), labour law (Czech
Republic), to dedicated codes on Standards of Conduct (the United States),
disciplinary act (Portugal) and the conflict of interest and post-employment
code for public service (Canada). Codes of conduct and codes of ethics
(France, Italy) or a civil service code (the United Kingdom) are also a
commonly used source in over one-third of the Member countries. In Canada,
while the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Service
has been adopted as regulation, the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment
Code for Public Office Holders is a code of conduct.129
In 1999, the Government of Australia enacted the Australian Public Service
Act, which prescribes a set of Public Service Values. These are not merely
aspirational statements of intent, but all employees are expected to uphold
these values and comply with the Code, even as senior executives are expected
to promote these values. The Public Service Commissioner is authorized to
evaluate the extent to which agencies incorporate and uphold the values, and
the adequacy of the systems and procedures required to ensure compliance
with the Code. He has both statutory powers and policy responsibilities.130
Besides this there are vision statements either for the whole public
service (New Zealand) or for individual organisations (Norway), guidelines
(Denmark, Finland), charters (Ethical Charter in Korea and Portugal) and
codes for professional groups (New Zealand), reports (Canada, Norway),
discussion paper on values (Australia), or textbooks and commentaries on
public service law (Germany), other books and promotional publications
(booklets in Canada, posters and pamphlets in the United States). The values
have also been stated in public service or administrative codes or even in
32 / THEME PAPER 2016

constitutions in the continental European countries.131 Various countries

have prescribed a Code of Conduct/Ethics for its Ministers, legislators and
civil servants.
Specific guidelines and code of conduct are also specified for the political
leaders and ministers. In Canada, the ‘Guide for Ministers (2006)’ sets out
core principles regarding the role and responsibilities of Ministers. This
includes the central tenet of ministerial responsibility, both individual and
collective, as well as Ministers’ relations with the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
their portfolios, and Parliament. It outlines standards of conduct expected
of Ministers as well as addressing a range of administrative, procedural
and institutional matters. In UK, the Ministerial Code provides guidance to
Ministers on how they should act and arrange their affairs in order to uphold
these standards. It lists the principles which may apply in particular situations
drawing on past precedent. In the US there is a Senate Code of Conduct.
In Belize, the Code of Conduct for public functionaries is prescribed in the
Constitution itself. Section 121(1) of the Constitution of Belize provides the
Code of Conduct:
The persons to whom this section applies shall conduct themselves in
such a way as not—
(a) to place themselves in positions in which they have or could have
a conflict of interest;
(b) to compromise the fair exercise of their public or official functions
and duties;
(c) to use their office for private gain;
(d) to demean their office or position;
(e) to allow their integrity to be called into question; or
(f) to endanger or diminish respect for, or confidence in the integrity
of the Government.132
The US Constitution, in Article I, Section 5, grants broad authority to
Congress to discipline its Members. In 1968, the Senate adopted its first
official code of conduct which was revised and amended substantially in
1977. The Committee which was earlier known as Senate Select Committee
on Standards and Conduct’s name was changed to the Select Committee
on Ethics. The Senate Code of Conduct regulates financial disclosures,
gifts, travel reimbursements, conflicting interests, post-employment
restrictions, employment practices, etc.133 Disclosure of one’s interest is
one of the ways of avoiding conflict between public and private interest.
The rules of the US Congress and the Australian and Canadian Parliaments
do not allow a legislator to vote if they have a direct pecuniary interest.134
 SURESH MISRA / 33

The UK House of Commons adopted the Code of Conduct for its

Members in 1995. The purpose of this Code of Conduct is to assist Members
in the discharge of their obligations to the House, their constituents and the
public at large by providing guidance on the standards of conduct expected
of Members in discharging their parliamentary and public duties. It is also
stated that the obligations set out in this Code are complementary to those
which apply to all Members by virtue of the procedural and other rules of
the House and the rulings of the Chair.135

Legal Regulations
The OECD countries have legal framework which provides the expected
standards of behaviour for every public servant and also for investigation
and prosecution. Through legal instruments standards are also specified for
certain situations that might lead to conflict of interest, like receiving gifts
or benefits (such as fees, payments, entertainment) and use of official
information, issues relate to ancillary work such as work outside the public
service and post-employment. Half of the OECD countries require special
conditions and/or permission for public servants to move from the public
service to the for-profit sector. In addition, countries have given special
attention to specific issues such as whistleblowing (Australia), forbidding
lobbying for a year after leaving the public service (Mexico), or generally
require behaviour which improves respect and trust (Germany) and does
not cause discredit to the public service (Japan).136

Structural Arrangements
To be effective and binding codes of conduct and ethics need to be
backed by an effective monitoring and enforcement regime. Legislatures
the world over have adopted different models for this purpose. A number
of countries have adopted structural arrangements such as ombudsman,
inspector general, and special prosecutor designed to combat corruption
and support the incorruptible public administrator. World over there are
number and variety of offices in operation: Egypt’s Administrative Control
Authority, Canada’s Office of the Ethics Counselor, Nigeria’s Code of
Conduct Tribunal, New Guinea’s Ombudsman Commission, Nepal’s
Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, Latvia’s Ministry
of State Reform, Uganda’s Inspectorate of Government Office, Costa Rica’s
Office for the Defense of Citizens, and the Office of Overcoming
Professional Unhealthy Tendencies of the People’s Republic of China.137
In Canada the Ethics Commissioner, an Officer of Parliament appointed
under the Parliament of Canada Act to oversee the Canadian Conflict of
Interest and Post-Employment Code for public office holders (2006) and to
34 / THEME PAPER 2016

provide advice. The Commissioner reports on the inquiries he conducts

pursuant to the Members’ Code and makes annual reports to the House of
Commons on his activities in relation to its Members. In UK, based on the
recommendations of the Nolan Committee, the House of Commons has
established the office of Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. The
Constitution of the Office of Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
has helped the House by bringing greater transparency in matters relating
to ethical standards. It has also helped the Members by providing them
timely advice in matters relating to the Code of Conduct.138 There is the
Public Offices Commission in Ireland, the Government Personnel Appeals
Commission in Korea, the Ministry of Controllership and Administrative
Development in Mexico, the State Personnel Presidency in Turkey, the
secretariat of the ethics committees in France, to which public servants
could turn for information concerning such matters as moving to the private
sector.139

4. MISFEASANCE AND CORRUPTION

Corruption: Major Challenges

Corruption is one of the hardest issues states have to face in the
governance process. Corrupt practices rob governments of the means to
ensure the best life for their people, while many in government may feel
that exposure of corruption erodes their legitimacy.140 Corruption is the
outcome of decline in ethical and moral values in governance.
Maladministration breeds corruption. The instruments of the state are used
for promoting self-interest and not for public good. Corruption is not a recent
phenomenon. Corruption is a universal problem and a complex phenomenon.
All countries rich, poor, developed or developing experience it in varying
degree, mainly due to the imperfect fulfillment of absolute ideals. The 2015
Corruption Perceptions Index clearly shows that corruption remains a blight
around the world. Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is
corruption free.141 It is the abuse of public office for private gain142.
Transparency International defines corruption as “the abuse of entrusted
power for private gain”. Corruption can be classified as grand, petty and
political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it
occurs. Grand corruption consists of acts committed at a high level of
government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state,
enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good. Petty corruption
refers to everyday abuse of entrusted power by low- and mid-level public
officials in their interactions with ordinary citizens, who often are trying to
access basic goods or services in places like hospitals, schools, police
 SURESH MISRA / 35

departments and other agencies. Political corruption is a manipulation of

policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources
and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain
their power, status and wealth.143
World over corruption has been recognized as the single greatest obstacle
to economic and social development. The hypercorruption that prevails in
many countries is a clear indicator of the profound moral crisis that
civilization is experiencing.144 A value system in which public servants
generally regard public office as their private property frequently results in
an abuse of power and the attitude that the state is superior to the people.
Public sector corruption is not simply about misappropriation of taxpayers’
money but it results in inequality and exploitation by concentration of wealth
in the hands of an elite few and trapping many more in poverty. Corruption
has been commonly recognized as a ‘social disease’ as it destroys the
moral fabric of society and erodes the faith of the common man in the
legitimacy of the politico-administrative set up. The organizational causes
for corruption may be traced to a number of factors; inadequate and
unrealistic compensation levels of public servants, lack of leadership in the
bureaucratic system, mismanagement or maladministration of the system,
excessive red tapism in administrative procedures, poor recruitment and
selection procedures.
Due to increasing maladministration leading to corruption and unethical
actions of Public Services, in 2003 the United Nations General Assembly
adopted a Resolution against corruption. This was the United Nations
Convention against Corruption145 Article 8 which states:
“Codes of conduct for public officials:
1. In order to fight corruption, each State Party shall promote, inter
alia, integrity, honesty and responsibility among its public officials,
in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system.
2. In particular, each State Party shall endeavour to apply, within its
own institutional and legal systems, codes or standards of conduct
for the correct, honourable and proper performance of public
functionaries.
3. For the purposes of implementing the provisions of this Article,
each State Party shall, where appropriate and in accordance with
the fundamental principles of its legal system, take note of the
relevant initiatives of regional, inter-regional and multilateral
organizations, such as the International Code of Conduct for Public
Officials contained in the General Assembly Resolution 51/59 of
12 December, 1996.
36 / THEME PAPER 2016

