SECTION B : ANSWERS TO CASE STUDIES
10. Suppose one of your close friends, who is also aspiring for civil services, comes to you for discussing some of the issues related to ethical conduct in public service. He raises the following points:
1. In the present times, when unethical environment is quite prevalent, individual attempts to stick to ethical principles may cause a lot of problems in one’s career. It may also cause hardship to the family members as well as risk to one’s life. Why should we not be pragmatic and follow the path of least resistance, and be happy with doing whatever good we can?
2. Whensomanypeople areadoptingwrongmeansandaregrosslyharming the system, what difference would it make if only a small minority tries to be ethical? They are going to be rather ineffective and are bound to get frustrated.
3. If we become fussy about ethical considerations, will it not hamper the economic progress of our country? After all, in the present age of high competition, we cannot afford to be left behind in the race of development.
4. It is understandable that we should not get involved in grossly unethical practices, but giving and accepting small gratiftcations and doing small favours increases everybody’s motivation. It also makes the system more efftcient. What is wrong in adopting such practices?
Critically analyse the above viewpoints. On the basis of this analysis, what will be your advice to your friend? (250 words, 20 marks)
Ans. None of the views is acceptable. All are against the code of civil service conduct. Due to hypothetical career problems, family hardship and threats to life, one cannot abandon one’s duty. If needed, one can seek police protection.
What others do is not his concern. As the Bible says, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ One agrees to adopt an ethical code as a civil servant. That is his duty. He should not look beyond it. Macro issues facing the nation have to be considered by political and other leaders. We should do our assigned tasks diligently.
Corruption does not promote but retards development. The fact that poor governance slows down development is accepted by World Bank and other agencies. Hence, great emphasis is being placed on good governance. Corruption free and efficient administration forms part of the institutional system which promotes growth.
The third argument is fallacious and rationalizes immoral behaviour.
Thefourthviewis alsoinvalid.It iscalled‘greasingthewheels’justificationofcorruption,and is cynical. Corruption, whether on small scale or large scale, does not improve efficiency. It
increases the difficulty of doing business, business costs and economic inefficiency. Corrupt officials may profit, but others are demotivated in the process.
You should advise your friend to ignore such fears and negative thoughts and take the examination. Logicians describe such arguments as Sophism. If he is still unconvinced, he should look elsewhere for jobs. He is unfit for meeting the challenges of civil service.
11. You are a no-nonsense, honest offtcer. You have been transferred to a remote district to head a department that is notorious for its inefftciency and callousness. You ftnd that the main cause of the poor state of affairs is the indiscipline of a section of employees. They do not work themselves and also disrupt the working of others. You ftrst warned the troublemakers to mend their ways or else face disciplinary action. When the warning had little effect, you issued a show cause notice to the ringleaders. As a retaliatory measure, these troublemakers instigated a woman employee amongst them to ftle a complaint of sexual harassment against you with the Women’s Commission. The Commission promptly seeks your explanation. The matter is also publicized in the media to embarrass you further. Some of the options to handle this situation could be as follows:
1. Give your explanation to the Commission and go soft on the disciplinary action.
2. Ignore the Commission and proceed ftrmly with the disciplinary action.
3. Brief your higher-ups, seek directions from them and act accordingly.
Suggest any other possible option(s). Evaluate all of them and suggest the best course of action, giving your reasons for it. (250 words)
Ans. When the commission asks the officer for explanation, he should send an accurate report on what happened. He can mention that the employee’s complaint is false and is a vengeful act of retaliation for the disciplinary measures he took. There is no need to go slow on disciplinary action for the officer is discharging his duties.
As regards the second option, the officer cannot ignore the Commission which is a legally constituted authority. It will be an act of indiscipline which may amount to defiance. Giving an explanation and taking action for indiscipline are two independent actions. He can take disciplinary action according to rules irrespective of what happens before the Commission.
There is no harm in informing senior officers and taking their advice. But the Commission’s notice arose due to a complaint against the officer in consequence of his official action. So, finally he has to answer the Commission. However, it is better to keep the senior officers in the loop so that they may not form any false impressions. They are likely to give him practical and correct advice.
One other possibility is appeal to the good sense of the employee either directly or through other reliable persons to withdraw the false complaint. He should tell her to be truthful,
and not misuse the law. He can add that he was doing his duty and that her action would lower her moral standing. If she is still unrelenting, he should defend himself before the commission and other legal fora. (251 words)
12. Suppose you are the CEO of a company that manufactures specialized electronic equipment used by a government department. You have submitted your bid for the supply of this equipment to the department. Both the quality and cost of your offer are better than those of the competitors. Yet the concerned offtcer is demanding a hefty bribe for approving the tender. Getting the order is important both for you and for your company. Not getting the order would mean closing a production line. It may also affect your own career. However, as a value-conscious person, you do not want to give bribe.
Valid arguments can be advanced both for giving the bribe and getting the order, and for refusing to pay the bribe and risking the loss of the order. What those arguments could be? Could there be any better way to get out of this dilemma? If so outline the main elements of this third way, pointing out its merits. (250 words, 20 marks)
Ans. Though plausible arguments can be given for paying bribe and getting the order, their moral validity is dubious. Such arguments can be:
• The company should not lose the order when its product is superior and cheaper than those of competitors
• If the company fails to get the order, it has to reduce production and retrench some labour.
