GS Paper-IV

Ethics Integrity & Aptitude

Currents Affairs Material 2023
1. Ethical issues in Abortion

Abortion is the ending of pregnancy by removing a fetus or embryo before it can survive outside the uterus.
The abortion debate asks whether it can be morally right to terminate a pregnancy before normal childbirth.
Ethical issues involved in abortion are:

i. A fetus is a member of the biological species homo sapiens. To destroy a human being deliberately
is unethical (it's murder).
ii. Right to live a dignified life for children born with disorders
iii. Life and death are in the hands of god. Humans should not interfere in them. (religious ethics)
iv. Right of the unborn fetus to take birth is denied.
v. Right of bodily autonomy of women – Immanuel Kant has said that autonomy is the root of human
dignity and the sources of all morality. Pregnant women must have the right to undergo abortion if
there is serious threat to her health.
vi. If governments choose to make abortion illegal then sufficient support must come from the side of
the government in upbringing of the child, if parents have limited resource. Otherwise government
takes decision and burden is shifted in parents.
vii. Professional ethics of medical practitioners comes into question when proper guidelines are not
followed for abortion.
viii. Right to self-determination in case of pregnancy caused by rape.
Recently Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favor of repealing a provision that gave an unborn foetus an
equal right to life as the mother, thus legalizing abortion.

2. Ethical issues in Clinical Trials on Humans

The booming clinical trial industry in developing countries like India is raising concerns about proper ethics
review of practices and procedures performed on living organisms. Some issues are:

i. No informed consent: right to self-determination is violated. Large proportions of participants in India

are illiterate and lured into trials by offers of free healthcare but they are not informed of the difference
between treatment and research. For instance-In 2004, Bhopal gas leak survivors were recruited for
clinical trials without their knowledge and 14 of them died while conducting the trials.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 1

 ii. Justice: Trials are generally done on poor but benefit is derived by effluents due to high cost of drugs. It
leads to unfair distribution of benefits and burdens.

iii. Antyodaya (unto the last): Gandhiji’s principle of “Sarvodaya through Antyodaya”, (“welfare of all
through the welfare of the last person”) is not followed. There are many “Orphan drugs” which no
pharmaceutical company is ready to make because of low profitability.

iv. Autonomy: of subjects is severely compromised especially when all the information regarding possible
side effects is not provided to them.

v. Profitability in the name of social service: Many drug companies operate in developing countries to
provide medical aid. Hover many a times real motive is to do drug trial at no cost.

vi. Professional ethics: of entire medical community is questioned due to some black sheeps of the
community. Like in 341 cases of clinical trials resulting in death were reported in 2015, out of which
only four cases were compensated.

Guiding principles

i. Beneficence and non‐maleficence

ii. Special attention to vulnerable persons

iii. Respect for human dignity and human rights

iv. Immanuel Kant’s philosophy - “So act as to treat humanity, whether in their own person or in that of any
other, in every case as an end withal, never as means only”.

v. Clinical trial of new drugs should be done with complete transparency and poor must not be deceived.

vi. Gandhiji’s Talisman – drug trial and medical procedures must give primacy to the needs of poor.
Situation for “orphan drugs” must not arise.

vii. Professional ethics - Knowledge without Character and Commerce (Business) without Morality (Ethics)
are sins as per Gandhiji.

Most importantly, strong law is required to check malpractices. For example, according to the new
guidelines, a manufacturer, before requesting an individual to participate in clinical trial of a new drug, must
inform the individual of any reasonably foreseeable risks or discomforts, as well as of the possible benefits.

3. Ethical issues in Burning Firecrackers

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 2

 2018 ban on firecrackers in Delhi NCR had led to a fierce debate in socio-cultural, legal and ethical
discourse. Multiple issues are involved like:

i. Right to clean environment: is a fundamental right guaranteed to the citizens by the constitution of
India.

ii. Justice: burning up crackers creates more problems for lower rung of the society.

iii. Common good: Clean environment is a common good for all living beings. It has social, economic and
also spiritual benefits. But it depletes due to pollution caused by fire crackers.

iv. Right over duty: Right to celebrate festival is often given more importance than duty towards co-
citizens who may be in need of peaceful and silent environment due to ill health or otherwise.

v. Utilitarian perspective: in short term, burning crackers may give happiness to some but in long term, it
will be harmful for all.

vi. Right to religion versus right to life

vii. Right of shopkeepers to sell fire crackers

However, it is also true that banning crackers is not a long tern solution to this problem. Prohibition can lead
to conflict and public unrest in long term. Thus endogenous changes must be targeted for sustainable
solution to this problem. Some steps that can be taken in this regard are:

• Persuasion: bringing about attitude change in people towards clean and green environment. This can be
done through:

1) ‘Give it up’ campaign like the one for LPG cylinders can be effective. Schools can be used in this
regard.

2) Satellite image and data on pollution over the city must be disseminated to citizens to bring
attitudinal change.

3) Burning crackers must be related to health of children. It will impact emotional component of
parents

4) Harmful effects by the chemicals in the firecrackers must be advertised to influence behavioral
attitude.

• Emotional intelligence – can be utilized in helping citizens understand the burden of air-borne diseases
and harm to the agricultural output of poor farmers.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 3

• Good governance - proactive measures by executive and judiciary in controlling the supply chain of fire
crackers.

• Multipronged strategy: efforts have to be made in controlling all sources of pollution like construction
dust, vehicular pollution, waste burning, generators and crop residue burning in the Indo-Gangetic
plains.

Gandhiji has that “Religion without Sacrifice” is a sin. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda and
other philosophers and scholars have pointed out the importance of religion being scientific and humane.
Following these principles, we can come to a solution of the menace of pollution by fire crackers.

4. Ethical issues in Euthanasia

According to the British House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics, euthanasia is a deliberate
intervention undertaken with the intention of ending of life to relieve from intractable suffering.

Ethical issues involved in euthanasia:

• Article 21 – Right to Life and Right to Death – sanctity of human life is at stake
• Justice – injustice with the patient if his/her consent is not secured
• Against the Hippocratic oath – it will be against the oath of doctors that ‘I will give no deadly medicine
to anyone nor suggest any counsel’
• Misuse of Euthanasia – if legalize it may be a threat to the old-age population, coma patients, disables,
etc.
• It is against attributes of empathy, love and compassion towards vulnerable people.
• It creates crisis of credibility in the minds of people regarding state to provide them better medical
facilities and securing their lives.
• It might boost morale of otherwise mentally alert people to opt for euthanasia who are under debt,
family pressure, betrayed in love, isolated from society e.g. HIV patients, GAY couples etc.
• Religious opponents of euthanasia believe that life is given by God, and only God should decide when to
end it.
• Its abdication of responsibility of state which is constitutionally and legally bound to protect people.
• It reminds of eugenic history of Nazi Germany, where unwanted people were terminated.
Stand of government

There is no statutory or constitutional law in the country to regulate euthanasia. Supreme Court Judgment
has legalized passive euthanasia in Aruna Shanbaug Case. Certain guidelines have been laid by SC in this
regard:

✓ A decision has to be taken to discontinue life support either by the parents or the spouse or other close
relatives, or in the absence of any of them, such a decision can be taken even by a person or a body of

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 4

 persons acting as a next friend. It can also be taken by the doctors attending the patient. However, the
decision should be taken bona fide in the best interest of the patient.

✓ Even if a decision is taken by the near relatives or doctors or next friend to withdraw life support, such a
decision requires presence of two witness and countersigned by first class judicial magistrate. To be
approved by medical board set up by hospital.

As per my analysis, arguments are very strong against active euthanasia, but for passive euthanasia the view
is favorable. However, there is a need for a fool-proof system which can regulate passive euthanasia more
effectively:

• Separate legislation for passive euthanasia should be enacted so that the ambiguity in taken decision
would be less.
• Case by case matter must be taken. Thus keeping process dynamic and with the thorough reporting of
the particular case by the authorized panel, we can prevent the abuse of the patient.
• Expert doctors for suggesting and carrying out this process should be consulted.
• Counseling sessions for vulnerable population.
It is said that “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire”. We should try to save the life of people rather
than devising means to take it away. The argument that 'we are of no use to the society, and are only wasting
valuable resources' is brutal utilitarian view, which must be used only as a last resort.

5. Ethical issues in Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)

IPR is a method through which the property rights of a specified product is given to the holder for specified
period though patent, trademark, copyrights etc. It values the talent of a person or a group and prevents their
IPR from violating. However, there are some ethical issues involved in such rights:

• Individual rights vs. social interest: J. S. Mills has said that individual liberty should be given, but in
case of conflict, social interest shall prevail.

• IPRs often go against the ethical principle of utilitarianism which suggests maximum good for
maximum number of people.

• Right to cheap and affordable health system: generic medicines vs. patent medicines. IPR gives
monopoly to a single organization for producing and controlling prices of the patent medicines.
However, the unaffordable prices of medicines violate the rights of poor lead to injustice for them.

• Right to Education: Patent content are prevented from photocopies. However, for the few pages of
content, students have to buy a full book instead of photocopying it. But in Delhi university photocopy

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 5

 case, Delhi High Court upholds the photocopying of material only for educational purposes, thus
preserving right to education of students.

IPR is important in the today’s world of trade. Open violation can demotivate the producers to put time and
money in research and development. It’s a kind of injustice for an inventor who put all effort in creating a
masterpiece and then others enjoy the benefits by copying the technology. Thus a balance is needed to be
maintained in the process of granting IPRs to individuals and organizations.

6. Ethical issues involved in the act of Gambling

The recent rise in popularity of gambling poses many social and ethical issues.

• Gambling is addictive in nature just like alcoholism and drug addiction. Legalizing betting can tempt the
poor into frittering away their savings.
• Gambling syndicates often use methods of manipulation rather than persuading people to put their
money in gambling.
• It leads to injustice for the families of people who are addicted to gambling. Burden falls upon women
and children and their basic rights like dignified life, food, health and education are violated.
• Gambling in Mahabharata led to the war of Kurukshetra which led to the destruction of Kuru Empire.
• Gambling is a precursor of many crimes like stealing and physical assaults and habit of alcoholism.
• Wealth without work is one of the seven deadly sins as given by Gandhi ji.
However, recent Law commission report has called for legalization of gambling in sports as putting a
complete ban can lead to a hike in 'black money generation and circulation." It’s also against right to self-
determination. It can increase state’s revenue which can be used for welfare activities. Proper regulation can
also generate FDI and employment in tourism and hospitality industry.

7. Ethicality of Section 377 of IPC

Section 377 criminalizes sexual activities which are “against the order of nature". This provision is often
used against people from LGBT community and has many ethical issues associated with it.

• It leads to injustice for LGBT people as the burden of social taboos falls upon them.
• It goes against the right of self-determination, bodily integrity, equality and right to privacy.
• It goes against John Rawl’s liberty principle of justice which call for maximum freedom for people
provided it is compatible with the freedom of others.
• It also go against Gandhi’s Talisman as LGBT community is often the most deprived section of society.
• Such activities have been there since ancient times and had been reported in many cultures across the
world.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 6

However, as per people who are in favor of section 377, unnatural sex is a social vice and the state has the
power to contain it. Decriminalizing unnatural sex may create a breach of peace. If it is allowed then the evil
of AIDS and HIV would further spread and harm the people. It would lead to a big health hazard and
degrade moral values of society.

Dominant view today is that LGBT behavior is inborn and a person cannot be punished for what he is and
what nature has made him. There is nothing wrong in it if the relations are consensual and in line with
general rules.

8. Ethical issues in sting journalism

Sting journalism in past has brought out cases of ministers demanding money for granting mining clearance
in Chhattisgarh to cricketers admitting to match fixing in IPL. However, the very nature of inducement and
secrecy involved in sting journalism poses many ethical questions:

• Violation of trust and privacy vs. serving public interest

• Rights of press vs. duty of press
• Use of sting for profit making(TRP) and sensationalism by media (stings for commercial gains)
• classic ethical problem is whether you can hold somebody liable for a crime that he would not have
committed if not encouraged(against public morality )
• absence of specific laws governing sting operations
• Irresponsible sting operation leading to injustice for some.
• deception as means to uncover the truth
• Positive sting vs. negative sting operation (positive sting is done for the benefit of society and negative
stings just violate the privacy and is for narrow self-interest)
It is important for media to be free and fair and bring out positive stings like sting operations in Karnataka
on ultra sound centers to expose sex determination of fetus. But as it is rightly said that- “with great power
comes great responsibility”. So, sting journalism needs to adopt a proper code of conduct based on ethical
principles to serve public interest

Ministry of information and broadcasting along with media persons need to come up with guidelines to be
followed so that in sting journalism democratic accountability along with social responsibility can be
ensured

9. Ethical issues in Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code

Sec-497 IPC deals with the offence of adultery, which refers to an act of sexual intercourse between a
married person and someone who is not that person's spouse.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 7

Making adultery punishable, under Sec-497, is good for the sound married relationship. It also helps in
preventing crimes like rape, murders, etc.

However, its ethicality has been compromised due to following factors:

• This Section does not allow a woman to pull the strings of law if her husband involved in adultery with
another woman. Thus, it leads to gender discriminative in its present form.
• It gives a blank cheque to the wife to indulge in as many sexual relationships as she likes. Here woman
will not be held liable for any punishment. Thus, only male counterpart will be guilty even if the
relationship is lured by the woman.
• Moreover, it makes the woman as just a property of a husband instead of his soul-mate. Thus he right to
dignity is being compromised.
• In-justice to women if her husband is in relation with some un-married woman.
• Most importantly, it is the law of British rulers in India and at present Britain has decriminalized the
adultery.
Thus, instead of decriminalizing adultery, it should be made gender neutral. Punishment should be given to
both. Also, with Right to Equality under Article 14 of the Constitution, this section should permit both wife
and husband to file a case against the offence of adultery.

10. Ethical issues in the Assisted Reproductive Technology of Surrogacy

Surrogacy is Assisted Reproductive Technology, whereby a woman agrees to become pregnant and give
birth to a child for another person who is or will become the parent of the child.

The ethical aspect of surrogacy can be judged by the manner in which the process of surrogacy is
conducted.

It can bring happiness in the life of couple who don’t have children. Surrogate mothers, who are generally
poor, get good medical attention, nutrition and financial help from the commissioning parents. If we apply
utilitarian principle of J.S. Mill, then surrogacy, if conducted with integrity, can be considered ethical.

However there have been cases of misuse of technology, lack of bioethics, and violation of rights of
surrogate mothers.

• A large share of surrogate mothers’ payment is taken off by middlemen.

• After delivery no attention is given to surrogate mother’s health.
• Many a times commissioning parents refuse to take the new born, if he/she is born with some deformity.
• It may also lead to issues of selective breeding and designer babies.
• It can also disturb the institution of marriage.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 8

In such cases, it can be considered as inhuman act against the will of god. Due to absence of integrity in the
process of surrogacy, government of India has banned commercial surrogacy.

Technology is always value neutral. Same goes for surrogacy. It must be used taking care of rights and
justice for all stakeholders.

11. Ethical issues in the practice of Female Genital Mutilation in Dawoodi Bohra community

The practice of female genital cutting has been condemned as a violation of the rights of women and girls.
Female genital cutting affects women's enjoyment of their lives and reproductive health in a manner that
denies liberty and security to women, and subjects them, usually at a young age, to physical violence and
serious health problems. Some other issues are:

• This practice arises from the stereotypical perception that women are the principal guardians of a
community's sexual morality.
• This practice violates the principle of Beneficence, as it is by all means a maleficent practice.
• It violates the principle of justice, as it is not just to have women enjoying their marital and sexual
lives and others suffer from theirs.
• Autonomy of girls and informed consent versus Rights of community to practice their religious and
cultural practices.
The Supreme Court has also expressed concern over this practice, saying it compromises and violates the
bodily integrity and privacy of a woman in the name of religion.

12. Ethical issues caused by Corona Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic is the greatest challenge mankind has faced since World War II. The pandemic is
much more than a health crisis, as it has socio-economic and ethical dimensions also.

For people around the world:

• Duty of people to take care of their family members versus their own well-being.
• Right to health and dignified life of poor people who can’t afford medical treatment.
• Stereotypes and prejudice against each other on basis of caste, region or religion. For example, members
of Tablighi Jamaat were held responsible to spread the virus in many Indian states.
For professionals:

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 9

• Police officers have to decide whether they should arrest the migrant workers for breaching the
lockdown or show compassion towards them. Also, many police officers (like in Maharashtra) have died
due to this virus, which they got while performing their duty.
• Doctors and other hospital staff are going through emotional exhaustion as they have to chose between
the safety of their family and their duty towards corona patients.
For organizations:

• They are in ethical turmoil as people are losing jobs and income. Whether they should retain their
workers or they should lay off their workforce to sustain the business.
• Many businesses have adopted wrong means like hoarding and black marketing to earn higher profits by
taking advantage of vulnerable people.
For Governments:

• Means versus Ends debate is there. They must control corona pandemic but through what means. Can
they use violence to do it?
• Duty of government to do Justice with the poor people who suffer either due to lockdown or due to
corona virus.
• Economy of the state versus Life of the people: If lockdown is extended for a longer time, then it may
lead to irreparable damage to economy. Suicide cases can increase because of this. Government must
not only ensure life but a good life for the citizens.
Morality and substance of ethics in people is tested during tough times only. This pandemic has the potential
to create devastating socio-cultural, economic and political effects that will leave deep and longstanding
scars. Its impact can be minimized by following the path of Dharma.

13. Mission Karmayogi

The National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (‘NPCSCB’) – “Mission Karmayogi” has
been launched in September 2020 with the objective of enhancing governance through Civil Service
Capacity Building.

Aim: According to the government, ‘Mission Karmayogi’ envisages to prepare Indian civil servants for the
future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional,
progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled.

Need of The Mission

• Apart from domain knowledge training, the scheme will focus on functional and behavioral
competencies also.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 10

• To cut the red tape and discourage administrative sloth by adopting best practices.
• Ending the hegemony of IAS. Like starting lateral entry and opening Joint Secretary post for other
services.
• Rule-based to Role-based management: There is a need to formalize the recruitment process and match
the public service to a bureaucrat’s competence, so as to find the right person for the right job.
• The plan is to begin right at the recruitment level and then invest in building more capacity through the
rest of their career.
• As the Indian economy grows, it will get more complex to govern; the governance capacities will have
to be enhanced proportionately which this reform undertakes.
• Uniform Training Standard: It will harmonize training standards across the country, so that there is a
common understanding of India's aspirations and development goals.
• Vision for New India: Mission Karmayogi is aimed at building a future-ready civil service with the right
attitude, skills and knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
Six Pillars of Mission Karmayogi
1) Policy Framework,
2) Institutional Framework,
3) Competency Framework,
4) Digital Learning Framework (Integrated Government Online Training Karmayogi Platform (iGOT-
Karmayogi),
5) electronic Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS), and
6) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

Institutional framework

For implementation and monitoring of the programme, following institutional framework has been
approved:

• Prime Minister’s Public Human Resource Council (PMHRC): A Council under the chairmanship of
Prime Minister is conceived to be the apex body for driving and providing strategic direction to civil
service reforms and capacity building.
• Cabinet Secretariat Coordination Unit: It will monitor the implementation of NPCSCB, align
stakeholders and provide mechanism for overseeing capacity building plans.
• Capacity Building Commission– It will be set up for functional supervision of training institutions and
facilitate in preparation of annual capacity building plans.
• Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV, an autonomous company) – It will own and operate all the digital assets
created for NPCSCB on behalf of the Government of India.
• Programme Management Unit (PMU) - It will provide Program Management and Support services to
the Department.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 11

How it will work?

• The capacity building programme will be delivered through an Integrated Government Online Training
or iGOT-Karmayogi digital platform, with content drawn from global best practices rooted in Indian
national ethos.
• Officers will be evaluated on the basis of the courses they take throughout their career to enhance their
skill.
• An online database will be maintained on what courses they have completed, how did they fare, what
areas does their expertise lie in, etc.
• In case of any future vacancy or if an appointing authority is considering an officer, they can simply see
what kind of training the officer has been getting.
However, the difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones. There is a tendency in
the Bureaucracy to resist the change which challenges their status quo. Thus, a behavioral change in the
bureaucracy is required. Moreover, these online courses must not become another opportunity for the
officers to go for the sabbatical leaves. It must be ensured that they are actually attending the courses and
participating in it so that the purpose doesn't get defeated. Clearly, the reform process is not going to be easy
but this is a good move in the direction.

14. Ethical Issues in Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Note: This piece of information is based on article “Responsible AI — the need for ethical guard rails” which was published in
The Hindu on 17/03/2021.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart
machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. In simple words, It is the
endeavor to replicate or simulate human intelligence in machines.

The expansive goal of artificial intelligence has given rise to many questions and debates. Like, what if
robots take over policing? What if nanny-bots look after our children and elderly? What if they became
more intelligent than us?

AI has already entered in our life in a subtle way like It is embedded in the recommendations we get on our
favourite streaming or shopping site; in GPS
mapping technology; in the predictive text that completes our sentences
when we try to send an email or complete a web search.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 12

Already, AI has helped increase crop yields, raised business productivity, improved access to credit and
made cancer detection faster and more precise. It could contribute more than $15 trillion to the world
economy by 2030, adding 14% to global GDP.

