Moreover, professional ethics gives top-most attention to work ethic and human values. Work should be looked upon as an obligation to society and a means of personal fulfillment and an opportunity to perform God-ordained duty. The Bhagavad Gita says "YOGAHA KARMESHU KAUSALAM"(Doing one’s duty with skill and commitment is true Yoga).John Miller, an authority on professional ethics , said, "One should have an enduring sense of commitment to his colleagues , to his clients to his employers, to society in general and to his organization in particular.

Expectedly, one’s conduct should be immaculate and character impeccable. Conduct is outward behavior which can be seen and judged. Character is the inner behavior or the inside man. It cannot be observed from outside. It is being truthful, transparent and honest in thought and deed.

Do we find professional ethics practiced by our country men? The following incident is an illustration. William Franklin, editor of ‘the Jewish Chronicle’ quoted the experience of a visitor to a Government office in Delhi on a particular day at 3 p.m. He found the office rooms empty. He enquired from a sweeper woman who happened to be there, whether they would not work in the afternoon. She laughed and said, "They don’t work in the forenoon and don’t come in the afternoon".

It is sad to observe the state of things today in our society and the drastic decline in the standards of our professionals. There is a steep fall in ethical values in all our professions including education, medicine, law, administration and journalism. Corruption and bribery have become an endemic. If we open a newspaper or switch on the television, we find news of blatant violation of professional ethics in all trades and professions. Lawyers influence the witnesses to turn hostile. Doctors refer their patients to unnecessary diagnostic tests and perform surgeries indiscriminately. Professors produce spurious research papers, authors commit plagiarism, tax consultants cheat the authorities and politicians are the worst offenders.

Very recently , a Chief Justice recommended one of his colleagues for impeachment by the Parliament. There is trust in what Charles Lamb ,the well- known essayist commented in his essay, "The patient turns in his bed more often than the politician changes sides!" People worship Mammon instead of God. It is interesting to watch on the TV the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly and the exchanges between the members of the Treasury Benches and the Opposition parties.

News and electronic media have become sources of disseminating wrong values. Crime, Food, Fashion and Film stars are the most important things for them. Women are commoditized in aggressive advertisements. Children are made to think that models and cricket players are our role models and film stars are our demigods and goddesses. What is their message ?Drinking is fashion, smoking is glamour ,schools and colleges are centers of gang wars and eve-teasing and teachers are jokers. The media is allergic to self–regulation and resentful of regulatory mechanism. They raise the bogey of "Freedom of the Press is in danger".

There is every need to initiate and support reforms in the functioning of professions consistent with the objectives of the practice of decency, pursuit of excellence, human dignity and a civilized social order. There is need for a massive people-oriented movement to motivate public opinion in favour of promotion of professional ethics. As Robert H. Anderson said, "When a profession waits to do something until it is forced to do, it loses an opportunity to make a valuable contribution." Something should be done before it is too late.