4. Each State Party shall also consider, in accordance with the

fundamental principles of its domestic law, establishing measures
and systems to facilitate the reporting by public officials of acts of
corruption to appropriate authorities, when such acts come to their
notice in the performance of their functions.
5. Each State Party shall endeavour, where appropriate and in
accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to
establish measures and systems requiring public officials to make
declarations to appropriate authorities regarding, inter alia, their
outside activities, employment, investments, assets and substantial
gifts or benefits from which a conflict of interest may result with
respect to their functions as public officials.
6. Each State Party shall consider taking, in accordance with the
fundamental principles of its domestic law, disciplinary or other
measures against public officials who violate the codes or standards
established in accordance with this Article.”146

Corruption in India
India is the 76th least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to
the 2015 Corruption Perception Index reported by Transparency
International. Corruption Rank in India averaged 75.14 from 1995 until
2015, reaching an all-time high of 95 in 2011 and a record low of 35 in
1995.147
According to a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Annual Report
for 2015 tabled in the Parliament, during 2015 as many as 928 government
and public sector unit employees were sacked and 5,461 employees handed
out major penalties, while 11,711 received minor penalties in 2015 for
corruption and misconduct. Punitive action was taken in 17,172 cases (for
all categories of officers). In seven cases, deterrent action was taken against
senior officers, including three IAS, one IPS and three IRS officers, and
sanction of prosecution was granted. As per the CVC Report, the competent
authorities in various organisations have issued sanction for prosecution
against 132 public servants, major penalties have been imposed on 1,832
public servants and minor penalties on 1,346 during 2015. In 2015, the highest
number of punishments, including administrative action against public
servants, was in the Railways (602 officers), State Bank of India (217
officers), Punjab National Bank (169 officers) and Department of Telecom
(134 officers). The Railways issued sanction for prosecution in 16 cases,
Central Board of Excise and Customs in 15 cases and Punjab National
Bank in 10 cases. During 2015, a total of 4,355 cases were received and
 SURESH MISRA / 37

1,751 brought forward from the previous year. The Commission disposed
of 4,604 cases—leaving a pendency of 1,502 cases at the end of the year.
It has been observed in the report there was a delay in corruption cases. It
takes about eight years to finalise a major vigilance case from the date of
occurrence of irregularity. The Commission noted that detection of
irregularity and its investigation takes on an average more than two years
each—total period of more than 4 years, which is a significant portion of
the entire delay period.148
In 2015, ‘Corruption, Bribery and Corporate Frauds’ continued to be
ranked as the topmost risk.149 According to reported corruption cases in
the media from October 2011 to September 2012, the potential losses
suffered by the Indian economy stood at INR 364 billion. This excludes
some large scams such as 2G, the Commonwealth Games and mining.150
Many factors have been attributed to corruption in India, the most prominent
ones highlighted by a number of scholars are: regulations and authorizations;
providing public services and public goods below market prices; low public
sector wages; unstable political institutions and unchecked election costs; a
lack of government accountability and laws that protect whistleblowers;
leadership deficits, specifically lack of political will for reform; and opaque
rules, laws, and procedures.151 Looking at the state of corruption in India
scholars argue that “curbing corruption in India remains an impossible dream
in the foreseeable future”. 152 The erosion of values at the personal,
professional, and societal levels is a matter of serious concern in India. The
Service Conduct Rules, the Code of Conduct, and various other legislations
that are enacted and amended from time to time have helped civil servants
to maintain moral conduct of the highest order and combat corruption.
A survey conducted in 2013153 on “Bribery and Corruption: Ground
Reality in India”, suggests that corruption invariably increases: transaction
costs, uncertainty in the economy, lowers efficiency, inhibits the development
of a healthy marketplace, distorts economic and social development. High
levels of corruption are associated with lower levels of investment.
The findings of the survey suggests that Infrastructure and Real Estate
(85%); Metals and Mining (76%); Aerospace and Defense (64%); Power
and Utilities sectors (51%) are the sectors received to be most vulnerable
to corruption. Alarmingly, a large number of respondents appeared to be
comfortable with (or were aware of) unethical business conduct. These
include irregular accounting to hide bribery and corruption, gifts being given
to seek favours. More than half of the respondents agreed that it is the lack
of will to obtain licenses and approvals the “right way,” which leads to
bribery and corruption. Around 83% of the respondents felt that cases of
bribery and corruption can negatively impact FDI inflows. Around 89% of
38 / THEME PAPER 2016

SOURCE: Aloke Tikku, 900 government employees sacked for corruption in 2015, Hindustan
Times, August 04, 2016.
the respondents felt that there should be greater enforcement of laws to
curb the proliferation of bribery and corruption.

Impact of Bribery and Corruption on India’s Economy

The survey respondents believed that increasing corruption can act as
a speed-breaker in the India growth story. Around 83% of respondents felt
that the recent spate of scams can negatively impact FDI inflows into the
country. Seventy three percent of investors are expected to bargain hard
and factor in the cost of corruption at the time of entering transactions.
Around 77% of the respondents think that it is the responsibility of the
Managing Directors to handle the bribery and corruption-related issues in
the organizations. Nearly 50% of the respondents said their companies
have lost business to their competitors because of the latter’s unethical
conduct. According to 73% of the respondents from PE firms, a company
operating in a sector that is perceived as highly corrupt, may lose ground
when it comes to a fair valuation of its business.154
Global Corruption Barometer 2013 — a survey of 1.14 lakh people in
107, indicates that corruption in India has reached an all-time high with
rates being exactly double of the global prevalence. In India the number of
people who say they paid bribe when accessing public services were 54%,
i.e. over one in two citizens. Whereas globally, 27% people say they paid
bribe when accessing public services and institutions. Political parties have
been found to be the most corrupt institution in India with a corruption rate
as high as 4.4 on a scale of 5. The highest amount of bribe, however, was
collected by the police — 62% followed by those involved in registry and
 SURESH MISRA / 39

permit (61%), educational institutions (48%), land services (38%). India’s

judiciary has also been found guilty — 36% involved in bribes. Cynicism
about a corruption free future is widespread among the Indian public with
45% people saying they don’t think common man can make a difference.
On the other hand, around 34% people (1 in 3) said they wouldn’t report
corruption while facing it. The Barometer shows a crisis of trust in politics
and real concern about the capacity of those institutions responsible for
bringing criminals to justice.155
India Corruption and Bribery Report, 2009156 suggests that Bribery in
India has reached till grassroots level which is difficult to contain. Around
86% demands were done for $5000 or less (2,50,000 rupees or less, out of
which more than half were for $26 (Rs. 1300) or less. Because, corruption
takes place at such a grassroots level, it is extremely difficult to contain it.
Fourteen people out of 100 taking bribes are for amount more than $5000
(Rs. 2,50,000). Actually, if you look at the top officials are even more corrupt.
The number of big bosses is merely one -two per cent of all officials, yet
according to the report 14% of bribes are of huge amounts, showing that
big bosses are involved even more compared to low level officials who are
taking bribes.
It is also interesting that more than half of all the bribes were paid to
get the work in time. 77% of all reported bribe demands in India are related
to the avoidance of harm, including securing the timely delivery of a service
– which is actually a right of a person (such as clearing customs or having
a telephone line installed) and receiving payment for services already
rendered. Only 12% of the bribe demands were for gaining a personal or
business advantage (including exercising influence with or over another
government official, receiving inappropriate favorable treatment or winning
new business). So if you want your work to be done, bribe the public servant.
The report indicated that people in India are now used to this corrupt system
and take it in their stride as part and parcel. They do not want to go extra
lengths and take the easy way out. But this easy way out is actually the
root of corruption in India.157
An embarrassing 91% of reported bribe demands originate from
government officials in India. The greatest sources of bribe demands, were
from national level Government officials (33%), the police (30%), state/
provincial officials and employees (16%), and city officials (10%)
respectively. The two Indian ministries which ask for bribe more than others
are Customs office (13%) and Taxation and Water (9%). Nearly 90%
indicated being solicited for a bribe between two and 20 times. Overall
60% people reported bribe demands of 5 times or lower from the same
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individual. However, 9% asked for bribes more than 100 times. Compared
to China, it differs significantly with 73% people indicating that they had
received multiple bribe requests. 92% of all bribes are preferred to be
“cash or cash equivalent”. The next best thing is a “gift,” (5%) including
requests for company products, jewellery and similar items. Less common
still, at approximately one per cent each, were requests for hospitality or
entertainment items; travel for other than business purposes; and other
assistance, such as help with a visa, medical care, or scholarships.
Surprisingly, there were no reports in India of demands for “additional
business” or “sexual favours”.158

5. INDIAN INITIATIVES TO STRENGTHEN ETHICAL FRAMEWORK

Accountability to Parliament
India has adopted Parliamentary democracy wherein the government
is responsible to the Parliament which represents the people. The people
through Parliament are sovereign as enshrined in our Constitution. Both the
minister and the civil servant are servants of the people. The administrators
are responsible to the political executives, who in turn are answerable to
the Parliament. Besides administrative accountability there is also
accountability in regard to ‘finance’. The legislature must authorise the
executive before the latter can spend any money from the Consolidated
Fund of India or the state.

