October 4 – GS 4 Ethics: 2025 | UPSC Daily Answer Writing Practice PDF Download

(A) State the three basic values, universal in nature, in the context of civil services and bring out their importance. (UPSC MAINS GS4 )

Civil Services values are accepted principles and standards that are expected to be followed by the civil servants. They act as internal moral compass and guide the civil servants in making decisions in the public interest, especially in situations, where they face dilemma or conflict between public duty and personal interest.
Following are some of such values:
Empathy

• It is the ability to understand another person’s feelings, experience, etc. It involves understanding another’s heart, mind and spirit - including their motives, backgrounds and feelings. The more empathy we have for others, the more we to appreciate and reverence who they are. For to touch the inner feelings and soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground. 
• To gain empathy for another, we must listen to them. But most people do not listen with an intent to understand, rather they listen with the intent to reply. They are busy filtering everything through their own perspectives rather than trying to understand another’s frame of reference. Listening with the intent to understand goes a long way towards allowing others to feel comfortable in expressing their thoughts and mind. We never fully understand another until we take our glasses off and see the world through his or her eyes. 
• Empathy requires selflessness. “Selflessness” is characterized by low levels of self-centeredness and a low degree of importance given to the self. Selfish motivation often discourages public servants from taking initiative and helping others unless these activities are directly rewarded, which can be detrimental to their long-term performance, reputations and careers. 
• Civil servants and public officials should maintain and strengthen the public’s trust and confidence in government, by demonstrating the highest standards of professional competence, efficiency and effectiveness, upholding the Constitution and the laws, and seeking to advance the public good at all times and should put possibilities for personal advantage to one side.

Integrity

• Public servants hold their office in trust, which underlies two principles; they shall not use public office for private gain, and they shall act impartially and not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual. 
• Today corruption has become a widespread phenomenon among public officials as they unabashedly use their position and power to enrich themselves personally. How to control corruption is one of the biggest challenges facing the Government. Public officials should also avoid conflict of interest situations. 
• While rules and laws have been framed for severe punishment, if officials are caught in corruption, they do not act as effective deterrence as rules give so many escape clauses. Only when public servants inculcate the noble values of integrity and honesty, a dent in massive corruption problem facing the country can be made. 
• Integrity is the fundamental moral concept in civil services. It is an important basis of ethical behavior and ethical competency. It is associated with the value of being honest and maintain strong moral principles. This value helps a civil servant to make administration more authentic and non-corrupt. E.g. no favour is given in allotment of purchase tender which would have otherwise might have benefited the official personally.

Objectivity

Objectivity is defined as basing your decision on rigorous analysis of the evidence. It entails that a truth remains true universally, independently of human thought or approaches. If the civil servant is objective, he will provide information and advice, including advice to Minister, on the basis of evidence, and accurately present the options and facts, take decisions on the merits of the case and due account of expert and professional advice.
These core values support good governance and ensure that achievement of the highest possible standards in all that the civil service does.Objectivity is carrying out public business whether, appointments, awarding contracts etc purely based on merit.
So it can be briefly summarised as- 

• The values of impartiality and objectivity are complementary to each other. 
• The decisions based on merits and facts lead to an impartial decision making. 
• Civil servants should provide information and advice to government on the basis of evidence, facts and should take decisions on the merit of the case, and take professional inputs from experts and professionals.

Topics Covered - Objectivity, Integrity and Empathy

(B) Distinguish between “Code of ethics” and “Code of conduct” with suitable examples. (UPSC MAINS GS4 )

Code of Ethics is: Sometimes referred to as a Value Statement, it behaves like the Constitution with general principles to guide behaviour; outlining a set of principles that affect decision-making. For example if an organization is committed to protecting the environment and “being green”, the Code of Ethics will state that there is an expectation for any employee faced with a problem, to choose the most “green” solution. 

• It works on the basis of “treat others as you would like to be treated.” Code of Conduct: is a set of rules, standards, principles and values outlining the expected behaviour for the members of an organisation. These are designed to prevent certain types of behaviours like conflict of interest, self-dealing, bribery and inappropriate actions. 
• There are many types of Codes of Conduct like, Uniform National Code, Department-specific Code, General government-wide Code, etc. Both a Code of Ethics and a Code of Conduct are similar as they are used in an attempt to encourage specific forms of behaviour by employees. Ethics guidelines attempt to provide guidance about values and choices to influence decision making. 
• Conduct regulations assert that some specific actions are appropriate, others inappropriate. With similarities, comes differences. Both are used in an attempt to regulate behavior in very different ways. Ethical standards generally are wide-ranging and non-specific, designed to provide a set of values or decision-making approaches that enable employees to make independent judgments about the most appropriate course of action. 
• Conduct standards generally require little judgment; you obey or incur a penalty, and the code provides a fairly clear set of expectations about which actions are required, acceptable or prohibited. The conduct rules for civil servants in India aim at maintaining integrity and discipline in the service, and neutrality in politics. 
• The following matters are covered in the conduct rules: maintenance of correct behavior; loyalty to the state; regulation of political activities to ensure neutrality of the personnel; enforcement of code of ethics in official, private and domestic life; protection of the integrity of the officials by placing restrictions on investments, borrowings, engagements in trade or business, acquisition or disposal of movable and immovable valuable property, acceptance of gifts and presents; restriction on more than one marriage. 
• Rules also exist for the imposition of minor or major penalties on the civil servant depending on the nature of misconduct. 
• The following activities constitute misconduct: embezzlement, falsification of accounts, fraudulent claims, forgery of documents, theft of government property, defrauding government, bribery, corruption, possession of disproportionate assets, and offenses against laws. These rules are not free from ambiguity.

Topics Covered- Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics