Rules versus Compassion

A civil servant needs to be objective as well as empathetic. What do you understand by objectivity? Discuss its relationship with empathy.

10 marks · 150 words · Answered by 12 toppers · CSE 2019–2022

Impartiality and ObjectivityEmpathy and Compassion

At times, moral behaviour can be constrained by the complexity of legal system. Explain. In this context, explain the purpose of legal protection for good samaritans in the case of road accidents.

10 marks · 150 words · Answered by 10 toppers · CSE 2017–2019

Law and MoralityEthical Dilemmas in Government

You are a civil servant posted in a state where elections were recently held. The newly elected Chief Minister had promised to ban alcohol in several of his election campaigns as well as his election manifesto, which was widely praised and supported by women of the state. Fulfilling his electoral promise, the Chief Minister has ordered a blanket ban on the sale of alcohol in the state. Following the ban, concerns have been raised about the feasibility of the ban and whether the government should interfere in what is considered by many to be a matter of personal choice. (a) Who are the stakeholders in this case and how are they affected by the ban? (b) Is blanket ban on alcohol a feasible action? (c) Identify the issues that may arise while enforcing the ban and the steps you will take to handle them, as a civil servant.

25 marks · 250 words · Answered by 8 toppers · CSE 2017–2019

Ethical Dilemmas in GovernmentLaw and Morality

You are the SP of a district where a large number of followers of a particular sect reside. The district also hosts a large Ashram where regular gathering of the followers take place. The leader of the sect has been under the scanner of the judiciary for his involvement in illegal activities. Now the court has ordered his immediate arrest and an order pronouncing the same has been sent to you. You have been asked to comply with the orders within two days. A large number of followers, which include women and children, have already thronged the Ashram in anticipation of arrest of the leader. Intelligence units have informed about the presence of not only large stock of food and water but also ammunition, inside the Ashram. Your request urging the followers to vacate the site has failed. 20 (a) What could be the reason for people's defiance? (b) List the issues involved in the case. (c) What will be your plan of action?

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 8 toppers · CSE 2017–2019

Crisis Decision MakingEthical Dilemmas in Government

How do law and conscience act as source of ethical guidance? Explain with examples.

10 marks · 150 words · Answered by 7 toppers · CSE 2018–2020

Sources of Ethical GuidanceLaw and Morality

As a Forest Officer, you are receiving increasing complaints of certain animals ruining the farms and causing damage to crops. This is creating an undue financial burden for the farmers who are in deep distress because of the uncontrolled damage. Consequently, the farmers are demanding you to put forward a request for culling of animals. You are an animal lover and against culling of animals. You had made efforts to control the menace but the population of animals has increased beyond the managing capacity. 1. What are the options available to you? Evaluate each of these options and choose the option which you would adopt, giving reasons. 2. Also suggest some long term measures to ensure that such a situation is not repeated.

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 7 toppers · CSE 2016–2019

Environmental EthicsRules versus Compassion

You are the District Magistrate in a district where a significant number of transgenders reside. While discrimination against the community is well known, commuters increasingly complain of harassment at their hands, especially at traffic junctions where transgenders are mostly involved in begging. This, at times, also leads to traffic management issues. You have received a number of complaints in this regard and have to act quickly to resolve it. However, a group of transgender associations argue that begging is their only source of livelihood. Given the situation, answer the following questions: (a) Describe the ethical issues involved in this case. Discuss the attitude of people towards transgenders in general and reasons for the same. (b) What possible courses of action can be undertaken in such situations? Discuss their merits and demerits.

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 7 toppers · CSE 2017–2019

Empathy and CompassionEthical Dilemmas in Government

Impersonal management, a characteristic feature of a Weberian bureaucracy, develops over time into indifference, especially with regard to weaker sections of the society. Critically discuss.

10 marks · 150 words · Answered by 6 toppers · CSE 2019–2023

Civil Service ValuesImpartiality and Objectivity

Many coal mines in a district subject the workers to inhuman working conditions with little safety measures in place. As such, there have been several accidents and many workers have died in the past. In recognition of a recent accident where fifteen workers were trapped and died, the National Green Tribunal has ordered for closure of all such mines. Some of them have shut down, but many still continue to operate by getting an exception from the government, sometimes using the unholy nexus of politicians-miners-bureaucrats. In absence of alternative employment, the locals have no other choice but to work in mines. The mine owners are in-fact inciting the workers to protest to simultaneously put a pressure on the state to completely overturn the ban. As a District Magistrate of this district, you have been asked by the State government to prepare a report on this issue and give recommendations to resolve it. In this regard, answer the following questions: (a) Identify the interests of State and analyse whether there may be a conflict amongst them? (b) Given that economic growth is often achieved with a large human cost, identify the principles and strategies which could be used in the given case to achieve desirable outcomes.

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 6 toppers · CSE 2019–2023

Ethical Dilemmas in GovernmentCrisis Decision Making

While stampedes and mishaps due to overcrowding have led to loss of lives on multiple occasions, it remains an issue discussed only when there is a tragedy. Recently you were assigned the responsibility of conducting a mela around a revered religious place, which attracts millions of devotees. Every year the numbers have been increasing and this year due to certain celestial alignments the crowd is expected to be unprecedented. In the previous year the officer in charge was criticised and transferred over allegations of hurting religious sensitivities by restricting access to the religious place. You have three months to prepare for the mela. (a) Identify the key areas you would focus on? (b) What are the challenges that you foresee? (c) How do you propose to overcome them?

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 5 toppers · CSE 2018–2019

Crisis Decision MakingEthical Dilemmas in Government

You are posted as a District Magistrate of a primarily rural district. Excess agricultural production has led to a continuous fall in market prices of crops in the last three years. With elections approaching soon, the opposition has decided to make this a political issue and has mobilised farmers to protest against falling prices. The protests turned violent at some point and police had to fire in self-defence, killing two people. Violence has increased since then and you yourself were attacked when you tried to pacify the protestors. The protestors have also blocked the main roads as well as railways to prevent movement of goods and people. Given the situation, answer the following questions: (a) Identify the key concerns that need to be addressed on a priority basis. (b) What steps will you take to address them?

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 5 toppers · CSE 2018–2019

Crisis Decision MakingEthical Dilemmas in Government

You are the Commissioner of a city municipal corporation. Recognizing the state of some of the old buildings, you have categorised these under the list of dilapidated buildings. You have also issued an advisory to residents regarding the status and hazards of living in such buildings and asked them to vacate the premises. However, even after such a notification, residents continue to occupy such buildings and refuse to vacate. These are mostly poor people who have no other alternative available and would be rendered homeless if they vacate the premises. While you are trying to figure a way out for these people, your worst fears come true when one of the four-storeyed buildings on the list collapsed after heavy rains. Following the incident, public outrage led to accusations against the corporation for not getting the building vacated. (a) What challenges do you face as the Commissioner in this situation? Highlight the steps you will take to address these. (b) What measures will you take to prevent reoccurrence of such unfortunate incidents?

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 4 toppers · CSE 2019–2024

Empathy and CompassionRules versus Compassion

As the District Magistrate you are posted in a district that had been infamous for girl-child marriages. The government introduced a contributory scheme two decades ago, where the government contributed the same amount as the parents, into an account, for their girl child of age 0 to 7 years. The total sum could be withdrawn only when the girl turns eighteen and is unmarried. Due to this scheme, a new pattern has emerged. All girls are married as soon as they turn eighteen and incidents of dowry have increased substantially - because the community customs require paying the sum commensurate to the age of the girl. Further, parents now tend to save money for the scheme instead of investing in girl's education. As the local administration tries to tackle the current situation it looks up to you for ideas and leadership: (a) Identify the factors which have led to such outcomes. (b) Devise a strategy, keeping in mind the multiple aspects of the situation.

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 4 toppers · CSE 2018–2019

Ethical Dilemmas in GovernmentCivil Service Values

You are the officer-in-charge responsible for monitoring allotment of foodgrains under the Public Distribution System to BPL families in a given district. A group of BPL families in the district claim that they have been denied ration from fair price shops due to non-linking of Aadhar card with their BPL cards. They remark that the government and officers concerned are not empathising with their situation and stage a silent protest. Further, the incident is also being linked to similar instances in other areas of the country where people were denied access to PDS benefits due to similar reasons. The government receives a lot of criticism for this incident on social media networks. You are now in a conundrum, as you are aware that the BPL families need to get foodgrains on time. However, as a government officer, you also need to follow the prescribed rules. Media scrutiny has further aggravated the situation and you realize you need to tread carefully. 20 Based on the information above, answer the following: (a) List the issues in the given situation that the parties involved are facing. (b) What step(s) will you take in the situation to ensure that the demands of the aggrieved persons are met without violating the rules? (c) In this context, briefly discuss how the poor in the country currently face digital exclusion and its consequence(s).