Judicial Accountability
Because of increase in the State activities, the executive exercises
wide powers. As was rightly observed by Lord Denning: “Properly exercised
the new powers of the executive lead to the Welfare State; but abused they
lead to the Totalitarian State”.159 The vast discretionary powers conferred
on administrative authorities are required to be properly checked and
controlled. If a citizen is aggrieved with any action or inaction of the
administration, he may seek redress through a court of law. So the presence
of independent judicial processes is also important for making administration
accountable. Intensive administration will be more tolerable to the citizens,
and the government’s path will be smoother, where the law can enforce
high standards of legality, reasonableness and fairness. Though the courts
have for centuries exercised a limited supervisory jurisdiction by means of
the writs, however the power of judicial review is a wider remedy to check
abuse of discretionary powers and administrative inaction.
Wade rightly points out: “Subject as it is to the vast empires of executive
power that have been created, the public must be able to rely on the law to
 SURESH MISRA / 41

ensure that all this power may be used in a way conformable to its ideas of
fair dealing and good administration. As liberty is subtracted, justice must
be added. The more power the government wields, the more sensitive is
public opinion to any kind of abuse or unfairness. Taken together, the work
of judiciary and legislature amounts to an extensive system of protection. It
has its weaknesses, but it also has great strengths”.160
The power of judicial review under the Articles 32, 226, 227, 136 of the
Constitution is the basic or essential feature of Indian Constitution. It is the
most potent weapon in the hands of the judiciary for maintenance of
democracy and rule of law.

Code of Conduct for Ministers

The Government of India has prescribed a Code of Conduct which is
applicable to Ministers of both the Union and State Governments. The
authority for ensuring the observance of the present Code of Conduct is
the Prime Minister in the case of Union Ministers, the Prime Minister and
the Union Home Minister in the case of Chief Ministers, and the Chief
Minister concerned in the case of Ministers of the State Government.
However, it is not comprehensive in its coverage and is more in the nature
of a list of prohibitions. So in strict sense it does not amount to a Code of
Ethics. It is, therefore, necessary that in addition to the Code of Conduct,
there should be a Code of Ethics to provide guidance on how Ministers
should uphold the highest standards of constitutional and ethical conduct in
the performance of their duties. The Code should be based on the overarching
duty of Ministers to comply with the law, to uphold the administration of
justice and to protect the integrity of public life. It should also lay down the
principles of minister-civil servant relationship. The Code of Ethics should
also reflect the seven principles of public life enumerated by Nolan
Committee.161
Both Houses of Parliament have provided for Codes of Conduct and
also norms for disclosure of interest and declaration of assets and liabilities
of their Members. The Committees on Ethics of both the Lok Sabha and
the Rajya Sabha have been mandated to oversee the moral and ethical
conduct of members.

The Committee on Ethics of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha

Chapter XXIV of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in
the Council of States provides for constitution of the Committee on Ethics
to oversee the moral and ethical conduct of Members. The Committee on
Ethics was first constituted by the Chairman of the House on 4th March,
42 / THEME PAPER 2016

1997. There is a Committee on Ethics of the LokSabha to oversee the

moral and ethical conduct of Members of that House. A few State
Legislatures such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, etc. have adopted Codes of
Conduct for their Legislators.162

Disclosure of Interest
In India, disclosure of interest is provided in both Houses of Parliament,
in different ways. It has been ruled by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
that a Member having a personal pecuniary or direct interest on a matter
before the House is required, while taking part in the proceedings in that
matter, to declare the nature of interest. The Rule 371 of the Rules of
Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha prescribe that if the
vote of a Member in a division in the House is challenged on grounds of
personal, pecuniary or direct interest in the matter to be decided, the Speaker
may examine the issue and decide whether the vote of the Member should
be disallowed or not and his decision shall be final. Furthermore, the
Handbook for Members provides that a Member having personal, pecuniary
or direct interest in a matter to be decided by the House is expected, while
taking part in the proceedings on that matter, to declare his interest.163
A specific mechanism for disclosure of private interests is maintenance
of a ‘Register of Interests’. Legislators are expected to record in the register
all their interests periodically. Rule 293 (Rules of Procedure and Conduct
of Business in the Council of States) stipulates that a ‘Register of Members’
Interests’ has to be maintained by the Committee on Ethics. The Committee
on Ethics of the Rajya Sabha, in its Fourth Report, recommended that to
start with the following interests of Members should be entered in the
Register: (i) Remunerative Directorship; (ii) Regular Remunerated Activity;
(iii) Shareholding of Controlling Nature; (iv) Paid Consultancy; and (v)
Professional Engagement.164
The Representation of the People Act, 1951, has been amended by the
Representation of the People (Third Amendment) Act, 2002. A new Section,
75A, has been inserted which stipulates that every elected candidate for a
House of Parliament or the Legislature of the State, shall, within ninety
days from the date on which he/she makes and subscribes an oath or
affirmation, files the details of his/her assets/liabilities to the Chairman of
the Council of State or the Legislative Council, or the Speaker of Lok
Sabha or the Legislative Assemblies as the case may be. Accordingly, the
Members of the Lok Sabha (Declaration of Assets and Liabilities) Rules,
2004, and the Members of the Rajya Sabha (Declaration of Assets and
Liabilities) Rules have been formulated.165
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Code of Conduct / Ethics for Civil Servants

Code of conduct is supposed to increase confidence in government by
reassuring citizens that private power and interest do not subvert government
decisions. This code is now on the verge of becoming a panacea for problems
that they cannot solve. Despite its existence for a long period very little is
known about how this code of conduct is implemented or how it functions.
A well-crafted ethics code can accomplish a number of vital public
purposes. The code can help restore and support public trust and the
legitimacy of the government. It accomplishes this purpose by limiting the
ability of private power and interest to subvert fair access to government or
the independent judgments of public officials. The codes must affect the
daily lives of public officials. A good code can buttress and support the
independence of government officials and provide direction and advice on
complicated issues. A code succeeds best if it affects the agency culture
and its standards become imbedded in bureaucratic practices codes help
professionalize inter personal relationships and eliminate many incentives
for informal inducements.166 A well designed code must be supported by
ethics education and employee orientation.
The All India Service Act, 1951 empowers the Government of India to
formulate rules for laying down the conditions of services for the persons
appointed to the civil services after consultation with state governments.
The current set of ‘enforceable norms’ are ‘Conduct Rules’, typified by
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 All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968 and the
Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, which emphasize focusing
on “service content” as their core functional domain, laid down the rules
for civil services. A clear mention has been made about using authority not
other than for public welfare. 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 towards
cataloguing 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 Ethics.167
The Conference of the Chief Ministers, which was held in 1996,
emphasized the initiation of change in policy stressing the Charters of Citizen’s
Rights, accountability of public servants, and transparency in administration.
44 / THEME PAPER 2016

This was followed by a “workshop” held on November 20, 1996, in which

all Chief Secretaries of States participated to prepare a roadmap to ensure
the implementation of decisions taken during this workshop. The major
outcomes had been translated through promulgation of the Charter of Ethics
and the Civil Service Code on the basis of equality, secularism, impartiality,
social justice, and the rule of law. The main conclusions are that loyalty
should be only to serve the public in accordance with the rule of law, working
with a focus on citizen-centered administration that stresses transparency
in administration and the Citizen’s Charter for all service institutions.168
According to the Service Conduct Rules established in 2000, it is
mandatory for the members of Central and All India Services to be
responsive to the common man. The following reform areas are included:
(1) developing effective and transparent systems of governance; (2) ensuring
integrity in civil services; (3) promoting a code of conduct that is in line with
the existing relevant international standards; (4) regular training of officials
to ensure proper understanding of their responsibilities and ethical roles
governing their activities; and (5) making civil services more professional
and competent.169

Institutional Mechanism to Check Corruption

The first law broadly dealing with corruption and the attachment of
property was a pre-independence, war time ordinance called the Criminal
Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 1944, enacted under the Government of
India Act, 1935 to prevent the disposal or concealment of property procured
by means of certain scheduled offences, including offences under the Indian
Penal Code of 1860 (hereinafter “IPC”).170 In the pre-independence period,
the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was the main tool to combat corruption in
public life. The Code had a chapter on ‘Offences by Public Servants’,
(Sections 161 to 165) which provided the legal framework to prosecute
corrupt public servants.171
The first direct and consolidated law on the subject of corruption was
the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, which was enacted in independent
India to supplement the provisions of the IPC. The existing provisions under
the IPC and other laws had proved inadequate to deal with cases of bribery
and corruption of public servants, which had increased greatly during the
war years, due to scarcity and controls. Therefore, a new law was required
to deal with various post-war scenarios, which provided multiple
opportunities for corruption – these included post-war reconstruction
schemes, termination of contracts, and disposal of a large number of
government surplus stores. The 1947 Act sought to incorporate (with
 SURESH MISRA / 45

modifications) the attachment provisions from the 1944 Ordinance;

introduced the offence of criminal misconduct, similar to Section 13 of the
present 1988 Act; and criminalised attempts to commit certain offences
under the Act.
However, the scope of the 1947 Act was considered too narrow. So
the Prevention of Corruption Act was enacted in 1988 to replace the 1947
Act and certain provisions in the IPC dealing with corruption. It sought to,
inter alia, widen the scope of the definition of public servants; incorporate
the offences under Sections 161-165A of the IPC; increase the penalties
provided; and provide for day-to-day trial of cases. Presently the Prevention
of Corruption Act, 1988 is the substantive law to deal with corruption in
India. This applies to all categories of “public duty” which has been defined
as a “duty in the discharge of which the State, the citizens at large have an
interest.” The legal view of corruption in India thus encompasses a
combination of notions of “public offices’ and “public interest”. Besides
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, there are number of other enactments
to check corruption: the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 to
prohibit benami transactions; the Prevention of Money Laundering Act,
2002; the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
Adding teeth to the government’s crackdown on black money, Lok
Sabha on July 27, 2016 passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition)
Amendment Bill 2015. This is predominantly an anti-black money measure.
A lot of people who have unaccounted money buy immovable property in
the name of a fictitious person or a “benami” person, need to be discouraged.
The bill marks a continuation of the government’s efforts to curb black
money and provides for confiscation of assets held in the name of another
person or under a fictitious name to avoid taxation and to conceal illegally
obtained wealth. The bill provides for a fine of up to 25% of the fair value
of the asset and imprisonment of up to seven years. Among the key changes
incorporated in the new Bill include a case for exemption for “genuine
religious trusts” outside the purview of the legislation. Under the bill, the
term “property” will cover movable, immovable, tangible and intangible
properties. In case of joint ownership of property, the tax payer will have to
show financing sources. Accommodating the concerns raised by certain
members about religious properties or those owned by deities or religious
institutions will exempt such bona fide entities. The amendments aim to
strengthen the Bill in terms of legal and administrative procedure so as to
overcome the practical difficulties which may arise in the implementation
of its provisions when it becomes an Act. The legislation is also intended to
effectively prohibit benami transactions and consequently prevent
circumvention of law through unfair practices.172
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India is also a signatory to the United Nations Convention against

