Abstract:

Ethics in Governance: Indias context analyses what constitutes ethics in the

area of governance, ascertains how an ethical governance system is in the best interest
of overall business community and identifies major stakeholders in the Indias
governance systems. It identifies key players involved with the three pillars of
government i.e. legislative, executive and Judiciary; and highlights the values
conferred upon them by means of code of conduct. It shows certain policies and
regulations that are there, to ensure, ethical standards exist in their respective areas of
functioning. The paper also mentions certain recommendations that were given in the
4th Administrative Reform Commission report: Ethics in Governance that requires
immediate attention such that desired ethical standards continues to persist for the
sustained development of the governance system. The paper finally highlights
corruption as the major discrepancy plaguing every institution in the system and
further goes on to show how its eradication is intrinsically linked to ethics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Introduction
Ethics is a set of standards that society places on itself and which help guide
behaviour, choices and actions. Ethics are also known as a code of conduct.

[1]

Ethics is an attempt to guide human conduct and it is also an attempt to help man in
leading good life by applying moral principles. Ethics refers to well based standards of
right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights,
obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics is related to issues of
propriety, rightness and wrongness. What is right is ethical and what is wrong is
unethical. Value is an important conception in ethical discussion. Values relate to the
norms of a culture, but they are more global and abstract than norms .[2] Our personal
values and societal experiences contribute to the strength of ethical fibre. The value
system that one is exposed to has immense impact on the kind of ethics that gets
imbibed in to self.

Though ones ethical fibre is the repercussions of ones own

experiences but when associating with an institution it becomes important to depict

the character of standards of the institution personified. In short to say personal ethics
should reflect the institutional ethics catering to the purpose for which it has been
established. This aspect of coordination becomes very crucial when we talk of

governance in specificity as the governance engulfs in itself a relationship to be

exercised between its stakeholders and this necessitates reflecting character of high
morals to the people it eventually serves.
Before delving in to the aspects of Ethics in Governance in Indias context it shall be
beneficial to get an insight in to the aspects of governance and what the certain
proponents of good governance have to say about it. Governance in technicality refers
to
(a) art of governing i.e. the manner in which the authority, control and power of
government is exercised in mobilising a societys economic and social resources
to address the issues of public interest.
(b) processes as well as the result of making authoritative decisions for the benefit
of the society in a collective manner where in all stakeholders (individuals and
institutions) engage in many ways to manage their common affairs.
Not surprisingly, western countries, in its profound ways have come up with the
term Good Governance. It has been used in the context of western aid to developing
societies and the benchmarks fixed by the former on the latter as a condition for giving
aid. But the concept of good governance is not as such alien to us as it has been known
to India since ancient times and was conceptualized as Ram Rajya [Dr Mandeep Gaur],
The articulation of Good governance can also be found in the worlds oldest treatise on
public administration Arthashaastra. But in modern times, in 1989, the World Bank
highlighted the concept of Good Governance and later along with UNDP had
identified 5 parameters i.e. Participation, Legitimacy, Accountability, Openness &
transparency and Competence for promoting good governance. GG according to
Martini Minogue is both a broad reform strategy and particular set of initiatives to
strengthen the institutions of civil society with the objective of making governments
more accountable, open, transparent and democratic.
Significance of good governance to business community
Good governance is a precondition for economic development. The quality of
governance plays a vital role in the economic development of countries. The IMF has
spelled out the relationship between good governance and economic development in
its declaration Partnership for Sustainable Global Growth that was adopted by the
IMFs Interim Committee in September, 1996. It identified "promoting good
governance in all its aspects, including ensuring the rule of law, improving the

efficiency and accountability of the public sector, and tackling corruption" as an

