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ETHICS NOTES

EMPATHY & COMPASSION TOWARDS WEAKER SECTIONS OF SOCIETY:

Empathy and compassion are considered as foundational values in civil services
towards weaker sections of society.

Apathy Lack of interest with less or no emotions. It is the state of indifference or the
state in which no emotion such as concern; care, motivation etc are shown.
Sympathy Involves a feeling of pity and sorrow for the suffering of others.
Empathy It is about experiencing feelings and emotions of others and active desire
to help
Compassion Able to understand others sufferings and actively involve to help others. This
is action part of empathy

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 So, apathy is indifference, sympathy is kindness, empathy is experience and
compassion is action

EMPATHY:
Empathy and Compassion mostly used interchangeably. Empathy is about thinking
and feeling from others perspective. As swamy Vivekananda said, Prefer a man with a
kind heart rather than intelligent mind.
● Empathy is considered as one of the important values that should be possessed by any
civil servant. If a civil servant has empathy nothing else matters but if he doesnʼt have
empathy again nothing else matters.
● If you have empathy all other values like honesty, tolerance, integrity will be part
of your value system. If you donʼt have empathy all other values become insignificant.
● Empathy is essential for understanding a wider perspective, rational thinking, and
feeling emotions of others by stepping them into their shoes.
● Itʼs the basic awareness of the emotions and feelings of others.
● Empathy is the basis of Emotional Intelligence, ability to use our emotions in a
positive way to overcome conflicts and challenges. We can develop this attitude only
when we are selfless. It is simply stepping into someoneʼs shoes.
● Examples:Granting leave for pregnant women; Patience to listen problems of old
age people and people from weaker section of people

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How to cultivate empathy
● Art, literature, cinema can help us inculcate empathy. Ex: Satyajit Rayʼs Pather
Panchali realistically portrays poverty and rural India. Mother Teresaʼs autobiography,
No Greater Love, moves oneʼs heart.
● Encourage perspective talking, role playing games, put yourself in the shoes of
other people.
● Visit slums, old age homes, etc.
● People of all religions are given public holidays on religious events. It should
encourage them to participate in each otherʼs festivals.
● Right to education act provides 25% reservation to children from economically
weaker sections in the schools. So, rich and poor will interact with each other and
cultivate empathy for each other.
● IAS probationers are sent to Bharat Darshan for similar reasons of understanding the
diversity of India and growing compassion towards others.

IMPORTANCE OF EMPATHY IN CIVIL SERVICES:

● For positive discrimination for weaker sections of society
● As India is a diverse country, with the help of empathy we are able to avoid
stereotypes and prejudices in bringing administration.
● Without empathy or compassion, an officer is just like a robot as colonial
administrators were.
● There are 'social evils' and 'social injustices' in society. Officers with empathy can bring
social change and inclusive growth.
● Compassion helps in creating commitment and dedication towards public service.

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 ● Compassion forms the basic foundation of other moral values
● When we lack empathy, we are unable to develop and nurture those interpersonal
connections, leading to strained relationships, broken trust, loss of relationships, and
isolation.
● It becomes more difficult to repair conflicts, work collaboratively, or solve problems
when we donʼt practice empathy.
● Our society relies on empathy to facilitate connections and forward movement. When
the empathy piece is missing, we become more disconnected and less effective in our
productivity and innovation of new ideas.
● Empathy enables civil servants to understand other human's motivation and
emotional state. Example : Pursuing rural families for Swachh Bharat Mission by
associating it with the dignity of women.
● Empathy helps in identifying problems in existing plans and policies, further
evaluating them. Example - District Magistrate reviews implementation of plans in
terms of compensation and rehabilitation in disaster hit districts with empathy.
● Compassion helps in working with dedication and commitment for the betterment
and upli ment of the poor and the oppressed. Example : IAS Armstrong Pame
collected 40 lakh Rupees through Social Media and got constructed 100 km long road
for people

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TYPES OF EMPATHY:

COGNITIVE EMPATHY EMOTIONAL EMPATHY AFFECTIVE EMPATHY

Taking another personʼs Sharing an emotional Ability to understand another
perspective experience personʼs emotions
Imagining what itʼs like in Feeling distress in response Respond appropriately to the
another personʼs shoes to someoneʼs pain someoneʼs suffer
Understanding someoneʼs Experiencing a willingness to If someone embarrassed, chill
feelings help someone them with blush

COMPASSION:
● Compassion takes empathy and sympathy a step further. When you are
compassionate, you feel the pain of another or you recognise that the person is in pain
and you do your best to alleviate the personʼs sufferings. Indian society is hierarchical
in nature so it is the duty of the civil servants to upli those who were at the
bottom of the development ladder .
● Civil servants help to bring socio-economic change in the society. Compassion is
important for citizen friendly governance. Social justice canʼt be possible without
being compassionate towards weaker sections of people.