Corruption since 2005 which was ratified in 2011. The Convention covers a
wide range of acts of corruption and also proposes certain preventive policies.
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 which came into force from 16
January 2014, seeks to provide for the establishment of the institution of
Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public
functionaries in India. Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011, which provides
a mechanism to investigate alleged corruption and misuse of power by
public servants and also protect anyone who exposes alleged wrongdoing
in government bodies, projects and offices, has received the assent of the
President of India on 9 May 2014, and is pending for notification by the
Central Government.173

Towards Transparent Governance: Right to Information Act, 2005

Information is the basis of democracy. Effective accountability rests
on the peoples’ acquaintance with the information and circumstances for
the decisions taken. The government which pursues secret aims or operates
in secrecy tends to lose the faith of the people and thereby its own legitimacy
and credibility. Openness and full access to information are two pillars of
any democratic state. Access to information not only promotes openness,
transparency and accountability in administration, but also facilitates active
participation of people in the democratic governance process. A democratic
government must be sensitive to the public opinion, for which information
must be made available to the people. Information and knowledge are
instruments of transformation. Not only the government but also the
corporate houses and industries, which operate for profit and pollute must
also be made to disclose all the facts, which are of public interest.
Importance of the right to information has now been well recognized as
one of the essential requirements of the good governance. In India, the
Right to Information Act came into being in 2005; a landmark event that
made the governance processes of the country accessible to its citizens.
The Act is based on the principle that all government information is the
property of people. It takes democracy to the grassroots level and is also a
step towards ensuring participatory governance in the country.174
The RTI Act, 2005 provides for setting up a practical regime of the
right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the
control of public authorities. It mandates timely response to the requests
made by citizens for government information. Until 2005, the Official Secret
Act, 1923 generally debarred disclosure of any official information to the
public. The Right to Information Act, 2005 on the other hand wants and
directs public authorities to periodically publish un-exempted category of
 SURESH MISRA / 47

information of general interest suo motu. Any public authority, which delays
or withholds information required by an individual, has been made
answerable, accountable and punishable where necessary. Thus, the
emphasis has now shifted from secrecy or darkness to openness in
government work. It is really tantamount to scrapping of the old Official
Secret Act, 1923 and turning government to be a government of the people
in the real sense. 175
According to a study the general perception of people is that access to
information has actually helped. 77% of the individuals think that the ability
to access government held information could be helpful in one way or
another. Fifty eight per cent felt that access to information held by the
government was helpful as it could help in solving individual problems like
to find out about their rights vis-à-vis government, to get official document
/ certificates and solving grievances. It could help in prevention of corruption,
minimize bad governance and improve government efficiency (24%). While
26% thought it would contribute to solving community and national problems.
The RTI Act has promoted transparency at all levels. 176

Lokpal and Lokayuktas

Another important milestone in strengthening governance is the
enactment of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2014 which was passed by
Parliament in December 2013, and got Presidential assent on January 1,
2014. The Act was a product of people’s movement against corruption led
by Anna Hazare. It aims to prevent and control corruption through the
setting up of an independent and empowered body at the central level,
called the Lokpal that would receive complaints relating to corruption against
most categories of public servants and ensure that these are properly
investigated and, where warranted, effectively prosecuted. All this is
envisaged in a time-bound manner, with the help of special courts set up for
the purpose. The Act also makes it incumbent for each state to pass, within
a year, a law setting up a body of Lokayuktas at the state level, but leaves
it to the states to work out the details. The Lokpal would receive complaints
of corruption against the Prime Minister, Ministers, Members of Parliament
(MPs), officers of the Central Government (all levels), and against
functionaries of any entity that is wholly or partly financed by the government
with an annual income above a specified limit, and also, all entities receiving
donations from foreign sources in excess of 10 lakh per year.177 It is a
welcome move that NGOs and Industrialists have also been brought under
the ambit of the Act. The Lok Sabha on July 27, 2016 approved an
amendment to the Section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, to
allow extension of the time given to public servants and trustees and board
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members of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) receiving

government funds of more than Rs. 1 crore or foreign funding of more than
Rs 10 lakh to declare their assets and those of their spouses.178

Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011

The enactment of RTI Act saw the rise in the number of whistleblowers
but many were also attacked and murdered. The need was felt to protect
the whistleblowers. A large number of cases of corruption and unethical
acts don’t see the light of the day because of fear being harmed.
Whistleblowing typically involves conflict between two parties with unequal
power. It involves attempts to change a bureaucracy by those who work
within the organization but who do not have authority. It is also seen that
whistleblowing usually occurs in the absence of well developed, neutral
dispute resolution mechanism. Cases of whistleblowing have been few so
far, but there has been pressure from the public for laws to protect legitimate
whistleblowers who release information in the public interest. If
whistleblower’s protection law is enacted, it will place an onus on public
servants to think more about their responsibilities and to re-evaluate the
ethic of neutrality. The ethic of neutrality holds that one does only what one
is told to do. There is little or no room for individual choice or discretion.
Good information, performance based incentives, accountability for results
and clarity of roles and responsibilities are all consistent with the maintenance
and development of ethical government, promoting organizational values
such as efficiency, effectiveness, excellence, quality, leadership and team
work.
Whistleblowing has been recognized as one of the important means of
reducing corruption by improving the disclosure of information about illegal,
dangerous or unethical activities by government and private organizations.
As “part of society’s alarm and self-repair system”, whistleblowers are
valuable for organizations and the society because they call attention to
problems before they become more damaging. They are “lone voices of
reason, morality, and truth who speak out to protect the public from harm”.179
Around 50 countries in the world have adopted national laws on
whistleblowing in one form or the other. Countries like Australia, Canada,
France, South Africa, United Kingdom and USA have passed comprehensive
legislations to protect whistleblowers in the public sector and sometimes in
the private sector.180
In India, a sincere whistleblower in the National Highways Authority
of India, Satyendra Dubey had to pay a heavy price in term of his life for
drawing attention of the Prime Minister’s Office to corruption in Golden
 SURESH MISRA / 49

Quadrilateral Project. Manjunath Shanmugam, a young manager with Indian

Oil Corporation was shot dead for drawing attention to irregularities in the
quality of fuel being marketed in some petrol pumps. Prof. Rajiv Kumar of
IIT, Kharagpur has been suspended for exposing irregularities in the IIT-
JEE Entrance Test for admissions. Many such whistleblowers and RTI
activists have been facing problems and there have been situations where
it became difficult for them even to get police protection. Therefore, there
is dire need for some kind of legal protection. Since the killing of Satyendra
Dubey there have been constant demands for the legislation to protect
whistleblowers.181 With suspicious attacks on whistleblowers, the Vyapam
scam has highlighted the vulnerability of those who show truth to power.
The string of corruption scandals that have surfaced in the last few months,
have established what many believe — in a country the size and diversity
of India, it is impossible for a centralised mechanism to control corruption
to succeed.182
The Whistleblowers’ Protection Bill, 2011 passed by Parliament, received
the assent of the President in May 2014 and has been enacted as
Whistleblowers Protection Act, 2011. The Act aims to encourage
whistleblowing by providing mechanisms to protect whistleblowers and
safeguard them from victimisation. Under the law, if a whistleblower is
victimised, he can file a complaint to the competent authority (CA), who
has powers to take necessary action to prevent victimisation and issue
binding orders. Similarly, the law could have provided protection to those
rendering assistance in the investigation when they faced threats and
attacks. 183
The Act thus provides for a system to encourage people to disclose
information about corruption or the wilful misuse of power by public servants,
including ministers. As per the law, a person can make a public interest
disclosure on corruption before a competent authority — which is at present
the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). The government, by notification,
can appoint any other body also for receiving such complaints about
corruption, the Act says. The Act, however, lays down punishment of up to
two years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 30,000 for false or frivolous
complaints.184
Instead of promulgating effective rules to operationalise the Act, the
government has moved an amendment in Parliament that seeks to remove
the safeguards available to whistleblowers from prosecution under the
Official Secrets Act (OSA) if they make a disclosure under the WBP Act.
The amendment also forbids disclosure of many categories of information
in a whistleblower complaint, like information related to the integrity, security,
50 / THEME PAPER 2016

strategic, scientific or economic interests of the state or information that

relates to commercial confidence, unless information has been obtained
under the RTI. If the CA receives a disclosure containing information on
any of the subjects mentioned in the bill, then the disclosure will not be
looked into and the person making such a disclosure will also not be protected
under the Act. The threat of stringent penalties for the violation of the OSA
would deter bonafide whistleblowers from coming forward. Further, these
amendments completely ignore the predicament of government servants,
who come across evidence of wrongdoing in the normal course of their
work and have access to information without using the RTI.185

