Answer:
Conflict of interest means the existence of conflict between the public duty of an official and his/her private interest, which could improperly influence the performance of his/her official duties or result in breach of public trust in the organization. For instance, in the case of Delhi, where MLAs were posted as parliamentary secretaries, the court observed that there should be no conflict between the duties and interests of an elected member.
Conflict of interest may arise in the following situations:
• When a public official’s personal interests come in conflict with his/her professional position.
• When a person has a position of authority in one organization that conflicts with his or her interests in another organization.
If a person in a position of responsibility in an organization has conflicting interests outside, he/she may act in his/her own interests rather than the interests of the organization. Corruption is one of the major consequences of conflict of interest. A public servant must always avoid the position of conflict of interest as it may prove to be counter-productive to public interest.
Resolving conflict of interest in public service
• Codifying conflict of interest: There is a need for codification of conflict of interest for the public servants. Because public servants exercise enormous discretionary powers, they tend to get swayed by personal interests.
• Legislation: Non-disclosure of a conflict of interest should be made a punishable act through proper legislation. A private member’s bill “The Prevention and Management of Conflict of Interest Bill” was introduced in 2012. It aimed to cover all arms of governance, including the judiciary, the legislature and the executive.
• Cooling off period: A Parliamentary Standing Committee on DoPT recommended that the public servants should be given early retirement if their interest in post-retirement private service is established with cooling off period of 5 years.
• Culture of transparency: A culture of transparency needs to be fostered. Bureaucrats should be allowed to publicly discuss their post-retirement plans. An open public data platform enlisting all post-retirement appointments of civil servants will increase transparency.
• Active oversight: It can be done through consumer watchdogs, credit rating agencies and vigilant shareholders. For instance, district level media certification & monitoring committees are formed during elections to prevent misuse of official resources by the ruling party.
In India, there exists a culture of opaqueness and discreteness in the sphere of public service. It can be overturned through a stringent legal framework making compromise of the public interest a serious crime.
