Impartiality

Impartiality implies that decisions should be made without regard to bias, prejudice, or an unfair favor for one individual, group, or organization over another. Read to know more about Impartiality.

Let us try to understand it through the following recent International event.

Russia began a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

India urged “a peaceful resolution of the issue through continuous diplomatic efforts for long-term peace and stability in the region .”

India withheld its vote in the UN General Assembly on a motion that tried to condemn Russia soon after the annexation.

India abstained in 2020’s UN General Assembly voting on a resolution proposed by Ukraine that aimed to denounce alleged violations of human rights in Crimea.

India adopted an impartial stand here.

What does impartiality imply? Why is it so important? What is the significance of impartiality in civil services? Are these questions making you inquisitive too? Well, it was equally interesting for us too. So let us begin to deal with each one of them one by one in detail in the following article.

Also read: Impartiality and Non-Partisanship

What do you understand by the term Impartiality?

Impartiality implies that a bureaucrat’s behavior and treatment towards any person or organization must solely be based on merit. Absolute impartiality is required to make decisions that are fair, just, equitable, effective, and efficient and leads to inclusive growth.

Significance

• It provides the administrator the authority to close any holes in the subject’s lack of trust in the government. It makes the activity of the administrator more legitimate and effective by impartiality.
• It establishes the idea of justice. Justice is based on the idea of that judgements should not be made based on bias, prejudice, or favoring one person over another for wrong motives, but rather on objective standards.
• Impartiality helps the administrator to fulfill his duties in a fair, just, and equitable manner that represents the civil service’s commitment to diversity and equality.
• It is recognized as a fundamental principle of professional ethics.
• You may not take any action that unreasonably favors or discriminates against any person or class of persons.
• Say, for instance, that you are provided with the job to choose the builder of the road in your region. You will be expected to choose based on objective standards first and with total objectivity in all respects.

Importance of Impartiality in Civil Services

A public servant who possesses this value will not face controversy during his or her tenure in office. The work’s objectivity will keep problems out of the public eye.

For instance, it will cause a stir if a public official approves the organizing of a rally for one political party but not for another. It is possible to prevent this by being impartial.

It will help in maintaining harmony between social groups. Tension between groups can occur when there are several difficulties between them, especially in multi-religious and multicultural societies like India. To ensure peace, the officials must carry out their duties while keeping a safe distance from both groups.

The government, as the supreme authority, must refrain from interfering with the public too much. The worth and dignity of the job will be threatened if that barrier is breached. For instance, UPSC members ought to avoid candidates who are close friends. If any connections are made, the body’s reputation will be in jeopardy.

A civil servant can defend constitutionalism and avoid authoritarian rule by acting impartially. It makes the civil servant accountable to the law and aids in maintaining the rule of law.

An impartial civil servant would have better credibility and persuasive ability in negotiations, for example, N Ravi, an interlocutor was effective in northeast insurgency negotiations because of his impeccable record of impartiality. This is very helpful in situations like communal riots, ethnic conflicts, etc.

Minority views may be muted, especially in a diverse nation like India, if a civil worker shows a bias toward the majority for personal gain.

The concept of impartiality from an ethical perspective has been a matter of debate. To be ethical, one should be having a thinking mind. But impartiality demands action only as per the rules and regulations. Here Weber has put more faith in laws than in humans for rational action.

It was in a way subordinating the human mind to the law. But the human mind can think better than law otherwise society could not have been this advanced.

Therefore bureaucracy should act as per rules and laws. But wherever necessary it should also apply its wisdom. Even the conduct rules of civil servants empower them that wherever the law is not clear civil servants should apply their minds to make the most competent decision.

Article written by Chetna Yadav.