Vigilance and Investigative Mechanisms

Central Vigilance Commission
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is the apex vigilance institution,
free of control from any executive authority, monitoring all vigilance activity
under the Central Government. The Central Vigilance Commission was set
up by the Government in February 1964 on the recommendations of the
Santhanam Committee to advise and guide Central Government agencies
in the field of vigilance. The CVC Act passed by Parliament in 2003 gives
“statutory status” to CVC. Vide GOI Resolution on “Public Interest
Disclosure and Protection of Informer” dated April 2004, the Government
of India has authorized the Central Vigilance Commission as the “Designated
Agency” to receive written complaints for disclosure on any allegation of
corruption or misuse of office and recommend appropriate action.186 The
Commission has been empowered through the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act,
2013 to conduct preliminary inquiry into complaints referred by the Lokpal
to it. The Act also has a provision for a Directorate of Inquiry to be set up
in Commission.187
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), functioning under
Department of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public
Grievances, Government of India, is the premier investigating police agency
in India. It is an elite force playing a major role in preservation of values in
public life and in ensuring the health of the national economy. It is also the
nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of
Interpol Member countries. The services of its investigating officers are
sought for all major investigations in the country. The CBI has to investigate
major crimes in the country having inter-state and international ramifications.
It is also involved in collection of criminal intelligence pertaining to three of
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its main areas of operation, viz., anti-corruption, economic crimes and special
crimes. The broad categories of criminal cases handled by the CBI relate
to: cases of corruption and fraud committed by public servants of all Central
Government Departments, Central Public Sector Undertakings and Central
Financial Institutions; economic crimes, including bank frauds, financial
frauds, import export and foreign exchange violations, large-scale smuggling
of narcotics, antiques, cultural property and smuggling of other contraband
items etc.; special crimes, such as cases of terrorism, bomb blasts,
sensational homicides, kidnapping for ransom and crimes committed by the
mafia/the underworld. The superintendence over CBI so far as it relates to
investigation of the offences alleged to have been committed under the
Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, shall vest in Central Vigilance
Commission.188
CBI has registered 3,296 corruption cases in the last five years, with
over 169 people convicted. Out of the total 3,296 cases registered by the
CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), the CBI has filed
charge sheets in 2,187 cases. One hundred sixty Central Government
employees were convicted in corruption cases between 2010 and 2012.
There was steep fall in convictions in 2013-2015 when 1,883 cases were
registered by the CBI, out of which only nine Central Government employees
were convicted for corruption. In 2014, only one Central Government
employee was convicted. Till May 2015 no Central Government employee
was convicted. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had received a
total of 27,343 corruption cases and disposed of 27,251 of them during
2010-2014.189
National Investigative Agency
The Mumbai terror attack in November 2008 highlighted the need for a
strong investigative mechanism and as a result, the Government of India
came up with a proposal for an Agency that would be empowered to deal
with terror related crimes across states without special permission from
the states.190 The NIA was created by an Act of the Parliament of India on
December 31, 2008. According to the NIA Act, the Agency is an investigation
agency at the national level to investigate and prosecute offences affecting
the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of State, friendly
relations with foreign States and offences under Acts enacted to implement
international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United
Nations, its agencies and other international organisations and for matters
connected therewith or incidental thereto for investigation and prosecution
of offences affecting sovereignty, security and integrity of India. The NIA
was established in a concurrent jurisdiction framework, with provisions for
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taking up specific cases under eight specific Acts for investigation and
prosecution.191
At present NIA is functioning as the Central Counter Terrorism Law
Enforcement Agency in India.NIA has registered and investigated 93 cases
till date. After submission of chargesheets, 13 cases have been finally or
partially decided in trial. Of these, 11 cases have ended in conviction giving
NIA an enviable conviction percentage of 85%.192

Citizen’s Charter and Quality of Delivery of Services

A major theme associated with improving performance is the
development of a customer or a client focus or service quality initiative in
the public sector. Citizens’ charter is a step in this direction. It improves
access to public services and promotes quality. It does this by helping people
understand what an organisation does and how to contact it, what to expect
by way of service and how to seek a remedy if something goes wrong. It
does not in itself create legal rights. But it helps users to claim existing
rights, and may create new rights that are enforceable through non-legal
means (for example through a complaint procedure or independent
adjudicator). The charter should clearly set out the standards of service
that users can expect to receive. Good standards are vital for an effective
charter, and should be expressed in a way that is meaningful to all users.
Above all, the standards set out should be relevant, meaningful, challenging,
simple, measurable, monitored, published and reviewed. These initiatives
aim to improve performance of service delivery as well as to provide service
which meets people’s needs. Commitments to provide a certain type, volume
and quality of services may be made and performance measured against
their commitments. A number of Central Government departments and
undertakings have framed citizen’s charter. Some of the state governments
have also taken initiative in this regard but the results are not very
encouraging. Perhaps the current prevailing work culture/ environment does
not translate these initiatives into action. The real issue, however, is the
need to bring about a total change in the attitude of public servants towards
redressal of public grievances at all levels and to pin-point responsibility for
action on grievances of the people.’193

Right to Public Service Delivery Legislations

One of the basic requirements of accountability and transparency is
efficient and effective service delivery. Every Citizen is entitled to hassle-
free public services and redressal of his grievances. Standard and quality
services should be available to the citizens with in stipulated time frame and
in case of failure there should be a grievance redressal mechanism in place.
 SURESH MISRA / 53

The service seekers should be able to avail the services of the government
departments with minimum inconvenience and maximum speed. For this,
there should be clear, precise and enforceable statements of people’s
entitlements to public services, in the form of Public Service Guarantees.
The guarantees should specify the minimum standard of service provision
that service users can expect, and set out the arrangements for redress
that apply should service providers fail to meet the standard promised.”
Hence, Right to Service legislation ensures delivery of time bound services
to the public. If the concerned officer fails to provide the service in time, he
will have to pay a fine. Thus, it is aimed to reduce corruption among the
government officials and to increase transparency and public
accountability.194
A number of states have enacted Public Services Guarantee Act or
Right to Service Act. The common framework of the state legislations
includes, granting of “right to public services”, which are to be provided to
the public by the designated official within the stipulated time frame. The
public services which are granted as a right are generally notified through
Gazette notification. Some of the commonly provided public services,
including issuing caste, birth, marriage and domicile certificates, electric
connections, voter’s card, ration cards, copies of land records, etc., within
the fixed time frame. In case of failure there is provision for appeal and
imposition of penalty on the erring official. The applicant may be compensated
out of the penalty imposed on the officer.195
The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services
and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 or Citizens Charter Bill was
proposed in Lok Sabha in December 2011. The bill lapsed due to dissolution
of the 15th Lok Sabha.196 The Bill seeks to create a mechanism to ensure
timely delivery of goods and services to citizens. Every public authority is
required to publish a citizens charter within six months of the commencement
of the Act. The Charter will detail the goods and services to be provided
and their timelines for delivery. A citizen may file a complaint regarding
any grievance related to: (a) citizens charter; (b) functioning of a public
authority; or (c) violation of a law, policy or scheme. The Bill requires all
public authorities to appoint officers to redress grievances. Grievances are
to be redressed within 30 working days. The Bill also provides for the
appointment of Central and State Public Grievance Redressal Commissions.
A penalty of up to Rs 50,000 may be levied upon the responsible officer or
the Grievance Redressal Officer for failure to render services.197
There is, no doubt, that we have strong and well defined institutional
mechanisms apart from CBI and CVC to deal with corruption and
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governance. But why these institutions have failed the test of times? The
Supreme Court has also played a major role in tackling corruption. But lot
more needs to be done.

Media and Governance

The role of the press as Fourth Estate and as a forum for public
discussion and debate has long been recognized. Today, despite the mass
media’s propensity for sleaze, sensationalism and superficiality, the notion
of the media as watchdog, as guardian of the public interest, and as a
conduit between governors and the governed remains deeply ingrained. A
good rapport with the members of the press and the media is essential for
assimilating and disseminating information. How public interest is served—
will constantly have to be highlighted and made clear through whatever
forum is available. In this media plays an important role.
The role of the media in promoting good governance is clear. All aspects
of good governance are facilitated by a strong and independent mediascape
within a society. Only when journalists are free to monitor, investigate and
criticize the public administration’s policies and actions, can good governance
take hold. Independent media are like a beacon that should be welcomed
when there is nothing to hide and much to improve. Indeed, this is the
concrete link between the functioning of the media and good governance—
the media allow for on-going checks and assessments by the population of
the activities of government and assist in bringing public concerns and voices
into the open by providing a platform for discussion. Instead, all too often
governments devise laws and informal means of keeping their activities
hidden from public view or only available to media favourable to their
viewpoint. In recent years, many governments have tried to co-opt journalists
by paying part of their salaries or by giving them certain kinds of access on
condition that they will not report from other perspectives. If the media are
to function in the public interest, governments have to protect the independent
functioning of the media and allow various viewpoints to flourish in society.198
The media has a crucial function as the sector of society most able to
promote vigilance towards the rule of law, especially through fostering
investigative journalism, promoting the openness of court, legislative and
administrative proceedings, access to officials and to public documents.
The government has a key role here in protecting the independence and
pluralism of the media, especially during critical moments of these processes.
In India, the media has enjoyed freedom and has been able to highlight
a number of instances of corruption and maladministration. Media has been
able to raise issues of public concern and help make the system more
 SURESH MISRA / 55

accountable. However, in a democratic framework the media’s credibility

as a democratic institution is enhanced if they are accountable to the public,
acknowledge their mistakes and ensure that ethical and professional
standards are upheld. A sensational and trigger-happy press does not
contribute to intelligent discussion and debate and soon loses public support.
In a large number of cases of maladministration and corruption media trail
takes place and one is declared guilty even before a charge sheet is filed in
the court. The media should also be equally responsible in a democracy.

