ETHICS

BELIEF
1. It is an internal feeling that something is true.
2. It is what we think about things. An individual usually tends to internalise
Beleifs of people around him or of charismatic leaders.
EX:
1)My belief is that god plays important role in success and achievements in
life.
2) Gandhiji believed that swaraj can be attained within one year of
launching non-cooperation movement.

VALUES
1. Values are things which are valuable to someone. They are most important
of all beliefs. Beliefs of a person can be changed easily but values are very
difficult to change.

For example:
1. Raju may believe Americans by nature are bad, without any prior
objective facts. But if Raju sees an American helping someone, he may
change his belief system accordingly. That means beliefs can be changed
easily. Values take time to develop, but once they are developed they are
hard to change
2. Examples: love, truth, and freedom, caring & respecting elders, Dignity of
Labour, Sensitivity, Cleanliness, Politeness, Honesty, etc.
3. Constitutional Values: Justice, Liberty, Equality, Non- discrimination,
secularism, tolerance, fraternity, compassion towards weaker sections etc
4. Examples of Value Erosion: Vaccine hoarding & booking beds in advance
without need during the COVID pandemic, Chinese expansionism, Fake
news and sensationalism, Drug Abuse, Disrespecting elders and, women,
Greenwashing.

“ All Ethics Are Values. All Values Are Not Ethics”

VALUES OF MINE
1. PATRIOTISM: I believe in the
patriotism and the love for country but it should not be a jingoistic feeling.
Patriotism gives you a drive to work for people, removing inequality in all
spheres of life.

2. PEACE: People are fighting each other for religious, caste, language and
race reasons. Lack of peace in society brings an ambience of fear, pain,
acrimony and injustice. My duty in this regard lies in germinating
brotherhood among people. Violence begets violence and nothing can be
achieved from it. Ex: National movement.

3. COMPASSION: We are all humans first. No doubt we have different skin

colours, religious preferences and political points of view, but at the end of
the day, we still need to take care of one another.

4. EFFORT: No matter the outcome, there is always value in the effort

when the effort is authentic and well intended. Krishna in Bhagavadgita
says one should do work diligently without any expectation of any
rewards. This reduces unnecessary expectations and pressures.
Ex: A civil servant should work as hard as he can even though if such work is
not recognised byothers and may not lead to personal benefits to him.

ETHICS VS VALUES
 Suppose someone highly values success, we will expect him to be goal
oriented. But the method he choose to achieve that success, either by correct or
incorrect ways, is a matter of ethics.
Ex: Concepts such as competition, compromise, hard work may be values
of someone but they are not considered as ethics as they don’t focus on action.
While concepts like honesty, truthfulness, fairness are used in decision making
to decide rightness or wrongness of an action. Thus they are considered as
ethics.

CIVIL SERVICES VALUES

1. For every situation we don’t have time to test the case on ethical theories
such as utilitarianism. So, prescribed values provide time saving shortcut in
many such situations.

2. For example, non-partisanship is one value of civil service. So, a civil

servant need not think whether to join a political rally or not. It is clear
from the value that it is plain wrong.

3. They reduce moral sacrifices on one’s part.

For example, Objectivity is one of the civil services value. So, a civil
servant can easily remove any family biases in decision making without any
guilt feeling.

4. Values have hierarchy. For a judge, value hierarchy should be first, Justice
and then followed by mercy.

5. A civil servant has various discretionary powers. He must be provided

with guiding principles to prevent abuse of power. The foundational values
provide these guiding principles.

ETHICS
“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world." - Albert Camus

“In just about every area of society, there’s nothing more important than ethics”-
Henry Paulson

Ethics is a set of standards that society places on itself. They help us decide what is
right and what is wrong. So, basically they focus on conduct or actions of individuals.

Ethics are defined by society and not individually.

Also, being ethical is not same as doing whatever society wants. In many societies, most
accepted standards are ethical. But in some societies most accepted standards may not
be ethical. An entire society can become corrupt.
Ex: Nazi Germany.

CO DES,
PRINCIPLES AND IDEALS
A code of action will enable a person to behave with integrity. Principles
are the manifestation of values, morals and ethics.
Ex: A person who acts upon principle of transparency may be
reflecting his value of honesty. An ideal is a principle or value that one
pursues as a goal, usually in the context of ethics. Ideals are one of high or
noble character.

MORAL
Morals also relate to right or wrong conduct. While ethics are provided by an
external source, like societies, institutions etc., morals are individual’s own
principles regarding right and wrong. Morals emerge from religion. Thus
ethics are dependent on others for definition while morals stem from inside.

For Example: Homosexuality might be moral form individual’s perspective. But

it might be unethical in a society’s point of view

Ex - Do not cheat, always tell the truth etc.