• It will suffer commercial losses for no fault of its own.
• The CEO’s career may suffer.
(i) While the above reasons are valid at one level, giving bribes violates law and corporate governance.
(ii) If by some chance, the CEO is caught, he may end up in jail. This risk is worse than any damage to his career.
(iii) Company should take the loss in its stride; running into corrupt officials is an unforeseen contingency outside company’s control.
(iv) Loss mitigation is no legal or moral justification for bribe giving.
As a way out, the company can approach the bosses of the officer seeking bribe. In all probability, the senior officers will intervene in the matter suitably. This will immediately put the bribe seeking official on guard. If he is taking a wrong decision by ignoring the better quality and lower price of a product, he will be questioned. He will be unable to justify his decision on merits and will get into trouble. He will go by the merits of the matter,
and the situation may get resolved. (247 words)
13. Rameshwar successfully cleared the prestigious civil services examination and was excited about the opportunity that he would get through the civil services to serve the country. However, soon after joining the service, he realized that things are not as rosy as he had imagined.
He found a number of malpractices prevailing in the department assigned to him. For example, funds under various schemes and grants were being misappropriated. Theofftcialfacilitieswerefrequentlybeingusedforpersonal needs by the offtcers and staff. After some time, he noticed that the process of recruiting the staff was also not up to the mark. Prospective candidates were required to write an examination in which a lot of cheating was going on. Some candidates were provided external help in the examination. Rameshwar brought these incidents to the notice of his seniors. However, he was advised to keep his eyes, ears and mouth shut and ignore all these things which were taking place with the connivance of the higher-ups. Rameshwar felt highly disillusioned and uncomfortable. He comes to you seeking your advice.
Indicate various options that you think are available in this situation. How would you help him to evaluate these options and choose the most appropriate path to be adopted? (250 words, 20 marks)
Ans. In this case, Rameshwar may be heading a department or an office. An office is a single unit and a department comprises many offices. If Rameshwar is heading an office, he is responsible for managing it in accordance with rules and regulations.
He should act immediately to correct matters. In any office, accounts have to be kept accurately and pilfering money is a crime. He should ensure that accounts and records are maintained properly. If necessary, he should arrange an audit. Based on it, he should start action against the fraudsters.
As regards misuse of office facilities, he should instruct those responsible for their custody and proper use to prevent private use of office facilities.
No examination is conducted without invigilators. He should take action against erring invigilatorsandcandidates if malpractices are detected.
In a hierarchy, the primary responsibility rests with the official who has been assigned the task. If things go wrong, he will be responsible. If something falls within his exclusive power, he should act without consultingothers.
If he has to work on the instructions of superiors, he should bring these matters to their notice in writing. Then they will be forced to act. Otherwise, they will become knowingly parties to wrong doing and liable for penalties. In any case, Rameshwar should not become privy to unlawful actions. Ultimately, one cannot do anything illegal, irrespective of any compulsions. Officers have to perform their duties ignoring distracting thoughts about office or state of society. Rameshwar should refuse to play ball. (253 words)
14. In our country, the migration of rural people to towns and cities is increasing drastically. This is causing serious problems both in the rural as well as in the urban areas. In fact, things are becoming really unmanageable. Can you analyse this problem in detail and indicate not only the socio-economic but
also the emotional and attitudinal factors responsible for this problem? Also, distinctly bring out why—
1. Educated rural youth are trying to shift to urban areas;
2. Landless poor people are migrating to urban slums;
3. Even some farmers are selling off their land and trying to settle in urban areas taking up petty jobs.
4. What feasible steps can you suggest which will be effective in controlling this serious problem of our country? (250 words, 20 marks)
(Note: In this sort of question, it is hard to stay within the prescribed word limit. So it is better to write the answer in small bullet sentences/phrases.)
Ans. Villagers migrate to urban areas due to socio-economic reasons though attitudes and emotions also influence them. These include:
• Educated youth cannot find jobs in rural areas.
• Landless poor suffer from seasonal unemployment and underemployment and low and stagnating wages.
• Minimum wages prescribed by government are not properly enforced.
• Rural areas lack civicinfrastructure, and proper educational and medical facilities.
• Civic amenities like drinking water, sanitation, and power are inadequate.
• Farmers especially in dry areas face uncertainty due to frequent droughts.
• As modern agriculture needsexpensiveinputs,crop failure anddamage result in severe losses.
• For these reasons farmers settle for low paying jobs in cities. Moving to cities provides an escape route.
• The amenities, glamour and glitter of cities, and their nightlights attract villagers.
• Youth perceive the city environment as more free. In cities, people are not intrusive. On the flip side, city dwellers are socially atomised with weak bonds of solidarity.
Remedial steps:
• Modernizing agriculture
• Insurance schemes for farmers
• Decentralized industrial/service sector growth
• Creating growth centres with modern infrastructure or promoting ‘rurban’ growth
• Improving civic infrastructure and modern amenities in bigger village nodes.
• Labour movement from agriculture into industry in urban areas is welcome for it is a desirable structural transformation accompanying growth. (260 words)