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ASSIGNMENT SOLUTIONS GUIDE (2014-2015)

E.P.A.-4
Personnel Administration
Disclaimer/Special Note: These are just the sample of the Answers/Solutions to some of the Questions given in
the Assignments. These Sample Answers/Solutions are prepared by Private Teacher/Tutors/Auhtors for the help
and Guidance of the student to get an idea of how he/she can answer the Questions of the Assignments. We do
not claim 100% Accuracy of these sample Answers as these are based on the knowledge and cabability of Private
Teacher/Tutor. Sample answers may be seen as the Guide/Help Book for the reference to prepare the answers of
the Question given in the assignment. As these solutions and answers are prepared by the private teacher/tutor so
the chances of error or mistake cannot be denied. Any Omission or Error is highly regretted though every care
has been taken while preparing these Sample Answers/Solutions. Please consult your own Teacher/Tutor before
you prepare a Particular Answer & for uptodate and exact information, data and solution. Student should must
read and refer the official study material provided by the university.

SECTION - I

Answer the following questions in about 500 words each.

Q. 1. Describe the matters covered under conduct rules for public servants.

Ans. In India, the current set of ethical norms are the Conduct Rules, contained in the Central Services

(Conduct) Rules, 1964 and analogous rules applicable to members of the All India Services or employees
of various State Governments. The code of behaviour as enunciated in the Conduct Rules, while containing
some general norms like maintaining integrity and absolute devotion to duty and not indulging in conduct unbecoming of a government servant is generally directed towards cataloguing specific activities
deemed undesirable for government servants. These conduct rules do not constitute a code of ethics.
Review of Public Service Values: The Central Authority may from time to time review the adoption,
adherence to and implementation of the Public Service Values in the departments or organisations under the
Central Government and send reports to the Central Government.
Public Services Code

(1) The Government shall promote the Public Service Values and a standard of ethics in the Public
Service operations, requiring and facilitating every Public Service employee:

to discharge official duties with competence and accountability; care and diligence; responsibility,
honesty, objectivity and impartiality; without discrimination and in accordance with law.
to ensure effective management, professional growth and leadership development.

to avoid misuse of official position or information and using the public money with utmost care and
autonomy.

function with the objective that Public Services and Public Servants are to serve as instruments of
good governance and to provide services for the betterment of the public at large; foster socioeconomic development, with due regard to the diversity of the nation but without discrimination on
the ground of caste, community, religion, gender or class and duly protecting the interest of poor,
underprivileged and weaker sections.

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(2) The Government shall, in consultation with the Central Authority, prepare a Public Services Code
of Ethics for guiding the Public Service employees within one year from the commencement of this Act.
The present Conduct Rules regulate the behaviour of civil servants. Although these constitute a very
comprehensive and wide ranging set of guidelines, they suffer from many shortcomings and anomalies. To
illustrate:
(1) No Class I officer shall, except with the previous sanction of the Government, permit his son,
daughter or other dependant, to accept employment in any (company or firm) with which he has official
dealings or in any other (company or firm) having official dealings with the Government.
Since there may be no company or firm in India that does not have any dealing with the Government, all
firms and companies are automatically covered by such a sweeping rule which is likely therefore to be
observed more in breach than in reality and which in any case, may not necessarily involve any type of
conflict of interest. Moreover, even if permission is taken in advance, if the acceptance of employment
really involves any element of nepotism or conflict of interest, such permission cannot absolve the civil
servant from any disciplinary or criminal liability.
(2) Where a Government servant enters into a transaction in respect of movable property either in his
own name or in the name of the member of his family, he shall, within one month from the date of such
transaction, report the same to the prescribed authority, if the value of such property exceeds twenty thousand
rupees in the case of a Government servant holding any Class I or Class II post or fifteen thousand rupees
in the case of Government servant holding any Class III or Class IV post, provided that the previous sanction
of the prescribed authority shall be obtained by the Government servant if any such transaction is with a
person having official dealings with him.

