EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
Conflict of interest in the public sector arises when (a) official duties, (b) public interest, and (c) personal interest are taking priority one above the other. How can this conflict in administration be resolved? Describe with an example. (150 Words, 10)
Conflict of interest is both a straightforward and a complex matter: in principle easy to define – in the public sector a conflict of interest arises “when a public official has private-capacity interests which could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities.” This arises when personal interest takes advantage over public interest and official duties. Establishing effective policy frameworks to control conflicts can be a complex task. To resolve a specific conflict, it is necessary to establish relevant facts, apply the relevant law and policy, and distinguish between “actual”, “apparent”, “real”, and “potential” conflict situations. This requires technical skill and an understanding of the many issues which are usually involved.
There are two approaches in resolving the Conflict of Interest in administration:
- Prohibition Model where person prohibits himself/herself from taking part in the process which involves conflict of interest. For Example: Justice Kapadia had stepped down as a judge while there was hearing against his daughter. Such decision set an example to follow to deal with the Conflict of Interest in a non-partisan manner.
- Disclosure and Peer Review Model: This involves open declaration of interests in public/to seniors/corresponding authorities. This also involves that the decision given should be reviewed by others (Public, Auditor or other team) in the same manner to avoid any sort of conflict of interests. For example: Justice Anil R. Dave rescued himself from being part of 5 judges bench because he was the member of the Commission which constituted NJAC with government. This shows his impartiality and public service value in dealing with the Conflict of Interests.
Example: In recent past a beedi manufacturer from Uttar Pradesh was on a Parliamentary Committee, Instead of recusing himself from the proceedings of the committee because of direct conflict of interest, he made a forceful plea against the warming and influenced the panel to take a decision which favoured the tobacco industry. Clearly such conflict of interest interferes with unbiased public policy making and will not be based on objectivity.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/beedi-business-owner-tobacco-panel-member-shyama-charan-gupta-questions-cancer-link/story-CMPSrwb44yOSq0UG3DgWgJ.html
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