ELEMENTS OF COMPASSION:
Compassion entails five elements that apply to the self or others:
● Recognising suffering
● Understanding the universality of suffering in human experience

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 ● Feeling for the person suffering and emotionally connecting with their distress
● Tolerating any uncomfortable feelings aroused (e.g., fear, disgust, distress, anger) so
that we remain open to the person in their suffering
● Acting or being motivated to act to alleviate the suffering.

COMPONENTS OF COMPASSION:
● Sensitivity – Sensitive to the problems of individuals and society at large
● Empathy – Empathetic to the issues while getting into the shoes of others.
● Motivation – Motivation to do something which is coming from inside instead of
someone forcefully impose on us
● Judgment – Non- judging attitude by looking at their problems and seeking help
● Emotional balance – Self-control our emotions and be compassionate to those who
need and recognise the fake emotions of people with wrong intentions.

HOW TO CULTIVATE COMPASSION:

● Self-motivation and self-lessness attitude
● Field visits
● Compassionate mind training
● Mindfulness cognitive therapy

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 SYMPATHY EMPATHY COMPASSION
Understands others Understanding others feelings Unconditional love applied
feelings without feeling at by feeling personally towards others sufferings
yourself
Self – Oriented Self – Oriented – “I am Hurt Look from Humanity
too “ Perspective
There is a gap between Words and actions are in It eliminates the gap between
words and actual conduct sync what is desirable and what is
actual conduct. It is action
oriented.
It is essential for creating Essential for eliminating Essential to bring social
kindness in the society stereotypes and prejudices justice
Behaving with kindness Behaves with sympathy Behaves with respecting
human dignity and human
rights
Example: When someone Example: Few youngsters, Example: Good Samaritan
met with accident, everyone who faced hunger problem in who joins in hospital who hit
show sympathy but majority their childhood formed as a with accident and even ready
of people donʼt come team in Hyderabad and to donate blood if necessary
forward to take that person distributing to hungry kids
to hospital from le out food from events

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IMPORTANCE OF EMPATHY & COMPASSION TOWARDS WEAKER SECTIONS OF SOCIETY:
● First and foremost, objective behind empathetic and compassionate civil servant
should be to upli the weaker sections of society, SCs, STs, children, women, people
below poverty line, wanderers
● India has so much diversity across its continent, so district administration
sometimes failed to recognise intended beneficiaries. In that case, empathetic civil
servants desire to help such people appreciated.
● It creates cultural harmony and builds trust on public offices

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 ● Serves the purpose of “public service”, service to humanity, service to god.
● Personalities like Mother Theresa, Gandhiji always stand as role models when we talk
about compassion. In administration, Shankaran, in his entire career worked for the
weaker sections of society without bending any rules and regulations.

OTHER PUBLIC/CIVIL SERVICE VALUE

Gratitude- "Gratitude is the core of all great virtues".Gratitude is an acknowledgement
of positive things that comes in our life. It is the inherent goodness that resides within
human beings.
● Gratitude is a feeling of being grateful and wanting to express thanks. It originates
from the heart and then opens our eyes to the beauties of nature. Mark Twain has
rightly said I can live for two months on a good compliment.
● Gratitude enable you to understand the importance of others in your life and make you
humble as your existence and success was possible only because of them. Ex: Rahul
Dravid, during his farewell speech, thanked all the groundsmen, curators, etc., for
preparing pitches so that he could play the match.
● Gratitude also pushes you hard to make your contribution tangible towards something
and someone that has shaped you. Ex: Usain Bolt does his advertisement shoots in
Jamaica, so that his people would be benefitted.
● Civil servants have to remember always that power and authority that has been vested
to them is for the wellbeing of the people and they express their gratitude to the
people by providing them satisfactory service.

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Gratitude is the foundation of all great virtues in following way.
● Love : Gratitude is strongly linked to feelings of joy and love. Whenever we show
gratitude to other people, we spread love to others.
● Trust : It can give you a deep and steadfast trust that person is being together in the
face of uncertainty
● Optimism : Acknowledging the contribution and involvement of other people in the
attainment of their well-being.
● Compassion : Gratitude results in better social interaction by showing signs of
forgiveness and being helpful.

Grateful Individual does not feel they are deprived. Instead, these individuals realise
the importance of experiencing gratitude. Gratitude further improves the immune system,
mental health, healthy and happy life. It also reduces the risk for depression and other health
issues. Mother Teresa has shown 'joy' of gratitude by working for the welfare of human
beings. All great personalities like Gandhiji, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam have shown the importance
of being grateful for life.

Courage
● "Courage is at the root of all good qualities". Courage is a combination of confidence,
fearlessness and knowledge. Courage means doing something right without any fear
or pressure. Courage is a triumph over fear.Courage.Courage is the virtue that enables
a person to restrain fear in the face of danger, difficulty or doubt. As Nelson Mandela
put it, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it". Courage is the first
of human qualities because itʼs the quality that guarantees the others.

