Question : If information is power, nothing can perhaps empower a citizen more than the secret and developmental informations need by various public authorities.” Analyse the merits and demerits of RTI Act, 2005 in the light of this statement.
(2007)
Answer : The twenty-first century is driven, primarily, by information. The flow of information from public authorities to citizens determine the process of development in any country. The administrators of India rightly recognized its importance and gave Statutory Protection to flow of information through Right To Information Act, 2005. Like any their landmark development, the enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005 brought many unprecedented benefits to the Indian politico – social administrative set up. Some significant advantages, which it aims to derive, by obtaining the secret and developmental informations held by various public authorities are as follow.
Despite all these great achievements, the RTI Act, 2005 is still not free from certain drawbacks.
Still the Right to Information Act, 2005 has brought about significant changes in the administrative set up at the country. It’s just the beginning!
Question : “The role played by National Human Rights Commission in maintaining and preserving dignity of India’s citizens has been satisfactory and up to the expectations”. Elucidate.
(2006)
Answer : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) came into being by an statute of parliament in 1993 known as Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Thus, it is a statutory body. The members of NHRC are appointed by a committee consisting of the PM (chairman), speaker of Lok Sabha, Home Minister, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Apart from that the NHRC has a chairperson who must have been chief justice of Supreme Court. Apart from the above members the chairpersons of National Commission for Minorities, National Commission for SCs and STs and National Commission for Women are ex-officio members of the commission.
This comprehensive outlook of membership snows the NHRC includes every section of the society as well as representative of the executive and judiciary. The NHRC performs many functions which plays their role effectively in maintaining and preserving dignity of India’s citizens and has been satisfying and up to the expectations.
The prime function of the commission is to inquire into the complaints of violations of Human Rights. In India it has a great significance because it is a vast and diverse country where there are many instances of Human Rights violations every day. The NHRC has the power to intervene in a judicial proceeding-involving allegation of Human Right violations. The NHRC has the power to visit any state institution if it seems it necessary. Not only these functions but in the area of research in the Human Rights the NHRC is the main institution.
The NHRC has the power to review the Human Rights laws if it thinks that the existing laws have become obsolete.
While inquiring into the complaints of violation of Human Rights, the commission may call for information or report from the concerned government or any of the authority and satisfy itself as to action taken by the government in the matter.
It may make its own inquiries, if there is no response from the government. After completion of the inquiry the commission may take any of the steps like recommend prosecution of the guilty party or the approach Supreme Court or High Court for appropriate direction. It can recommend sanction of interim monetary relief to the victims or his family.
The reports of NHRC has not only national but also international ramifications. The United Nations favours those nations which have a good track records in Human Rights. These nations finds favours internationally.
In India the NHRC has been doing very well. India has always given the stress on the need for citizen’s grievance redressal mechanism and NHRC is also one of them. It is acting quite satisfactorily and in recent years even the ratings of India in this field has improved. Infact in south Asia, India has got the highest rating in Human Rights.
The value and importance of NHRC is enhanced in a country like India where there is wide spread illiteracy and high population also the diversity in communities on the basis of religion contributes to the exploitation of weaker sections. The insurgency and cross border terrorism, naxalism has also madethe NHRC an agency that has to tackle and take care of weaker sectionstism etc.
There is another side of the Indian social life. Unfortunately, corruption has found an acceptance in our social psyche and behaviour. It is often heard that in India saints and not capitalists, are worshipped. But our behaviour pattern shows the opposite. Evils like bribery, nepotism and favouritism have come to be accepted in society. Whatever the people may say in coffee houses and seminars, they show respect and awe to the corrupt. They vote them to power. They genuflect before them. They seek favours from them, which they know is not their due. This group psyche is very infertile soil for the growth of public morality. So it is very difficult to curb corruption in such an atmosphere. Apart from this, administration moves very slowly, administrative procedures and practices are cumbersome and dilatory. This is added by the negative attitude of the bureaucracy and red tapism. But this factor is less intense than environmental factor for corruption fertilization.
Question : “The National Human Right Commission is unable to play its role effectively due to various hindrances”. Comment.
(2004)
Answer : The basic premises of India’s freedom struggle were for human rights particularly of valuing and upholding Indian identity in term of a people wanting essential human rights for all.
The NHRC enjoys the powers of civil court while inquiring into the complaints under the Act. It enjoys investigative power and can utilize services of any governmental investigative agency. After completion of the inquiry, the commission may take any of the following steps. It may: Recommend prosecution of the guilty public servant, approach SC or HC for appropriate direction or recommend sanction of interim monetary relief to the victim or his/her family.
It is thus clear that the NHRC has no power to take any binding decisions. It has to depend either on SC or HC or the concerned governments. Its recommendations have no legal weight. These are not enforced like judgement of courts. The commission receives thousand of complaints from individuals and civil liberties groups and in majority of cases it calls for information or report from the concerned government.
It most cases it uses “post office” procedure, which consists of asking state government to investigate the incidents of HR violations and inform it about the action taken.
Thus NHRC needs to be making more effective. Still its very presence has made HR violation more visible and has enhanced public awareness about human values. It has also taking all possible steps to promote a culture of human rights through media publicity, HR seminars and HR education for police, paramilitary and army and in the system of general education.