Considering the rate of inflation in the country, rising living standards and rising income levels, the
financial ceilings prescribed above mean that even for buying day-to-day consumer appliances, intimation
of the transaction to Government becomes necessary. This restriction again is, therefore, observed more in
breach than in reality. Even if such intimation is given, it is unlikely that the Government can maintain or
process the records of such transactions. It also amounts in any case to duplication of efforts since an
annual statement of movable and immovable properties is to be submitted by Government servants.
(3) No Government servant shall, except with the previous knowledge of the prescribed authority,
acquire or dispose of any immovable property by lease, mortgage, purchase, sale, gift or otherwise either in
his own name or in the name of any member of his family.
This Rule is again so sweeping in its coverage that even inheritance of ancestral family property would
require prior intimation. It also amounts to duplication since an annual property return is supposed to
reflect all the transactions.
(4) A Government servant shall so manage his private affairs as to avoid habitual indebtedness or
insolvency. A Government servant, against whom any legal proceeding is instituted for the recovery of any
debt due from him or for adjudging him as an insolvent, shall forthwith report the full facts of the legal
proceedings to the Government.
This appears to be a meaningless provision which is unlikely to be enforced nor does it have any direct
linkage with the official work of the civil servant.
Q. 2. Examine the merits and demerits of bureaucracy.

Ans. Bureaucracy is a way of organising work in which people are treated as interchangeable and
replaceable cogs to fill specialised roles. Two key features of bureaucracy are hierarchy and a specialised

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division of labour. Other characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy are rules which describe the duties of
members, a set of standard operating procedures, and impersonal relations between members. In a model
bureaucracy, initiatives and policy directions come only from the top echelons. Work in carrying out policies is done at the lower levels within the guidelines set from above.
Most large modern organisations are bureaucratic in form: government departments, corporations,
political parties, churches and trade unions. None of these real organisations are pure bureaucracies. For
example, initiatives and policy directions in political parties and trade unions sometimes come from the
rank and file.
Merits: Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus or departments staffed with nonelected
officials Large modern governments could not operate without one. They provide the institutional knowledge
and expertise necessary to carry out government functions, and assure that public services are delivered and
laws/regulations are enforced.
They often become inefficient and mini empires within the government serving their own purposes,
and fight for resources beyond what they need to function. If elected officials gives them too much power
in regulation they can become a heavy hand on economic activity, slowing growth. Modern bureaucracies
are the products of many of the same profound forces which have shaped our whole civilisation. Under
present-day conditions they are indispensable adjuncts of government. For this reason, the trend toward the
development of highly integrated administrative machines is one which has been accelerated in recent
decades. As the complexity of civilisation increases, the activities of the State expand. This occurs both in
the field of services and in the regulation of existing private activities. The facts of such expansion and of
the increasingly complex and technical nature of administration determine, to a large extent, the size,
organisation, and character of the public service. Large-scale activity forces a hierarchical organisation,
and large-scale activity is a distinguishing mark of the modern State. There seems little doubt that the
process of bureaucratisation, which has been notable since the nineteenth century, will continue. Such
being the case, it is the task of the public personnel administrator to develop norms and procedures within
this framework.
Demerits: The American Robert K. Merton was among the first sociologists to emphasise systematically
the now-familiar side of the bureaucratic picture--its red tape and inefficiency. According to Merton, if, as
Weber thought, the predominance of rational rules and their close control of all actions favours the reliability
and predictability of the bureaucrats behaviour, it also accounts for his lack of flexibility and his tendency
to turn means into ends. Indeed, the emphasis on conformity and strict observance of the rules induces the
individual to internalize them. Instead of simply means, procedural rules become ends in themselves. Thus
a kind of goal displacement occurs. The instrumental and formalistic aspect of the bureaucratic role
becomes more important than the substantive one, the achievement of the main organisational goals.
According to Merton, when one leaves the sphere of the ideal and studies a real organisation, one can see
that a certain bureaucratic characteristic (such as strict control by rules) can both promote and hinder
organisational efficiency; it can have both functional effects (predictability, precision) and dysfunctional
effects (rigidity).
SECTION - II
Answer the following questions in about 250 words each.
Q. 3. Describe position classification.
Ans. Services can also be classified based on the degree of customer involvement in the service delivery process, service tangibility, skills and expertise required, business orientation of the service provider,