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 ● Courage enables people to face tough consequences for their acts. For instance
whistleblowers like Edward Snowden o en pay heavy price for disclosures.
● Without courage it is difficult to display qualities like leadership which entails laying
out roadmaps for the future amidst uncertainty. For example it is courage that enabled
Mahatma Gandhi to display the virtue of non-violence against the oppressive colonial
regime.
● It encourages people to take firm decisions and attempt things that they have not tried
before. For instance, it takes courage to invest in novel & seemingly
impractical/commercially unviable ideas like the SpaceX.
● Various personal, social and professional feats are unthinkable without courage.
Without courage, Raja Rammohan roy would not have fought against Sati.
● Courage is not just dramatic physical heroism. Life provides daily opportunities and
instances of courageous acts like standing up for injustice, supporting cleanliness in
public places, standing up for rights of minorities, women, etc. However, it must be
borne in mind that courage must stay within limits defined by reason.

There are different dimensions of courage,

● It is the 'courage' that Gandhiji used to fight against the British in South Africa. He led
the Indian National Movement.
● When Raja Ram Mohan Roy saw his sister-inlaw practicing sati, he stood against it and
became light of social change.
● Elon musk's SpaceX and Tesla are great examples where his determination led to
innovative technology.

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 Courage leads one to take responsibility to work, live with integrity, challenge the
status quo and raise a voice against evils. That is why courage is at the root of all good
qualities.

Trust
All bonds are built on trust. Trust lies at the heart of any relationship. Trust is the
'foundational block' of all relationships like family, friends, companions, coworkers, etc.
● Trust means that you rely on someone else to do the right thing. You believe in the
personʼs integrity and strength, to the extent that you are able to put yourself on the
line at some risk to yourself.
● Simply refraining from deception is not enough. Trustworthiness is the most
complicated of the six core ethical values and concerns a variety of qualities like
honesty, integrity, reliability and loyalty.
● A team without trust isnʼt really a team. Itʼs just a group of individuals, working
together, o en making disappointing progress. They may not share information, they
might battle over rights and responsibilities, and they may not cooperate with one
another.
● It doesnʼt matter how capable or talented your people are, they may never reach their
full potential if trust isnʼt present.
● Trust is essential to an effective team, because it provides a sense of safety. When your
team members feel safe with each other, they feel comfortable to open up, take
appropriate risks.

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 ● When trust is in place, each individual in the team becomes stronger, because he or
she is part of an effective, cohesive group. When people trust one another, the group
can achieve truly meaningful goals.

Trust in Public Relations

There are various ways in which 'public trust' is maintained. These are as follows -
● There shall not be a misuse of authority or position.
● The public servant must be free from prejudice and biases.
● There should not be partisanship. Trust in public institutions plays an important role in
the successful implementation of government policies because cooperation and
compliance among citizens are necessary.

Trust in Private Relation

● Trust generates a positive attitude which is necessary for maintaining a healthy
relationship. Example : In marital life, if you do not trust your wife, the relationship
would be a nightmare.
● Trust creates a perfect setting for complete unity and cooperation. Trust is a
pre-condition for love. 'Being trusted' creates a sense of responsibility on a reciprocal
basis. So trust is essential both in public as well as private life.

Strategies for building trust

● Don't make unrealistic promises. Always fulfill the promises made. Walk the talk once
a promise is made.

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 ● If you want to build trust within your team, then lead by example, and show your
people that you trust them.
● You cant be honest to one person and dis-honest to others. Maintain integrity in
building trust.
● Speak truth as a matter of habit. A single lie to a friend or loved ones can break all trust
forever.
● One way to build trust is to develop inter-personal relations among colleagues. Think
about creating situations that help them share personal stories, and bond. Do this by
asking sensitively about their family, etc
● Donʼt place blame on others. When people work together, honest mistakes and
disappointments happen, and itʼs easy to blame someone who causes these. However,
when everyone starts pointing fingers, an unpleasant atmosphere can quickly
develop. This lowers morale, undermines trust, and is ultimately unproductive.

Public trust
● It is the firm belief of the people in public offices, institutions and officials i.e. the
measure of public confidence on the working of the Government. High public trust
enables a civil servant to take bold decisions, whereas, low public trust raises question
on every activity. It can be built by consistent performance and efficient delivery of
expected services.
● Election Commission enjoys high trust and this has helped it to implement 'Model
Code of Conduct' even without Legislature's backing.

