Case 9.4: The travel allowance bill

Difficulty: Easy
Syllabus point: 3: integrity
Values and laws tested: Integrity, honesty, peer pressure, ethics in small things; Conduct Rule 3(1); Nolan's "honesty"

Illustrative exampleThe travel allowance bill

Ritu is a newly joined officer in a district of Rajasthan. For an inspection she travelled 60 kilometres by bus; the actual fare was 340 rupees. The accounts clerk says, "Madam, everybody puts in a taxi bill. I will make it 1,200 for you. How does anyone manage on the salary anyway? This is our unwritten allowance." Senior colleagues laugh and add, "If you play it too straight you will be left out. Nobody invites the one who does not go along." Ritu knows the bill will pass and no one will ask. The sum is small, but she is uneasy. The clerk has already filled in the form and only Ritu's signature is needed. She remembers what her father, a teacher, used to say: big dishonesty begins with small dishonesty.

Stakeholders: Ritu, the accounts clerk, senior colleagues, the public purse (that is, taxpayers), the office's reputation, future new officers.
Issue: integrity against pressure to go along with colleagues and the "low salary" argument.
Options: A. Submit the inflated bill (escapes the pressure; but it is a lie and the start of a habit). B. Submit the true bill and say nothing (her own integrity is intact; but the office habit stays). C. Submit the true bill, politely tell the clerk the correct rate in writing, and suggest to a senior that clear rules be laid down.
Best: C. Conduct Rule 3(1): absolute integrity; Nolan's "honesty" (tell and write only what is true); Gandhi: purity of means.

Lesson

Action: Short term: the true bill, and her own conduct as an example. Long term: a public list of routes and fares, a receipt for each claim, and the "low pay" concern raised openly for a lawful allowance.

Practice Questions

Practice questionabout 100 words

(10 marks, 100 words) What should Ritu do? Solve with the five steps.

Model answer

The stakeholders are the clerk, colleagues, the public purse and the office's reputation. The issue is integrity against peer pressure. The options: submit the inflated bill, submit the true bill and stay silent, or submit the true bill with a polite written suggestion. The first is a lie; the second leaves the habit unchanged. I choose the third, because Conduct Rule 3(1) demands absolute integrity at all times, and Nolan's honesty says write only what is true. Now I would submit the true bill and give the clerk the correct rate. Long term I would seek a public fare list and compulsory receipts.

Practice questionabout 50 words

(5 marks, 50 words) How should "small dishonesty" be seen from the standpoint of integrity?

Model answer

Small dishonesty builds the habit of the large; integrity is the match of values, words and deeds, and it does not measure the amount.

Practice questionabout 50 words

(5 marks, 50 words) What can a senior do to change such a habit in an office?

Model answer

Be the example, clear rules and lists, transparent payment, an open forum for genuine demands.