GS4 · 20 marks · 250 words

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.

Answered by 6 toppers · CSE 2019–2023

Syllabus: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration: Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance.

How toppers approached it

From all 6 answers · about 470 words.

Opening

  • No separate opening100%

Body

  • Points67%
  • Points and prose33%

Close

  • No separate close50%
  • A way forward33%
  • A summary17%

The toppers’ answers

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.

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