EducatorIAS

 Themes In Indian Society Hierarchy India is a hierarchical society. Whether in north India or south India, Hindu or Muslim, urban or village, virtually all things, people, and social groups are ranked according to various essential qualities. Although India is a political democracy, notions of complete equality are seldom evident in daily life. Societal hierarchy is evident in caste groups, amongst individuals, and in family and kinship groups. Castes are primarily associated with Hinduism, but caste-like groups also exist among Muslims, Indian, Christians, and other religious communities. Within most villages or towns, everyone knows the relative rankings of each locally represented caste, and behavior is constantly shaped by this knowledge. Individuals are also ranked according to their wealth and power. For example, some powerful people, or “big men,” sit confidently on chairs, while “little men” come before them to make requests, either standing or squatting not presuming to s...

  G.S Ghurye points out that caste was considered as central to organized form of division of labour in Aryan society. When Aryans and indigenous communities developed interpersonal relationship through communication and warfare, the disciplined nature of Aryan society was appreciated by indigenous rulers who injected the elements of caste into their social life. In addition to that, priests, monasteries and travelers glorified the virtues of Aryan caste system. Hence the element of caste radiated from northern India to other parts of the country Ghurye explains caste in India on the basis of six distinctive characteristics:  Segmental division of society;  Segment is the compartmentalization of the population into groups. It is basically horizontal in character. It generates social grouping but not labelling. The membership is ascribed in character, i.e. it is based on birth and flows from generation to generation. Based on the membership every member has fixed status, role...

 A. R Desai has applied his in Marxist perspective to understand the diverse aspects of Indian social reality. The main works are: The Social Background of Indian Nationalism  Rural Sociology in India   Slums and Urbanization in India   State and Society in India   Peasant Struggle in India   Rural India in Transition  

  Model Answer Indian society is a pluralistic society with a complex social order characterized by a multitude of ethnic, linguistic, religious, and caste divisions. It comprises people living in rural, urban, tribal setting and all sections which carry the ethos of Indianness. Salient features: Multi-Ethnic Society: India is home to almost all racial profiles like Nordic, Dinaric, Proto-Australoid, Mongolian, etc. Multi-Lingual Society: Language is a dominant source of identity so much so that the present form of India into states represents the linguistic map of India.More than 1600 languages are spoken in India. Multi-Class Society: Traditionally  Varna caste system is followed by Indian  society  Patriarchal Society: Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and enjoy greater status than women. Indian society is largely a patriarchal society. However, some tribal societies are...

 5o Marks Compulsory: Salient features of Indian Society, Diversity of India. Role of Women and Women’s Organization, Population and Associated Issues, Poverty and Developmental issues, Urbanization, their problems and their remedies. Effects of Globalization on Indian society. Social Empowerment, Communalism, Regionalism & Secularism.

    Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity: The long-awaited  Indo-Pacific Economic Framework  (IPEF) was launched on 23 May 2022. Announced in Tokyo during United States (US) President Joe Biden’s maiden visit to Asia since assuming office, the IPEF comprises 13 countries. Led by the US, its other members include Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Accounting for two-fifth of the global gross domestic product, the IPEF is a formidable economic bloc. It has four of the world’s  top 10 economies  – the US, Japan, India and Korea. Barring India, the remaining three economies belong to the  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development  (OECD) club of the world’s wealthiest and advanced economies. Australia and New Zealand, two more IPEF members, are OECD economies as well. The high-income membership of the IPEF is augmented by non-OECD high-income e...

 The Civil Service is an integral and key part of the government of the India, It supports the Government of the day in developing and implementing its policies, and in delivering public services   .  Civil Service and its core values:  integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.   ‘ integrity’  is putting the obligations of public service above your own personal interests As a civil servant :You must fulfil your duties and obligations responsibly;  always act in a way that is professional4 and that deserves and retains the confidence of all those with whom you have dealings;  make sure public money and other resources are used properly and efficiently;  deal with the public and their affairs fairly,  efficiently, promptly, effectively and sensitively, to the best of your ability;  handle information as openly as possible within the legal framework; and comply with the law and uphold the administration of justice.  Y...

   Characteristics of Good Governance are   Accountability,   Demonstrates sincerity and commitment to the job/duty  • Does not make excuses, demonstrates a ‘can do’ attitude and delivers consistently  • Takes personal ownership for the quality of own work and keeps stakeholder informed about the progress  • Remains focussed on delivery within specified timeframe  Transparency,  Equity and Inclusiveness,   Makes timely decisions that takes into account relevant facts, tasks, goals, constraints, risk and conflicting points of view. Empathy is about being able to accurately hear out and understand the thoughts, feelings and concerns of others, even when these are not made explicit. Delegates responsibility with the appropriate level of autonomy so that others are free to innovate and take the lead. Participatory,  Consensus Orientation,  Following Rule of Law,  Effectiveness and Efficiency:  Tries to do the...

  The indicators of good governance are given below as mentioned in the Kautilaya Arthasastra :  i. King must merge his individuality with duties  ii. Properly guided administrator  iii. Avoiding extremes without missing the goal  iv. Fixed salaries and allowances to the king and public servants  v. To maintain law and order it the main duty of king,. Theft losses to make good from kings’ salary.  vi. Carrying out preventive punitive measures against corrupt officials.  vii. Replacement of ministers by good ones by the king  viii. Disciplined life with a code of conduct for king and ministers  ix. Lays great stress on appointment of Amatyas who were the highest in status. There were selected on merit with great care.  x. Emulation of administrative qualities like uniformity in administrative practice, competent ministers the king possessing qualities of leadership, intelligent, good moral conduct and physical powers.