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Strength of character
● It is a measure of how much a person can persevere in adverse circumstances and
stand against wrong actions and deeds. It is determined by how strongly or weakly
does one believes and adheres to certain values. It stands to test in the face of
hardships.
● This strength helps a civil servant to firmly say no to anyone's ill demands that may go
against the law or interests of general public. Ex: During riots, passing of tenders, work
during disasters and so on

Selflessness
● It means to put others before oneself to the extent of having little or no concern for
one's life, money, position etc. The job of civil servant demands that public concerns
be the top priority. There might be situations where an official has to give up family
time at a stretch in order to fulfil professional responsibilities. Further, selflessness
helps in building an organization of integrity and honesty.

Efficiency
● Efficiency implies doing oneʼs best in oneʼs job, with limited available resources and
time to achieve desired objectives. Efficiency simply does not mean mechanical
productivity. For a genuinely efficient person there is regard for the higher goals of
governance, including public welfare and he devotes himself to the expeditious
achievement of those goals.
● Thus, an efficient person is also an ethical person. He or she possesses administrative
morality that is essentially rooted in a conviction in the desirability of ethical conduct.

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Diligence
● Diligence is the quality of showing perseverance in carrying out the work while
showing careful attention to each and every detail. This quality is indispensable to
every civil servant considering the complexity of work and great responsibility which
comes with it.
● For example, in order to implement the anti-corruption laws in a district
administration where corruption is a way of life one needs to be very careful and
attentive with strong will to carry out the task.
● An example of diligent is a worker who always stays late to get projects done on
deadline. An example of diligent is the artist who paints every strand of hair on a
portrait.
● But it is difficult to inculcate value of diligence since modern life tends to value comfort
more than hard work. Too many people want to put out minimum effort for maximum
pay.

How to inculcate diligence

● By role modelling: There have been various public personalities who showed
exemplary quality of diligence in their public conduct. Ex: Sreedharan. Such
personalities should be made role model for civil servants by making them aware of
their lives.
● Social recognition: Giving recognition and rewards to individuals who practices such
quality will provide motivation to fellow civil servants to adopt such values.
● Giving adequate autonomy: Freedom from political pressure will provide the civil
servant to actively engage in his work.

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 ● Providing adequate resources: Diligence not only require individual will but resource
in form of information and means to carry out the task. Provision of adequate
resources will create conducive condition for inculcation of diligence as practical
value.

Intuition
● Intuition refers to the ability to acquire knowledge about things without reasoning or
usage of reasoning in general. It is o en conceived as a kind of inner perception. Ex:
Gandhi started salt satyagraha and Quit India movement through his intuition of
grasping the situation.
● It develops with age, sometimes maturity, sometimes with experience, in some with
intellect. It teaches, guides and motivates us. We experience Deja-vuʼs because our
intuition might have felt it or comprehended it much before.

Conscientiousness
● Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being careful, or diligent.
Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others
seriously. It implies a desire to do a task well. Conscientious people are efficient and
organised as opposed to easy going and disorderly.

Prudence
● Prudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneʼs behaviour by the use of reason. It
is o en associated with wisdom, insight and knowledge. Prudence avoids extreme
actions and focuses on middle path as suggested by Buddhism.

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 ● All other virtues are regulated by it. Distinguishing when acts are courageous, as
opposed to reckless is an act of prudence. Ex: Irwin pact, Gandhi calling off
non-cooperation movement.

Temperance
● It is defined as moderation or voluntary self-restraint. This includes restraint from
retaliation in the form of non-violence and forgiveness, restraint from arrogance in the
form of humility and modesty and restraint from excessive anger or craving for
something in the form of calmness and self control.
● Buddhism talks about taking middle path in all actions. This is nothing but following
temperance in oneʼs action.

Perseverance
● Steady persistence in adhering to a cause of action, a belief or a purpose etc., in spite
of difficulties or discouragement. Medicine is a field which requires dedication and
perseverance.
● Two greatest obstacles for people to overcome in life are failures and fatigue. Failures
may demotivate a person and might deviate his path. Fatigue may cause boredom and
may reduce effectiveness. Thus perseverance is necessary to overcome both fatigue
and failure. Ex: Leaders of national struggle;efforts that attempt to bring behavioural
transformation (removal of open defecation, vaccine hesitancy) in the society takes
time and requires perseverance.

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 ● Perseverance is like a lens through which people view life that is focused on
succeeding, not on failing. Example : Abraham Lincoln was defeated in the State
Legislature at 32. His fiancee died at 35. He ran for Congress and Senate and was
defeated, but he kept on trying, with perseverance, he became 16th President of the
United States.
● It gives strength to a person to stay firm on the path of one's duty. It gives stability and
conviction to the character. Example : Mahatma Gandhi followed a struggle
truce-struggle approach to fight against the British. He was never disappointed with
failure of any movement.
● Perseverance is necessary for civil servants because there would be various challenges
like - bureaucratic hierarchy, the politicization of bureaucracy, popular pressure,
corruption and nepotism. Perseverance can be proved as a powerful weapon to meet
the challenges.