Civil Society Organisations: Partners in Good Governance

No discussion will be complete without analysing the role of civil society
organisations in promoting good governance. The concepts of Civil Society,
Governance and Democracy are intimately linked, as one is part of the
structure of the other. Democracy is of the people, by the people and for
the people and therefore, peoples’ participation in the process of governance
is essential. As part of the “social basis for democracy”, civil society
represents a fundamental part of the democratic system and highlights issues
of importance. Civil society has been widely recognized as an essential
‘third’ sector. Its strength can have a positive influence on the state and the
market and as important agent for promoting good governance.199
Civil society can further enhance good governance by: policy analysis
and advocacy; regulation and monitoring of state performance and the action
and behaviour of public officials; building social capital and enabling citizens
to identify and articulate their values, beliefs, civic norms and democratic
practices; mobilizing particular constituencies, particularly the vulnerable
and marginalized sections of masses, to participate more fully in politics
and public affairs; and development work to improve the well-being of
their own and other communities.200 It has the ability to express controversial
views; represent those without a voice; mobilize citizens into movements;
build support across stakeholders; and bring credibility to the political system
by promoting transparency and accountability. In terms of policy formulation,
civil society is a valuable partner in providing deep subject-matter expertise
based on first-hand experience, trailing and scaling up innovations in social
services and facilitating citizen engagement. Civil society representatives
often act in the public interest as whistleblowers, holding institutions and
individuals to account.201
Civil society is thus ‘watchdog’ against violation of human rights and
governing deficiencies. They are ‘advocates’ for the interests of weaker
sections of the society. They are ‘agitators’ on behalf of aggrieved citizens.
They act as ‘educators’ of citizens on their rights, entitlements and
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responsibilities and the government about the pulse of the people. They
also provide services to areas and people not reached by official efforts or
as government’s agents; are thus ‘service-providers’ as well. These act as
‘mobilisers’ of public opinion for or against a programme or policy. Civil
society acts through ‘social capital’— the capacity of people to act together
willingly in their common long-term interest.202
There has been a dramatic expansion in the size, scope, and capacity
of civil society around the globe over the past decade, aided by the process
of globalization and the expansion of democratic governance,
telecommunications, and economic integration. The World Bank has adopted
a definition of civil society developed by a number of leading research
centres: “the term civil society to refer to the wide array of non-governmental
and not-for-profit organizations that have a presence in public life, expressing
the interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical, cultural,
political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations. Civil Society
Organizations (CSOs) therefore refer to a wide array of organizations:
community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labour unions,
indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations,
professional associations, and foundations”.203
Civil Society Organisations in India have been greatly active in arenas
fighting for a vast variety of issues which has resulted in preserving
democracy and enhancing transparency, accountability and open
governance. The civil society of today focuses on issues ranging from
social, economic, environmental, law and policy making. Enactment of RTI
Act was the result of the movement initiated at grassroots level by civil
society of India. The civil society has recently mobilized to fight corruption
in India with the Lokpal Bill under Anna Hazare. After the rape of the 23-
year-old student in India, it was the civil society which mobilized large
masses consisting of all strata of society, to speak up for the security of
women in India.204 In India though the civil society movement has a long
history and has been strong in certain sectors but it made a significant
contribution in governance when civil society organisations led by Aruna
Roy campaigned for Right to Information Act and Anna Hazare led the
campaign against corruption and setting up the Lokpal and Lokayukta.
Medha Patkar another activist has campaigned for a very long time against
development and displacement and large dams. Large number of civil society
organisations have been working in social sector doing a commendable
work. Many such organisations working at the local level ensure human
rights protection, provision of basic services like health, sanitation, education
and environmental management.
 SURESH MISRA / 57

The Anna Hazare led movement against corruption was perhaps the
largest mobilisation of civil society in recent past against maladministration
and the need to strengthen the institutional mechanism to check corruption
and make the system transparent and accountable. During a discussion on
anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare, the then Leader of the opposition
of Bharatiya Janata Party, Shri Arun Jaitley, told the Parliament that people’s
voices will have to be heard while framing legislation. “In any developing
society and any mature society, there will be a role for civil society,” he
said. “They are a hard reality, they will exist. Some of them may take
positions which seem a little excessive, they may not be implementable, but
we must realize that their role is one of a campaigner, a flag bearer, a
crusader on several issues.”
Parliamentary democracy becomes participative democracy only with
civil society’s active role. The Government of India’s National Policy on
the Voluntary Sector, 2006 envisages encouraging an independent, creative
and effective voluntary sector. Support for NGOs, however, cannot be
blindly sentimental. The government has to assess their suitability, capability
and experience, and evaluate their performance continually.205 The recent
move of the government to streamline the activities of the civil society
organisations should not weaken the civil society as they are essential
prerequisite in a democracy. It is high time the approach and methodologies
of civil society organizations are improved to ensure that an effective impact
is made without any adverse effects. The modes of engagement of the civil
society with the authorities also need to be strengthened to improve the
articulation of public dissent with the government.

6. EMERGING ETHICAL DIMENSIONS OF

PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY IN 21ST CENTURY

With globalization, privatization and transformation of the world into a

global village there is change in the role of the state. The state which was
formerly an interventionist, producer, regulator, and seller, is now called
upon to be a facilitator, promoter, and partner. There is now increasing
expectations from governments to “perform”. The Indian Public
Administration system has entered an altogether different phase. Even in
the liberalized era most of the basic goods and services are provided by
the public agencies such as drinking water, electricity, education, health,
and so on. However, the quality of such services is questionable because
the bureaucratic behemoth has not been able to effectively and efficiently
deliver those services. The poor state of public health, the declining
standards of education, and so on, have raised questions of accountability.
The individuals who are spending on behalf of the government do not
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own the money but act as guardians of society. Therefore, the money
spent and the services rendered by the civil servants come within the
ambit of accountability to the citizens. The citizens as the customers are
paying for the services being provided by the government agencies;
therefore, all such agencies are accountable to the citizens in their acts of
omission and commission.206
In the 21st Century we are confronted with new reality of “reinventing
government”. The emphasis is on business like operation of government
with adoption of management practices which can apply equally to both
business and government. In the name of reform, public organizations at all
levels are urged to streamline, decentralize, and deregulate their operations;
reduce red tapism and bureaucratic control. Public managers and officials
are urged to “empower” both employees and local levels of government to
perform to their potential. Citizens are also redefined as customers, free to
choose among private and public providers of services; market mechanisms
are seen as relevant to government. Citizen-customers are demanding higher
levels of “quality” from government. The stress is on making the Public
organizations more efficient, effective, entrepreneurial and “customer-
friendly”. In such a scenario the governments are reviewing their structure
and downsizing, rightsizing, outplacing, etc. are being followed as ways of
reducing “bloated” agencies. 207
Through the dynamics of globalization, civil servants come into increasing
contact with their counterparts across national boundaries as necessitated
by increased inter-dependence between states. These interactions involve
a multiplicity of policy areas, finance, telecommunication, environmental
protection, counter terrorism, capital flows, public health and others. It would
be a mistake, however, to assume that these substantive policy and
administrative issues can be dealt with a purely technical basis; norms will
still play a large role in shaping the alternatives and methods used by civil
servants in pursuance of moral goals. As a result public administration will
increasingly encounter norms from other cultures that appear opaque,
incomprehensible and even irrational.208
Globalization requires us to rethink afresh how we manage our joint
activities and fulfill our obligations as public administrators. There are
many challenges and constraints that are being faced by those in public
administration in the wake of globalization process. World over the
countries have pursued significant state reforms based on greater emphasis
on market competition, non-intervention, debureaucratization, and
corporatization, which has critical impacts on public accountability .
Correspondingly there has been policy orientation of the reinvented state;
 SURESH MISRA / 59

