Questions
Case Study: You are an honest and responsible civil servant. You have already completed twenty years of service while working at different posts. Owing to your reputation of being honest, you have been frequently awarded challenging posts at various locations of the country. This means that your entire family has to cope with your frequent transfers and your kids have to adapt to new schools every now and then. During your various assignments, at times, you happen to antagonize various local politicians and powerful mafias. This has sometimes resulted in you being made the scapegoat by your own department under political pressure. Such incidents are emotionally draining for your wife and children and affect their morale as they feel that your hard work and honesty is not being recognized by your own department. You have lived a life of values and simplicity and have rarely bothered about material wealth unlike some of your batch-mates and seniors. The frequent transfers and tough postings have also often left you with less time to spend with your family. Moreover, due to your image and your lifestyle, your family does not feel connected to your own fraternity of bureaucrats who live a lavish life and who, at times, even look down upon you as a trouble maker. One evening when you reached home, you found that your wife was upset with you. On inquiring, you found the following:
a. She asked “who are you actually making happy with your morals and values - government or society?” Because neither of the two is supportive and appreciative of the way you work.
b. She questioned “why even your juniors are better-off than you?” She also told you that she feels marginalized in the lavish parties of your seniors, given the ordinary lifestyle she lives in.
c. She also complained that how your work culture and value-filled lifestyle has disturbed the peace & harmony of the family, especially the children who have to change schools due to frequent transfers.
After a small quarrel with her, at night you started thinking about the matter and were in a dilemma about these questions. You, yourself were convinced to an extent by her complaints. In this situation, how will you resolve the conflict in your conscience?
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Model Solutions
Case Study: You are an honest and responsible civil servant. You have already completed twenty years of service while working at different posts. Owing to your reputation of being honest, you have been frequently awarded challenging posts at various locations of the country. This means that your entire family has to cope with your frequent transfers and your kids have to adapt to new schools every now and then. During your various assignments, at times, you happen to antagonize various local politicians and powerful mafias. This has sometimes resulted in you being made the scapegoat by your own department under political pressure. Such incidents are emotionally draining for your wife and children and affect their morale as they feel that your hard work and honesty is not being recognized by your own department. You have lived a life of values and simplicity and have rarely bothered about material wealth unlike some of your batch-mates and seniors. The frequent transfers and tough postings have also often left you with less time to spend with your family. Moreover, due to your image and your lifestyle, your family does not feel connected to your own fraternity of bureaucrats who live a lavish life and who, at times, even look down upon you as a trouble maker. One evening when you reached home, you found that your wife was upset with you. On inquiring, you found the following:
a. She asked “who are you actually making happy with your morals and values - government or society?” Because neither of the two is supportive and appreciative of the way you work.
b. She questioned “why even your juniors are better-off than you?” She also told you that she feels marginalized in the lavish parties of your seniors, given the ordinary lifestyle she lives in.
c. She also complained that how your work culture and value-filled lifestyle has disturbed the peace & harmony of the family, especially the children who have to change schools due to frequent transfers.
After a small quarrel with her, at night you started thinking about the matter and were in a dilemma about these questions. You, yourself were convinced to an extent by her complaints. In this situation, how will you resolve the conflict in your conscience?
Model Structure
Introduction:
- In the given case, my conscience is at conflict because of the probing questions by my wife about the justification of my job, the rewards from it and the effect of my job on my family.
Main Body:
During the course of performing their duty, civil servants are often faced with phases of frequent transfers or occasional political pressure. Some officers such as Mr. Ashok Khemka, end up facing this issue for the larger part of their professional career. The demands of professional life put not only the civil servant under tremendous pressure, but takes a toll on his or her family as well.
- Arguments to convince me and my wife about my job:
- If my efforts help in improving governance or making systemic improvement, these changes will benefit the society at large.
- If my efforts are able to bring a positive change in life of even one poor or needy person, I have successfully done my duty.
- It’s satisfying for me if I can make the person standing at the end of the proverbial queue happier and her life easier.
- Issue of rewards & compensation:
Me and my wife need to remind ourselves of few things, such as:
- I am a man of values and I joined Civil Services with the intention to serve the nation and not to gather wealth. Our lifestyle is our choice.
- A civil servant gets a salary which is sufficient to ensure a decent standard of living. Living a lifestyle in excess of my means would open up the door for corruption not only for me but also at lower levels in the hierarchy.
- Non-partisanship is part of my job and expecting a reward for it from the government would be self contradictory.
- Feeling marginalized in the parties is a subjective perception. There is no end to materialism.
- Being honest strengthens our self-esteem and the satisfaction of living an ethical life is incomparable to any kind of materialistic pleasure.
- Corrupt people seldom have peace of mind. This effect eventually extends to family as well.
- Effect of work culture and transfers on family:
- Transfers are a normal aspect of the job of a civil servant. Both me and my family should be well prepared to deal with it.
- However, I have a responsibility to insulate my children from the ill-effects of frequent transfers.
- Being a wife of a Civil Servant, my wife has some extra duties similar to wives of military personnel.
- She should be ready to deal with, and help me with the dynamism associated with my job.
- Value filled lifestyle is beneficial for kids as they view their parents as role models.
- These values will keep the children in good stead throughout their life as they develop a strong character.
- Transfers are a normal aspect of the job of a civil servant. Both me and my family should be well prepared to deal with it.
As per the deontological philosophy and the Indian philosophy of Nishkama Karma, my sincere effort should come from a desire to do what ought to be done. In professional life, my conduct is in line with Civil Services’ foundational values. In my personal life, I have responsibilities towards my family, and need to minimize the negative disruptions in their lives from my professional life.
Conclusion:
- Clear conscience in the life of a civil servant requires not only professional integrity, but also separating your close relations away from the influence of your professional life.
- If such separation cannot be done, which is often the case, the positive effect needs to be reinforced, and negativities minimized.