Revision summary
The three universal civil-service values are integrity, impartiality and objectivity. Integrity is honest trusteeship; impartiality is equal treatment; objectivity is fact-and-law decisions with recorded reasons. They matter because public money, Article 14 equality and a file that can face a court all depend on them. A code of ethics states values; a code of conduct lists punishable do's and don'ts. Nolan and the Second ARC illustrate ethics; the CCS Conduct Rules, 1964 illustrate conduct.
Model answer
Introduction
Civil service is other people's power held in trust. Part (a) names three values that travel across countries and creeds. Part (b) separates the inner compass of ethics from the enforceable list of conduct.
Body
(a) Three basic values, universal in civil services
- The three basic values that are universal in civil services are integrity, impartiality and objectivity.
- They appear, in close form, in the Nolan principles of public life in the United Kingdom and in the Second Administrative Reforms Commission's report on Ethics in Governance in India.
- Integrity means the public office is not a private shop: no bribe, no lie in the file, no use of official knowledge for a family plot.
- Without integrity, every other skill becomes a better tool for theft, as Warren Buffett later warned about intelligence without honesty.
- Impartiality means the same law and the same queue for a friend, a stranger and a rival of the minister.
- Article 14 of the Constitution of India is impartiality in legal form: equal protection, not a private caste or party of the officer.
- Objectivity means the decision follows facts, statute and recorded reasons, not rumour, gift or fear of transfer.
- A speaking order is objectivity made visible; a whisper in the corridor is its opposite.
- These three are universal because a tax file in Tokyo, a licence in Nairobi and a ration card in a tehsil all fail in the same way when they are missing.
- Dedication, empathy and political neutrality support them, but they are not substitutes: a kind officer who cooks a muster is still a failed trustee.
- Importance: integrity keeps public money real; impartiality keeps the republic one; objectivity keeps the file fit for a court and for a citizen who cannot buy a favour.
- Training, asset disclosure, e-procurement and the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 do not create these values, but they make it harder to live without them.
(b) Code of ethics and code of conduct
- A code of ethics is a short statement of values and purposes: what kind of person the service asks you to be.
- A code of conduct is a list of do's and don'ts that can be inquired into and punished.
- Ethics is aspirational and wide. Conduct is specific and justiciable in a departmental sense.
- Example of ethics: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership in the Nolan list; or the Second Administrative Reforms Commission's call for a code of ethics for ministers and civil servants.
- Example of conduct: the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 on gifts, criticism of government, political activity, property returns and conduct unbecoming of a government servant.
- The All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 do the same work for the Indian Administrative Service and allied services.
- A code of ethics would say "do not use inside knowledge for private gain". A code of conduct names the form, the time limit and the disciplinary door.
- Ethics can cover a humiliation that no clause has yet listed. Conduct cannot invent a penalty that the rule does not carry.
- Companies Act, 2013 duties of directors and many professional charters (medical, legal) mix both: a value sentence plus a punishable breach.
- India has been stronger on conduct rules than on a living, taught code of ethics. Both are needed: values without a rule become a speech; rules without values become a hunt for loopholes.
- A sound officer reads the Conduct Rules as the floor and the code of ethics as the ceiling.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD VAL[Universal values] --> INT[Integrity] VAL --> IMP[Impartiality] VAL --> OBJ[Objectivity] ETH[Code of ethics] --> ASP[Aspirational values] CON[Code of conduct] --> ENF[Enforceable rules] ASP --> OFF[Public officer] ENF --> OFF
Conclusion
Integrity, impartiality and objectivity are the universal core of civil service, because they make power safe for a stranger. A code of ethics names that character. A code of conduct enforces the floor, as the 1964 and 1968 Conduct Rules do.
Quick related
Students also ask
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(a) What is meant by public interest? What are the principles and procedures to be followed by the civil servants in public interest? (b) "The Right to Information Act is not all about citizens' empowerment alone, it essentially redefines the concept of accountability. Discuss.
Next question in the 2018 paper (Q2). View answer →
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Are compassion and neutrality also basic universal values?
They are necessary supports. The question asked for three; integrity, impartiality and objectivity are the core that every honest service, in any country, cannot drop.
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If I follow every Conduct Rule, am I ethical?
You have met the floor. Ethics still asks whether you used a silence, a delay or a humiliation that no clause names. Both documents are needed.
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2019 · Q10 · GS IV · 20 marks
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Q2 · UPSC Mains 2018 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) What is meant by public interest? What are the principles and procedures to be followed by the civil servants in public interest? (b) "The Right to Information Act is not all about citizens' empowerment alone, it essentially redefines the concept of accountability. Discuss.
Probity in Governance
Public interest is the welfare of the whole community under the Constitution, not popularity or official prestige. Civil servants serve it through legality, impartiality, proportionality, recorded reasons, published criteria and a preference for the weakest. Upward reporting is not enough if the file stays secret. The RTI Act, 2005 empowers citizens to seek information and redefines accountability as an answer owed to the public. Suo motu disclosure, time limits and the Information Commission make that new accountability real, though exemptions and fear still weaken it.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2018 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) What is meant by conflict of interest? Illustrate with examples, the difference between the actual and potential conflicts of interest. (b) "In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they do not have the first, the other two will kill you." - Warren Buffett What do you understand by this statement in the present-day scenario? Explain.
Ethics in Public Administration
Conflict of interest is a private interest that can twist a public or fiduciary duty. Actual conflict is already operating on this decision; potential conflict is reasonably foreseeable even if today's file looks clean. The cure is disclosure, recusal, divestment and screens, not private hope. Buffett ranks integrity first because intelligence and energy multiply both service and fraud. Present-day scams, surveillance tools and mark-worshipping recruitment make that ranking more, not less, urgent.
Q4 · UPSC Mains 2018 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) "In doing a good thing, everything is permitted which is not prohibited expressly or by clear implication". Examine the statement with suitable examples in the context of a public servant discharging his/her duties. (b) With regard to the morality of actions, one view is that means is of paramount importance and the other view is that the ends justify the means. Which view do you think is more appropriate? Justify your answer.
Ethics and Human Interface
Citizens may enjoy residual liberty; public servants may use only granted power. "Not expressly prohibited" does not authorise extra cess, unlawful detention or a cooked tender for a good cause. Implied limits include equality, dignity, natural justice and fiduciary duty. Between means-first ethics and ends-justify-means, public office should treat means as paramount. Necessity is a narrow, recorded exception, not a daily shortcut.
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