Public Administration

I. Ethics, Integrity, and Civil Services

• Integrity (सत्यनिष्ठा): Internal compatibility between thoughts, words, and actions of a civil servant. Eliminates credibility gaps. A safeguard against corruption and abuse of authority.

  • Benefits of Integrity:
    • Reduced corruption
    • Increased credibility
    • Proper resource utilization
    • Enhanced public trust
    • Motivated civil servants
    • Improved administrative efficiency and public participation

• Reasons for Decline in Integrity:

  • Insufficient salaries and facilities
  • Colonial legacy of corruption
  • Flexible corruption prevention acts
  • Article 311 (Second ARC criticism: protects civil servants, hindering corruption prosecution)
  • Political interference
  • Discretionary powers
  • Lack of public awareness
  • Red tape
  • Lack of ethics and moral studies in training
  • Increasing materialism
  • Unupdated model code of conduct

• Measures to Improve Integrity:

  • Increase salaries
  • Include ethics in curriculum
  • Abolish or amend Article 311
  • Promote e-governance
  • Reduce discretionary powers (Second ARC recommendation)
  • Merit-based appointments
  • Stricter corruption acts
  • Appointment of ethics commissioners in departments
  • Provision of oaths of transparency

II. Efforts to Reduce Corruption

• Commissions and Committees:

  • Gorwala Commission
  • Paul H. Appleby Report (Rolon Commission)
  • Santhanam Committee (led to CVC - Central Vigilance Commission)
  • First and Second Administrative Reforms Commissions (ARC)

• Acts and Legislations:

  • Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 (amended in 1988 and 2018)
  • Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005
  • Public Service Guarantee Act, 2011
  • Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013
  • Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014
  • Rajasthan Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 1973

• Organizations:

  • CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation)
  • CVC (Central Vigilance Commission)
  • ED (Enforcement Directorate)
  • Lokpal
  • State-level ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau), Lokayukta, and State Vigilance Commission

• Codes of Conduct:

  • All India Services Code of Conduct, 1954
  • Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964
  • Railway Services Code of Conduct, 1956
  • Rajasthan State Conduct Rules, 1971

• Demonetization: 8 November 2016

III. Impartiality (निष्पक्षता) and Non-partisanship (गैर पक्षधरता)

• Impartiality: Civil servants remain unbiased in decision-making; decisions based on merit.

  • Importance of Impartiality: Prevents discrimination, ensures public interest in decision-making, facilitates effective public policy implementation.

• Non-partisanship: Civil servants remain uninfluenced by political ideologies and unaffiliated with political parties.

  • Importance of Non-partisanship: Protects civil servants from political revenge, motivates impartial implementation of government programs, promotes proper resource utilization, and develops public faith.

• Measures to Improve Impartiality and Non-partisanship:

  • Merit-based transfers (abolishing the "desire system")
  • Formalized transfer policy
  • Reduced negative political interference
  • Adherence to codes of conduct

• Why Non-partisanship is Almost Impossible for Civil Servants:

  • Desire system
  • Close working relationship between ministers and civil servants
  • Right to vote for civil servants

IV. Dedication to Public Service

• Importance of Dedication: Maintains discipline, ensures effective implementation of government policies and programs, optimizes resource utilization, motivates other civil servants, encourages initiative-taking, and builds a positive image of civil servants, enhancing public trust and participation.

V. Generalists vs. Specialists

• Origin of the Conflict: Northcote-Trevelyan Report (1854) recommended generalists for higher administrative posts and specialists for lower posts.

• Generalists: Civil servants with general education, recruited and trained for higher administrative posts. Perform overall administrative activities (planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, budgeting). Examples: ACS, Divisional Commissioner, District Collector, SDM, Tehsildar.

• Specialists: Civil servants with technical or professional degrees, appointed to middle-level administrative posts. Examples: Doctors, Engineers, Professors, Lecturers. Always function within the same department.

Feature	Generalists	Specialists
Education	General	Technical/Professional
Functions	Post-administrative activities	Technical/Specialized functions
Appointment Level	Higher administrative posts	Middle administrative posts
Political Closeness	Higher	Comparatively lower
Transfers	Inter-departmental transfers are common	Primarily within the same department
Promotion	Faster	Comparatively slower
Salary/Facilities	Higher	Comparatively lower
Other Names	Bureaucrats	Technocrats

• Reasons for Conflict:

  • Generalists occupy higher administrative positions.
  • Higher salaries and facilities for generalists.
  • Fast promotions for generalists.
  • Autocratic behavior of generalists towards specialists.
  • Illogical policies formulated by generalists.
  • Unnecessary comments by generalists on specialist reports.
  • Generalists' close association with politicians.
  • Dominance of generalists in the secretariat, influencing policy formulation.

• Solutions to the Conflict:

  • Pre-determined allocation of posts for generalists and specialists.
  • Creation of new All India Services (e.g., All India Medical Health Services, All India Engineering Services).
  • Inclusion of specialists in policy formulation.
  • Faster promotion for specialists.
  • Similar training for generalists and specialists.
  • Integration or merging of directorates and secretariats.
  • Integrated hierarchical systems.
  • Promotion of lateral entry schemes.
  • Categorization of services into functional and non-functional (First ARC recommendation).

• Arguments in Favor of Generalists:

  • Conventional hierarchy.
  • Wider experience due to inter-departmental transfers.
  • Policy formulation is an art requiring broader perspective.
  • Intellectual cream of society.

• Arguments in Favor of Specialists:

  • Right to equality.
  • Essential role in policy formulation (especially in complex tasks).
  • Increasing technical complexities in administration.
  • Reduction of red tape.
  • Impact of LPG (liberalization, privatization, globalization) requires specialization.
  • Inspiration from developed countries.