Answer:

Mission Karmayogi is designed to maintain a high standard of conduct and behaviour among civil servants to ensure efficiency in public service. Recent statements by the current Indian Prime Minister have emphasised that the mission aims to create a “future-ready civil service” that upholds integrity and professionalism while serving citizens.

Mission Karmayogi: Maintaining High Standards of Conduct and Behavior

• Ethical Grounding: Mission Karmayogi builds on deontological ethics, focusing on integrity, accountability, and transparency in public service. It promotes rule-based conduct for civil servants, ensuring ethical governance.
  For example: The Nolan Principles, integrated into LBSNAA training, emphasise ethical governance based on public service values.
• Behavioural Training: The mission leverages behavioural science to instil a “service-before-self” ethos, using social learning theory to build civil servants’ commitment to public welfare.
  For instance: Under this initiative, behavioural training emphasises positive reinforcement and modelling ethical conduct in public service.
• Continuous Learning: Through the iGOT Karmayogi platform, civil servants engage in lifelong learning, enhancing their ability to adapt to evolving governance needs. Experiential learning helps them maintain a proactive approach to policy challenges.
  For instance: The platform mirrors Singapore’s SkillsFuture, offering AI-based personalised learning tailored to governance roles.
• Performance Monitoring: The mission adopts 360-degree performance appraisals, aligning individual achievements with governance goals. This framework ensures ethical decision-making and self-regulation, promoting accountability and recognizing merit.
  For instance: The 2nd ARC recommended a public service motivation (PSM) framework for performance management, which Mission Karmayogi follows.
• Holistic Development: By integrating Indian ethics like Karma Yoga with modern administrative theories such as systems thinking, the mission fosters holistic development, enhancing personal growth alongside professional competence in governance.
• Universal Code of Ethics: The mission uses moral absolutism and principled leadership, ensuring that civil servants operate ethically at all levels. Regular workshops reinforce moral psychology principles in public service..
• Feedback Mechanisms: Mission Karmayogi uses real-time feedback loops and 360-degree feedback mechanisms, drawing from organisational behaviour theories to improve civil servant conduct and governance through continuous improvement.
  For example: Platforms like CPGRAMS utilise public accountability theory, tracking grievances and feedback to enhance service delivery.

Empowering Civil Servants for Enhanced Productivity and Grassroots Service Delivery

• Capacity Building: Mission Karmayogi develops civil servants’ skills in public administration, project management, and local governance using competency-based frameworks, enabling efficient grassroots service delivery and crisis management.
• Decentralised Decision-Making: By supporting decentralised governance and collaborative decision-making, the mission empowers officers to make localised decisions based on subsidiarity and localism theories, enhancing service delivery.
  For instance: The Punchhi Commission advocated decentralisation, and Mission Karmayogi ensures field officers are empowered for faster decisions.
• Technology Integration: Mission Karmayogi utilises AI and big data analytics to streamline public services through automation and e-governance, optimising service delivery at the grassroots level.
  For example: Tamil Nadu has launched the e-District program under the National e-Governance Programme (NeGP), utilising AI to reduce citizen interactions with government offices.
• Community Engagement: The mission fosters participatory governance and deliberative democracy, training civil servants to engage with local communities, ensuring that governance is tailored to community needs.
  For example: Kerala’s participatory governance through Kudumbashree serves as a model for community-centric service delivery, facilitating local engagement.
• Inclusivity in Services: Mission Karmayogi ensures marginalised groups receive fair and inclusive services, thus reducing social disparities in governance.
  For example: The inclusive implementation of MGNREGA serves as a benchmark for reaching vulnerable populations through public services.
• Local Language Training: Mission Karmayogi enhances intercultural communication through local language proficiency training, improving civil servants’ ability to connect with diverse communities and improve service effectiveness.
• Accountability and Transparency: The mission strengthens ethical governance by reinforcing accountability frameworks and transparency principles, in line with New Public Management (NPM) doctrines. This enhances public trust in civil services.
  For example: The Supreme Court’s Civil Services Board ruling enforces fixed tenure for civil servants, promoting accountability and minimising political interference.

Mission Karmayogi aims to instil efficiency, integrity, and accountability within civil servants, ensuring they uphold the highest standards of conduct while delivering public services. As the ancient saying goes, “Sheelam Param Bhushanam” (character is the highest virtue), this initiative emphasises the development of ethical character in civil servants, enhancing their growth and ability to serve the nation effectively.

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