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24 Aug 2022
GS Paper 4
Theoretical Questions
Day 45: What are the five ethical characteristics that can be used to predict a civil servant's effectiveness? Explain why they belong in the matrix. (150 Words)
- Start the answer by writing about ethics and need for ethical training for civil servant.
- Explain ethical traits on which one can plot the performance of a civil servant.
- Also justify their inclusion in the matrix (ethical traits needed for civil servants).
Answer:
Ethics can be defined as a set of “moral principles that govern a person’s behavior or the conduct of an activity”. Ethics relates primarily to the nature of ultimate values and standards set by society.
For a civil servant, acting ethically is of utmost importance. A civil servant is supposed to possess the virtues of objectivity and impartiality. The five ethical traits – Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Objectivity, and Selflessness – form the ethical foundation of a civil servant and other values like nonpartisanship, tolerance, responsiveness can emanate from them. A matrix of ethical traits is discussed below, which is beneficial in performance evaluation of civil servants which human actions can be judged. Ethics are a subjective standard of rights and wrong.
Integrity:
- Important for elimination of corruption.
- Leadership quality to act as a role model for others.
- Best utilization of public resources and pursuit of professional excellence.
Compassion:
- An element of Emotional Intelligence.
- Self-motivation to work for the weak and brings empathy towards them.
- Outcome and effectiveness orientation.
Accountability:
- Makes administration transparent and public oriented.
- Builds public trust and deters unethical conduct.
- Makes civil servants answerable for their conduct and decisions.
Objectivity:
- Decisions based on merit without personal bias.
- Makes a civil servant impartial and non-partisanship.
- Fairness in action and tolerance towards opposing views.
- Efficiency orientation.
Selflessness:
- Prevents misuse of entrusted public resources and authority.
- Helps in resolving conflicts of interest, countering nepotism and cronyism.
These traits ensure that a civil servant fulfills his professional obligation even in adverse situations. The ideal training programme for a civil servant should be a mix of ethical traits, procedural rules and practical situations.