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and type of end-user. Lovelock suggested that firms can market services better by dividing them into meaningful categories. An important characteristic of the civil service system in India is classification based on
the concept of the Service. Under this concept, civil service posts are grouped into distinct homogenous
cadres under a common Service named on the basis of specific functions attached to the posts in question.
There are two types of classification system:
Position Classification: In position classification a mans rank is basically a function of the position
he fills. The salary of a civil servent is dependent upon the position he holds. The foundation of a job
oriented career system is a position classification plan. Such a plan is a pre-requisite for any system that
regards the nature and content of each position as central to good organisation and to motivation based on
the work to be performed.
The Position Classification System is based on two fundamental principles:
1. There should be equal pay for substantially equal work.
2. Variations in pay should be in proportion to substantial differences in the difficulty, responsibility
and qualifications required.
Rank Classification: In rank classification, a mans status and salary are determined with reference to
the service he is assigned after recruitment. It does not depend upon the position he holds. Rank classification
has many merits:

It is easy to understand and administer,

It encourages career opportunity and promotes mobility,

It encourages loyality to the civil services rather than to a position,

It attracts competent people to the service.

Q. 4. Bring out the functions of public service commission.

Ans. The following are the functions of the Public Service Commission:

(i) To conduct examinations, written as well as personality tests, for appointments to the services of
the respective governments.
(ii) To advise on any matter so referred to them and on any other matter referred to them by the
President or the Governor, as the case may be.
(iii) To exercise such additional functions as may be provided for by an act of the Parliament or State
legislature in respects of the services of the Union or State Governments.
(iv) To present annual report to the President or the Governor, as the case may be, with its own
recommendations.
(v) To make report to the President or the Governor, as the case may be, on all matters relating to the
methods of recruitment, on the principles to be followed in making appointments or ordering
promotions and transfers, on the use of language in conducting examinations, on all disciplinary
matters affecting the Government including memorandums or petitions relating to such matters,
on any claim by or in respect of a person who is serving, or has served in a government post, on
any claim for the award or a pension while in a government post.
(vi) In case of the UPSC, to serve any of the needs of a State government on a request so made by the
Governor after securing the sanction of the President, or to assist in framing and operating schemes
of joint recruitment for any services for which the candidates possessing special qualifications are
required.

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It is also provided that the Parliament and the State legislatures, as the case may be, may confer additional
functions on their respective Public Service Commissions.
Some statutory restrictions have also been placed on the powers of the public service commissions.
They need not be consulted by the President or the Governor, as the case may be in matters relating to the
reservation of appointments in favour of Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. An
amendment was effected in 1961 in Art. 320 that says that it shall not be necessary for the President to
consult the UPSC in a case where he proposes to make an order for the removal, dismissal or reduction in
rank of a civil servant after he is satisfied that such an action is necessary in the interest of security of the
State. Another amendment was made in 1962 that further curtailed the advisory jurisdiction of the public
service commissions. It says that all regulations made by the President or the Governor, as the case my be
specifying the matter in which it is not necessary to consult the commission, are to be laid before the
appropriate legislature and are subject to legislative control and modification.
Q. 5. Discuss the types of bureaucracy.
Ans. Morstein Marx has given it a French pedigree and points out that it was first used in French form
bureaucratic by a French Minister of commerce in eighteenth century to refer to the government in
operation. It came to be used in Germany during nineteenth, century as `Bureaucratic'. . It has since found
its Way to English and many other languages and Morstein Marx counts it as amongst the notorious words
of our age.
According to Marx there are four types of Bureaucracy:

