GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Role of Civil Services in a Democracy
Source: IE
Context: Specially designed Conduct Rules govern a civil servant’s behaviour and conduct.
What are the civil services?
- There are 3 All India Services (governed by Article 312 of the Indian Constitution) – the IAS, IPS and the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) – with officers allotted to various state cadres by the central government.
- The Centre then gets a certain percentage of officers from each state on central deputation.
- Other services are called Central Civil Services (such as the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Revenue Service, Customs and Central Excise Service, etc).
- These are under the central government with no state cadre system.
Rules governing civil services:
- There are two sets of rules for civil servants – one for AISs (The AIS Conduct Rules, 1968) and the other for CCSs (The CCS Conduct Rules, 1964).
- These were framed based on recommendations from a committee – Committee on Prevention of Corruption headed by K Santhanam – constituted in 1962.
Code of conduct highlighted in the rules:
- Every member of the Service shall –
- Maintain high ethical standards, integrity and honesty; political neutrality; accountability and transparency; fairness and impartiality; responsiveness to the public, etc.
- Use public resources efficiently, effectively and economically; declare any private interests relating to his public duties to resolve any conflict of interest.
- At all times maintain devotion to duty, and do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the Service.
- No member of the Service shall –
- Use his/her position to secure employment for any of his/her family members with any private undertaking/NGO;
- Give or take or abet the giving or taking of
- A member of the service may accept gifts from his near relatives or friends having no official dealings with them.
- But, he shall report to the government if the value of such gift exceeds Rs.25,000.
- While members can hold personal political beliefs, these rules restrict the degree to which they can act on them. For example, members not allowed –
- To be part of, assist political parties; interfere with or take part in an election to any legislature or local authority.
- To criticise any current policy or action of the government. However, civil servants are allowed to express their opinion on official documents.
Penalties for transgressions:
- Major penalties can include “dismissal” from the service as well.
- Besides, there are also the penal provisions mentioned under the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA).
Issues with the Conduct Rules:
- Vague: For example, while the promotion of casteism is not covered under any specific Conduct Rules, casteist behaviour can be interpreted as “unbecoming of a member of the Service”.
- Ambiguous: Ideas like personal integrity are not well defined. That is why evils like taking dowry are banned but seemingly common.
- There is no ethical code for civil servants in India.
Insta Links:
PUBLIC SERVICE ETHICS/ADMINISTRATIVE ETHICS
Mains Links:
Has the Cadre-based Civil Services Organization been the cause of slow in India? Critically examine. (UPSC 2014)
