Govt to train officials on ethics, values in public governance

 New Delhi, June 13, 2012 : Faced with recent instances of
corruption involving some of its departments, the Central
Government has decided to train its officials on 'ethics and
values in public governance' to ensure transparency and keep
graft at bay.
     Officials in the Ministry of Personnel, Public grievances
and Pensions, a nodal ministry of the government, said they
were working on a training module to inculcate integrity and
ethics for its functionaries at all levels.
     "The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is
working on a module to train officials on ethics in public
governance. All the officials working in different central
controlled departments and ministries will be imparted
training on it", an official said.
     He said the government will work out a detailed plan on
providing phase-wise training to all the employees.
     "The aim behind conducting such a training is to
sensitise the government employees on the ill-effects of
corruption in governance and in ensuring an efficient public
delivery system", the official said.
     The training module is likely to begin by the end of this
year.
     Officials said that private experts in the field and the
Central Vigilance Commission were being consulted on the
matter.
     The move assumes significance following exposure of
various multi-crore scams, including in the allocation of
second generation (2G) spectrum to certain telecom firms and
in the conduct of Commonwealth Games in the national capital.
     "The eradication of corruption is a very gigantic task
and needs involvement of each and every official involved in
governance. Hence all the personnel will be made aware on
anti-corruption measures and the importance of ethics and
values. The training module is likely to be prepared by
September this year", the official said.
     He said initially the project will start for Central
Government ministries, departments and public sector
undertakings.
     The government will assess the outcome of the training
module and then it can be recommended to all state governments
and union territory administrations.
     "The government needs help of all stake holders from the
common man to central and state government employees. The
government will consult states and recommend the module to
them after seeing the outcome here in the national capital",
the official added.
     In a recent move, the Central Government has also decided
to review its fight against corruption by independent experts.
     The DoPT had invited Expression of Interest (EoI) last
month from registered Indian law schools, law firms, academic
or research organisations to undertake the study which is a
mandatory obligation of the country under the United Nations
Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).
     UNCAC, which acts as a universal legal instrument to deal
with the menace of corruption globally, was ratified by India
on May 9 last year.