In the case of Covid-19, AI has been used in thermal imaging in airports and elsewhere. In medicine it can
help recognize infection from computerized tomography lung scans. It has also been used to provide data to
track the spread of the disease.

A study published in Nature reviewing the impact of AI on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
finds that AI may act as an enabler on 134 — or 79% — of all SDG targets.
However, just as AI has the potential to improve billions of lives, it can also replicate and exacerbate
existing problems, and create new ones. The study in Nature also finds that AI can actively hinder 59— or
35% — of SDG targets.

Ethical Challenges Associated with AI

1. Environmental degradation: AI requires massive computational capacity, which means more power-
hungry data centres — and a big carbon footprint.

2. Rights Violation: AI can violate many rights like-

• Right to dignified life by using humans as means rather than ends.
• Right to be forgotten
• Right to Self-determination
• Right to liberty due to excessive control
• Right to health due to sedentary lifestyle
3. Inequalities and Injustice: AI could compound Digital exclusion. Using artificial intelligence, a
company can drastically cut down on relying on the human workforce, and this means that revenues will go
to fewer people. Consequently, individuals who have ownership in AI-driven companies will make all the
money.
Further, investment is likely to shift to countries where AI-related work is already established, widening
gaps among and within countries. Therefore, without clear policies on reskilling workers, the promise of
new opportunities will in fact create serious new inequalities.
Together, Big Tech’s big four —Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook — are worth a staggering $5
trillion, more than the GDPs of just about every nation on earth. In 2020, when the world was reeling from
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they added more than $2 trillion to their value.

4. Humanity at risk: With great power comes great responsibility. What if artificial intelligence itself
turned against humans? Imagine an AI system that is asked to eradicate cancer in the world. After a lot of

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 13

computing, it spits out a formula that does, in fact, bring about the end of cancer – by killing everyone on
the planet.

5. Unemployment: Robotics and AI companies are building intelligent machines that

perform tasks typically carried out by low-income workers: self-service
kiosks to replace cashiers, fruit-picking robots to replace field workers, etc.; but the day is not far when
many desk jobs will also be edged out by AI, such as accountants, financial traders and middle managers.

6. Data Privacy Concerns: AI also presents serious data privacy concerns. The algorithm’s never-ending
quest for data has led to our digital footprints being harvested and sold without our knowledge or informed
consent. The case of Cambridge Analytica is an example, in which such algorithms and big data were used
to alter voting decisions of people in India.

7. Copying Human Prejudice and Stereotypes: The fact is, just as AI has the potential
to improve billions of lives, it can also replicate and exacerbate existing problems, and create new ones.
Consider, for instance, the documented examples of AI facial
recognition and surveillance technology discriminating against people of colour and minorities. Or how an
AI-enhanced recruitment engine, based on existing workforce profiles, taught itself that male candidates
were preferable to female.

8. Addiction: Addiction and dependence on technology can alter human relations and society. People may
start living in a virtual world and relation may get weaken. Cases are there where people have committed
crime to ensure regular access to technology.

What can be done?

Whole of Society Approach: Many countries, including India are striving to strike the right balance
between AI promotion and AI governance — both for the greater public good.
NITI Aayog’s ‘Responsible AI for All’ strategy, recognizes that our digital future cannot be optimized for
good without multi-stakeholder governance structures that ensure the dividends are fair, inclusive, and just.
In this scenario, a “whole of society” approach to AI governance will enable us to develop broad-based
ethical principles, cultures, and codes of conduct. So that societal trust can be developed for AI to flourish
and bring about the extraordinary breakthroughs it promises.

Whole of World Approach: Given the global reach of AI, such a “whole of society” approach must rest on
a “whole of world” approach. The UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap on Digital Cooperation is a good
starting point.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 14

It lays out the need for multi-stakeholder efforts on global cooperation so AI is used in a manner that is
“trustworthy, human rights-based, safe and sustainable, and promotes peace”.
Similarly, UNESCO has developed a global, comprehensive standard-setting draft Recommendation on the
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence to the Member States for deliberation and adoption.

Conclusion
Just as electricity allowed us to tame time, enabling us to radically alter virtually every aspect of existence,
AI can leapfrog us toward eradicating hunger, poverty and disease — opening up new and hitherto
unimaginable pathways for climate change mitigation, education and scientific discovery.

However, without ethical guard rails, AI will widen social and economic schisms, amplifying any innate
biases at an irreversible scale and rate and lead to discriminatory outcomes.

15. Moonlighting
Moonlighting is a recent buzzword that has garnered a lot of attention. It is currently one of the biggest
concerns of the IT industry and major tech companies, including Infosys, WIPRO, TCS, and among others,
are all opposing this practice. In contrast, recently, Swiggy announced an “industry first" policy that allowed
moonlighting for its employees.

Meaning: Moonlighting is a practice where employees secretly take up a second job or other work
assignments along with their fulltime job. Also known as side gigs, the secondary job is taken without
employers' knowledge and is usually the side jobs taken at night or on the weekends.

Wipro CEO Rishad Premji was the first to coin the term moonlighting as claimed that this practice is
“cheating and unacceptable.” Following this, the company sacked 300 employees for moonlighting.

Points against this practice

• Legal but may not be Ethical: There is no overarching law which prohibits a person from doing multiple
jobs. However, a person with a similar nature of jobs may spark ethical issues.
• Confidentiality issues especially in the IT sector where the same software can be used to serve different
clients.
• If employees are working long hours, the second job may cause the employee to become distracted,
unproductive, and neglect job responsibilities because of physical fatigue.
• Employees may use company resources for their second job, which increases operating expenses.
• Poor diet, lack of sleep and exercise can impact employee health.
• It can lead to conflicts of interest, absenteeism, or poor attentiveness.
Points in favour

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 15

• Employees have the right to self-determination. They should have the liberty to decide what they want
to do outside the hours they have committed to the company.
• Employees may also consider a second job to gain additional skills or indulge in work profiles they are
more passionate about.
• To utilize the free time at hand when they do not have enough work to keep them occupied at their
primary jobs or to keep themselves busy throughout the day.
• Employees also opt for a second job for additional income if they have low pay at their primary jobs.
• Working for multiple jobs to maintain job security and a steady flow of income, especially during Covid
times.
Middle path

Employer’s side: Moonlighting could be considered cheating if an employee’s contract calls for non-
compete and single employment, which is the situation with the majority of conventional employment
contracts.

Many companies deploy tools and techniques to detect and prevent risks associated with moonlighting such
as data leakage and daylighting (working on another job during the working hours of the primary job).

Employee’s side: Moonlighting should be a choice unless it affects the efficiency and integrity of
employees’ primary work duty.

Before looking for side jobs or starting a business, it is crucial for employees to carefully check their
employment contract with their principal job to ensure compliance with any moonlighting policies.