essential element of a framework within which economies can prosper. The IMF has
spelled out good governance in economic management as improving the
management of public resources through reforms covering public sector institutions
(e.g., the treasury, central bank, public enterprises, civil service, and the official
statistics function), including administrative procedures (e.g., expenditure control,
budget management, and revenue collection); and supporting the development and
maintenance of a transparent and stable economic and regulatory environment
conducive to efficient private sector activities (e.g., price systems, exchange and trade
regimes, and banking systems and their related regulations). The broad spectrum of
economic activities that are affected by governance is clear from this statement. [4]
It would be quite wrong to think that good governance is the responsibility
solely of governments. Accountability is a key requirement of good governance at all
levels of economic activity. Not only governmental institutions but private and civil
society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional
stakeholders. An organization or an institution should be accountable to those who will
be affected by its decisions or actions. Good governance will be an important
determinant of the pace and character of economic development in the next decade.
The establishment of the rule of law, protection of property rights, safeguarding of
human and fundamental rights, the implementation of justice, the eradication of
waste, prudence in public expenditure and minimizing of bribery and corruption are
among the facets of good governance that must prevail for the economy to grow to its
full potential.[4] Without good governance economic growth would be stifled impacting
everyone involved including the business community.
Indias Governance System
Indias governance system constitutes Parliament, Executive/Government,
Judiciary, Local government, Private sector and Civil society as its major stakeholders.
Parliament, Executive and Judiciary together constitute formal organs whereas local
government, private sector and civil society form the informal organs. In the preliberalisation era India followed a style of governance where informal organs were
subsidiary in nature, functioned as mere adjuncts to formal organs, weaker by their
roles and acted only as directed. But post-liberalisation taking the cue from Hasnat

Abdul Hye model of governance their roles have been strengthened and changed to
participatory in nature, action oriented and engaging in the governance process. In the
current scenario or in the future each of the stakeholders mentioned above have their
own role play and their significance is ever increasing in character in ensuring effective
governance.
Ethics in Governance
[5]

Centre for First Nations Governance has identified the five pillars for effective

governance that blend the traditional values of respective nations with modern
realities of self-governance. The principles that exist under each of the pillar is
mentioned in the table below

People
Land
Laws and
Jurisdiction
Institutions

Resources

Strategic vision
Meaningful information Sharing
Participation in Decision Making
Territorial Integrity
Economic Realization
Respect for the Spirit of the Land
Expansion of Jurisdiction
Rule of Law

Transparency and Fairness

Results-Based Organizations
Cultural Alignment of Institutions
Effective Inter-Governmental Relations
Human Resource Capacity
Financial Management Capacity
Performance Evaluation
Accountability and Reporting
Diversity of Revenue Sources

It can thus be inferred that effective governance involves players who are
actively engaged with each of the factors mentioned above. And in the Indian context
these are legislators ( a subset of poiticians), administrators, people associated with the
justice system who determines the level of participation private players, supporting
organistaions, people and civil society. Any disruption in each of their roles shall have
a greater ramification to the governance process in total ultimately leading to the
mother of all evil in governance process corruption. In this paper we shall consider
only the ethical aspects of three pillars of Indian government i.e. legislative, executive

and judiciary and that to with respect to the key or important personals involved in
their functioning i.e. legislators, civil servants and judges respectively.