Constitutional Morality: Constitutional Morality means adherence to or

being faithful to bottom line principles of the constitutional values. It
includes commitment to inclusive and democratic political process in which
both individual and collective interests are satisfied.

major elements of the constitutional morality in the context of Indian constitution

are – Rule of law, right to equality, rule of law, social justice, unity and
integrity of nation, social justice, secularism, individual liberty and freedom
of expression etc
FOR EX:
In Kesavananda Bharati Case, SC restricted power of Parliament to violate

Basic Structure of Constitution.

In Naz Foundation case, SC opined that only Constitutional Morality and not
Public Morality should prevail.
Sabarimala case, SC bypassed “doctrine of essentiality” to uphold
Constitutional morality.

Moral earnestness: It means sincerity towards one’s own moral

values. If stealing is bad, a person with moral earnestness would never
steal.
Ex: Not giving seat to a old man in Metro, although you are aware of
problems of old man and also you sympathise with him.
Ex: Corruption

HAPPINESS:
1. “Happiness is a state of mind that has nothing to do with the external
world.” – Lord Krishna
2. “Happiness is the highest good” – Aristotle
3. “There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.” -
BUDDHA

Happiness
1. The source of happiness is the mind that directs a person to be happy even in
circumstances that are difficult and obstacles that may seem insurmountable to
some. It is rightly said that happiness is a state of mind. The people who manage
to stay happy despite calamity are the ones who have most of the following traits.

RULE TO STAY HAPPY

1. Contentment: The first rule to stay happy is to be content with whatever life
gives you. One may be ambitious and put in great efforts but satisfaction at the
end of the activity must be there. It is soothing and inspires a person to
struggle.
2. Will power: An indomitable will power will encourage the person to find a
way even at places where there will be none.
3. Positive outlook: A person with positive outlook will always look for
constructive plans rather than destructive ones. To construct something a new
is anyways an inspiring activity which gains appreciation from society and
instills confidence in the person.
4. Passion: To move in a direction in which one is passionate is itself soothing.
When way to destination itself becomes enjoyable, destination is not far away.
Happiness, in this case, lies not only in destination but journey itself.

PROS:
Happiness has been linked to a longer lifespan as well as a higher quality of life
and well-being.
1. E.g. Buddhism pursues happiness by using knowledge and practice to achieve
mental equanimity.
2. E.g. Babar Azam’s father – Azam Siddique – broke into tears following
Pakistan’s memorable triumph over India in T-20 World Cup
3.E.g. Shabri perceived eternal happiness and satisfaction after serving
already tested fruits to Lord Rama

CONS:
Happiness, if turns out, has a cost when experienced too intensely.
1. E.g. A teenage boy was killed after he was hit by a bullet during firing at a
wedding ceremony in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh.

TRUST
1. Trust means that you rely on someone else to do the right thing. You
believe in the person’s integrity and strength, to the extent that you are able
to put yourself on the line at some risk to yourself.

2. Simply refraining from deception is not enough. Trustworthiness is the

most complicated of the six core ethical values and concerns a variety of
qualities like honesty, integrity, reliability and loyalty.
3. A team without trust isn’t really a team. It’s just a group of individuals,
working together, often making disappointing progress. They may not share
information, they might battle over rights and responsibilities, and they may
not cooperate with one another.

4. It doesn’t matter how capable or talented your people are, they may never
reach their full potential if trust isn’t present.

5. Trust is essential to an effective team, because it provides a sense of safety.

When your team members feel safe with each other, they feel comfortable to
open up, take appropriate risks.

6. When trust is in place, each individual in the team becomes stronger,

because he or she is part of an effective, cohesive group. When people trust
one another, the group can achieve truly meaningful goals.
COMPASSION
QUOTES:
Gandhiji: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress, can be judged by the way its
animals are treated”.
Arthur Schopenhauer: “Compassion is the basis of all morality” ·
Islam: Bism-i-llah a-Rahman-i-Rahim - A good Muslim is to commence each day, each
prayer and each significant action by invoking Allah the Merciful and Compassionate,
i.e., by reciting Bism-i-llah a-Rahman-i-Rahim.
DEFINATION
An administrator, without violating the prescribed laws and rules, would demonstrate
compassion for the poor, the disabled and the weak while using his discretion in making
decisions. At least, he would not grant any benefits to the stronger section of society
only because they are strong and would not deny the due consideration to the weak,
despite their weakness.
Features:
Supererogatory
Non-conditional
Virtuous
Altruistic
Instrumental
Action-oriented response

PROS:
According to Bhagavad Gita, a compassionate person is a courageous person because
his being is firmly established in the consciousness of the Divine.
 Example:Gandhiji, along with truth and non-violence, was also a vociferous
champion for animals
Example:Countries cooperating in COVAX Programme for COVID-19
vaccination in poor countries.
Example:Helping security guard of my hostel to fill a school application form
for his daughter. Contributing a meagre amount, from my internship stipend,
to an NGO working for children education.

