Former bureaucrat and Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa on Thursday emphasised that public servants need to be transparent and accountable, as this will help in developing a society which can question the wrong.

Delivering the inaugural edition of Prof Jagdeep Singh Chhokar Memorial Lecture on “Leadership, Ethics and Public Service”, Lavasa underlined the need for leaders to be senstive and open to ideas as well as suggestions.

"Public servants should be accountable and ensure transparency. Parents should encourage children to ask questions, institutions should create an environment of freedom of thought, and leaders should create awareness about the cause which is right. Only then we can create a society which can question the wrong and where people are bold," the former IAS officer said.

He further said that leaders cannot escape by saying that people get what they deserve, and they need to be more sensitive.

Lavasa peppered his speech with couplets and poems by eminent poets like Sahir Ludhianvi and Bahadur Shah Zafar, while illustrating life lessons through his personal experiences as a bureaucrat in his earlier days in Haryana.

The former bureaucrat pointed out that owning up to one's mistakes is a great example of inner courage, which is an important prerequisite for a good future leader and shows that ethics in life are paramount.

Lavasa also remembered Chhokar, one of the founding members of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADRs), who had passed away last year on September 12, for his inner courage, principles and his innate love for poetry.