Activism
● It signifies a bold, fearless and upright civil servant. A civil servant must show boldness
to protest against the immoral decisions of their political masters. His obligation to the
constitution must override his loyalty to the government.
● Ex: Sri Lakshmi, 2g scam.

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Fidelity:
● It is defined as faithfulness to obligations and duties. Correspondence with fact or with
a given quality and adherence to truth are vital for maintaining fidelity. A public
servant is expected to be at all times a trustworthy person in the public services. An
unfaithful public servant tarnishes the image of the entire system.

Rapprochement:
● Establishing cordial relations with employees and other people who have direct
relationship with the organisation.

Equanimity:
● It is a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by
experiences of good or bad, pain or pleasure, or other phenomenon that may cause
the normal people to lose the balance of their mind.

Rationality:
● It is a concept which believes in the use of reason which is detached with passions,
emotions and beliefs. If our personal beliefs or sentiments are not in conformity with
rationality, they should not prevail over rationality. It means bringing out a practical
solution to a practical situation.

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Apathy:
● Lack of interest or concern. It is a state of indifference or not showing concern,
motivation, excitement, passion etc. Being indifferent towards others problems,
towards systemic lapses, towards progressive change.

Social accountability
● Social accountability is a process in which ordinary citizens or civil society participate
in extracting accountability. It does not rely on Government institutions to extract
accountability of one another. Conventional methods donʼt involve public in defining
standards and methods of accountability.
● Conventional accountability mechanisms rely on government agencies to extract
accountability. Internal mechanisms like departmental hierarchy are prone to biases,
favouritism and quid pro quo. Also, conventional methods are of post-hoc nature i.e.
they can look into the propriety of the actions of officials only a er they are done.

Excellence
● An administrator would ensure the highest standards of quality in decisions and action
and would not compromise with standards because of convenience or complacency.
● In a competitive international environment, an administrative system should faithfully
adhere to the requisites of total quality management (TQM).

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Fusion
● An administrator would rationally bring about a fusion of individual, organisational
and social goals to help evolve unison of ideals and imbibe in his behaviour a
commitment to such a fusion.
● In the situation of conflicting goals, a concern for ethics should govern the choices
made.

Responsiveness and Resilience

● An administrator would respond effectively to the demands and challenges from the
external as well as internal environment. He would adapt to environmental
transformation and yet sustain the ethical norms of conduct.
● In situations of deviation from the prescribed ethical norms, the administrative system
would show resilience and bounce back into the accepted ethical mould at the earliest
opportunity.

National interest
● A civil servant would keep in view the impact of his action on his nationʼs strength and
prestige.
● The Japanese, Koreans, Germans and the Chinese citizens, while performing their
official roles, have at the back of their mind a concern and respect for their nation. This
automatically raises the level of service rendered and the products delivered.

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Magnanimity
● Magnanimity is a quality of being kind, generous and forgiving. Person filled by
magnanimity do not seek revenge. Mahatma Gandhi chose magnanimity over revenge
as his guide for making his decisions. Ex: According to christianity Jesus gave his life for
benefit of human kind.
● Civil servants sometimes work in very adverse and hostile circumstances. In those
critical houses, they are supposed to forget their personal interests and issues and
work towards happiness of people. Ex: Nelson Mandela did not show any retribution
against white people when he became president.

Humility
● Humility is the quality of being humble and thinking that you are not superior to
anyone. It also means not drawing attention to yourself.
● For example, even though Narayan Murthy is a billionaire, he cleans his toilet by
himself. Also, being a parent can be a very humble job, wiping noses, changing
diapers, and meeting a childʼs every need for years.
● Humility asks us to acknowledge our imperfections. It requires that we admit when we
are wrong and then change course.
● People look towards civil servants with suspicion, because they find most of the civil
servants are full of arrogance, egoist, and power drunk. Civil servants need to dispel
this notion from the minds of people by becoming humble.

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Reliability
● Reliable persons are more trusted than an unreliable person. By making a promise to
someone we are making ourself morally accountable to them, and by not keeping up
we are doing morally incorrect thing.
● We should interpret your promises fairly and honestly and avoid unwise
commitments. Think about unknown or future events that could make it difficult,
undesirable or impossible.

Loyalty
● Loyalty is a responsibility to promote the interests of certain people, organisations.
This duty goes beyond the normal obligation we all share to care for others.
● We must rank our loyalty obligations in some rational fashion. For example, itʼs
perfectly reasonable to look out for the interests of our children over other children.
● Loyalty requires us to keep some information confidential. When keeping a secret
breaks the law or threatens others, however, we may have a responsibility to blow the
whistle.
● Employees and public servants have a duty to make all professional decisions on
merit, unimpeded by conflicting personal interests. They owe ultimate loyalty to the
public.

Respect
● People are not things, and everyone has a right to be treated with dignity. We certainly
have no ethical duty to hold all people in high esteem, but we should treat everyone
with respect, regardless of who they are and what they have done.