CONS:
Specific consequences that may result from compassion fatigue which include fear,
anxiety, hyper vigilance, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances, feeling
burdened, fatigued and overwhelmed.

E.g. Compassion is one of the reason for the prevalence Begging.

E.g. Lord Rāma was the personification of infinite compassion, love and
consideration, and gratefulness. That is why when he ascended to his
heavenly abode, he granted liberation to all the citizens of Ayodhyā who had
accompanied him till the end
E.g. The Miracle Man – young IAS officer Armstrong Pame, with the
quality of compassion towards people living in hilly and remote areas of
Manipur, built a 100 km long road in a remote hill of Manipur without the
government’s help for the betterment of the society.
E.g. People’s Man – S R Sankaran former IAS officer was commonly known
as “an ideal people’s IAS officer”. He played a crucial role in creating pro-
poor policies and was the man behind the abolition of bonded labour, the
creation of the special component plan for SCs & STs and the assigning of
resources for marginalised communities in the rural development
programmes. He remained unmarried so that he could serve the society and
also contributed to the education of over 500 poor students.
E.g. An IPS officer Rema Rajeshwari - Nearly 1200 child brides are
rescued from their marriage mandaps and hundreds of victims of

trafficking and abuse are empowered to speak up.

COURAGE
1. Courage is the virtue that enables a person to restrain fear in the face of danger, difficulty
or doubt. As NELSON MANDELA put it, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but the
triumph over it". Courage is the first of human qualities because it’s the quality that
guarantees the others.
2. Courage enables people to face tough consequences for their acts.
For example:whistleblowers like Edward Snowden often pay heavy price for disclosures.
3. Without courage it is difficult to display qualities like leadership which entails laying out
roadmaps for the future amidst uncertainty.
For example it is courage that enabled Mahatma Gandhi to display the virtue of non-
violence against the oppressive colonial regime.
4. It encourages people to take firm decisions and attempt things that they have not tried
before.
For instance:it takes courage to invest in novel & seemingly impractical/commercially
unviable ideas like the SpaceX
5. Various personal, social and professional feats are unthinkable without courage. Without
courage, Raja Rammohan roy would not have fought against Sati.
6. Courage is not just dramatic physical heroism. Life provides daily opportunities and
instances of courageous acts like standing up for injustice, supporting cleanliness in public
places, standing up for rights of minorities, women, etc. However, it must be borne in mind
that courage must stay within limits defined by reason
FOR EXAMPLE
RAJNI SEKHRI SIBAL:
As Director, Primary Education in the state, she withstood pressure from the
government and exposed the JBT recruitment scam.

TOLERANCE

In the Practiceof Tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher. – Dalai Lama

1. Tolerance refers to a permissive attitude towards those whose opinions,

practices, religion and nationality, etc., differing from one’s own. It is the act or
capacity of enduring the diversity of views and practices in our environment. It is
based on the idea of how to live together in peace and harmony with one another
despite dissenting view points. Tolerance upholds human rights of dignified life
and rule of law.
2. Public officials need to be secular in outlook. To do this, value of tolerance is
necessary. Tolerance also means being open to diverse views which is
fundamental in our constitution. All India services calls upon civil servants to
serve culturally different people. A Punjabi civil servant may find it difficult to
serve in South India if he does not have aptitude of tolerance.

HOW TO BE TOLERANT
1. Reading literature.
2. Working and living in culturally different societies will make one much tolerant.
3. Interacting with different set of people in your locality, like people from different
castes, religions, etc.
4. Writing one’s experiences daily in a diary, will help us keep in check the violent
reactions in us. I made it a practice.
5. Try working on something where you have to be part of a team, and communicate
with each other to get the job done.
6. A calm mind is essential for accepting diverse views. Meditation and physical
exercise is helping me to remain calm.

SELFLESSNESS

It means to put others before oneself to the extent of having little or no concern for
one's life, money, position etc. The job of civil servant demands that public concerns be
the top priority. There might be situations where an official has to give up family time at
a stretch in order to fulfil professional responsibilities. Further, selflessness helps in
building an organization of integrity and honesty.

Example: IAS officer, Nikunja Dhalserving as Secretary of Health and Family

Welfare Department, Odisha resumed work merely 24hrs after his father’s
death amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Example: Mother Teresa dedicated herself to the selfless service of the
suffering and tortured humanity.

STRENGTH OF CHARACTER
1. It is a measure of how much a person can persevere in adverse circumstances and stand
against wrong actions and deeds. It is determined by how strongly or weakly does one
believes and adheres to certain values. It stands to test in the face of hardships.
2. This strength helps a civil servant to firmly say no to anyone's ill demands that may go
against the law or interests of general public.
Ex: During riots, passing of tenders, work during disasters and so on.
PUBLIC TRUST
1. It is the firm belief of the people in public offices, institutions and officials i.e. the measure
of public confidence on the working of the Government. High public trust enables a civil
servant to take bold decisions, whereas, low public trust raises question on every activity. It
can be built by consistent performance and efficient delivery of expected services.
EXAMPLE: Election Commission enjoys high trust and this has helped it to implement
'Model Code of Conduct' even without Legislature's backing.

GRATITUDE
1. Gratitude is a feeling of being grateful and wanting to express thanks. It originates from
the heart and then opens our eyes to the beauties of nature. Mark Twain has rightly said I can
live for two months on a good compliment.
 2. Gratitude enable you to understand the importance of others in your life and make you
humble as your existence and success was possible only because of them. Ex: Rahul Dravid,
during his farewell speech, thanked all the groundsmen, curators, etc., for preparing pitches
so that he could play the match.
3. Gratitude also pushes you hard to make your contribution tangible towards something and
someone that has shaped you.
Ex: Usain Bolt does his advertisement shoots in Jamaica, so that his people
would be benefitted.
4. Civil servants have to remember always that power and authority that has been vested to
them is for the wellbeing of the people and they express their gratitude to the people by
providing them satisfactory service.

HUMILITY
1. Humility is the quality of being humble and thinking that you are not superior to
anyone. It also means not drawing attention to yourself.
For example: even though Narayan Murthy is a billionaire, he cleans his toilet by
himself. Also, being a parent can be a very humble job, wiping noses, changing
diapers, and meeting a child’s every need for years.
3. Humility asks us to acknowledge our imperfections. It requires that we admit when
we are wrong and then change course.
4. People look towards civil servants with suspicion, because they find most of the civil
servants are full of arrogance, egoist, and power drunk. Civil servants need to dispel this
notion from the minds of people by becoming humble.

LOYALTY
1. Loyalty is a responsibility to promote the interests of certain people, organisations.
This duty goes beyond the normal obligation we all share to care for others.
2. We must rank our loyalty obligations in some rational fashion.
For example, it’s perfectly reasonable to look out for the interests of our children
over other children.
3. Loyalty requires us to keep some information confidential. When keeping a secret
breaks the law or threatens others, however, we may have a responsibility to blow the
whistle.
4. Employees and public servants have a duty to make all professional decisions on
merit, unimpeded by conflicting personal interests. They owe ultimate loyalty to the
public.
RESPECT
1. People are not things, and everyone has a right to be treated with dignity. We
certainly have no ethical duty to hold all people in high esteem, but we should treat
everyone with respect, regardless of who they are and what they have done.
2. We have a responsibility to be the best we can be in all situations, even when dealing
with unpleasant people.
3. Respect prohibits violence, humiliation, manipulation and exploitation. It reflects
notions such as civility, courtesy, decency, dignity, autonomy, tolerance and acceptance.
4. A respectful person is an attentive listener, although his patience with the boorish
need not be endless. Nevertheless, the respectful person treats others with
consideration, and doesn’t resort to intimidation, coercion or violence except in
extraordinary situations. Punishment is used in moderation and only to advance
important social goals and purposes.

FORGIVING
1. To err is human, to forgive is divine. Everyone makes mistakes, commit sins at some
point in their life. It’s a human nature to make mistakes. But to forgive someone from those
mistakes is indeed very hard. It doesn’t happens naturally like making a mistake. People are
acting in a godlike (divine) way when they forgive. One almost have to be in a real holy
place in their mind to forgive someone.
2. It is morally correct to forgive such a person who accepts his mistake and promises not to
repeat it. It is so because someone is showing courage and honesty by accepting his mistake
with a promise of not repeating. His thoughts are noble and gestures are right. Forgiving him
will help in making him a better human being.
EXAMPLE :Lord Rama showed no hatred against his stepmother, Kaikeyi, for sending
him to the forest for fourteen years so that her son, Bharat, could be the king.
3. All of us are humans. We all have our weaknesses and strength. No one is perfect. So
when someone does a wrong to us, why can’t we forgive them. Forgiving that person brings
out the god like nature that lies in human. It is not very easy to do it but once we truly forgive
someone for his mistake we will feel an inner peace.