Answer

In public administration, ensuring ethical governance requires both adherence to rules and a commitment to moral principles. While a Code of Conduct sets legal and procedural limits for public officials, a Code of Ethics provides broader guidance for ethical decision-making.

Ways in which ‘Code of Conduct’ and ‘Code of Ethics’ are the sources of guidance in Public Administration:

Code of Conduct:

• Guidance on Official Behaviour: The Code of Conduct serves as a deontological framework, emphasising duty-bound behaviour among public officials. It enforces rule-bound ethics, preventing unethical actions like bribery, thus promoting Kantian ethics in official duties.
  For example: The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 mandates non-acceptance of gifts. to prevent decisions influenced by bribery, upholding a duty-based moral structure.
• Conflict of Interest Management: The Code of Conduct applies the Doctrine of Procedural Fairness, ensuring that personal interests do not conflict with public responsibilities.
  For example: Officials involved in PSU disinvestment processes are required to disclose personal interests, ensuring unbiased decision-making in line with ethical governance protocols.
• Maintaining Workplace Decorum: Through enforcing norms derived from organisational behaviour theory, the Code establishes a respectful workplace environment.
  For example: The Supreme Court’s Vishaka Guidelines mandate anti-harassment policies in government offices to ensure a respectful work environment.
• Transparency Requirements: The Code utilises the concept of surveillance in ensuring that public officials remain accountable through mandated transparency.
• Accountability to the Public: The Code of Conduct promotes public accountability theory, mandating that public officials remain answerable to the citizens they serve, in alignment with democratic principles.
  For example: Adherence to the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 allows public scrutiny of official actions, ensuring openness and accountability.

Code of Ethics:

• Promoting Public Service Over Personal Gain: Grounded in utilitarian ethics, the Code of Ethics requires public servants to act in the public interest, prioritising the greatest good for the greatest number over personal gain.
• Upholding Integrity in Decision Making: The Code applies virtue ethics, focusing on character traits like integrity, which guide officials in adhering to laws and ethical standards, even when facing external pressures.
• Ensuring Fairness in Service Delivery: Rooted in Rawls’ theory of justice, the Code ensures fairness and equality in government services, ensuring equitable distribution of resources and opportunities to all citizens.
• Encouraging Professionalism: Defined in role theory and is reinforced in the Code, prohibiting officials from using their positions for personal publicity, thereby upholding role integrity and maintaining professional boundaries.
• Inspiring Ethical Leadership: The Code of Ethics draws from transformational leadership theory, promoting ethical leadership that emphasises inclusive decision-making and community engagement in policy development.

Suitable Model for Code of Ethics to Maintain Integrity, Probity, and Transparency in Governance:

• Integration of Universal Ethical Principles: The Code of Ethics must incorporate Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, particularly focusing on higher stages of moral reasoning such as justice and fairness, ensuring alignment with both local and global ethical standards.
• Engagement of Diverse Stakeholders: Based on the stakeholder theory, involving inputs from diverse sectors ensures that the ethical framework reflects the values and interests of various societal actors, leading to more inclusive governance.
  For example: The drafting process for the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013 involved public consultations, ensuring a representative ethical framework.
• Protection for Whistleblowers: Drawing from moral courage theory, the Code should provide safeguards for whistleblowers, empowering individuals to report unethical actions without fear of retaliation, thus promoting organisational integrity.
  For example: The Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011, offers protections that can be integrated into the Code of Ethics to safeguard ethical whistleblowers.
• Ethical Guidance for Complex Situations: The Code should include moral relativism theory, offering nuanced guidance for public servants when encountering ethical dilemmas that may require context-specific decisions.
• Mandatory Ethics Education: Drawing from cognitive-behavioural ethics training, continuous education in ethics ensures that public servants internalise ethical values and are better equipped to apply them in their roles.
• Inclusion of Ethical Performance in Appraisals: Using the agency theory approach, integrating ethical behaviour metrics into performance evaluations encourages public servants to prioritise integrity and probity in their decision-making processes.
  For example: Article 309 of the Constitution provides a framework for incorporating ethical performance metrics into civil servant appraisals.
• Transparency in Code Updates: The doctrine of accountability dictates that regular reviews and updates to the Code of Ethics ensure it remains relevant in the face of evolving governance challenges, upholding transparency and responsiveness.
  For example: A mechanism similar to legislative reviews ensures that the Code remains aligned with contemporary societal expectations and administrative challenges.

A well-implemented Code of Ethics, supported by a strong Code of Conduct, fosters governance that upholds integrity, transparency, and public trust. As Kautilya stated, “In the happiness of the people lies the happiness of the king; their welfare is his welfare,” highlighting that ethical governance is key to ensuring Yogakshemam—the protection and well-being of the people.

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