Ethics to the legislators

It is unrealistic and simplistic to expect perfection in politics in an ethically
imperfect environment. India was fortunate that high standards of ethical conduct
were an integral part of the freedom struggle. Unfortunately, ethical capital started
getting eroded after the transfer of power. Elections are considered as the top most
avenues for corruption. There were times when immoderations in elections were
common for example imperfect electoral rolls, impersonation, booth-capturing,
violence, inducements and intimidation, floor-crossing after elections to get into
power. However, Election Commission and the Supreme Court have taken several
steps since the late 1980s and yet, there is a widespread view that much more needs to
be done. The taunting issues today are
(a) criminalisation of politics
(b) Election funding by false means
(c) Conduct of the politicians and elected members (incumbent)
Criminalisation of politics refers to the participation of criminals in the electoral
process. In the India it has been observed that there has been a rise of criminals in
politics as it offers protection for law breakers, rides them with authority to interfere
with the investigation process of crimes and delay the judicial process or any other
means as it provides them with an opportunity to ally with these functionaries. The
political parties allow these criminals to contest elections to take advantage of their
money and muscle power to win the elections. Election funding is another cause of
concern where in large expenditure in elections is illegal and illegitimate. Though there
are formal limits to expenditure (Representation of the People Act puts limits on
election expenditure), in reality, actual expenditure is alleged to be far higher.
Company donations to political party were banned in 1969 but later allowed by an
amendment of the Companies Act in 1985. Conduct of the politicians and elected
members needs to be checked and every action must be taken that they do not resort to
false means and practices to come to power. To improve ethical standards in politics
would tentatively involve catering to these issues majorly.

Election commission (EC) that is constitutionally empowered to superintend, control

and direct elections along with supreme court has undertaken following reforms

Improvement in Accuracy of Electoral Rolls.

provision of photo-identity cards for all voters

Supreme Court has directed that a candidate should declare any conviction by a
court or whether a criminal case is pending against him

EC has directed every candidate to file a declaration of assets and liabilities of

the candidate and family members.

Using this power, Election Commission has made the Code of Conduct for
elections binding in all respects.

Similarly, EC has put prohibition of festoons/cutouts, requires candidate to file

on daily expenditure statements, during Election campaigns.

Appointment of a large number of observers, ordering of re-poll in specific

polling booths.

Electronic voting machines have been introduced throughout the country (in
the parliamentary elections of 2004).

It has been decided that the death of an independent candidate would not lead
to the cancellation of an election.

Gives Full tax exemption to individuals and corporates on all contributions to

political parties

Disclosure of party finances and contributions over Rs.20,000.

Provides Indirect public funding to candidates of recognized parties including

free supply of electoral rolls

Equitable sharing of time by the recognized political parties on the cable

television network and other electronic media (public and private)

2nd Arc has recommended introducing a system for partial state funding in order to
reduce the scope of illegitimate and unnecessary funding of expenditure for election
but no action has been taken in this regard so far.

To regulate the conduct of political members amended Anti defection legislation

provisions and made defection possibilities to virtual impossibility to individual
members. Currently the Chairman or the Speaker of the House (usually a member
of the ruling party or coalition) takes the decision to disqualify a member under
defection. Election Commission has recommended that the question of
disqualification of members on the ground of defection be decided by the
President/Governor on the advice of the Election Commission. So did the 2 nd ARC.
But nothing has been done to this effect.

2nd ARC recommends that Representation of the People Act needs to be

amended to disqualify all persons facing charges related to grave and heinous
offences and corruption. But only for the cases filed six months before an election
would lead to such disqualification. In this regard the two proposals were approved
in the form of amendments to the Representation of People Act and separate bills
will be tabled in Parliament related to them.

As per one amendment, an MP, MLA or MLC cannot be disqualified after

conviction if he or she files an appeal within 90 days from the date of conviction
and such conviction is stayed. A proviso added to sub-section (4) of section 8 of
the RP Act makes it clear that the convicted member shall continue to take part
in proceedings of Parliament or Legislature of a state but he or she shall neither
be entitled to vote nor draw salary and allowances till the appeal or revision is

finally decided by the court.[6]

Another amendment cleared by the Cabinet adds a provision to sub section (2)
of section 62 of the RP Act to state that a person cannot cease to be a voter while
in detention as his or her right is only temporarily suspended. It further states
that as the name of person in jail continues to be on electoral role, he or she also
continues to be an elector and file nomination for election. [6]

