Ethics in Public Administration & Governance

1. Ethical Dilemmas & Sources of Ethical Guidance

Cue Words	Notes
Ethical Dilemma	Situation involving a choice between two or more competing moral imperatives, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable (e.g., Law vs Compassion; Development vs Tribal Displacement; Transparency vs Official Secrecy).
Sources of Ethical Guidance	Laws, Rules & Regulations: Codified statutes providing objective guidance (Constitution, All India Service Rules). Conscience: Inner voice and moral sense of right/wrong when laws are silent, ambiguous, or conflict with basic human dignity. Accountability Frameworks: Audits, legislative oversight, judicial review, and public scrutiny.

2. Ethical Governance, Corporate Governance & CSR

Cue Words	Notes
Good vs Ethical Governance	Good Governance: Focuses on administrative efficiency, 3Es (Efficiency, Economy, Effectiveness), service delivery, transparency, and rule of law. Ethical Governance: Infuses good governance with moral commitment, empathy, justice, probity, equity, and public trust.
Corporate Governance & CSR	Corporate Governance: Ethical management of corporate enterprises balancing interests of shareholders, employees, consumers, and community. (Committees: Kumar Mangalam Birla, N.R. Narayana Murthy, Uday Kotak). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Mandated under Sec 135 of Companies Act 2013 (2% net profit spending for companies meeting financial thresholds). Transforms corporate obligation from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder stewardship.

3. Constitutional Morality & Public Trust Doctrine

Cue Words	Notes
Constitutional Morality (Dr. B.R. Ambedkar)	Ambedkar invoked the term (borrowed from historian George Grote) during the Constituent Assembly debates to mean strict adherence to the core constitutional values of liberty, equality, and fraternity even where popular opinion or majoritarian sentiment may differ — a recurring Supreme Court reasoning basis (e.g., Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, 2018, decriminalizing Section 377).
Public Trust Doctrine	Legal-ethical principle (recognized by the Indian Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath, 1997) holding that certain resources (rivers, forests, seashores) are held by the state in trust for public use, and government/officials cannot alienate them for private commercial benefit — a real doctrine linking environmental ethics with governance ethics.