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 ● We have a responsibility to be the best we can be in all situations, even when dealing
with unpleasant people.
● Respect prohibits violence, humiliation, manipulation and exploitation. It reflects
notions such as civility, courtesy, decency, dignity, autonomy, tolerance and
acceptance.
● A respectful person is an attentive listener, although his patience with the boorish
need not be endless. Nevertheless, the respectful person treats others with
consideration, and doesnʼt resort to intimidation, coercion or violence except in
extraordinary situations. Punishment is used in moderation and only to advance
important social goals and purposes.

Responsibility
● Being responsible means being in charge of our choices and our lives. It means being
accountable for what we do and who we are. It is a moral obligation. Ethical people
show responsibility by being accountable, pursuing excellence and exercising self
restraint. They exhibit the ability to respond to expectations.
● Responsible people finish what they start, overcoming rather than surrendering to
obstacles and avoid excuses. Responsible people always look for ways to do their work
better.
● Responsible people exercise self control, restraining passions and appetites (such as
lust, hatred, gluttony, greed and fear) for the sake of longer term vision and better
judgment. They delay gratification if necessary and never feel its necessary to win at
any cost.

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 ● An accountable person doesnʼt shi blame or claim credit for the work of others. He
considers the likely consequences of his behaviour and associations. He recognises the
common complicity in the triumph of evil when nothing is done to stop it. He leads by
example.

Fairness
● Fairness implies adherence to a balanced standard of justice without relevance to
oneʼs own feelings or inclinations. It includes issues of equality, impartiality,
proportionality, openness and due process. It is unfair to handle similar matters
inconsistently.
● A fair person scrupulously employs open and impartial processes for gathering and
evaluating information necessary to make decisions. Fair people do not wait for the
truth to come to them and they seek out relevant information and conflicting
perspectives before making important judgments.

Caring
● If you existed alone in the universe, there would be no need for ethics and your heart
could be a cold, hard stone. Caring is the heart of ethics, and ethical decision making.
● It is scarcely possible to be truly ethical and yet unconcerned with the welfare of
others. That is because ethics is ultimately about good relations with other people.
● Of course, sometimes we must hurt those we truly care for, and some decisions, while
quite ethical, do cause pain. But one should consciously cause no more harm than is
reasonably necessary to perform oneʼs duties.

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 ● The highest form of caring is the honest expression of benevolence, or altruism. This is
not to be confused with strategic charity. Gi s to charities to advance personal
interests are a fraud. That is, they arenʼt gi s at all. They are investments or tax write
offs.

WISDOM
Wisdom is the highest quality of mind. It emerges from deep knowledge and profound
experience of life. Wisdom brings peace to the heart and mind. It combines intelligence with
emotions and shows one true essence of life.

Wisdom is more important than intelligence-

● Intelligence is power, but it is the power that can be used or misused. Example : With
intelligence, we have created weapons of mass destruction like atomic and biological
but wisdom will decide how we would use it.
● Wisdom helps to develop compassion and kindness which is an essential quality of a
civil servant in India.

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 ● Wisdom stops the abuse of authority in administration. Example : An officer would use
the discretionary power to take bonafide action.
● Wisdom helps develop good interpersonal relationships.
● So, wisdom uses intelligence in morally right way. Thus, wisdom is more important
than intelligence.

Forgiving
● To err is human, to forgive is divine. Everyone makes mistakes, commit sins at some
point in their life. Itʼs a human nature to make mistakes. But to forgive someone from
those mistakes is indeed very hard. It doesnʼt happens naturally like making a mistake.
People are acting in a godlike (divine) way when they forgive. One almost have to be in
a real holy place in their mind to forgive someone.
● It is morally correct to forgive such a person who accepts his mistake and promises not
to repeat it. It is so because someone is showing courage and honesty by accepting his
mistake with a promise of not repeating. His thoughts are noble and gestures are right.
Forgiving him will help in making him a better human being.
● Lord Rama showed no hatred against his stepmother, Kaikeyi, for sending him to the
forest for fourteen years so that her son, Bharat, could be the king.
● All of us are humans. We all have our weaknesses and strength. No one is perfect. So
when someone does a wrong to us, why canʼt we forgive them. Forgiving that person
brings out the god like nature that lies in human. It is not very easy to do it but once we
truly forgive someone for his mistake we will feel an inner peace.

