Revision summary
A code of ethics names values such as integrity and impartiality; a code of conduct lists enforceable don’ts such as gifts and canvassing. The Second ARC wanted both, so ethics is taught and conduct is punishable. Nolan is ethics-code material; CCS/AIS Conduct Rules are conduct-code material. Tolerance is restrained respect for difference within Mill’s harm limit; compassion is active lessening of pain. The officer needs cold fairness plus warm help, not one dressed as the other.
Model answer
Introduction
Ethics names why an office is worthy; conduct names what the office may not do tomorrow morning. Tolerance is the refusal to crush a difference one still dislikes; compassion is the will to reduce a suffering one has understood.
Body
(a) Code of ethics and code of conduct
- A code of ethics is a short statement of values — integrity, impartiality, public service, accountability — that tells the officer what kind of person the chair requires.
- A code of conduct is a longer, enforceable list of dos and don’ts: gifts, private trade, political canvassing, property, and conduct unbecoming.
- The Second ARC’s Ethics in Governance report asked for both: values that can be taught, and rules that can be punished, so that ethics is not a wall poster.
- Nolan’s seven principles are ethics-code material; the CCS Conduct Rules, 1964, and AIS Conduct Rules, 1968, are conduct-code material.
- Ethics answers “who should I be in this chair?”; conduct answers “what happens if I take this hamper?” Kant’s maxims live in the first; Bentham’s sanctions help the second.
- Case-ready: “do not treat the citizen as a means” is ethics; “report a gift above the notified value” is conduct.
(b) Tolerance and compassion
- Tolerance is self-restraint toward a belief, identity, or practice one does not share, so long as it does not destroy another’s equal liberty — Mill’s harm principle is the usual limit.
- Compassion (karuna in Buddhist ethics; the Gita’s daya) is active concern to lessen pain: the widow’s queue, the disaster camp, the bonded labourer.
- Tolerance can be cold: I let you speak and still refuse to help you eat. Compassion can be blind: I help my caste first and call it kindness.
- A civil servant needs tolerance in a communal rumour and a religious procession; compassion in a drought kitchen and a disability certificate desk.
- Rawls’s least advantaged and Gandhi’s talisman pull compassion toward the weak; Voltaire’s defence of speech pulls tolerance toward the disliked.
- Case-ready: allowing a lawful minority prayer in a mixed ward is tolerance; sitting with the family after a custodial death and ensuring the inquiry is compassion joined to duty.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD E[Code of ethics] --> V[Values] C[Code of conduct] --> R[Enforceable rules] T[Tolerance] --> D[Restrain against difference] K[Compassion] --> S[Act against suffering]
Conclusion
A code of ethics states the worth of the office; a code of conduct enforces the next forbidden act. Tolerance restrains the hand against difference; compassion moves the hand against suffering. The officer needs all four, or the chair is either a slogan or a lathi.
Quick related
Students also ask
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How is aptitude different from interest? "If one has the interest to become civil servant but does not have aptitude for it then will he/she be successful as a civil servant?" Discuss.
Next question in the 2022 paper (Q11). View answer →
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Can conduct rules exist without a code of ethics?
They can, and often do. The ARC’s point is that without named values the rules feel like a trap, and officers game the letter.
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Is compassion a reason to break impartiality?
No. Compassion sees the person; impartiality applies the statutory help. Breaking the criterion for a favourite is not compassion.
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Differentiate between democratic attitude and bureaucratic attitude of public servants.
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Explain the role of persuasion in relation to public protest with proper argument.
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