Question : “Values, more than techniques are the eventual determinant of the actions of the administrators.
(2004)
Answer : To understand values in public services which can be equated with bureaucratic values, are must begin by a consideration of “bureaucratic culture” as values are rooted in culture. This, in tern necessitates a close examination of societal political, and administration cultures because of linkage between them and their contribution of value clusters.
Values basically represent behaviour, ethos among administrators.
There is need to develop both human and modern technology to improve efficiency. However, priority should be given to human development in terms of values. These are two aspects to development technical and human organizations had usually been more sensitive to possibilities offered to them by the achievements of modern technological than to the refinements of human behaviour as revealed by sciences of sociology and psychology. On the other hand , lesson drawn from experience showed that technical innovations deriving from the engineering sciences encountered considerable resistance unless supported by corresponding changes in human attitudes and behaviour. In an era of rapid change, the improvement of management in its human aspect had become a critical issue. It is important to make full use of the findings of social sciences which effort to be instrumental in giving guidance in the behaviour of individual and groups in varying circumstances.
Question : “Culturally sanctioned values and symbols have acted as important influencing catalyst in administration”. Elaborate.
(2002)
Answer : Culture basically represents a pattern of values and behaviour where response pattern persists over a period of time and gets institutionalized. Administrative culture is conglomeration of values, beliefs and dispositions and its central concern in the perception of the administrative systems by the public at large.
One of the striking social characteristics of Indian society is domination of inegalitarian values. Dumount after his studies characterized the Indian model as hierarchical. The hierarchico-inegalitarian social ethic has been built into the very psyche of Indians. It is the premise that characterises the institutions of religion, caste, family and the school, which, in turn buttress the inegalitarian values.
Next, while the institutions like religion, caste, family and school are structured relationship, they are maintained and preserved through deification of authority. The ideology defies head of the family, caste head, the teacher and such other symbols. Any challenge to these symbols is considered a serious violation of Dharma.
The inegalitarian values that have been imbibed in the Indian clture have resulted in particularistic behaviour in the administrative system. The particularism rooted in the patriarchal and hierarchical values does not permit collective and creative activity. There is one leader-centered administration. It is also a part of the administrative culture that the leader is never directly blamed for the failures.
The administrative tradition in India, which emphasized maintenance of law and order and economic development, has been slow in accepting the need for technical competence and difference in orientation necessary for social welfare administration.
The post-colonial India has been experiencing certain changes. The forces of democratisation and hegemonisation are fully at work. Egalitarian values are given importance in our constitution. Planning raised the expectation and hopes of the people. The state has acquired greater importance. Political equality has sharpened contradictions and their levels of articulation.
Question : “Only a systematic-ecological approach to study of corruption in India can help us understand its causes and dimensions.” Comment.
(1999)
Answer : The problem of corruption is a complex one, having roots and ramification in society as a whole, in its widest connotation, corruption includes improper or selfish exercise of power and influence attached to a public office, or to the special position occupied in public life. In this sense, in India the problem has to be viewed in relation to the entire system of moral values and socio-economic structure of society.
In India, the economic reasons are also the cause of growing corruption. The employees are not paid sufficient salaries. The rise of dearness is greater than increase in dearness allowance. As a result the government servant finds it difficult to satisfy his minimum requirements. Some employees fail to withstand this economic problem, and decide to overcome them by earning money through illegal means.
Ecological approach is also very helpful in understanding the growing corruption in India. In a society, where an individual has to live, he has to adopt, his standard of living according to the prevalent social values. Unfortunately, today, in our society the criterion for greatness and superiority of family is richness and high standard of living. Every person, on a lower post, eagerly watches the standard of living of other persons having higher posts, and intends to copy them. Everybody is after making money. The more one makes, the more comfortably he lives and enjoys comfort of life. Similarly political reasons parts of ecological approach are also responsible for growing corruption. The intervention of politicians in the administration is increasing every day. In the administration the politicians have engineered chances of making money viz. for the transfers, promotions, appointments, and for suppressing the matters of corruption etc. They provide patronage in return for money.
Further, today the moral values are fast loosing their significance. Simple living, high thinking concept has no meaning today and has been replaced by high living and low thinking. Formerly, people attached significance to character, ideals and principles. They had limited needs and lived nicely with scarce means. Now the needs are expanding. Luxuries are becoming necessities. Too much money is required for their fulfillment. Honesty cannot help in their satisfaction. Thus, the above mentioned reasons have helped to breed the evil of corruption in the civil service, thereby in the society. The study of these broad systematic-ecological approaches can help to tackle corruption especially in the Indian context.
Question : “Corruption is more of an environmental than an administrative problem.” Comment.
(1998)
Answer : Corruption is in a sense a product of the way of life of an acquisitive society, where money talks, where that works is justified, and where people are judged by what they have rather than what they are actually. The Indian society is passing through transition where modern mixes with the old. Here the ties of family, caste, tribe, community, religion, language and region are still strong. Public servants, therefore, are unable to sacrifice their group loyalty for the sake of their loyalty to the nation. This is conflict of loyalties. This results in corrupt practices like nepotism, favouratism, castism.