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Anonymity
● Bureaucrat is supposed to work behind the curtain and avoid limelight. He will not get
credit for the success and he will not be blamed for the failure. It will be responsibility
of the political executive to handle all the applause and criticism. For example, in
Mundhra deal scam (1957), Chagla commission held that Minister Krishnamachari is
constitutionally responsible for the actions of his secretary.
● A civil servant should avoid going to media to air his grievances or differences of
opinion. Minister must be given the power to extra work, power to reward and punish.
3. It allows civil servant to not fall for political compulsions and public sentiments but
be rational in his decisions and actions. He is not worried about various pressure
groups. He quietly works in the background in public interest. It allows them to advice
to ministers freely and without fear of any adverse public or political reactions and
without fear of damage to their future careers.
● Anonymity has been used by civil servant to shed accountability and refusal to be held
responsible even for their malaise action. They have derilicted duty and hid behind the
cloak of ministerial responsibility for their collusion in corruption citing anonymity. He
is liable for his actions and anonymity cannot be an excuse. In the 2G scam case
supreme court held that telecom secretary cannot hide behind anonymity to defend
his malafide inaction.

Conduct rules providing anonymity

● He shall guard the official secrets.
● Shall not make any public utterance that would embarrass relations between Union
and state or between two countries.

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 ● He should not criticize any policy of government.
● Needs government permission before publishing book or appearing on TV. Without
government permission, he must not accept any honour, ceremony, meeting, rally held
in his honour.
● Suppose press has made some remarks against him for his official conduct. He cannot
file defamation suit against them or make press statements, without government
permission. This ensures discipline, decorum and moral of the services.

Arguments against anonymity

● O en ministers come up with populist schemes with unattainable targets and then
blames officers for not implementing it faithfully.
● Ministers openly criticises bureaucrats but bureaucrats canʼt defend because norms of
anonymity. Still they have to face the people protesting against the state.
● O en the entire state bureaucracy is corrupt and inefficient. So, despite using the
official channels, the honest officer may not get any justice.
● Norm of anonymity will stop him from approaching media. And still if he approaches
media, he will be further persecuted for violating the service norms.

CONFIDENTIALITY
● It refers to maintaining or keeping secrecy of certain information, matters from the
public view for larger public interest.
● Example: Section 8 of Right to Information Act, 2005 and Official Secrets Act provide
for confidentiality in larger public interest.

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OPENNESS
● It refers to sharing of information along with transparent decision-making. In another
sense, it includes characteristics such as imagination and attitude of ready
accessibility.
● Nolan Report on Openness: Holders of public office should be as open as possible
about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their
decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly
demands.

Happiness
● The source of happiness is the mind that directs a person to be happy even in
circumstances that are difficult and obstacles that may seem insurmountable to some.
It is rightly said that happiness is a state of mind. The people who manage to stay
happy despite calamity are the ones who have most of the following traits.
● Contentment: The first rule to stay happy is to be content with whatever life gives you.
One may be ambitious and put in great efforts but satisfaction at the end of the activity
must be there. It is soothing and inspires a person to struggle.
● Will power: An indomitable will power will encourage the person to find a way even at
places where there will be none.
● Positive outlook: A person with positive outlook will always look for constructive
plans rather than destructive ones. To construct something a new is anyways an
inspiring activity which gains appreciation from society and instills confidence in the
person.

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 ● Passion: To move in a direction in which one is passionate is itself soothing. When way
to destination itself becomes enjoyable, destination is not far away. Happiness, in this
case, lies not only in destination but journey itself.

Qualitative life
● The meaning of quality life varies from individual to individual. But quality life should
include the pursuit of material satisfaction, responsibility of family, society and sharing
love and spiritual enlightenment.
● Artha: Wealth may be accumulated both ethically (businessmen) and unethically
(drug smugglers). But, unethically accumulated wealth does not give lasting
happiness. Parties to the Bofors scam or 2G scam cannot claim to sleep peacefully at
night.
● Kama: Pursuit of pleasures should not be at the expense of others. Pleasure which
stems from the world, whether it is a pleasure of the senses or a pleasure derived from
oneʼs position or situation in the world, is a distraction from a higher good. For
example, a civil servant may cheat or lie in order to get quick promotions, but this
alone is unlikely to improve his career.
● Dharma: For example, financially independent adults do not only have the
responsibility of their own children, but of their parents, the society and nation as a
whole. It is said that the good of one is contained in the good of all. By sharing
happiness and love, we not only derive personal satisfaction, but also give happiness
to others.

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 ● Moksha: Pursuit of true knowledge is unlikely with unethical conduct. All scriptures,
teachers and saints advise to first purify oneʼs conduct and character and then embark
on a spiritual quest. Selfless work, the highest ethics, is one of the virtues taught by
Gita. This alone ensures lasting happiness and thus a quality life.

Justice
● Justice is fairness in protection of rights and punishment of wrongs. Reformative
justice places emphasis on reforming the offender. It doesnʼt not believe in
proportionate punishments like death penalty. Retributive justice demands
proportional punishment for the crimes committed. They believe criminals must pay
for their crimes. Ex: Death penalty.
● I believe in reformative justice. To err is human and our society should try to reform
the offenders and give them a second chance to redeem themselves. No correlation
between retributive justice and reduction in crime rate. This defeats purpose of justice.
● There is a difference between law and justice. The essence of law is its force. Law is law
because it carries the means to coerce or force obedience. The power of the state is
behind it. The essence of justice is fairness. Any system of laws functions through a
hierarchy of authorities.
● Justice for a public servant is redressing the problems of an aggrieved citizen in an
effective, efficient and equitable way.