The Guardian bureaucracy

The Caste bureaucracy

The Patronage bureaucracy

The Merit bureaucracy

Marx cites two examples of Guardian Bureaucracy, Chinese Bureaucracy upto the advent of Sung
dynasty and the Russian civil service during 1640 and 1740. This type may be defined as a scholastic
officialdom trained in right conduct according to the classic. Such civil services regarded itself as custodians
of public interests, but was independent of and unresponsive to the public opinion. It was righteous,
incorruptible, efficient and competent on one hand but authoritarian and responsive on the other.
The caste bureaucracy has a class base and arises from the class connection of those in the controlling
position. Such type is widely prevalent in oligarchies political system. Under such system only person
belonging to upper classes or castes can become public officials.
Another name of the bureaucracy is patronage bureaucracy. This type of civil services exist where public
jobs are given as a personnel favour or political reward. The awarding of government jobs, appointments, and
other considerations on the basis of political ties or favours is known as patronagethat is, a patron or official
sponsor arranged it. During the first century of the federal government, almost all nonelected posts went by
patronage to elected officials supporters and fellow party members. After each election, the patronage jobholders
from the losing party found themselves out of work.
Merit bureaucracy has, its basis , merit of the public official and, its aim, efficiency of the civil services.
It aims at career open to talent.
Q. 6. Briefly explain the methods and techniques of training.

Ans. Staff development and training is an essential aspect of the direction of human effort and, as such,
is most effective when it is planned, systematised, and evaluated. Training is a function of management,
but: Managements first responsibility is to carry out the functions of an agency, as well as it can, and it

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should provide whatever training is needed to reach this objective. It may provide more training than this,
training that is desirable but not essential to successful operations, training that is of primary benefit to the
individual employee rather than to the agency. How far any agency may go in providing training must be
made a matter of public and administrative policy, and this may appropriately depend on conditions which
will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
Training can be imparted in many methods and techniques. The most prevalent method in India is the
training while doing the work in particular organisation. Here the person learns the job by experience. The
seniors in the organisation usually explain them about the specialised job requirement and their demand.
On the other hand in formal training classroom lectures, seminars, debates and discussions combined with
tutorials and work projects are arranged. it may be full time or part time lectures. Under this method of
training the trainees are usually awarded with a certificate or a degree. The last method of the training is
most common in the present time, which is called the conference method of training. Under this training the
selected personnel from different departments are called in meeting or in a conference where they discuss
the concerned issues. In other word we can say that under this type of training people learned mutually by
sharing their ideas and experiences.
SECTION - III
Answer the following questions in about 100 words each.

Q. 7. Write a note on Board of Arbitration.

Ans. The Board, set up under the Scheme for Joint Consultative Machinery and Compulsory Arbitration is an institution for compulsory arbitration of disputes between the government employees and the
government on pay and allowances, weekly hours of work and leave of a class or grade of employees. To
make voluntary arbitration more acceptable to the parties and to coordinate efforts of its promotion the
government appointed in July 1967, a National Arbitration Promotion Board with a tripartite composition.
The functions of the Board are:
(i) To review the position periodically;
(ii) To examine the factors inhibiting wider acceptance of this procedure and suggest measures to
make it more popular;
(iii) To compile and maintain up-to-date panels of suitable arbitrators for different areas and industries
and to lay down their fees;
(iv) To evolve principles, norms and procedure for guidance of arbitrator and the parties;
(v) To advise parties, in important cases, to accept arbitration for resolving disputes so that litigation
in courts is avoided.
Q. 8. Describe the role of specialists.
Ans. Role of Specialists: While conceding that the engineers, scientists, doctors, economists and
other specialists should get their due in regard to emoluments, status, and other service conditions, the
authorities of the Union Government ruled out their equality with the IAS officers. Their thinking was that
the job of an administrator was different from that of a technical specialist, that their training and temperament were different, and that, therefore, the two could not be given the same status. The argument that the
generalist administrator became a bureaucrat also did not appeal the Central Government leadership which
felt that the specialists if put in responsible positions in the Secretariat would also develop the same trait.
The need of the country was not officers but competent and creative human beings having an insight into
modern management and a lively sense of the social context in which they lived.

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