16. Ethical issues in Jallikattu

Jallikattu- Different perspectives

Perspective Arguments in favour Arguments against Jallikattu
Cultural • Jallikattu is not mere organized • As per SC, Jallikattu is an age-old tradition, so
heritage entertainment, but an age-old tradition was child marriage and the practice of Sati until
practiced for time immemorial (since both were declared as a crime.
Tamil classical period). • Many animal welfare organizations have given
• Even Spanish Senate in 2013 declared the evidence that bulls are fed liquor and have chilli
“far more cruel” sport of bull-fighting a powder thrown into their eyes before they are
cultural heritage. released from a holding pen and chased by
revelers.
• There have also been reports of bulls having their
horns sharpened with broken glass, while the
"taming" can lead to serious injury and a painful
death for the animals.
• Also, over the years, dozens of people have also
been killed and hundreds more wounded at
Jallikattu events.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 16

Biodiversity • The sport is good for maintaining bio- • Their population will thrive in wild, even if no
diversity as it encourages breeding of indigenous artificial breeding is done.
indigenous bulls. • The practice is against the welfare of bulls that
• Breeders say Jallikattu and bullock cart falls in the category of drought animals and
racing gave the region a healthy male-to- hence got a constitutional safeguard.
female ratio of native cattle. • Animal activists and PETA India have protested
• Tamil Nadu is the most urbanized state in against the practice over the years. Along with
India, with a well-established human injuries and fatalities, sometimes bulls
manufacturing and services sector. Due themselves sustain injuries which people believe
to the mechanization of agriculture and as bad omen for the village.
transport, the economic rationale for • Most importantly, the practice leads to great
owning a bull has declined. injustice to animals as burden falls upon them
• Dairy farmers, too, are turning their back and benefits are taken away by the society.
on native cattle and prefer high-yielding
buffaloes and cross breeds. Most of the
small dairy farmers own only cows and
buy in the services of Jallikattu bulls.
• Usually, old bulls are sold off. But now
younger and fitter bulls are being sold to
meat traders
Social factors • The sport provides opportunity for people • As per SC, the event is a “paid entertainment"
to come together and share their and is not a socio-cultural event with any
happiness. religious association.
• It leads to greater social cohesion and • It supports violence which is against the common
social capital. good of peace and empathy in the society.
• The event is just like a horse race which
is legal in India.
Animal rights • No rights are violated as the event is • The SC has identified “the five freedoms” of
and freedom regulated through a state act. The event in animals, including freedom from hunger, thirst
fact safeguards their rights by assuring and malnutrition, freedom from fear and distress,
proper care, feed and regard. freedom from physical and thermal discomfort,
• Jallikattu inspires people to hold onto freedom from pain, injury and disease, and
their bulls. Farmers provided extra care freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.
for the animal since the bull represents • Some or all of these freedoms are violated at one
the pride of their family and community. or another time during the event.

Rationale • As per Tamil Nadu government, when • As per SC, humans have free will, but bulls are
humans ran marathons, why could not forced into running.
bulls be part of a sport?
Constitutional • The ban has affected the fundamental • As per Article 48 (DPSP), the Constitution
right to religion enshrined under Article requires the State to “take steps for preserving
25 of the Indian Constitution. and improving the breeds, and prohibiting the
slaughter, of cows and calves in other milch and
draught cattle.”
• As per Article 51A, the Constitution places a
duty on every citizen to “protect and improve the
natural environment including forests, lakes,
rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for
living creatures.”

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 17

 • As per the SC, the event is meant for the sheer
entertainment of man at the expense of the
animal and has nothing to do with religious
freedom.
Legal • Tamil Nadu government maintains that • SC bench has said that the very act of
Jallikattu is not cruelty and is defined as "taming a bull" to perform in an event runs
an act of "taming" of bulls as per a 2009 counter to the concept of welfare of the
State law enacted to "regulate" the event. animal, which is the basic foundation of the
• The 2009 Act was introduced by Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of
Tamil Nadu government to stop any 1960.
kind of torture. One cannot ban
Jallikattu just because there was • The SC has also invoked the doctrine of parens
torture long ago. It is like a bank patriae to take care of the rights of animals, since
stopping all loans just because they were unable to take care of themselves as
somebody had cheated it once long against humans.
ago.
What can be done?
• As per the government, the bulls are specifically identified, trained and nourished for these
sporting events, and their owners spend considerable sums on their upkeep. No tickets are sold for
Jallikattu or bullock-cart races, and not much pain or suffering is caused to the animal. Thus, they
argue, while these events may be regulated, they ought not to be completely prohibited. If any
individual is caught doing harm to a bull, catch him and prosecute him.
• But the SC has rightly taken a hard view over the event and has ordered its complete ban. It has
even asked the Parliament to “elevate rights of animals to that of constitutional rights, as done by
many of the countries around the world, so as to protect their dignity and honour”.
• The Indian constitution and culture call for compassion to animals, which must be assured to them
by the government as well as people. Banning this practice is not only virtues but also lead to
greatest good in the long term, both for the animals, as well as mankind.

17. Ethical issues in ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI language model trained by OpenAI to assist and engage with people in natural language
conversations. It is designed to understand and respond to your queries in a way that feels like you’re
talking to a human.

The dialogue format allows ChatGPT to not only compose essays and answer follow-up questions, but also
admit to its mistakes and challenge incorrect premises.

However, it also has several limitations including limited understanding of context and background
information, difficulty in understanding sarcasm and irony, lack of common sense and general knowledge,
and limited ability to understand and respond to complex questions. Additionally, ethical considerations
such as bias in training data, misuse and abuse of the technology, impact on job displacement and loss of
human interaction, privacy, and security must also be considered.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 18

Legal and ethical issues
1. The first legal concern related to ChatGPT is the risk of violating intellectual property rights. As
ChatGPT is trained using a large amount of text data, such as books, articles, and other written
materials, some of the training data may be copyrighted.
2. Another legal issue is related to potential privacy violations, as the model may generate or use personal
information or sensitive data that could be used to identify or harm individuals.
3. There is also concern about unintended bias in the training data, which could lead to the model
perpetuating harmful stereotypes or discrimination. The chatbot displayed clear racial and sexist biases,
which remains a problem with almost all AI models.
4. Another ethical concern is related to the transparency of the model’s decision-making process, as it
can be difficult for users to understand how the model arrived at a particular output.
5. The ability of ChatGPT to generate conversational text raises ethical concerns about its potential to
generate fake/wrong news or other misleading content. This could have severe ramifications, such as
harming reputations, spreading false information, or even inciting violence.
6. Malicious and Dangerous Coding: It has been claimed by several users that malicious and dangerous
coding is generated by Chatbot despite their claims to be amateurs.
7. Plagiarism: Plagiarism in academics is not a new issue, but ChatGPT has altered how AI is utilized to
produce original writing. It is difficult to identify plagiarized information as a result. Teachers and
academicians have also expressed concerns over ChatGPT’s impact on written assignments.
8. Ownership of content: ChatGPT can’t be regarded as an author as it doesn’t have the ability to make
substantial and meaningful contributions to the research or project. It is just like another tools like
Microsoft Word or Excel.
9. Generation of Phishing Email: ChatGPT is set up to reject requests to write phishing emails or
malicious code but in actual sense ChatGPT is producing an outstanding phishing email.
10. Curtailing the Job Opportunity: There is a concern that the use of code generators could lead to the
loss of jobs for human programmers.

