Every person, once in his lifetime, dreams to become a civil servant. For them, the synonyms of being a civil servant are prestige, power, handsome salary, pride and authority. But, are these the only thing which a civil servant gains? No, there are many things beyond that, we can say that this is a prominent post which is beyond all the privileges.
Civil services are the most important part of our administration and a civil servant should perform his duties with integrity. Being a civil servant is not just a matter of prestige but it is a responsibility given to protect the civilians and the entire civilization.
The Quality of Patience
A civil servant should possess patient. If we look at the examination pattern and level, we find that it is very difficult for someone to clear it in first attempt, and patience is required even while a person a preparing for becoming a civil servant. Civil servants go through a personality test before their final selection and in this test also; the board tests how much patience and confidence a person possess.
This is the foremost quality that a person should have within him because when a civil servant joins the office, he need to fight with many problems and has to handle many people which might be irritating. But, if a civil servant conducts himself in patience then he would be successful to face the entire adverse situation.
The office of civil services requires a civil servant to take many important decisions. A decision which is taken in haphazard manner gives adverse results. Therefore, patience helps them to reach to a decision deliberately which will benefit the public. Therefore, a Civil servant to should learn to develop the quality of patience by which he can achieve effective administration.
Should be present round the clock
The world does not sleep. There could be any problem at any time and thus, a civil servant should be available for its people 24*7. A civil servant should be devoted towards the entire civilization.
He should world round the clock leaving behind his pleasures and comfort zone. He must never get tired of working for people. He must not wait for situation to get critical but, he must act in no time so that his strategies do not fail.
Good Personality
It is well said that never let yourself be a product of your surroundings, but encourage your surroundings to be a product of your personality. A civil servant gets attracted by the personality he carries. Having a personality not only mean a good looks, but also a humble heart.
A civil servant should work on his personality and must have a trimmed hairs, beard etc. He should represent himself in his uniform or in a decent dress. When other sees a person in formal attire, then respect comes out automatically. Uniform or formal attire makes a civil servant different from others and it becomes better for others to distinguish him in crowd.
A personality is the mirror of what a person really is. A civil servant with a good personality finds that people are getting attracted to him and they are following him. They learn things from a civil servant as he becomes their superhero. A good deed by a civil servant will compel others to do the same deed and in this manner, the society will grow and groom just like the civil servant.
Get himself acquaint with the Problems and People
A civil servant must need to study the problems and the people at which he is posted. They are given an authority of administration and for effective fulfilment of their duties, they should know the about what kind of deep rooted problems are faced by the population within his jurisdiction.
We cannot initiate war without knowing the strengths and weaknesses of our opposite empire and as the same way we cannot formulate and effectively implement strategies without knowing the status of the people, their needs, their expectations, their problems and much more.
When a civil servant gets connected to the society, it creates a strong bond between the two, which benefits both the civil servant and the society in long run. If a civil servant is not aware about the geographical conditions and demography then it will become a difficult task for him to satisfy the needs and this will make this will hamper the progress in that jurisdiction.
Moral Values
Though, a civil servant is above the citizens of the country but he should not forget that he himself is a citizen of the country. So, he should not act as a dictator of a typical leader but he should walk along with people for accomplishment of a specific task. He should be humble and polite towards his office mates and the people within his jurisdiction.
He should always respect others and their feelings and thoughts. Which civil services, trust is attached and he should not break this trust. He should carry himself with integrity. Clearing the examination for civil services is not an easy task, thus, it may ignite a feeling of pride within a civil servant. But, he must remain down to earth and should not dominate others because of his office.
Should stay on the right path
The civil servants are prone to get much political pressure. Indira Gandhi once told that the civil servants are the sole reason for ineffective administration. But is not so, these servants are bound by rigid rules and their actions are restricted by appropriated enactments.
A politician calls them useless only when a civil servant refuses to do any task which he thinks is inappropriate. Corruption is a part of each and every department functioning in India and these services also has corruption. Therefore, it is the duty of the civil servant to conduct him without any other interest except the welfare of the society at large.
They should not be biased and their policies should not be molded by any other person who wants to take due advantage of the office. They should adopt political neutrality. These civil servants also start considering themselves bureaucrats and this diverts them from their purpose. Therefore, a civil servant should walk on the path which is right and just.
Works for the benefits of society in large
The office of a civil servant provides him an opportunity to work for the entire society in large. Personal interest or the interest of the bureaucrats which are against the interest of the society has no place in these services. Though, we know the bureaucrats tend to take the whip of society in their hands but the civil servants should check these violating actions of them.
They should work for the betterment of the society. These civil servants were the part of the society and they know the problems of society as they have closely suffered them. So, they should work to remove the loop holes and short comings they encountered when they lived in the society without many privileges.
There are certain regulations which were enacted from time to time to regulate the conduct of the civil servant, like, Central Services (conduct) rule, 1964 and All India Civil Services (conduct) rules, 1968 which provides the rules about how a civil servant should conduct himself.
Therefore to sum us, a civil servant should conduct himself with high ethical standards, along with integrity and honesty. The Prime Minister in his recent speech told that civil servants must be politically neutral. They should have the principle of merit and fairness.
They need to be impartial towards discharging their duties and are accountable to the people for their acts and therefore, their acts must be transparent because transparency also builds trust and popularity. They should be responsive to the public with a humble and kind behaviour. The Constitution of India is the Supreme law of the land and a civil servant should respect the constitution and promote the virtues which the Constitution upholds.
He should cherish the democratic values as bestowed upon the citizen by the Constitution. India is a sovereign state which means that it is internally and externally free from control and a civil servant need to promote and protect the sovereignty of the country. He should take all the steps to dissolve the disputes and protect the public interest.
He must never place himself under a situation which brings financial obligations upon him. He must present himself confidently and in formal dress code in front of the society. He should use professional skills in performing his duties and all his acts should be within the ambit of the provisions of the law and regulations of the country. The most important thing, they should never consider themselves superior from the citizens and should not talk in a tone full of pride.
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