Political parties have a responsibility to maintain proper accounts of their

income and expenditure and get them audited annually. This needs to be acted
upon early. The audited accounts should be available for information of the public.
In June last year, the CIC had issued an order putting the BJP, Congress,
Communist Party of India-Marxist, Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party
and Bahujan Samaj Party under the sway of the RTI Act. The political parties were
asked to appoint an appellate mechanism to disclose their sources of funding as
well as details of expenditure. But theres a stiff opposition from all parties on the
ground that it will hamper their smooth functioning as it would be misused by the
opponents and RTI activists in the name of transparency. [7]

Coalition politics and ethics

Coalitions are often necessitated because it is difficult today for a single party to
obtain a clear majority in the Legislature. Ethics of coalition government is,
however, seriously strained when the coalition partners change partnerships midstream and new coalitions are formed, primarily driven by opportunism and
craving for power. 2nd ARC recommends that Constitution should be amended to
ensure that if one or more parties in a coalition realign midstream with one or
more parties outside the coalition, then Members of that party or parties shall have
to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.
Conduct of the members of parliament
To enforce upon ethics among its members standing committees have been
created in each of the houses. On 4 March 1997, the Ethics Committee of the Rajya
Sabha was constituted. The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha was constituted on 16
May 2000. The Committees shall broadly have the following functions, namely:(a) to oversee the moral and ethical conduct of members;
(b) to prepare a Code of Conduct for members and to suggest amendments or
additions to the Code from time to time in the form of reports to the Council;

(c) to examine cases concerning the alleged breach of the Code of Conduct by
members as also cases concerning allegations of any other ethical misconduct of
members; and
(d) to tender advice to members from time to time on questions involving ethical
standards either suo motu or on receiving specific requests.
But when such emphasis is laid on the conduct it becomes enormously crucial to
know what constitutes the conduct or misconduct for a member of parliament in order
to codify them. And this is what The Second report of the committee to inquire into
misconduct of members of lok sabha on various facets of misconduct and basic
attributes of standards of conduct/ behaviour expected of members (fourteenth lok
sabha) [8] has given following views and commentaries on
(a) the need to codify as to what actions on the part of members of
Parliament would come under the category of misconduct.
CNN IBN, ILS Law College, Pune, Ministry of Law and Justice, Shri Pranab
Mukherjee, Leader of Congress Party and The Indian Express are of the opinion that
there is no need to codify what actions of members of Parliament would constitute
misconduct as it would be very tough and impractical to list all the possible categories
of misconduct. Shri Pranab Mukherjee elaborated by observing that misconduct is
nothing but conduct unbecoming of a Member of Parliament not only in discharge of
his parliamentary functions but also in the discharge of his public duties and probity of
conduct in private life to the extent it impacts on the performance of his public duties.
He was further of the view that what amounts to conduct unbecoming of a Member of
Parliament depends on the facts and circumstances of the case. However, Shri Soli
Sorabjee, and Shri P.P. Rao, Senior Advocates, Shri Sushanto Roy, CEO, Media and
Entertainment Shri Nakul Das Rai, Leader SDF and Rajasthan Patrika are of the view
that it is desirable and necessary to codify such actions of members of Parliament
which would amount to misconduct so that there is a deterrent for members and they
know what they are not supposed to do.
(b) appropriate and comprehensive definition of misconduct vis a vis
members of Parliament and on the details of acts which may come under
definition of misconduct of members.

