Administrative Discretion vs Rigid Compliance: Managing Boundaries Without Misuse

You have been appointed as an Administrator Incharge of the District. You have been given the responsibility of monitoring MGNREGA work undertaken by various Gram Panchayats. You are also given the authority to give technical sanctions to all MGNREGA works.

Mindless addiction to Form, ignoring the Substance of the matter, results in rendering of injustice. A perceptive civil servant is one who ignores such literalness and carries out true intent” Examine the above statement with suitable illustrations.

illustrations. Is conscience a more reliable guide when compared to laws, rules, and regulations in the context of ethical decision-making. Conscience vs Law Discuss

Besides domain knowledge, a public official needs innovativeness and creativity of a high order as well, while resolving ethical dilemmas. Discuss with a suitable example. The Rules and Regulations provided to all the civil servants are

servants possessing these qualities are considered as a backbone of any strong organizations. In the line of duty, they take various decisions, at time some become bonafide mistakes. As long as such decisions, are not taken intentionally and do not benefit personally, the officer cannot be said to be guilty. Though such decisions may, at times, lead to unforeseen adverse consequences in the long term. In the recent past, a few instances have surfaced wherein civil Bonafide Mistakes servants have been implicated for bonafide mistakes. They have often been prosecuted and even imprisoned. These instances have greatly rattled the moral fibre of the civil servants. How does this trend affect the functioning of civil services? What measures can be taken to ensure that honest civil servants are not implicated for bonafide mistakes on their part? Justify your answer.

“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.

Dr X is a leading medical practitioner in a city. He has set up a charitable trust through which he plans to establish a super-speciality hospital in the city to cater to the medical needs of all sections of the society. Incidentally, that part of the State had been neglected over the years. The proposed hospital would be a boon for the region. You are heading the tax investigation agency of that region. During an inspection of the doctor’s clinic, your officers have found out some major irregularities. A few of them are substantial which had resulted in considerable withholding of tax that should be paid by him now. The doctor is cooperative. He undertakes to pay the tax immediately. Tax Irregularities vs However, there are certain other deficiencies in his tax compliance which are purely technical in nature. If these Super-Speciality technical defaults are pursued by the agency, considerable time Hospital Prospects) and energy of the doctor will be diverted to issues which are not so serious, urgent or even helpful to the tax collection process. Further, in all probability, it will hamper the prospects of the hospital coming up. There are two options before you: 1) Taking a broader view, ensure substantial tax compliance and ignore defaults that are merely technical in nature. 2) Pursue the matter strictly and proceed on all fronts,whether substantial or merely technical. As the head of the tax agency, which course of action will you opt and why?

Suppose you are an officer in-charge of implementing a social service scheme to provide support to old and destitute women. An old and illiterate woman comes to you to avail the benefits of the scheme. However, she has no documents to show that she fulfils the eligibility criteria. But after meeting her and listening to her you feel that she certainly needs support. Your enquiries Rules vs Compassion also show that she is really destitute and living in a pitiable condition. You are in a dilemma as to what to do. Putting her Woman Scheme) under the scheme without necessary documents would clearly be violation of rules. But denying her the support would be cruel and inhuman. 1) Can you think of a rational way to resolve this dilemma? 2) Give your reasons for it.

2) Report the case to the appropriate authority. 3) Your own innovative approach towards the situation. Saraswati was a successful IT professional in USA. Moved by the patriotic sense of doing something for the country she returned to India. Together with some other like-minded friends, she formed an NGO to build a school for a poor rural community. The objective of the school was to provide the best quality modern education at a nominal cost. She soon discovered that she has to seek permission from a number of Governments agencies. The rules and procedures were quite confusing and cumbersome. What frustrated her most was the delays, callous Coercion vs NGO attitude of officials and constant demand of bribes. Her experience and the experience of many others like her has deterred people from taking up social service projects. A measure of Government control over voluntary social work is necessary. But it should not be exercised in a coercive or corrupt manner. What measures can you suggest to ensure that due control is exercised but well meaning, honest NGO efforts are not thwarted?

A mere compliance with law is not enough, the public servant also has to have a well-developed sensibility to ethical issues for effective discharge of duties.” Do you agree? Explain with the help of two examples, where (i) an act is ethically right, but not legally and (ii) an act is legally right, but not ethically.