 Public Service Values - Public Service Bill 2006  In 2006 the department Of Personnel drafted a Public Service Bill12 which enumerated fundamental values of Public Services, a Code of Ethics, a Management Code etc. with the object of developing public services as a professional, politically neutral, merit based and accountable civil service.  The main values by which the Public Servants shall be guided are as follows:  a) allegiance to the Constitution and the law, democracy, nationalism, sovereignty, integrity of India and the security of the nation;  b) function in apolitical manner;  c) Act objectively, impartially, honestly, equitably, and in a fair and just manner;  d) Act with integrity and in a courteous and just manner;  e) Establish high standards, and ensure quality service, effective working and prompt decision making; f) Be accountable for the decisions;  g) Establish merit as the fundamental principle in employment, promotion an...

 Practice of Probity: Probity means integrity, uprightness and honesty. Maintaining probity in procurement involves more than simply avoiding corrupt or dishonest conduct. It means ethical behaviour that upholds public values and ensures impartiality, accountability and transparency. Transparency and accountability in procurement gives suppliers confidence to participate in the Government marketplace. An ethical culture minimises the cost of managing risks and enhances confidence in public administration. Ensuring probity of action is part of every public official’s duty, with the adoption of processes, practices and behaviour that enhance and promote public sector values and interests. In short we can also said in order that the public officials perform their duties honestly and efficiently and become an instrument of service to the people they need to possess universal values as mentioned above.  They need in particular the following fundamental values:  Devotion to Work, ...

 Civil servants have a special responsibility because they are entrusted with managing resources on behalf of the community, delivering services to the community and taking decisions that affect a citizen’s life. The community, therefore, must be able to trust the integrity of the civil service decision-making process. Civil servants are expected to maintain high standards of professionalism, responsiveness and impartiality. One of the most comprehensive statements of what constitutes ethical standards for holders of public office came from the Committee on Standards In Public Life in the United Kingdom, popularly known as Nolan Committee, which outlined following Seven Principles of Public Life:   Selflessnes s :Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family or their friends.   Integrity : Holders of public office should not place thems...

 

 People First  € Redesigns and monitors new initiatives in public service delivery, using technology where relevant  € Understands issues from citizens’ perspective and seeks feedback to improve service  € Responds with speed and sensitivity to the needs of citizens, particularly marginalized  € Sets public service standards and systems to improve public services  € Tracks global trends, develops service delivery strategy and a citizen-centric culture Leading Others  € Creates appropriate structures to promote team effectiveness  € Creates buy-in for a compelling vision that meets the goals of civil services  € Shares information and updates the team  € Empowers, inspires and energizes the team to thrive in the changing environment  € Promotes an open culture, secures support and resolves conflicts Integrity  € Acts as a role model and creates an open, honest and ethical culture  € Is unflinching on public service values ...

 According to encyclopedia of governance, “ Within human governance, power refers to the ability of a given individual, corporate body, political organization or political system to further interests shape behavior and inform strategies for action . It Power has been defined as the ability to get things done despite the will and resistance of others. Max Weber defined Power “as the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance.” M.P. Follet defines power as “the ability to make things happen, to be a causal agent, to initiate change.”   Authority defined  as “the character of an order in a formal organization by virtue of which it is accepted by a contributor or member of organization governing or determining what he does or is not to do so as the organization is concerned.” Henry Fayol: “Authority is the right to give orders and power to exact obedience.”  Chester Barnard defined powe...

 G eorge R. Terry defines responsibility as an obligation of an individual to carry out the assigned activities to the best of one‟s ability Responsibility in the administrative system is of five types:   Organizational:; organizational responsibility is the basic structural feature of Weber‟s model of bureaucracy. The employees in such organization are arranged in superior subordinate relationship. The subordinate is accountable to his superior for fulfillment of assigned duties and functions.   Legal :Administration have to act and carry out their official duties and responsibilities in a legal manner by following appropriate procedure, rules and regulations. They have to respect the established legislative and judicial process. They are liable to be held accountable for not following legal system.  Professional : The role of specialists have increased in administration owing to increase in technical natures of its functions. Consequently, specialists like doctors,...

 AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY  Authority and responsibility go hand in hand. Classical theorist emphasized the significance of equating authority with responsibility9 . Henry Fayol for instance stressed that authority should be commensurate with responsibility. If someone is assigned responsibility, he should be given equal authority for utilization of resources like authority to incur necessary expenditure, recruit personnel and to exercise the necessary control the subordinate official to fulfill the responsibility entrusted to him. Authority if not accompanied by responsibility is likely to be misused and the whole purpose of organization may be defeated. George R. Terry says “Authority without responsibility lacks an ultimate purpose or justification for existing, and likewise, responsibility without authority to curry out the assigned duties has a hallow ring.” Thus no one can fulfill the responsibility without commensurate authority but while the superior officer can del...

 Ethics‟ denotes the professional code of morality in civil service . They constitute the moral character of civil servants. They regulate the conduct and behaviour o f different categories of civil servants. They provide „rule of the game‟. The code of ethics consists of  traditions, precedents, and standards which have to be kept up by the civil servants . The civil servants are expected to set up high moral standards not only for themselves for the community at large, particularly, in the context of the growing importance of administration and its impact on the society.  Public service ethics are a prerequisite to, and underpinning of public trust, and are a keystone of good governance. Public service is a public trust. Citizens expect public servants to serve the public interest with fairness and to manage public resources properly on a daily basis Importance of ethics in Administration : Individual is the basic unit of society. Individual behaviour determines the...