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The LBS National Academy of Administration, Government of India, had invited the authors to present
30 officers of the Indian Administrative Service their views regarding the role of ethics in public
administration as part of a five-day training programme on the subject. The participants experience
ranged from 12 to 31 years. The paper seeks to bring home to administrators that for carrying out the
responsibilities that the Constitution of India has entrusted to the civil services there is no option but
to subscribe to a sound ethical framework of reference.
before
just to
our
bureaucracy:
Army
Postal Service. P.
Bhattacharya, IAS,
is
Principal
118
most
119
tongue-in-cheek or seriously meant? If stated seriously, we are in trouble. Yeats statement, the best
lack all conviction, is reinforced. Subramanyam
comes out with another very perceptive statement underlining the reasons for the failure of the
civil service: Our generation has failed because
while we did educate ourselves about the intricacies of administering our country, we did not ever
try to educate our political masters. Instead, we
let them do as they pleased and if they did something abjectly wrong, we only made sure that our
involvement was minimal... Therefore, the civil
service not only lacked conviction, it allowed
wrong things to multiply and perpetuate without
raising any conscientious objection and initiating
corrective action. Thence began a tradition of
abdication and passive acceptance while developing the masterly art of saving ones own skin.
The inevitable followed. Subramanyam observes,
We were making sure that we did not rock the
boat, but while doing so we overlooked the fact
that the boat was beginning to leak. Today the
boat has a hole and we all bemoan the fall in standards.
These, therefore, are the views of an insider
who had been at the helm of administration for a
long time. Some outside agencies too, over the
years, concerned themselves with the predicament of the politician-bureaucrat relationship. The
Administrative Staff College of India conducted
a series of programmes that brought out very
forcefully the Indian Administrative Service officers overriding concern being their utter dependence on political executives for their performance. Therefore, in September 1986 the ASCI
organized a politician-administrator interface in
which four ministers, eight secretaries and eight
additional secretaries participated. Some of these
civil servants were technocrats. Some members
of the public, selected at random, were also involved. This programme revealed some prevailing images of politicians and bureaucrats.
Images
Political Executives
.
o
.
.
o
~
w
Leadership qualities
Pragmatic, hardworking, shrewd
Ambitious, publicity-conscious
Accessible and warm to the people
Belief in peoples power
Anxious for quick results
Populist view and soft options adopted
Public Administrators
.
.
Deliver
Technocrats
o
e
~
Result-oriented
Public
~
~
.
~
~
~
Robust
common sense
120
~
Inherently patriotic
gathered
from the
1. Politicians generally felt that many administrators were pleasant but few gave wholesome
advice.
2. In any exercise during the course, leadership
role was automatically assumed by politicians.
3. Civil servants did not listen to technocrats.
subordinates
in civil service.
Ninety-five per cent civil servants feel that man
is just a combination of needs. Sixty-six per
cent of the others agree.
Forty-five per cent civil servants believe conscience has to be suppressed to achieve success, and 15 per cent of the others accept this.
Half of the civil servants believe that society
must change first before the individual can undergo value-based change. A great majority (92
per cent) of others believe it is the individual
who ushers in change in society.
Seventy per cent of civil servants believe that
management principles and public administration philosophy are universal and do not need
any input from ones cultural heritage. Eighty
per cent of the others agree.
Half of the civil servants believe that an extrovert
personality is the foundation of effective decision-making. Fifteen per cent of the others agree.
is
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
worse
vants do what the ministers want, not as guarantors of government propriety, ensuring that min-
isters do not use the civil service for party-political ends. Permanent secretaries sign agreements
with their Ministers regarding their personal objectives taking into account the governments collective interests, not just that of their own departments. The relationship is that of a CEO to a ministerial Chairman. Finally, does a good, workable,
culture-neutral values module exist? If not, how
do
we create one?
The 1996 conference of Chief Ministerss initiated a change in policy stressing charters of citizens rights, accountability of public servants,
121
transparency in administration,
o
.
speedy punishment.
