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.
Same topic · past papers
UPPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2024 · Q9 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
Explain your suggestions to promote tolerance and compassion among civil servants to serve better the weaker sections. -
2022 · Q14 · UPGS4 · 12 marks
What are the basic requirements of compassion? What is the need for compassion towards weaker section in civil service? -
2021 · Q9 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
How can tolerance and compassion be fostered among civil servants? Give your opinion. -
2020 · Q9 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
How do the values of tolerance and compassion get manifested in public service towards the weaker sections? Explain with suitable examples. -
2018 · Q6 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
“Public service is recognised on the basis of tolerance and compassion towards the weaker section of the society.” Explain the values of tolerance and compassion in this context.
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2022 · UPGS4 · 8 marks · Solution
Differentiate between democratic attitude and bureaucratic attitude of public servants.
Attitude
Democratic attitude treats the citizen as the source of authority and shows as courtesy, speaking orders, and inspectable criteria. Bureaucratic attitude is Weber’s hierarchy, rules, and impersonality; its virtue is fairness, its vice is delay-as-power. Merton’s trained incapacity is when the file becomes the purpose. The Second ARC asked for citizen-centric skill inside a rule-bound office. Public service ethics keeps impersonality against favour and drops contempt of the counter.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2022 · UPGS4 · 8 marks · Solution
Explain the role of persuasion in relation to public protest with proper argument.
Attitude
Protest is often an Article 19 voice; persuasion is public reason before coercion. Ethos, pathos, logos and Cialdini’s tools explain how a trusted, factual, felt message works. Naming the grievance and offering an auditable next step convert heat into a file. Gandhi’s satyagraha is persuasion plus discipline, not vandalism. Force is last when life or another’s right is hit; empty persuasion is deceit.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2022 · UPGS4 · 8 marks · Solution
Define impartiality and discuss the role of impartiality in solving problems of weaker section.
Civil Service aptitude and values
Impartiality decides by statute, evidence and need, not by caste, party, gift or fear. Nolan, Kant and Rawls give the same test: a noting that survives a hidden name. For the weaker section it applies Articles 14–17 and 46 instead of selling the free entitlement. Speaking orders, social audit and protection of the honest officer are the method. Ambedkar and field officers like Sankaran show impartiality as social democracy in the file.