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Code of conduct
Civil servants have special obligations because they are responsible for managing resources entrusted to them by the community, because they provide and deliver services to the community and because they take important decisions that aff ect all aspects of a community’s life. Th ecommunity has a right to expect that the civil service functions fairly, impartially and efficiently. It is essential that the community must be able to trust and have confidence in the integrity of the civil service decision-making process. Within the civil service itself, it needs to be ensured that the decisions and actions of civil servants reflect the policies of the government of the day and the standards that the community expects from them as government servants. The expectation that the civil service will maintain the same standards of professionalism, responsiveness and impartiality in serving successive political governments is a key element of the way our democratic polity functions.
In a democracy, an efficient civil service must have a set of values that distinguishes it from other professions. Integrity, dedication to public service, impartiality, political neutrality, anonymity etc are said to be the hallmarks of an efficient civil service.
In India, the current set of ethical norms are the Conduct Rules, contained in the Central Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 and analogous rules applicable to members of the All India Services or employees of various State Governments. The code of behaviour as enunciated in the Conduct Rules, while containing some general norms like ‘maintaining integrity and absolute devotion to duty’ and not indulging in ‘conduct unbecoming of a government servant’ is generally directed towards cataloguing specific activities deemed undesirable for government servants. These conduct rules do not constitute a code of ethics.
The Draft Public Services Bill, 2007 proposes the necessary fi rst step towards evolving a code of ethics. It states in Chapter III.
Values of Public Service: The Public Service and the Public Servants shall be guided by the following values in the discharge of their functions:
- patriotism and upholding national pride
- allegiance to the Constitution and the law of the nation
- objectivity, impartiality, honesty, diligence, courtesy and transparency
- maintain absolute integrity
Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, on the recommendations of or in consultation with the Central Authority, notify from time to time other values in this Section.
Review of Public Service Values: Th e Central Authority may from time to time review the adoption, adherence to and implementation of the Public Service Values in the departments or organizations under the Central Government and send reports to the Central Government.
Public Services Code
The Government shall promote the Public Service Values and a standard of ethics in the Public Service operations, requiring and facilitating every Public Service employee: