Question: Identify five ethical traits on which one can plot the performance of a civil servant. Justify their inclusion in the matrix.
Answer: Civil Servants face various challenging situations in their daily public life. Their performance in such situations can be evaluated based on various ethical traits which are visible in their behaviour in various situations.
5 ethical traits to plot the performance of a civil servants and why:
1. Probity: Probity is the evidence of ethical behaviour adhering to standards of integrity, transparency and honesty. For example: In cases of corruption, probity in actions of a civil servant can break the chain of bribery.
2. Accountability: A good civil servant always takes accountability of his decisions. When the Satellite launch failed in 1979, ISRO Chairman, Satish Dhawan took complete responsibility of the failure in front of the Press.
3. Neutrality: In a diverse country like India and in a divisive environment of today’s India, it is important for civil servants to be neutral in their actions.
4. Collegiality: It is the companionship and cooperation between colleagues who share responsibility. Collegiality brings visible results in terms of shared responsibility and cumulative performance in any public office.
5. Compassion: It is required to go out of the way and find solutions to issues such as the pension of an elderly woman who lost her documents or ration to a starving family who does not have an Aadhaar Card, etc.
To make the performance of the civil servants more responsive and citizen centric, the Prime Minister has recently launched Mission Karm Yogi. It aims to instil ethical traits in the civil servants through technology, training, education and assessment.