Solution
• It can assist with writing and generating text, but any content produced by ChatGPT shall be the
responsibility of the person or entity using the model. So, if there’s a question on integrity, ChatGPT
may not be liable for breach of integrity.
• It will also be important for organizations developing language models and governments to provide
guidelines, regulations, and best practices to mitigate associated risks and to ensure the responsible use
of the technology. Continuous research, monitoring, evaluation and reformation would be required.
• Data used by Chat GPT shall be more exhaustive, diverse, and inclusive. Multiple languages and
dialects shall be included. Sarvodaya approach shall be followed. This will help to protect the rights and
interests of all stakeholders, including developers, users, and the public.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 19

Artificial Intelligence like ChatGPT used by those with wisdom, knowledge & experience can authentically
enhance the distribution of intelligence & information in a positive way. Though when used by deceptive,
unexperienced & greedy fools, it can be a dangerous tool.

18. Ethical issues in Same-sex marriages

Same-sex marriages have long been a topic of ethical debate in societies around the world. While some view
same-sex unions as a fundamental human right, others view them as a violation of traditional moral values
and a threat to the institution of marriage.

Arguments against it
• Many religions oppose homosexuality and view same-sex marriage as a violation of their moral code.
• Some argue that children raised by same-sex couples may be at a disadvantage due to the lack of a
traditional family structure.
• Marriage has traditionally been between a man and a woman in many religions. The Special Marriage
Act, 1954 was created to overcome the limitations of religious personal laws, not to create a new
institution of marriage.
• Right to privacy exists for LGBTQIA+ people, but it cannot be extended to marriage, which has a
necessary public element.
• ‘Legitimate’ Interest of State: The state has a legitimate interest in regulating marriage and personal
relationships, as seen in laws regarding age of consent, prohibited degrees of marriage, and divorce. The
right to marry is not absolute and subject to state laws.
• Gendered terms: Argument that gendered terms like 'mother' and 'father', 'husband' and 'wife' would be
problematic in same-sex marriages.

Arguments in favour of same sex marriages

• It leads to injustice for LGBTQIA+ people as the burden of social taboos and traditional norms falls
upon them.
• It goes against the right of self-determination, bodily integrity, equality and the right to privacy.
• If rights of LGBTQIA+ people are identical as other people, as held by the State, then they should enjoy
the full extent of rights under article 14,15,19, and 21 of Indian constitution.
• It goes against John Rawls’s liberty principle of justice which call for maximum freedom for people
provided it is compatible with the freedom of others.
• It also goes against Gandhi’s Talisman as LGBT community is often the most deprived section of
society.
• Religious beliefs are a personal choice and should not dictate the lives of others.
• Same-sex couples have just as much capability to be good parents as heterosexual couples.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 20

• LGBTQ+’ people are denied day-to-day rights like bank accounts. Marriage works here and will help
them to solve many other issues like insurances.
• Biological gender is not ‘absolute: The Supreme Court of India says that biological gender is not
absolute, and that gender is more complex than just one's genitals. There is no absolute concept of a man
or a woman.
• ‘Bouquet of rights’ being denied: The LGBTQIA+ community is being denied important legal benefits
like tax benefits, medical rights, inheritance, and adoption by not being allowed to marry. Marriage is
not just about dignity, but also a collection of rights.

What can be done?

In my opinion, the concept of marriage has changed over the last 100 years. Earlier we had child marriages,
temporary marriages, a person could marry any number of times - that also changed.
Dominant view today is that LGBT behavior is inborn and a person cannot be punished for what he is and
what nature has made him. There is nothing wrong with it if the relations are consensual and in line with
general rules.
Thus, the SC shall give a constitutional declaration in favour of LGBTQIA+ community and the
government shall be directed to frame laws in this regard after through deliberations with all the
stakeholders.
In between, awareness must be created to promote equality and acceptance of all sexual orientations and
expand public opinion about the LGBTQIA+ community. Thus, it is important for society to continue to
have open and respectful discussions about these issues to promote understanding and tolerance for all
individuals and their choices.

Case studies
1. Mahesh is a senior teacher in a government school and now after rendering 20 years of service, he
has got the opportunity to be the principal of one of the best government schools in the state. He is
known for his administrative skills as well and has handled all his students in a very efficient manner
during all his postings.
A case has come up where a teacher has beaten up a child named Rajan, after he was caught
misbehaving in the class. Rajan is a regular offender and is known for his wicked acts and
disrespectful attitude towards other students and his teachers. He is often found involved in fights and
arguments. However, this time, Rajan was caught red handed and his class teacher lost his cool. The
teacher beat Rajan with a wooden stick which leads to bruises on his body and face. He also went
unconscious for few minutes.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 21

Next day, the parents of Rajan, along with parents group association members came to the school and
start protesting against the class teacher of Rajan and start demanding strict action against him.
However, the teacher’s body has also gone offensive and now they are demanding that Rajan shall be
rusticated from the school. Teachers are of the view that how they will be able to straighten up the
students if they have no power to do anything. But parents are adamant on their demand that
corporal punishment is illegal, and teachers have no right to beat up the students.
Mahesh is well aware of the problem as such cases have happened earlier also. But usually a
compromise takes place between parents and teachers. In fact some parents explicitly give permission
to teachers to use violence to teach manners to the children. In rural areas also, beating up the
students is considered quite normal. In this context: (250 words, 20 marks)
a) Explain why Corporal Punishment is still considered a right mean to maintain discipline in the
school?
b) What are the legal and ethical issues involved in this case?
c) What can be the repercussions of corporal punishment and what shall be the course of action for
Mahesh to resolve the given situation?

Answer: Most children of the present generation are grown while listening to the stories of how their
parents used to get beaten up by their teachers. Corporal punishment (CP) thus seems to be a part of Indian
education system since ages. But the result has never been great.
In fact, today corporal punishment is considered as the shortest, most impatient, flawed way of teaching or
making a child understand something.
a) Why CP is still considered a right method to maintain discipline:
• It’s considered as a part of cultural legacy. Teachers believe they have the right to beat up the children as
they will.
• Revenge seeking behaviour among the adults. They will beat because they got beaten.
• Hierarchical nature of society where the only way of maintaining relations is to dominate others.
• Lack of awareness or interest among teachers to explore options other than violence and abuse.
• Short term attitude and tendency to get immediate results.
• Teachers commit violence against children when swayed by emotion. Say, when they feel frustrated at
being unable to manage the classroom.
• Other factors such as low pay scales, a skewed student-teacher ratio and poorly resourced schools
contribute to emotional build-ups.
• Lack of skills, training, facilities and infrastructure for teachers to develop innovative ways to maintain
discipline.
• Punishing one child has a demonstration effect on the whole classroom.
• Caste system which often lead to mental harassment by making casteist remarks.

b) Legal and ethical issues involved in this case

Corporal punishment is not only immoral but also illegal in India.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 22