CNN IBN, Shri P.P. Rao, Senior Advocate, Shri Sushanto Roy, CEO, Media and
Entertainment and The Indian Express sought to define the term misconduct. CNN
IBN has proposed that the term misconduct may include, misbehaviour on the floor
of the House, viz, use of violence, anti-social behaviour, refusal to follow instructions,
disruption of proceedings, breach of conduct rules, misuse or abuse of parliamentary
office or of parliamentary privileges, commission of cognizable offences, use of public
position for personal benefit, providing benefits to influence official actions, receipt of
gifts above a certain value, misuse of privileges, financial conflict of interests and
nepotism etc. On the other hand, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Leader of Congress Party, is
of the view that it may be inappropriate to give comprehensive definition of
misconduct, ILS Law College feels that any definition would have to be broad and
illustrative. Shri Soli Sorabjee, Senior Advocate is of the view that it is not practicable
to give any comprehensive and exhaustive definition of misconduct, but the same may
include conflict of interests whilst voting on a motion in Parliament and other grounds
which may impair the fitness and propriety of a member to occupy such an office etc.
Shri P.P. Rao, Senior Advocate has opined that misconduct is generally understood to
mean dishonest, immoral and unethical behaviour which constitutes contempt of the
House inside or outside the House, but it is not easy to define misconduct
exhaustively. Shri Sushanto Roy, CEO, Media and Entertainment has stated that the
golden rule to follow is that when people in public life are in doubt whether a particular
action is consistent with the standards.
The arguments mentioned above from the report clearly highlights the
dilemmas that persist in the intellectual clout even to list to out what constitutes the
misconducts for parliament members and are agreeable to certain degree for the
rationale provided. The same report also highlights the General Ethical Principles and
certain identifiable misconducts.
General Ethical Principles
In carrying out their parliamentary and public duties, members shall observe
the following general ethical principles of conduct: (i) Accountability : Members are
accountable for their decisions and actions to public.44 (ii) Honesty : Members have a
duty to declare their private interest relating to their public duties and to take steps to
resolve any conflicts arising in a way that protects the public interest. (iii) Integrity :

Members should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to
outside individuals or organizations that might influence them in performance of their
duties as members. (iv) Objectivity : Members, while carrying out their personal
duties, should make choices on merit. (v) Openness : Members should maintain as far
as possible openness in their decisions and they should be ready to stand scrutiny of
such decisions. (vi) Public Interest : Members should maintain and strengthen publics
trust and confidence in the institution of Parliament, by demonstrating the highest
standards of professional competence, efficiency and effectiveness, upholding the
Constitution and the laws of land and seeking to advance the public interest at all
times. (vii) Responsibility : Members should ensure that their decisions conform to the
principle of responsibility, that is, their decisions should not be reckless or negligent,
but reflect a proper consideration of all relevant matters including the reasonably
foreseeable consequences for those likely to be affected by them. (viii) Selflessness :
Members should always take decisions in public interests. Their decisions should not
be aimed at gaining financial or other material benefit for themselves, their family or
friends. (ix) Leadership : Members should support and promote these principles by
leadership and example.
Misconduct
Members shall not undertake any action that is unbecoming of members of
Parliament or which involves misuse or abuse of the powers, privileges, immunities,
rights or facilities enjoyed by them by virtue of being members or which involves
misuse or abuse of their status or position as members either in discharge of their
parliamentary duties or in discharge of their public duties or in their personal or
private life.
Ethics in the executive wing
In Indian governance system the executive wing has vital role as it is the organ
that looks into the enforcement of propositions of both the legislature and judiciary.
The political executive (belongs to the legislative community as well) and the
permanent civil servants lie at the apex of this functionary. But it is the civil servants
engaged and involved who guides the political executive in performing their functions
to their utmost capacities because its permanent nature. Also they are the ones who

hold the public offices and to a larger extent aware of both the issues of people and
resources available at hand to solve those issues. In purview of the responsibility,
power and authority that a civil servant holds, a proper and detailed code of ethics
should be developed for them mentioning about various do and donts in performing
their duties. It should clearly list various standards which are expected from a civil
servant.