Improve performance appraisal, support subordinates in sincere performance of duty, in
Have Civil Service Boards to regulate transfers and promotions. Have Ombudsmen for
grievances of officials.
versity of Juridical
cultivating:
122
perceived as a parasitical force, as corrupt as anyone else. They are alienated from the
public. The standard of their performance is declining. They have become inaccessible, hostile
and insensitive. They oppress the poor, are no
longer accountable to the people and do not exthey
are
hibit an attitude of service. One of the main criticisms against the IAS officer is that he has started
grading jobs, preferring those with business connections and not those involving the poor. He is
no longer comfortable working for the poor in
remote areas.
Other
reasons
for
and unnecessary controls are some of the maladies that have removed the service further away
from the people.
The internal bureaucratic culture is also changing fast, hastening the downward roll. Posts have
proliferated tremendously and that has demoralized the service. Powers have reduced. Many posts
have been marginalized. All this has resulted in
cut-throat competition and loss of camaraderie.
Politicians have not lost any time in exploiting the
situation, playing one against the other. These have
also resulted in lack of professionalism. The civil
service is now reluctant to tender unwelcome
advice for fear of transfer. Major problems are
handled ineptly. There is no effort to even update
knowledge and skills facilitating proper policy
formulation and implementation. Innovativeness
is lacking. There is reluctance to take decisions
and dilatory tactics are being adopted in taking
decisions. On the other hand, there is a sense of
belonging to an exclusive club, which motivates
the civil servant to take too much from the system, contributing very little to it.
123
III:
124
if there is any
then
find soluscope for improvement. He might
tions to his external problems also because a strong
and reinforced personality can normally exercise
control over the external factors as well.
By definition, the civil servant carries two burdens : the self and the others who depend on him.
He must train himself so that his native talent is
developed, intellect, will and competence are reinforced and the required professional skills are
sharpened. He must develop a democratic personality which persuades him to have a healthy
concern for others, not as a slave or a master,
but as an empathetic co-traveller who has the
power to help others. The term therefore implies
freedom of action that is tempered by a sense of
responsibility. This is possible if he has a dynamic
personality as against a static one. A static personality is characterized by inaction or action that
only serves the self. A static person is only interested in his salary, career, family and personal
convenience. A dynamic person does not bother
very much about these but is interested in work,
serving others and generally growing up by keeping his eyes and ears open.
P.S. Appu (IAS Bihar 1951 ) classified the IAS
officers roughly into three categories. In the first
servant must
look inwards to
see
he
125
servant to have a concern for the people because
this power comes from the people of the country, through the constitution. So, the power must
be used to bring welfare and fulfillment of the
aspirations of the people.
The concept has a parallel in the Indian Puranas
in the legend of Vaivasvat Manu. Having become
tired of an anarchic situation in the country, people
approached Vaivasvat Manu to administer the
country. They vested him with all the powers required and provided him with the resources with
which he could maintain the administrative machinery. He did it to the satisfaction of the people
and the concept of kingship was born-a king
who is created to protect the people and look after the well-being of the people. In Raghuvamsham
( 1 / 18) Kalidasa states, The state took taxes from
the people only to ensure their own prosperity in
return, like the sun takes moisture from the earth
only to give it back in thousand fold measure.
Therefore, the civil servant who gets all his powers from the people must use those not for selfaggrandisement but for the welfare of the people.
This concept of power leads us to the concept
of service. The principal job of the public servant
is to serve the public with dignity, freedom and
responsibility. In their approach to the job, the
mood and spirit of service must exist. To a civil
servant, a member of the public who comes to
him with a problem must not be seen as an intruder but as a fellow citizen who has come to
him for help because he has the power to help
him. The power does not make him a demi-god
but merely one who is returning a favour done to
him. Unfortunately, the opposite is the casepeople who come for help are not helped and are
considered as intruders. Dr N.C. Saxena, Union
Rural Development Secretary and Planning Commission Secretary, was forced to comment,
There was a time when people looked up to the
IAS Officers as their saviour. Slowly they have
become part of the problem, not the solution. He
on
cern
for
to say that
help
126
This then is the implication of being a civil servant. He has a responsibility towards his own self,
of developing and strengthening his civil service
personality, which consists of professional competence and social consciousness. And second,
he has a responsibility towards others who depend on him for their well being, by being
empathetic, by being able to help with shraddha
and by being a dynamic centre of social change
and by energizing public will.