1. Legal aspect: RTE Act, 2009 prohibits ‘physical punishment’ and ‘mental harassment’ under Section
17(1) and makes it a punishable offence under Section 17(2). Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act also
prescribes punishment for cruelty to children. UN Convention on child’s rights also prohibits it. Punishment
up to five years imprisonment can be awarded in such cases.
2. Ethical aspect: Any kind of violence is against the right to dignified life of the child and can be
considered as grave injustice to him/her. CP has a long-term impact on child’s psyche and can harm his/her
personality. It also establishes a wrong precedent, and such children learn and further use violence as a
legitimate mean. It also shows lack of compassion and tolerance among teachers and is against civilized
living. No right end can be achieved by using wrong means.
c) Repercussions of CP
• Scientific research has found that physical punishment is not associated with any positive outcomes for
children, but only increases the risk of children experiencing severe violence or neglect.
• The child will lose confidence, courage to ask question, interest in interaction, inquisitiveness and
inquiring mind will not develop.
• Poor level of emotional intelligence as the emotion of fear will get internalized by the child.
• Children would be scared to make mistakes and will try to hide their failures by lying or deception in
future. This will become a habit in long-term.
• Increased absenteeism and dropout rates.
• Vices of violence, inequality and intolerance will get strengthened.
• Permanent physical or mental damage.
Thus, even a little bit of CP can actually prove every bit of teaching effort fruitless.
Way Forward for Mahesh
Morality demands that adults develop Emotional intelligence, forbearance and persuasion capacity to deal
with young ones.
Being the principal of the college, Mahesh shall be very clear on his stance on CP. He shall convene a
meeting of teachers and convey that CP is not only ineffective but also illegal and unethical. Some steps that
he can take are:
• Immediately arrange medical facility for Rajan and pacify the parents by issuing a show-cause notice to
the class teacher of Rajan.
• For pacifying teacher’s union, parents of Rajan shall be called and made aware of the deeds of their
child. Parents shall also understand that it is the responsibility of all the agencies of the society to reform
the child.
• A committee comprising both senior teachers and responsible parents shall be constituted to develop
comprehensive guidelines to help teachers deal with various possible student behaviours through
positive disciplining.
• Drop boxes can be placed where the aggrieved students can drop their complaint and anonymity is to be
maintained to protect privacy.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 23

• Mahesh can form a ‘Corporal Punishment Monitoring Cell’ consisting of two teachers, two parents, one
doctor, one lawyer, a counsellor, an independent child rights activist of that area and two senior students
from that school. This shall look into complaints of corporal punishments.
• New methods to discipline children can be developed like reward and punishment, value education,
teaching new skills etc.
• Counsellors can be hired to understand repetitive mischief of children and suggest novel ways to tackle
the problem.
• A system for monitoring teachers’ mental health shall also be in place as their personal life can impact
their official duties.
• Mahesh can also propose a state level committee of experts to the department of education in this regard.
Corporal punishment is as humiliating for him who gives it as for him who receives it; it is ineffective
besides. Neither shame nor physical pain have any other effect than a hardening one.

Q2. You have been recently appointed as the Secretary to the Tourism Department of a Himalayan
state in northern part of India. Your state is a major tourist attraction for most people across India. It
is largely because of the Char Dham Yatra which takes place every year during summers. The Char
Dham is a set of four pilgrimage sites in this state and it is believed that visiting these sites helps
people to achieve their moksha.
However, too much and unplanned pilgrimage has led to problems like crowd management and
disturbance in the sensitive ecology of the region. Last year a city called Rampur, which fall in the
way of the yatra, faced landslides. Deep cracks were formed in the foundation of houses and roads in
Rampur. Some cracks have also appeared on a road which falls on the route of the Char Dham Yatra.
Rampur has now been declared a landslide-subsidence zone and many families living in uninhabitable
houses in the sinking town have been evacuated to temporary relief centres. Rampur is also of great
strategic importance to the Indian armed forces and is home to one of the Army's most important
cantonments.
Based on this situation, your department has decided to put some mandatory regulations like online
registration and a cap of 10,000 pilgrims per day on the number of pilgrims visiting the Himalayan
temples. Even locals will have to do online registration, which would create a practical difficulty.
However, soon the protest against this decision has started. The whole economy of the state depends
on tourism and such a daily cap on pilgrims will harm the interest of the locals. An organization of
Char Dham priests also met the chief minister of the state and ask him to take this decision back.
Their logic is that the majority of the pilgrims are poor, elderly and illiterate and won’t be able to
register for the yatra. This will create chaos when the people would be sent back. Agitations will start
soon if the decisions are not taken back. The CM has asked you to look into the matter in detail and
resolve it in an amicable manner.
(a) Identify the different options available to you in attending to this situation.
(b) Critically evaluate each of the options listed by you.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 24

(c) Which of the above, do you think, would be the most appropriate option to adopt and how it will
be implemented? (250 words, 20 marks)

Answer: Balancing economy with environmental conservation and religious sentiments has always been a
tough task for Civil Servants. It can only be dealt with well-informed, sustainable and inclusive decision
making.
An explosive cocktail of climate change, excessive tourism and aggressive road and dam building in the
geologically unstable region is a prefect recipe for a man-made disaster.
Ethical issues involved in the case:
• Means versus Ends.
• Short term benefit versus long term harm.
• Anthropocentrism versus Ecocentrism
• Right to dignified life of the people of Rampur versus Right to practice one’s region of the pilgrims.
• Economy versus Ecology
a) Options available for me in this situation Stakeholders
1. Accept the demands of priest and remove the regulations.
2. Stay firm on government’s decision and enforce the regulations. • Me and tourism
3. Try to satisfy the locals by increasing the daily cap of pilgrims and also department
make facility for permission on arrival. • Local people
4. Making an informed decision based on ground studies, public • Pilgrims
participation and the advice of the experts. • Chief Minister
• Flora and fauna
Critical evaluation of the options:
of the state
1. Accept the demands • Traders along
the route
Merits
• Temple priests
• Economy of the state will thrive. • Travel and tour
• Maximum people will get the chance to fulfil their religious aspirations. operators
• Increased revenue and popularity for the state government.
Demerits
• It can lead to a man-made disaster if a land slide takes place in Rampur. Life of locals as well as
pilgrims would be in danger.
• Crises of conscience for me if some tragedy happens.
• In long-term, ecological balance of the region will suffer.
• Permanent damage may lead to complete shutdown of the pilgrimage.

2. Stay firm on government’s decision

Merits

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 25

• It will be in the long-term interest of the people.
• Right to dignified life of the people of Rampur would be maintained.
• Strategic importance of Rampur in context of armed forces will remain intact.
Demerits
• Political instability and bad name for the government.
• Practical difficulties for the locals as they have to travel on daily basis. This would technically lead to a
surge in pilgrim numbers on paper, while not helping local businesses much.
• Financial insecurity for the locals and problems for the poor pilgrims due to digital divide.
• Justice for the residents of Rampur.

3. Increase the daily cap but keep regulations intact.

Merits
• This seems to be a middle path as pilgrims’ intake would be regulated and local economy will not be
affected much.
• Credibility of the government will remain intact.
• No hype would be created as people would be pacified.
Demerits
• Some people will still not get the chance to visit the temples.
• On arrival permissions can create chaos and traffic jams.
• Any increase in the number of pilgrims will still be a threat for the geology of the region.

