GS Paper 4
Source: The Indian Express
Context
After it came to light that the source of the Uber Files investigation was Mark McGann a senior lobbyist who worked for Uber, the whistleblower of the 2016 Panama Papers has given his first interview.
The Panama Papers, exposed how the rich and powerful parked and moved their money in and out of global tax havens.
About Whistleblowers:
Whistleblowing refers to calling attention to wrongdoing happening in an organization.
Whistleblowing has to do with ethics because it represents a person’s understanding, at a deep level, that an action his or her organization is taking is harmful—that it interferes with people’s rights or is unfair or detracts from the common good.
Ethical issues with Whistleblowing:
Being disloyal towards organization v/s sharing knowledge of wrongdoing for the benefit of others and moral commitment towards society. He may also gain mistrust of his fellow workers.
The values that are shown by whistleblowers:
- Courage – It takes moral courage to stand against your organization and be ready to lose out on stability in one’s life.
- Self-sacrifice – They work for the public interest at the cost of themselves.
- Duty bound and respecting the law – However, there is a dilemma of breaching the ethics by breaching the contract with the organization as well.
How can government encourage whistle-blowing:
- Create a policy about reporting illegal or unethical practices
- Formal mechanisms for reporting violations, such as hotlines and mailboxes.
- Clear communications about the process of voicing concerns, such as a specific chain of command, or the identification of a specific person to handle complaints.
- Get endorsement of the policy from top officials and publicize the organization’s commitment to the process. Elected and administrative leadership must encourage ethical behaviour and hold everyone within the organization to the highest standards, including the disclosure of activities that would have a negative impact on the public’s business.
- Investigate and follow up promptly on all allegations of misconduct. Report on these investigations to the council or board.
Indian Examples:
One well-known Indian whistleblower was Satyendra Dubey, an IIT graduate working on a segment of the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) Golden Quadrilateral in Bihar, who wrote directly to the Prime Minister’s Office exposing corruption in the project. He paid with his life for doing so.
Legislations in India regarding Whistleblowing:
The government introduced the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection Of Informers (PIDPI) Resolution for the logging of complaints against alleged corruption or misuse of office by a government officer or department. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) was designated as the agency to administer complaints, which it continues to routinely route to its relevant section after masking the name of the whistleblower.
Whistleblowers Protection Act is aimed at providing a legislative route for people to file complaints on alleged corruption and misuse of office by public servants.
The act has not come into force, and the Rules for it have not been finalised.
Practice Questions:
Q. Whistleblowing is one of the most effective ways to detect and prevent corruption and malpractices. Elaborate.