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. [9] The Draft Public Services Bill, 2006 [10] (lapsed in the
parliament) gives the following Values of Public Service: The Public Service and the
Public Servants shall be guided and informed by the following values in the discharge
of their functions: (a) allegiance to the Constitution and the law, democracy,
nationalism, sovereignty, integrity of India and the security of the nation; (b) function
in an apolitical manner regardless of the political party in power; keeping the interests
of the nation in mind; (c) function with the objective that Public Service and Public
Servants are to serve as instruments of good governance and to provide services for the
betterment of the public at large and foster socioeconomic development; (d) act
objectively, impartially, honestly, equitably, diligently and in a fair and just manner;
(e) act with integrity and in a courteous and transparent manner; (f) establish high
standards, and ensure quality service, effective working and prompt decision making;
(g) be accountable for the decisions and the decision making process in the discharge
of functions; (h) enable effective management, professional growth and leadership
development in Public Services; (i) uphold the highest ethical standards; (j) establish
merit as the fundamental principle in employment, promotion and placements; (k)
recognize that the Public Service and Public Servants are required to discharge the
functions with due regard to the diversity of the Indian nation/community and religion
but without discrimination of caste, community, religion, gender or class and duly
protecting the interest of poor, underprivileged and weaker sections; (l) conduct

themselves in a manner such as to promote the principles underlying the Constitution

of India while providing honest, impartial and frank advice to political executive in the
discharge of their functions; (m) recognize that misuse of official position or
information amounts to violation of the trust reposed in the public servant; (n) ensure
that public moneys are used with the utmost economy and care; (o) ensure that the
Public Service provides a workplace that is free from discrimination and that
recognizes and utilizes the diversity of the Indian community it serves; (p) ensure that
the Public Service establishes workplace relations that value communication,
consultation, cooperation and input from employees on matters that affect their
workplace; and (q) ensure that the Public Service provides a reasonable opportunity to
all eligible members of the community to apply for Public Service employment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ethics in Judiciary
The Code of Ethics expected of those in the judiciary goes beyond the call of duty of an
ordinary public servant. The people of India look up to the judiciary to administer
justice; justice that is fair; justice that is equal & even-handed; and justice that is
unpolluted. This expectation is of eternal value.- Y K Sabharwal (CJI)
Independence of the judiciary is inextricably linked with judicial ethics. An
independent judiciary enjoying public confidence is a basic necessity of the rule of law.
Any conduct on the part of a judge, which demonstrates a lack of integrity and dignity,
will undermine the trust reposed In the judiciary by the citizens. The conduct of a
judge should, therefore, always be above reproach. The Supreme Court of India in its
Full Court Meeting held on May 7, 1997 unanimously adopted a charter called the
Restatement of Values of Judicial Life, generally known as the Code of Conduct for
judges.[1]
a. Justice must not merely be done but it must also be seen to be done. The behaviour
and conduct of members of the higher judiciary must reaffirm the peoples faith in the
impartiality of the judiciary. Accordingly, any act of a Judge of the Supreme Court or
a High Court, whether in official or personal capacity, which erodes the credibility of
this perception has to be avoided.

b. A Judge should not contest the election to any office of a club, society or other
association;further he shall not hold such elective office except in a society or
association connected with the law.
c. Close association with individual members of the Bar, particularly those who practise
in the same court, shall be eschewed.
d.A Judge should not permit any member of his immediate family, such as a spouse, son,
daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law or any other close relative, if a member of
the Bar, to appear before him or even be associated in any manner with a cause to be
dealt with by him.
e. No member of his family, who is a member of the Bar, shall be permitted to use the
residence in which the Judge actually resides or other facilities for professional work.
f. A Judge should practise a degree of aloofness consistent with the dignity of his office.
g. A Judge shall not hear and decide a matter in which a member of his family, a close
relation or a friend is concerned.
h. A Judge shall not enter into public debate or express his views in public on political
matters or on matters that are pending or are likely to arise for judicial
determination.
i. A Judge is expected to let his judgments speak for themselves. He shall not give
interviews to the media.
j. A Judge shall not accept gifts or hospitality except from his family, close relations and
friends.
k. A Judge shall not hear and decide a matter in which a company in which he holds
shares is concerned unless he has disclosed his interest and no objection to his
hearing and deciding the matter is raised.
l. A Judge shall not speculate in shares, stocks or the like.
m. A Judge should not engage directly or indirectly in trade or business, either by
himself or in association with any other person. (Publication of a legal treatise or any
activity in the nature of a hobby shall not be constructed as trade or business).
n. A Judge should not ask for, accept contributions or otherwise actively associate
himself with the raising of any fund for any purpose.
o. A Judge should not seek any financial benefit in the form of a perquisite or privilege
attached to his office unless it is clearly available. Any doubt in this behalf must be
got resolved and clarified through the Chief Justice.
p. Every Judge must, at all times, be conscious that he is under the public gaze and there
should be no act or omission by him which is unbecoming of the high office he
occupies and the public esteem in which that office is held.
These are only the Restatement of the Values of Judicial Life and are not meant to be
exhaustive but illustrative of what is expected of a Judge. The Restatement of Values of
Judicial Life is a comprehensive but not exhaustive code of ethics.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Corruption and Ethics