4. Making an informed decision

Merits
• Scientific studies will lead to a long-term sustainable planning and decision.
• It will be easy to persuade the people based on facts and evidence.
• Public participation will create confidence among the people that what government is doing is for their
benefit only.
Demerits
• Studies may take lot of time which may not be available for this year’s season.
• Emotions of the people may overwhelm the reason of the experts.
• Politicians may surrender to the populist demand.

c) Course of action for me:

Gandhi ji has rightly said that those who claim to lead the people must not be led by them. Surrendering to
public demand can be disastrous in long-term. I must be objective, fair and rational in my thought and for
this I must go with the fourth option of informed decision making. Steps that can be taken are:

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 26

• I’ll immediately call for a meeting of all stakeholders and constitute a Char Dham Yatra planning and
coordination committee. It will constitute geologists, priests, local leaders and politicians.
• Ground level research will be conducted to affirm the right number of pilgrims that should be allowed.
• Advertisement campaign would be designed to make people aware of the problems the region is facing
and requesting people to act responsibly.
• Measures like ban on plastic, littering, ban on heavy vehicles, postponing construction activities can be
enforced for the time being.
• One-time monthly pass can be issued for the locals so that their daily travel become hassle free.
• Registration counters and health camps must be established much before the starting point of the yatra
so that no chaos is there at the main point.
• Social media can be used to make people aware of the situation and requesting them to postpone their
pilgrimage, if possible, for the next year.
• Helicopter services can be started so that certain number of pilgrims can visit without putting pressure
on the infrastructure.
Sustainable development is the only pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate
economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance.

3. In the last 5-6 years, many public servants in India have started using social media for airing their
views and maintaining their personal as well as public relations. Social networking sites have emerged
as a new line of interaction between different entities of governance like government, citizens, private
sector, and civil society. But it seems that social media is not only enhancing but also hampering the
functioning of the government.

Recently, a senior IAS officer from Telangana, tweeted from her personal account in support of a riot
victim and questioned the Gujarat government’s decision of releasing 11 men convicted on charges of
gang-raping during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

This has led to a debate about whether the officer breached the Civil Service (Conduct) Rules of 1964
and revived the debate about civil servants’ right to express their personal views on matters of law
and governance.

In another case, a public spat on social media between the two officers of Karnataka cadre shocked
the bureaucratic circle of the state. Both officers accused each other of corruption charges and shared
photographs of each other on social media. This brought a lot of embarrassment for the state and
finally both were transferred without posting. Thus, use of social media by public servants is a
controversial issue which needs a lot of deliberation. In this context: (250 words, 20 marks)

a) Explain the positive as well as negative implications of using social networking sites on governance
process in India?
b) Explain if it is right on the part of civil servants to discuss the policies and decisions of government
or other officers on social networking sites?
ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 27
c) What can be done to make optimum utilization of this new tool of communication?

Answer: Social media, where information is shared across different platforms freely and extensively, has
emerged as a new power tool of transparency, accountability, participation and inclusiveness.

It has a huge potential to convert representative democracy into participative democracy. However, just like
all technologies, indiscriminate use of social media can also lead to a new set of problems in governance
process.

a) Following are the positive and negative aspects of using social media:

Positive Implications Negative Implications

• Better government-citizen connection. Like • The scope of fake-news will increase as
through Twitter, you can directly reach the people will trust the news emanating from
Prime Minister. social media if the platform is used by the
• Speedy dissemination of information. government. E.g., cases of mob-lynching in
• Easier and efficient means for ordinary citizens North-East India due to rumors on
to reach out to concerned officials in cases of WhatsApp.
urgency like natural disasters etc. • It may lead to breach of confidentiality and
• Citizens can give feedback and ideas to violation of the right to privacy.
government which will help promote • The chain of command may be broken often.
participatory democracy. • Law and order problems due to cyber-crimes.
• Trust and faith in the government will increase • Complaints on social media may become
in the heart and mind of ordinary people. common rather than following appropriate
• Increase in government credibility and greater procedure and approaching concerned
acceptance of government decisions among authority.
people. • May lead to an era of post truth politics.
• It works as an antidote to bureaucratic red- • Rural-urban digital divide may lead to
tapism and delays. It also controls executive inequalities.
discretion. • Civil servants may use it for open criticism
• Greater collaboration and cooperation between of government thus compromising their
government, private sector and civil society. neutrality and threatening government
credibility.

b) It is a matter of deliberation whether civil servants can discuss policies and decisions on social media or
not.

Arguments in favour Arguments against

• The citizens of this country have the • When you work for the government, you are
fundamental right of free speech guaranteed bound by certain disciplinary laws like not
by the Constitution, subject to reasonable joining any political party or speaking freely
restrictions. on government policies and decisions.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 28

 • The duty of a civil servant is to uphold the • Rule 9 of the Central Civil Services
rule of law and constitutional principles in (Conduct) Rules: No government employee
letter and spirit. He must work in the public is allowed to "make any statement of fact or
interest. opinion which has the effect of an adverse
• The conduct rules are subjective and criticism of any current or recent policy or
vaguely defined. action of the Central Government or a State
• A rule is a guideline, not a statute. The Government.
Constitution doesn't mention it. • Such actions are not good for the credibility
• The laws which call for civil servants to of the government.
maintain secrecy and anonymity dates back • When a policy is decided, it has to be
to the British era. obeyed and complied with by the
• Every institution is subject to democratic bureaucracy.
norms in a democracy. A public institution • It can create panic and dissonance among
is better governed when it receives the people.
constructive criticism.

The Kerala High Court in one of its judgements said that one cannot be prevented from expressing his views
merely because he is an employee. In a democratic society, every institution is governed by democratic
norms.

Like what was done by senior IAS officer from Telangana to support the riot victim was in line with
constitutional morality and was for public interest. But what happened in Karnataka case was unfortunate
and it was against the decorum of civil services. Thus, rules needs to be changed as per changing times.
Civil services activism is the need of the day.

c) Social networking sites are revolutionary means of communication. Therefore, it must be embraced rather
than one being skeptical about it. However civil services values must be preserved while using this double
edge sword. Following steps can be taken:

• Social networking communication policy can be adopted with a strong set of ethics. A code of
ethics/conduct can be developed in this regard.
• Organizations can create official pages on social networking sites. This will avoid chaos and random
information sharing.
• Officials of certain critical bodies like Armed forces, Parliament, Supreme Court etc. can be debarred
from using social networking site for official purpose just like they are not allowed to go on strike.
• Cyber security preparedness and developing means to stop the spread of fake information by the
collaboration of government and service providers.
• Training officers regarding the use of social media.
Now is time to ‘un-gag’ civil servants, but with some reasonable restrictions. The secrecy clause shall be
replaced by the transparency clause.
ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 29
 *****
***********************************xxxxx**********************************

Most popular books for Civil Services GS Paper-IV: Ethics Integrity & Aptitude
Both the books are available on Amazon and Flipkart.

• Pease check the cover and edition before buying as

many fake versions are also available on internet.
• You can also purchase them from different bookstalls
in Delhi and other major cities.
• If you are not able to find them, message me on my
Telegram channel: ‘Ethics by Atul Garg’. I’ll share a link
and also a number of retailers, who can courier the
book at your doorstep.

ETHICS BY ATUL GARG 30