IV: An Alternative-focusing
For all this, there is
on
Self
127
experiment,
Brings knowledge of speech but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the
Word.
Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowl-
edge ?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information ?
men both deny gods and worship gods, pro-
128
or
Race,
or
Dialectic....
an age which advances
progressively backwards.
We have failed to convert knowledge into wisdom. To convert knowledge into wisdom, so essential for obtaining a dynamic personality, it is
essential to rise to the level of buddhi. At this
level, it is possible to combine executive efficiency
with social efficiency and transform brute efficiency into humanized efficiency. This requirement of the two-fold efficiency persuaded the
founding fathers of the Indian Administrative Service to adopt another powerful concept of the
Gita, yogah karmasu kaushalam, as the motto of
the service. It means that yoga should be the technique of doing work. What is yoga? Yoga literally
means yukta (united) with self. To understand
the implication of the motto, we have to see the
full verse along with the two preceding verses:
129
and duskrita (ill deeds), leaving only one alternative with man, that of self-realization. Therefore
the buddhiyukta, hopefully, our civil servant, will
have the capacity to shed choices, adopt yoga
which will make him incapable of taking evil action and enable him to strive for self-realization
by doing his duties successfully through yoga.
It becomes obvious why these few words were
chosen as the motto of the service. The founding
fathers dreamt that they were laying the foundation of a public service for independent India,
which would be able to combine work efficiency
with insight and social awareness by working
through yoga. That would ensure justice for all
and maximum concern for people. And it was
perhaps also expected that these yogastha people,
the civil servants, would also not hanker for possessions and power!
What is finally aimed at is the concept of
rajarshi, enshrined in Chapter 4 of the Gita. A
public servant should be like the Gitas rajarshi.
A rajarshi is a combination of the qualities of a
raja, a king and a rishi, a sage. Raja is one who
shines in responsibility, ranjate virajate. He also
pleases, ranjate. Mahabharata (Shantiparva) describes the king thus: Ranjitascha prajah
sarvastena rajeti shabdayate (one who pleases
his subjects is called a raja). His qualities are
power and efficiency. On the other hand, the principal quality of a sage is his wisdom. A rajarshi
therefore has the power and etficiency of a king
and the wisdom of a rishi. His efficiency and energy enables him to perform and his wisdom, his
darshan, guides him in that performance of duties. The civil servant must be able to become a
rajarshi-a combination of power, efficiency,
professionalism and wisdom to achieve welfare
of people. If the administrator has a small darshan,
he becomes static, a burden. With a large darshan,
he is rajarshi, a dynamic force with wisdom and
the sense and capability of taking responsibility
of the masses. Obviously extraordinary effort is
this
yogeshwara
dhanurdharah I
Jatra srirvijayo bhutirdhruba nitirmatirmama
II 18/78
Where Krishna, lord of yoga, is,
Where Arjun, wielder of the bow, is,
Are victory, success, prosperity and law,
I am convinced of this.9
Sakta karmayavidyanso
Bharata I
yatha
kurvanti
Kuryatvidvangstathasaktaschikir.rhlokasangraham II 3/25
The wise man must act even as the work-obsessed fool does
But shedding selfishness and pursuing knowl-
edge.10
Lokaraksha implies that people without wisdom work for self. Wise people work for others.
Lokasamgraha
130
shortcomings,
to handle.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
11. Swami Vivekanandas quote from his letter from Chicago addressed to the Dewan of Junagadh, 20 June, 1894;
published in Swami Ranganathananda, Philosophy of
Administration, Eternal Values for a Changing Society,
vol. 4 (Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, 1986), 194.
12. G.L. Bhattacharya, Krishna of the Gita (Calcutta: Writers
Workshop, 1993).