Brain Storming session on 'Strengthening of Ethical and Moral Values in Governanc' at IIPA J&K Regional Branch on 12th October, 2016.

Indian Institute of Public Administration J&K Regional Branch organized a brain storming session on under the Chairmanship of Dr C.M.Seth on “Strengthening of Ethical and Moral Values in Governance” as a prelude conference on the theme chosen by the IIPA for 60th Annual Members Conference will be held on October 22, 2016 at New Delhi. It was attended by members of IIPA J&K Regional Branch.

While introducing the topic for discussion Dr. Seth said that the subject of ethics and morality in governance is of vital concern to the civil society for good governance and delivery of services. He also informed the participants that J&K Chapter has been debating whether to discuss the issue of ethics, morals and values keeping in view the sensitive nature of the topic. He said that the issue of introducing moral values in education system has been discussed several times in the past and it was decided that since all faiths have different meaning of ethics and morals it will be difficult to introduce common syllabus for teaching subject of moral values and ethics in schools.

While speaking on the occasion he said that ethics and moral values have western concept and Indian concept. Western concept comes from the great philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle whereas Indian concepts come from its ancient scriptures of Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Gita. He said sages like Gautam Buddha, Guru Nanak, BhaktKabir, Tulsi Dass, Miranbai and Sofi saints have contributed to build the Indian society on good morals and values. Kautilya’s Arthshatra was in fact first written document on good governance and conduct of government functionaries. Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi gave direction for self- discipline and good governance by setting example of his life. He gave two concepts of Dharma and Ahimsa. He said that practice of Sanskar and Parampara in Indian society are best examples to built ethics and moral values in the coming generation. Dr.Seth said it is big challenge now to bring ethics andmoral values in the techno-savy youth who lives in virtual world than the real world which is far from ethical values. He said that to built society on good ethical principles and values we should again bring parampara of Sanskars in every families.

He further added that all public and private organizations are required to have Citizens Charter. Role of civil society organization and media has been great contributors to bring unethical practices of the government and administration to the notice of the public. He quoted example of Chipko and Ana Hazaremovements which compelled government to bring legislations of Lokpal and Lokayukta.

After the introductory remarks Dr. Seth requested all participants to give their views for strengthening Ethics and Moral values in Governance who put forth some very valid suggestions. It was asserted that the need is to bring about an enforceable code of ethics in all the services. Therefore preparing a separate Code of Ethics for different organisations and putting it in the public domain is the answer. It was further suggested that as governance cannot be in isolation due to trust deficit, therefore public needs to be sensitised and Code of Ethics needs to become part of the basic education system. To this end, teachings of Indian saints such as Swami Vivekananda, Tulsi Dass, Kabir and more should be introduced as part of the school education system. Also family and teachers have a major responsibility in instilling moral and ethical values in a child. Therefore, character building should start from the grassroot level by reviewing the education policy.

Members also pointed out that although the Indian acts and laws are very strong, however the need is their implementation and reinforcement with sincerity and they need strengthening from time to time. Need is also for the identification of able administrators with a strong political will. It is difficult to emulate Ram Rajya in today’s times; however, an able administrator could be a practical solution. To this end, people in administration can give best inputs for plugging loopholes. Law needs to be equal for all and therefore bringing in transparency could lead to better results. It was also suggested that the common man should be given the right to know why a particular decision by the government has been arrived at and the common man should also be given the right to force the government, if the need be, to review the decision. There is an urgent need for the removal of discretionary powers and a system of incentive and punishment needs to be put in place.

It was also suggested that post-retirement reemployment should be stopped with immediate effect and that transfers/postings in the Government Departments need to be decentralised. Although democracy is a painful process, yet all solutions are within democracy. There is a crisis of role models for our society to follow as we have nobody to look upto. The answer to the crisis is ‘Institutionalization’ and ‘Democratization’ and the Indian voter is the only one with the power to save democracy. System of governance should not be individual specific, rather it should be institutionalized. Need is to improve our infrastructure and succession planning should be followed. <

Much like all other professions that require basic minimum criteria of assessment and selection, our politicians need to be assessed on parameters of ethics and morality before selection to a post. Therefore, need is for basic political education and Law enforcement should be as strict as possible to change citizen behaviour leading upto adherence of ethics and moral values. At the end of the brainstorming session, Er. JBS Johar, Hony Secretary, IIPA J&K regional branch presented a formal vote of thanks while Dr. Komal Nagar, Joint Director Seminars conducted proceeding of the brain storming session.