a significant transition from nationalization, regulation, and protectionism

to privatization, deregulation, and liberalization in most countries in the
developing world. 209 Earlier the states created the nations of citizens by
monitoring and regulating their activities. However, now they are required
to adjust their domestic policies to serve the global, economic and political
scenario.
Beside these business like operations, the Government assumes
responsibility for non-market functions. In relation to most governmental
activities the citizen’s choice is much more constrained. The public sector
has special functional responsibilities which include: the care of the indigent
and vulnerable members of society; the regulation and policing of private
interests in the pursuit of collective public safety, welfare, and prosperity;
the provision of common public services necessary to the functioning of
society (e.g., education, sanitation, public health, etc.); the building of the
national infrastructure and the pursuit of national competitiveness; and
national security. These functions neither have an private-sector substitute
nor any private organizations will be willing to assume responsibility for
them. Therefore, these functions are not replaceable and the government
is duty bound to ensure that these functions are safe for civil existence in a
large and complex society. Because the public sector assumes these special
functional responsibilities, we can assert that they also entail special ethical
responsibilities which are at once different and higher than those faced by
private firms. 210
Globalization has become one of the most prominent buzzwords of
recent times. One effect of globalization has been that the risks of all kinds
– not just fiscal, but also physical have increased for governments.
Information travels far and fast; confidentiality is difficult to maintain,
markets are interdependent and events in remote areas can have immense
impact virtually anywhere in the world. Globalization is also viewed as
some form of westernization since it seemingly results in the export of
western culture to other culturally different world regions. Globalization
makes regional differences less important and encourages a more uniform
‘global culture’. This kind of culture has also raised a number of cultural
issues. Moral values that were taken for granted in the home market may
get questioned as soon as corporations enter freight market. New business
practices have raised a number of ethical questions and problems. The
nexus between politicians and the business resulted in large number of
scams and siphoning of vital rational resources. It became difficult to rely
on the legal framework when deciding on the right or work of certain
business practices.
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However, little attention has been given as to how this new reality
conforms to the ethical values that are deeply embedded in our democratic
system of public service. The public management reforms have raised
complex questions about values and ethics; whether there is clash of values
between public ethics and the forces of reinventing government? The
government reforms have created a situation in which governments are
finding that the systems that have traditionally guided the behaviour of public
servants are insufficient and sometimes in conflict with the new
entrepreneurial managerial roles they are expected to play. The pertinent
question here is whether public ethics and the forces of reinventing
government are fundamentally at odds — representing a clash of values —
or are better considered as opposing elements of a balancing process of
contending desiderata. Today in the public interest, public management
reforms raise complex questions about values and ethics. In the present
result-oriented public management environment, there are an increasing
number of “gray areas” where there are relatively few guidelines to inform
the actions of public servants and there is need to provide clearer ethical
frameworks.211 Several scholars now speak in terms of the “New Ethics”
for public administration. 212
Far-reaching changes in the global economy have made it imperative
for governments all over the world to improve the quality of their
governance structures. The Government of India has also introduced the
new public management concepts in public administration, with an emphasis
on “results” or “performance” to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of public services. The Government of India has developed monitoring
and evaluation systems for its development programmes, supported by a
well-planned institutional framework. It also has a performance appraisal
mechanism for its civil servants. To make the performance management
system effective, technology is being used in a big way, leading to the
development of a comprehensive performance information system that
can be audited and related to financial management and policy cycles. As
we look at issues relating to governance in the 21st Century, the roles of
the citizen and the government are undergoing an important revolution.
Government is seen more as one of the stakeholders than as a regulator,
funder, or service-provider. The new vision of the government is to evolve
public policy through the joint effort of the public authorities and the citizens
working in harmony. Today, the reinvention of the citizen is of crucial
importance to public administrative practice. In this governance model,
the citizen’s role is seen as a customer, owner or shareholder, issue-framer,
co-producer, service quality evaluator, and independent outcome tracker.213
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7. THE WAY FORWARD: ISSUES AND SUGGESTIONS

The legal framework to address ethical problems in the public service

is already quite vast from the Constitution to the Code of Ethics although its
actual implementation is insignificant. The Supreme Court and the High
Courts have also emphasised the importance of ethics and moral values in
governance. Therefore, it is necessary to define a methodology to make
governance accountable and transparent. Anti –corruption movements in
the country have focussed attention on the decline of ethical and moral
values of public services. We need to initiate a debate and look for
alternatives to promote good governance. A few suggestions can be thought
of:
Political Commitment to Ethics and Moral Values
The last few years have exposed the level of corruption that exists at
the highest level. The standards of propriety of political leaders in the
country has degenerated to such an extent that every politician is a suspect.
Across political parties a large number of Members of Parliament and
State legislatures have serious criminal cases against them. Some Chief
Ministers and Ministers are facing criminal and corruption charges them.
Political leaders are responsible for maintaining high standards of propriety
in the discharge of their official duties. Their commitment is demonstrated
by example and by taking action that is only available at the political level.
The culture and values of the public services to a large extent depends on
the political leadership and its commitment to high ethical standards. It is
time that the political leadership should focus on probity, integrity and a
value-based governance. They have to set examples and reinforce the
ethical conduct of public services. A message of zero tolerance to corruption,
unethical action and behaviour will send a strong message and help promote
ethical governance. Foremost importance is the commitment of the political
leadership to promote ethical and moral governance and strengthen
institutions and decision making processes so that they are transparent and
open to scrutiny. Political will to hold public services accountable and weed
out non-performers is what is required today. In the recent times there is
some movement towards this direction but time will tell to what extent it
can be sustained.
Evidence shows that many Indians do not have a positive image of the
public service. Public image of the public service has declined significantly
during the past decade. Some of the new ways of improving the public’s
perception of the public service include new styles of governance, new
forms of service delivery, enhanced fiscal prudence and increased
accountability. It is here that the political leadership must intervene to build
62 / THEME PAPER 2016

the image of the public services to restore the public trust in the institutions
of governance.
Directive Principles of State Policy
The Directive Principles of State Policy are the guidelines or principles
given to the Central and state governments of India, to be kept in mind
while framing laws and policies. Article 37 specifically mentions that
Directive Principles of State Policy, though not enforceable through any
court of law are “fundamental” to the governance of the country.
Directive Principles of State Policy aim to create social and economic
conditions under which the citizens can lead a good life. They also aim to
establish social and economic democracy through a welfare state. They
act as a check on the government, theorised as a yardstick in the hands
of the people to measure the performance of the government. Directive
Principles are non-justiciable rights of the people. Article 31-C, inserted
by the 25th Amendment Act of 1971 seeks to upgrade the Directive
Principles. If laws are made to give effect to the Directive Principles
over Fundamental Rights, they shall not be invalid on the grounds that
they take away the Fundamental Rights. In case of a conflict between
Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy , if the
Directive Principles of State Policy aims at promoting larger interest of
the society, the courts shall have to uphold the case in favour of the
Directive Principles of State Policy. The august Constituent Assembly
recognised the distinction between government and politics, and principles
of good governance, even as far back as the 1940s while drafting the
Constitution.
The Directive Principles of the State Policy are nothing but principles
of Raja Dharma. Fundamental principles of governance means Dharma
or the path of duty of the government. Therefore, it is the moral
responsibility of the state to guarantee the quality of life of each citizen so
that he can live in dignity which is a basic human right. The Millennium
Declaration adopted at the Millennium Summit, New York, September
2000 and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in Paris in 2015
aim to reduce poverty and enhance the quality of life of the people. The
eradication of poverty is, indeed, today a vital condition for global stability,
democracy and peace. As long as the poor are excluded from participation
in global growth, sustainable peace and development will remain out of
reach.
Therefore, it is time to examine the possibility of making Directive
Principles of the State Policy a justiciable right.
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National Commission on Integrity and Transparency in Governance

Perhaps it is time to set up a National Commission on Integrity and
Transparency in Governance. The code of conduct has merely remained a
code; it has not helped promote ethical and moral values in governance. To
what extent this code of conduct has been taken seriously by the public
servants is an interesting study to be undertaken. The Commission should
assess the effectiveness of code of conduct and take steps to promote
ethical values among public servants. Our ethics system must not only
establish minimal standards of conduct but they must also set forth high
goals for public servants. Governments must tell the employees what not to
do but they must also be told what they should do and how they should do.
The Commission could on a regular basis develop and review policies,
procedures, practices and institutions influencing ethical conduct in the public
service. It could also incorporate ethical dimensions into management
frameworks to ensure that management practices are consistent with the
values and principles of public service apart from promoting government
action to maintain high standards of conduct and counter corruption in public
sector.

Transparency in Delivery of Public Services

Efficiently delivering public services is a major area of concern. The
poor people depend on government services. Today citizens do not have
faith in the delivery mechanism. There is need for reconstruction of the
image of the public service. For this the public trust in public services need
to be re-established. For that the citizen-consumers must be heard and
their complaints redressed. An orientation of services to the public, where
complaints may be submitted by service users and their time bound disposal
need to be assured. New institutional channels of communication of society
with the government should be created, in order to allow the public to present
their complaints with respect to ethical violations in the public sector. It is
not only the legal duty of the state but also ethical and moral obligation of
the state to provide effective public services to all its citizens. In our country
corruption is rampant in delivery of services. Some states have enacted
public services delivery legislation but not much has been achieved. New
forms of delivery of public services have challenged the traditional values
in the public services. The service must reach the intended beneficiary.
Clear standards of governance and service delivery can contribute to enhance
coherence between a stated mission, values and goals; and the process
followed and outputs achieved, all of which contribute to ensuring public
trust.
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Service providers should converge their activities so that all services

are delivered at a common point. A single window front office for provision
of information and services to the citizens with a file tracking system needs
to be set up. Public service delivery mechanism needs to be manned by
people having moral integrity and highest ethical values. Lack of
transparency, accountability and responsiveness has led to large scale
corruption in the delivery of public services. The Prime Minister’s appeal
to citizens to give up gas subsidy must be seen as a moral and ethical
appeal to citizens to give up services so that the poor can benefit.
Use of Innovative Technological Tools to Reduce Human Interface
Twenty first century is the age of digital technology. The lesser the
human interface on platforms of governance, the lesser the corruption.
Technological tools can help in promoting ethical and moral governance. It
reduces discretion and is all inclusive. New innovation technology needs to
be adopted in governance which makes the system much more transparent,
accountable and inclusive. The recent initiatives of DoPT to move towards
a paperless office is to be welcomed. However, care has to be taken that
digitalization process itself is not unethical.
Abuse of Discretionary Powers
The problem of administrative discretion is complex. It is true that in
any intensive form of government, the government cannot function without
the exercise of some discretion by the officials. It is necessary not only for
the individualization of the administrative power but also because it is humanly
impossible to lay down a rule for every conceivable eventuality in the complex
art of modern government. But it is equally true that absolute discretion is a
ruthless master. It is more destructive of freedom than any of man’s other
inventions. Therefore, there has been a constant conflict between the claims
of the administration to an absolute discretion and the claims of subjects to
a reasonable exercise of it. Discretionary power by itself is not pure evil
but gives much room for misuse. Therefore, remedy lies in tightening the
procedure and not in abolishing the power itself.
Much of the misused discretionary power vested with public office
bearers emanate from complicated business rules that govern the provision
of public services. Without simplifying the administrative rules there is a
limit to which reform of public services can be attained. One of the important
recommendations of the second ARC was that all government offices having
public interface should undertake a review of their activities and list out
those which involve use of discretion. Where it is not possible to do so well
defined regulations should attempt to ‘bound’ the discretion. Decision making
 SURESH MISRA / 65

on important matters should be assigned to a Committee rather than

individuals. Care has to be exercised however, that this practice is not to be
restored to when prompt decisions are required.

