IAS officers in Karnataka admit to conflict between personal, professional beliefs

They were participating in a panel discussion on ‘Transformation of Indian civil service skill sets, change in approach towards citizens and how to hand hold citizens’ initiatives for a better urban standard of living’ in Bengaluru

Civil servants struggle to ensure that personal beliefs do not interfere with professional duties, said P. Manivannan, Principal Secretary in the Social Welfare Department of Karnataka.

Participating in a panel discussion on the transformation of Indian civil service skills on March 31, he cited the recent hijab controversy as a case in point. “My personal belief is different from the government’s view. I have gone by whatever the government said… that’s professional philosophy. But my personal belief keeps nagging me, and it does affect my work to some extent,” he admitted.

He stressed on the need for a safe space, where civil servants can talk openly about conflicting views.

K. Jairaj, retired IAS officer and moderator of the discussion, pointed out that there is much more conflict between personal and professional beliefs today than earlier. He said civil servants need to develop stoicism to get over these conflicts.

Nitin Pai, director of Takshashila Institution, who was a panelist, noted that civil servants were discharging their duties in deeply polarised and conflicted circumstances. “The Constitution was supposed to save us; but the wicket-keepers of the Constitution, in this case the judiciary, has failed us, society and civil servants… if the judiciary, whose main mandate is to protect the spirit and letter of the Constitution, decides it has other priorities or decides to interpret the Constitution in the light of popular whims and fancies, we are done for,” he said.

He also called for greater public pressure on the judiciary. “The job of the judiciary is to interpret the Constitution; and that’s not what is happening. We are doing everything other than strict constitutional interpretation at a time when we need it the most,” he said.

D. Randeep, Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services, and A.V. Surya Sen, Director (Information Technology), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, were the other panelists.