The idea of an ethical India
Reviewed by M.M. Goel

Ethics, Integrity and Values in Public Service
Ed Ramesh K Arora New Age International. Pages 498. Rs 299

There is logic and rationale to justify ethics, integrity and values in public service as we are victim of bad governance at all levels of operation in the various sectors of the Indian economy. There is exponential growth of corruption. There is devaluation of moral values more than the Indian rupee. To become corruption free, we need awareness and change in our looks, actions and words ( LAW).

A close perusal of the book dedicated to iconic figure A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — a paragon of personal and professional probity — shows how it is developed in 40 chapters, divided in 10 parts. Explained are ethics and its dimensions, integrity in public service, corruption: sources and remedies, work culture and emotional intelligence, corporate governance, the Indian ethos, issue areas, eminent voices, salient documents and case studies. All these give an opportunity to the reviewer to understand the concept of ethics, integrity and values which are in transition. Time-tested values are enshrined the Bhagavadgita, which is a neutral, religion-free treatise on relationship management and welfare economics with wisdom to distinguish between the right and the wrong. Old values have vanished and new have not yet emerged, even 66 years after Independence.

To recreate an ethical India, sound in mores, strong in morality and robust in idealism, we need collective efforts of all sections of the society and great Constitutional institutions, supported by well-meaning and vigorous human groups. The book, quoting the speech delivered by Sardar Vallabbhai Patel to the probationers at the All- India Administrative Training School, Delhi in April 1947, reminds us that the officers must be guided by a real spirit of service in their day-to-day administration. In no other manner can they fit into the scheme of things, and this is relevant for all times to come.

We need political willpower, with a concrete plan of action in place of lip service for the weaker sections of the society. Inclusive growth has no meaning without inflation targeting, manpower planning and good governance. Human Happiness Index (HHI) without discrimination, deprivation and discontent (3Ds), calls for simple mathematics 1+1=1 which means one human being as soul plus one GOD makes it equal to one (spiritual development). It can implement inclusive growth strategy more effectively than by any material means.

The idea is to generate socio-economic wisdom among all the stakeholders and implement the programmes of the government with honesty of purpose with no wastage of resources in our beloved INDIA (with attributes of independence, non-violence, democracy with integrity and amity). Let wisdom prevail for good governance as SMART administration, (with simple, moral, action-oriented, responsive and transparent system). The monitoring and evaluation at all levels in the economy is the need of the hour. The book is useful to those in academics and policy making. Contributors include eminent persons, including Dr Manmohan Singh, M.Veerappa Moily, Vinod Rai, Subash C. Kashyap, S.Y. Quraishi, N. Vittal and T.N Chaturvedi. The essay by Mahatma Gandhi to explain the terms of trusteeship, deserves our attention as a perspective on public service with meaningful sermons.

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