UPSC Mains 2017 · GS IV · Q9 · 20 marks · 250 words · Case study

You are an honest and responsible civil servant. You often observe the following : (a) There is a general perception that adhering to ethical conduct one may face difficulties to oneself and cause problems for the family, whereas unfair practices may help to reach the career goals. (b) When the number of people adopting unfair means is large, a small minority having a penchant towards ethical means makes no difference. (c) Sticking to ethical means is detrimental to the larger developmental goals. (d) While one may not involve oneself in large unethical practices, but giving and accepting small gifts makes the system more efficient.

  1. Examine the above statements with their merits and demerits.

हिन्दी में

आप एक ईमानदार और ज़िम्मेदार सिविल सेवक हैं । आप प्रायः निम्नलिखित को प्रेक्षित करते हैं : (a) एक सामान्य धारणा है कि नैतिक आचरण का पालन करने से स्वयं को भी कठिनाइयों का सामना करना पड़ सकता है और परिवार के लिए भी समस्याएँ पैदा हो सकती हैं, जबकि अनुचित आचरण जीविका लक्ष्यों तक पहुँचने में सहायक हो सकता है । (b) जब अनुचित साधनों को अपनाने वाले लोगों की संख्या बड़ी होती है, तो नैतिक साधन अपनाने वाले अल्पसंख्यक लोगों से कोई फ़र्क नहीं पड़ता । (c) नैतिक तरीक़ों का पालन करना बृहत् विकासात्मक लक्ष्यों के लिए हानिकारक है । (d) चाहे कोई बड़े अनैतिक आचरण में सम्मिलित न हो, लेकिन छोटे-मोटे उपहारों का आदान-प्रदान प्रणाली को अधिक कुशल बनाता है ।

  1. उपर्युक्त कथनों की, उनके गुणों और दोषों सहित जाँच कीजिए ।
IntegrityCorruptionCivil Service Values

How a topper answered the closest question

Toppers wrote this one in a test series: “You are an honest and responsible civil servant. You often observe the following: (a) If one wants to remain effective and powerful to create impact on the lives of people, one should remain loyal to those in power. (b) Following ethical means may not be practical and effective at all times. (c) Petty corruption expedites the service delivery. Examine the above statements with their merits and demerits.”

Vishakha YadavAIR 6 · CSE 2019 · 472 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening

Ans a

Body · points and prose

The argument tries to potray the fact that loyalty is supreme virtue to attain efficiency, power and an impactful work in public.

MeritDemerit
1) Emphasises on the value of loyalty a feature of permanent executive towards1) Blind adherence to loyality is dangerous.
the temporary executive
(2) This will ensure smooth coordination and implementation of the policies without the internal factions(2) Civil Servant is supposed to give neutral advice. Such as Negating farm loan wavier although it seems a lucrative option.
(3) It'll ensure a smooth career transition without the political pressure and divergence of the interests.(3) Morally unethical means can never be justified in the name of loyalty. Eg: Hiding the data of public interest (custodial violence, communal deaths)

Impact on the lives of the people can be created while being

Politically Neutral (eg: Ashok Khemka, Mr. Sagayam)

Ans b

MeritDemerit
a) Teleological approach of utilitarians found consonance with the justification of the ends over meansa) As Gandhiji said a wrong means adopted for a right result is never truly correct (Deontological)
Eg: Killing of the mafias/criminals to control the urgent public disorder issue without the due procedure of arrest and investigation.In similar example although the public security is safeguarded in practical manner, the violation of HRs of the criminals and right to life is never justified.

Thus, the perfect harmony of the means and ends would result into a truly perfect act. For practicable purposes the ethical morality can't be made flexible to achieve an objective howsoever the dire need seems.

Ans c It is said that "corruption greases the wheels of administration" - II ARC.

MeritsDemerits
a) Although a weed such as corruption can never be positive, yet it's seen that petty bribes can expedite the service delievery through levels of redtapisma) SC has said that the corruption is rotting the life and breath of this nation. The scams of Commonwealth, 2G, coal scam, BOFORS
eg: A pension certificate of the old aggieved person eg: To steadfast the processing of a DL by bribes culture at RTO in common ways of lifeadversely impact economy and public welfare (2) It leads to erosion of public faith in democratic institutions and imbibes a culture of "chalta hai".

Close · a way forward

Corruption in any form at any level needs to be tackled to truly make our Nation great. Japanese culture is an eye opener Asian example. GOI is bringing various laws to deal with political (EBS), economic (Black money, FEO Bill), and institutional (PCA amendment) measures.

5 more toppers’ answers to this question, part by part, and how they all approached it: open the question.

Toppers’ answers to other close questions

Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Main) Examination 2017, General Studies Paper IV, Q9. The paper on upsc.gov.in. Themes and links to toppers’ answers are by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.