Protection and Incentives to Honest Public Servants

In the quest for eradicating corruption and making systems and structures
of governance ethical, moral, accountable, fair and just, care must be taken
to provide protection to honest civil servants. Indian civil service still by and
large upholds the highest standards of integrity and fair play but would have
to accept that there are serious problems of unethical conduct by public
servants. Transfers and postings should not be an industry but based on
merit and performance. Governance and the citizens suffer a serious setback
when corrupt and incompetent public servants are rewarded on
considerations other than merit. Such postings, when based on political
cronyism and/or nepotism, are a form of corruption that tends to lead to
other forms of corruption related to mismanagement of public resources
and abuse of authority. The disciplined and systematic application of the
principle of merit in selecting public employees can have a significant effect
in preventing corruption in this area, and can assist significantly in improving
the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of public services. There is also a
need to restructure State Public Service Commissions so that men of
integrity and calibre are appointed as members and the selection process is
purely based on merit and competency.
Given the scarcity of rewards for excellence and the presence of
punishment for mistakes, it is not surprising that many public servants stifle
their innovative and risk taking propensities. Developing a culture of
innovation will enhance the quality of public services.
Permanent Civil Service and Re-employment
Corruption in government is a phenomenon that normally involves private
interests, thus there is a need to regulate the relationship of public officials
with the private sector in a globalised market economy. Ethical standards in
the public sector cannot be ensured without a corresponding effort in the
private sector. There is also a need to regulate gifts, other favours, and
courtesies. Looking at various scams and scandals that have recently taken
place in which senior public servants have been jailed, it is time to put
restrictions upon former public servants with respect to re-employment
and the rendering of services to private organizations. It is generally seen
that the quid pro quo begins even before retirement.
It is equally important that people holding high constitutional posts should
be barred from both public and private re-employment. It is also time to
66 / THEME PAPER 2016

examine the need for a permanent civil service and protection under Article
311 of the Constitution. Under the garb of protection, a large number of
civil servants continue to bleed the system. It’s time to evaluate as to what
extent a permanent civil service has benefited governance. Deadwoods
who have become a burden on public exchequer should be weeded out.
The All India Service provides the leadership. We need ethical leaders to
lead the change that the country is looking for. Why should every officer of
All India Service superannuate at the highest grade even though many
have faced charges of misuse of public offices. There should be a mechanism
to filter those with doubtful integrity. Times have changed but the mechanism
of managing bureaucracy in the country remains same and archaic.
In the OECD countries there are legal frameworks which create the
foundation by outlining the expected standards of behaviour for every public
servant. The laws also provide the framework for investigation and
prosecution. Through legal instruments the standards are provided for
situations that might lead to conflict of interest, like receiving gifts or benefits
(such as fees, payments, entertainment) and use of official information,
issues relate to ancillary work – such as work outside the public service –
and post-employment. Half of the OECD countries require special conditions
and/or permission for public servants to move from the public service to the
for-profit sector. 214
HRD Training in Ethics and Moral Values
Integrity in the public administration is an important condition for the
effective functioning of the state, for ensuring public trust in the government,
and for creating conditions for sustainable social and economic development.
Ethics training for public officials is one of the instruments for building
integrity in state institutions and ensuring good quality public governance.
The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) requires that the States
“promote education and training programmes to enable them [public officials]
to meet the requirements for the correct, honourable and proper performance
of public functions and that provide them with specialized and appropriate
training to enhance their awareness of the risks of corruption inherent in
the performance of their functions”.215 Training on integrity, ethics and
anti-corruption is provided in many countries around the world, including
countries with relatively high levels of integrity in public administration as
well as countries where corruption is widespread.
Ethics training is different than ethics education. Normative ethics
theories, such as utilitarianism, principle or duty-based ethics, and virtue
theory are unlikely to be touched upon in ethics training. Instead, typical
ethics training must consist of awareness raising for rules, codes and
 SURESH MISRA / 67

principles, dilemma-training, leadership training, conflicts of interest, etc.

Ethical programme must be an umbrella to provide an ethical framework to
assist personnel to lead and manage ethically. Ethics must be reflected in
everyday behaviour and actions. Training facilitates ethics awareness and
can develop essential skills for ethical analysis and moral reasoning.
It is important that there is at least one public agency responsible for
the overall framework for ethics training, for central planning, coordination
and evaluation of results. Institutions like Indian Institute of Public
Administration should play a leading role in designing modules for ethics
training. The state ATIs should be mandated to organise training programmes,
workshops and seminars. All induction programmes must have a capsule
on ethics and values. The Department of Personnel and Training should
explore the feasibility of setting up a Centre for Excellence in Ethics and
Values for a continuous assessment, evaluation and research in this area.
In addition, ethics should be integrated in the everyday management of
public institutions and managers of public institutions should be required to
promote ethics in their institutions.216
The above analysis reveals the state of ethics in governance. Inspite of
all laws, rules, regulations and codes unethical behaviors and practices have
only been on the rise. Corruption has become a a part of governance process.
Its high time that we eschew complacency. We may continue to pass new
enactments and build new structures and systems of governance but they
are all worthless without a human commitment, character and good will to
make them work.
Our ethics systems must not only establish minimal standards of conduct
but they must also set forth high aspirational goals for public employees. A
key part of an implementation strategy must be to create ethics systems
which go beyond mere obedience to rules. We must be ever vigilant against
the threat of corruption. There will never be a day when all temptations will
be removed. Nor will there ever come a time when there will be no corrupt
acts by public officials. Corruption is like a cancer on the body politic.
Prevention is better, therefore it is feasible to implement sound preventive
ethics programmes in order to minimize the need for more drastic forms of
treatment such as criminal prosecution and administrative discipline apart
from further strengthening the various institutions that have been set up to
promote good governance. These institutions need to be free from political
interference and enjoy functional autonomy in the real sense. This is the
right time when strengthening ethical and moral values in governance must
occupy the centre stage in our quest for reforms in our public administration
to make it just and fair to the common man.
68 / THEME PAPER 2016

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Government of India, (2007). op.cit., p. 22.
133
Ibid, p. 29.
134
Ibid, p. 32.
135
Ibid, p. 29.
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137
Gilman, Stuart C.; Lewis, Carol W.; (1996). Public Service Ethics: A Global Dialogue;
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138
Government of India, (2007). op.cit., pp. 35-36.
139
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146
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148
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152
Quah, J.S.T,( 2008), Curbing Corruption in India: An Impossible Dream? Asian
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153
Bribery and Corruption: Ground Reality in India, EY’s Fraud Investigation & Dispute
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154
Ibid.
155
Sinha, Kounteya; Corruption Rate in India is Double of Global Average; TNN, July
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156
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157
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Thakker, C. K. ; (2012). Administrative Law , Second Edn., Eastern Book Company,
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Wade William and Forsyth Christopher, (2009). Administrative Law, 10th Edn., Oxford
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161
Government of India, Ethics in Governance, Fourth report, Second Administrative
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162
Ibid, pp. 29-31.
163
Ibid, p. 32.
164
Ibid, pp. 32-33.
165
Ibid, p. 33.
166
Dobel, J.Patrick: The Real politik of Ethics Code: An Implementation Approach to
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167
Government of India, (2007). Ethics in Governance, Fourth Report, Second
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76 / THEME PAPER 2016

168
Sharma, Sangeeta Public Service Ethics in India, in Sabharwal, Meghna; Berman, Evan
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169
Ibid, 93.
170
Law Commission of India, (2015. Report No.254- The Prevention of Corruption
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Government of India, (2007). Ethics in Governance, Fourth Report, Second
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Jaipuria, Timsy. (2016). Lok Sabha passes Benami Transactions (Prohibition)
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173
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175
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176
People’s Monitoring of the RTI Regime in India 2011-13, RTI Assessment and Advocacy
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Johri, Amrita; Bhardwaj, Anjali; Singh , Shekhar; (2014). The Lokpal Act of 2014—
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Cherry, Mirian A.; (2004). Whistling in the Dark? Corporate Fraud, Whistleblower,
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Chêne, Marie, Good Practice in Whistleblowing Protection Legislation (WPL),
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184
Whistleblowers Protection Act gets President’s nod, Indian Express, New Delhi |
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Bhardwaj , Anjali Johri, Amrita; (2015), op.cit.
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