This is a class lecture note in ppt which is prepared with the help of other renowned writers of the world.

1. General Ethics An Introduction By Md. Shamsul Arefin, A member of Bangladesh civil service (Admn), 1984 Batch . (This lecture note is prepared for the ACAD, BPATC) Dated:30 October 2011 BPATC, DHAKA

2. Professional Ethics Ethics for Civil Service Professionals Md. Shamsul Arefin Joint Secretary Government of Bangladesh

17. Three Domains of Human Action Domain of Codified Law (Legal Standard) Domain of Ethics (Social Standard) Domain of Free Choice (Personal Standard) Amount of Explicit Control High Low

26. “ Whenever you do a thing… ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly.” --Thomas Jefferson

28. Sources of Ethics f. Family is the foundation for attaining some rationale behavior. g. Rules and Regulations can create compulsion of doing things right. h. National policy can enhance broader concept of hypothetical criteria for assessing the appropriateness. i. Role model in the Civil service can influence fellow civil servants to follow some of his/her attitude and conduct in running day to day official practice and life style.

29. Sources of Ethics j. Good practices and procedures based on legislation, and backed by management leadership and high-level political commitment are another source of maintaining high ethical standard. k. The civil service Conduct Rules & Discipline and Appeal Rules to stop errant behavior, and non-performance. l. The core education service values in the rules are considered to be neutrality, integrity, fairness and equity, and an ethos of serving for the teaching learning process.

34. Challenges of Ethics Erosion of Values Now in many cases, people do not feel any hesitation to take paper, pen or ink from the office to home for personal use. But once taking pen or pencil or ink from office to home for personal use was considered a serious mental pressure. Mr Mohammad Ali Ex, Chief Minister of Pakistan after submitting resignation letter from his office, he took pen of Bangabhaban with him beyond his knowledge. But when he had seen the pen in his pocket, he came back and returned it to Bangabhaban. If this is happened now a days, people might say it is done just as a administrative standbazi.

35. Materialistic social expectations Now demand of a family has increased. In a family it needs many things to run life. Once employee did not expect any color TV, car and or anything like that costly items. This has increased cost of living which compels in many cases to do unfair means. d. Unwanted intervention: Unwanted intervention also creates some impediments for maintaining ethical judgment of a person. e. Undue pressure: This is also responsible for demoralizing of ethical judgments.

37. Teaching of Hazrat Muhammed SA (Peace be upon him) An example is seen in the life of Prophet Muhammed sa (Peace be upon him) As the head of the Madina state, the Prophet once appointed Abdullah-bin –Laithai of Banu Jargan tribe as Amil (tax collector). At the time of depositing the collected zakat (compulsory tax on wealth from Muslims) before the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), Abdullah had divided that into two parts and said, “O Prophet (Peace be upon you)! One part of this is zakat money from people, and the other is the gift presented by people to me.” Hearing this, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, “Would the people have given the gifts to you if you had not been given the responsibility of collecting zakat?” Saying this, the Prophet of Islam instructed Abdullah to deposit the gifted amount along with the collected revenue to Baitulmal (government treasury), and the following morning issued an official circular prohibiting officials to receive any gift from people. He added further: “If anybody is entrusted with official responsibility, he will be given salary sufficient to meet his needs. If he receives anything beyond this, that would be a breach of trust”(Al-Buraey,1985:245). Another related Hadith (Teachings of Prophet Muhammed sa, (Peace be upon him) is that: “ He who receives bribe, he who offers bribe and the mediator between the two, are all equally doers of punishable offence”.

40. Way Ahea d Fairness : We should make decisions and act in a fair and equitable manner, without bias or prejudice, taking into account only the merits of the matter respecting the rights of affected people. Responsiveness: We are required to serve the legitimate interests of citizens, in a timely manner with care, respect and courtesy and without any special favor to a particular cast, creed, race and religion. Efficiency and Effectiveness : We are required to obtain best value for public assets deployed in or through public management, and to avoid waste in expenditure and the use of public assets.

41. “ No responsibility of a Government is more fundamental than the responsibility for maintaining the highest standards of ethical behavior by those who conduct the public business. There can be no dissent from the principle that all officials must act with unwavering integrity, absolute impartiality, and complete devotion to the public interest. This principle must be followed not only in reality but in appearance. For the basis of effective government is public confidence, and that confidence is endangered when ethical standards weaken or appear to weaken”. President John F. Kennedy, April 27, 1961.

42. Concluding Remarks It goes without say that, we are required to observe a number of responsibilities of good citizenship, in relation to honesty , lawfulness, and the prevention of corruption. Discipline and management practices must be objective, fair, and reasonable. Perhaps most important of all, Our salaries must reflect the cost of an adequate standard of living, both to minimize individuals' temptation to corruption, and to maximize the ability to attract and retain talented officers in the profession who can make a contribution to the society. The promotions also may be ensured after a certain duration of time as per rules equitably without prejudice.