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 3 toppers · CSE 2018–2019

Rules versus CompassionEmpathy and Compassion

As a concerned citizen you have been engaged with the issue of persons employed in manual scavenging. You notice that despite laws and strictures from the highest court of the land the practice of employing human labour to clean sewers continues. While the administration has to ensure the cleanliness of the urban localities, those who are employed also have to earn to sustain themselves and their families. The death of few workers recently due to asphyxiation while cleaning a septic tank has caused much consternation in your locality. You would like to engage with the situation by writing to the administration, for which you need to find an answer to the following: (a) Identify the stakeholders involved and state their conflicting interests. (b) What challenges does the administration face in curbing this social evil? (c) Enumerate the steps to deal with the problem.

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 3 toppers · CSE 2018–2019

Empathy and CompassionEthical Dilemmas in Government

You are the District Magistrate of a district that is known for making combustible substances such as match boxes and fire crackers. As per the The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, employment of children in such hazardous activities is prohibited. In this regard, government has also released a notification that owners of these manufacturing units need to report on the profiles of their employees annually as child labour has been prevalent in these industries. These manufacturing units, abiding by the directives of the government, publish such reports annually and claim to have successfully put an end to employment of child labour. However, it has been brought to your notice that these companies are taking advantage of a loopholes in the law. They have been outsourcing their hiring to independent contractors who engage families in the business. The families have been continuing to use child labour to supplement their income and also keep the cost of labour competitive so as to bag more such contracts and since they are not officially on the payroll of the companies, they are absolved of the legal liabilities. (a) Identify the ethical issues in this case. (b) How would you approach the problem and what would be the main elements of your action?

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 2 toppers · CSE 2019–2022

CorruptionRules versus Compassion

You are serving as a District Magistrate in a district, which is prone to recurrent droughts. The issue of scarcity of water is aggravating year by year. Even during the years of high rainfall, the district has witnessed severe shortage of water for agriculture purposes, mainly due to cultivation of water guzzling crops. It is evident that water scarcity is one of the main reasons for backwardness of the district. Recognising this, the state government decided to withdraw some incentives given for cultivation of such crops and incentivise a cropping pattern more suitable to the agro-climatic conditions of this region. However, anticipating worsening of their economic condition in such times, the farmers have taken to protesting on the streets. Despite such a well-intentioned move by the government, the farmers feel that response of the state administration has been anti-farmer and cruel. Given the situation, answer the following questions: (a) Do you think there is a real divergence between interests of the farmers of this district and the state? (b) What immediate steps should you advocate in the interests of farmers of the district?

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 2 toppers · CSE 2019–2022

Ethical Dilemmas in GovernmentEnvironmental Ethics

A state has been notorious for high rate of crimes and illicit activities. An understaffed police force along with sheer volume of criminal instances makes it difficult for police to duly investigate and pursue all cases till their logical end. The criminal justice system is also burdened and it takes years to deliver justice. Given the nexus between criminals and politicians, it is difficult to conduct investigation without external influences. A sense of lawlessness has prevailed in the society. In this backdrop, it has been observed that police has been resorting to increasing number of encounters of alleged criminals rather than catching them and follow due process. Popular public sentiment is also supportive of this method and the result has been a declining trend in crime. Given this scenario, answer the following questions: 20 (a) Analyse the issue from different ethical perspectives. (b) What could be the effects on the police administration and the society of such a strategy? (c) As an advisor to the Chief Minister of the State, what advice would you give to improve the law and order situation?

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 1 topper · CSE 2019

Ethical Dilemmas in GovernmentLaw and Morality

A woman employee has leveled allegations of sexual misconduct on social media against the Head of Operations in the company where you are in-charge of human resources department. This has been in the context of the recent phenomenon of women coming out against powerful men who have sexually harassed them in the past. Given the frenzy around the issue, your company is under immense pressure to act quickly against this person. You have the following options before you: (a) Accept the statement of allegations and take departmental and legal action quickly. (b) Investigate the matter through an internal complaints committee and take action after it submits its findings. Analyse the given options and argue which course of action would you choose? Also suggest what measures would you take to prevent occurrences of such instances in your company in future.

20 marks · 250 words · Answered by 1 topper · CSE 2019

Crisis Decision MakingRules versus Compassion