Ways to ensure justice

● By being honest and impartial and avoiding nepotism.

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 ● By being empathetic and compassionate towards each aggrieved person and
addressing their problems within a time limit.
● By following code of conduct and code of ethics while discharging my duties.
● By being transparent and accountable to my actions.
● By building social capital with all stake holders to bridge the trust deficit

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS:

Theme Question Year

Apart from intellectual competence and moral qualities, 2022
empathy and compassion are some of the other vital
attributes that facilitate the civil servants to be more
competent in tackling the crucial issues or taking critical
decisions. Explain with suitable illustrations.
The Rules and Regulations provided to all the civil 2022
servants are same, yet there is difference in the
performance. Positive minded officers are able to
interpret the Rules and Regulations in favour of the case
and achieve success, whereas negative minded officers
are unable to achieve goals by interpreting the same Rules
and Regulations against the case. Discuss with
illustrations.

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 “Integrity is a value that empowers the human being.” 2021
Justify with suitable illustration.

Should impartial and being non-partisan be considered as 2021

indispensable qualities to make a successful civil servant?
Discuss with illustrations.
Identify ten essential values that are needed to be an 2021
effective public servant. Describe the ways and means to
prevent non-ethical behaviour in the public servants.
Identify five ethical traits on which one can plot the 2021
performance of a civil servant. Justify their inclusion in
the matrix.
What are the basic principles of public life? Illustrate any 2019
three of these with suitable examples.

What do you understand by the term ʻpublic servantʼ? 2019

Reflect on the expected role of a public servant.
What is mean by public interest? What are the principles 2018
and procedures to be followed by the civil servants in
public interest?
Integrity, impartiality “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: 2018
and integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they do not have
non-partisanship, the first, the other two will kill you.” – Warren Buffett.
objectivity What do you understand by this statement in the
present-day scenario? Explain.

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 Integrity, impartiality State the three basic values, universal in nature, in the 2018
and context of civil services and bring out their importance.
non-partisanship,
objectivity
Examine the relevance of the following in the context of 2017
civil service: (a) Transparency (b) Accountability (c)
Fairness and justice (d) Courage of conviction (e) Spirit of
service.
Integrity, impartiality One of the tests of integrity is complete refusal to be 2017
and compromised. Explain with reference to a real-life
non-partisanship, example.
objectivity
Conflict of interest in the public sector arises when (a) 2016
official duties, (b) public interest, and (c) personal interest
are taking priority one above the other. How can this
conflict in administration be resolved? Describe with an
example
Integrity, impartiality Why should impartiality and non-partisanship be 2016
and considered as foundational values in public services,
non-partisanship, especially in the present-day socio-political context?
objectivity Illustrate your answer with examples.
Public servants are likely to confront with the issues of 2015
ʻConflict of Interestʼ. What do you understand by the term
ʻConflict of Interestʼ and how does it manifest in the

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 decision making by public servants? If faced with the
conflict of interest situation, how would you resolve it?
Explain with the help of examples.
Two different kinds of attitudes exhibited by public 2015
servants towards their work have been identified as the
bureaucratic attitude and the democratic attitude. A)
Distinguish between these two terms and write their
merits and demerits. B) Is it possible to balance the two to
create a better administration for the faster development
of our country?
How do the virtues of trustworthiness and fortitude get 2015
manifested in public service? Explain with examples.

A mere compliance with law is not enough, the public 2015

servant also has to have a well-developed sensibility to
ethical issues for effective discharge of duties.” Do you
agree? Explain with the help of two examples, where (i) an
act is ethically right, but not legally and (ii) an act is legally
right, but not ethically.
Integrity, impartiality There is a heavy ethical responsibility on the public 2014
and servants because they occupy positions of power, handle
non-partisanship, huge amounts of public funds, and their decisions have
objectivity wide-ranging impact on society and environment. What
steps have you taken to improve your ethical competence
to handle such responsibility?

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 Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, but 2014
knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.
What do you understand by this statement? Explain your
stand with illustrations from the modern context.
Integrity, impartiality What does ʻaccountabilityʼ mean in the context of public 2014
and service? What measures can be adopted to ensure
non-partisanship, individual and collective accountability of public
objectivity servants?
Dedication to public What do you understand by the following terms in the 2014
service context of public service? (5 terms x 3 marks each: a)
Integrity b) Perseverance c) Spirit of service d)
Commitment e) Courage of conviction f) Personal opinion
Dedication to public Indicate two more attributes which you consider 2013
service important for public service. Justify your answer. (10
marks |100 words)

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