Mere prescription of a Code of Conduct is not an end in itself. Along with the
Code of Conduct, a mechanism for enforcing the code also needs to be evolved
otherwise its absence shall lead to corruption. 4th ARC report mentions Corruption as
an important manifestation of the failure of ethics. And it is unfortunate that
corruption has, for many, become a matter of habit, ranging from grand corruption
involving persons in high places to retail corruption touching the everyday life of
common people and highlights three factors behind corruption in India- Colonial
legacy, asymmetry of power and opportunity. It further says there are two types of
corruption- coercive corruption where citizens are forced to pay bribes and collusive
corruption where both the bribe giver and bribe taker both benefit at immense cost to
the society in large. It also gives two viewpoints in fighting corruption.

The implicit assumption is that until

values are restored, nothing much can be
done to improve the conduct of human
beings

most human beings are fundamentally

decent and socially conscious, but there is
always a small proportion of people,
which cannot reconcile individual goals
with the good of society.

purpose of organized government is to

punish such deviant behaviour

If good behaviour is consistently

rewarded and bad behaviour consistently
punished, the bulk of the people follow
the straight and narrow path.

Instill Values

Punish the Guilty

Both approaches should be pursued side by side because values are needed to
serve as guiding stars, and they exist in abundance in our society. But values without
institutional support (and punishment) will soon be weakened and dissipated. And
when we say both individual value system and institutional support are important for

sound governance it is even more crucial that they ride each other simultaneously. As
each individual has different values with respect to other it is quite possible that
individuals values lay contrary to that of the institution values and any such
dissonance shall lead to failing of the system.
Ethics thus should be the first line of defence against corruption. To make ethics
work in an organization it is important that there is synergy between vision statements,
mission statements, core values, general business principles and code of conduct
confers a variety of benefits. An effective ethics programme requires continual
reinforcement of strong values. Any corrections in this aspect shall put rest all
structural inconsistencies that prevail in the governance process in place with honest
efforts by all involved.
Conclusion
Ethics is exercised in the Indian governance process by specifying code of
conduct for the personal involved. But having them just in words and expressions is of
no use unless those are put in to practice, seen to their enforcement and punished
against their violations. Only by following ethics by one and all involved in the
governance process can bring maximum welfare to the people and society
at large.
References
1

Second ARC 4th report: Ethics in Governance

Public Service Values and Ethics in Public Administration-Dr. Desh Raj Sirswal

Good Governance: Promotion of Ethics and Moral Values-Dr. Mandeep Gaur

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100110/Columns/eco.html

http://fngovernance.org/publication_docs/Five_Pillars_CFNG.pdf

http://www.simplydecoded.com/2013/08/23/amendments-to-representation-ofpeople-act/

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/PQxOBEl2XaS1UoAFqzP0mO/BJP-reverses-standon-bringingparties-under-RTI.html?utm_source=copy

http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Committees/final_Report2.pdf

http://arc.gov.in/10th/ARC_10thReport_Ch16.pdf

http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/vikas_doc/docs/1241499740~~DraftPublicSer
vicesBill2006.pdf