Topic: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.
7. Should civil servants be concerned about the decisions of the government even if they are not directly linked to them and raise their voice if they are not in the letter and spirit of the constitution? Discuss. (250 words)
Reference: darpg.gov.in
Why the question:
The question is based on the theme of decision making involved in civil services.
Key Demand of the question:
Explain with relevant example the importance of decision making to civil services and in what way decision of the government can have an impact on them.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Introduction can give the context about recent resignations by civil servants after abrogation of Article 370.
Body:
Explain why civil servants should be concerned and raise their voice. Civil services are implementation arm of the government while political executives (government) takes the decisions. When Max Weber gave his model of bureaucracy, he put principle of neutrality as most important value of civil services. According to him, civil servants should not be concerned about decisions of the government.
However, role of civil servants have gone through sea change over the period of time. They need to uphold public interest and should be committed to the constitution. Therefore, when they come across such decision taken by government, which is against spirit of constitution, they should raise their voice.
Conclusion:
There are many platforms and channels through which civil servants can raise their voices and dissent their concerns with the permission of superiors such as newspaper articles and debates. However, they should not resort to resign from the position to just express their dissent.
