AIR 21 · CSE 2019 · GS4 · 52 pages

Pratyush Pandey: GS4 answer copy

19 answers by Pratyush Pandey, as written in the test. Each question opens a page with how other toppers answered it.

The questions

  1. Q1Indian ethics teach moderation as a moral standard. Examine.10 marks
  2. Q2What do you understand by the concept of 'altruistic-hedonism'? Discuss in the context of public ethics.10 marks
  3. Q3Socratic concept of “Ethical dying” is a principled leave-taking from life. Compare and contrast it with the Gandhian concept of Satyagraha and Non-violence.10 marks
  4. Q4"Great leaders not only possess Interpersonal intelligence but also Intrapersonal intelligence." Comment.10 marks
  5. Q5Value conflicts are common in the public sphere of life to everyone and a public servant is not an exception to this. What are the common value conflicts that a public servant faces? How can a public servant overcome those value conflicts?10 marks
  6. Q6Probity is the synthesis of Integrity and fortitude. Examine. Does Integrity imply complete refusal to compromise?10 marks
  7. Q7Social Influence and Persuasion focus on ways in which behaviour of a group or an individual is influenced by outside factors. Explain how it can help in convincing people to work towards collective good?10 marks
  8. Q8The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude. What is the importance of attitude in one's life? What important role does attitude play in one's success? Elaborate.10 marks
  9. Q9"In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place." Do you agree? Substantiate with Example.10 marks
  10. Q10"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Elaborate this Aristotelian ethics with examples.10 marks
  11. Q11"Civil Service is not about absolute impartiality but is about partiality towards justice." Examine.10 marks
  12. Q12Discuss the menace of corruption in public life. Also critically examine the measures taken for ensuring probity in governance.10 marks
  13. Q13What is the present perception of public administration in the view of the general public? How can we reconcile "public" and "administration"?10 marks
  14. Q14Government of India decided to come up with a plan to de-radicalise youths, influenced by extremist groups to join their terror outfits. Under this plan, a separate department was established under Home ministry. You are assigned a senior position in a newly created department. The department, thus created, was responsible for monitoring, counselling and rehabilitation of youths who were apprehended on their way to join terror outfit. Afterwards they were returned to their family members and were given an opportunity to start afresh. One such incident comes to your notice where Mr. X who is a doctor by profession and was returned to his family members. He was intercepted and apprehended by security agency in Turkey while on his way to join ISIS in Iraq. However, after his rehabilitation, Mr. X found it difficult to adjust. No one was ready to hire him. He and his family witnessed nearly a social boycott. You are the officer designated to monitor the progress of Mr. X. You received a credible intelligence report that owing to lack of social support and promising future prospects, once again he is in touch with terror outfit. You reported the whole matter to your immediate senior who shrugged it off and replied that Mr. X deserves this treatment owing to his misplaced allegiance and mistake. He ordered you to stay quiet and let Mr. X go about his business and, makes a promise that if he makes moves to join terrorist organisation, he will be arrested and put in jail. a) Would you adhere to your senior's order? Give reason(s) for your choice. b) What are the ethical dilemmas before you? How will you resolve these?20 marks
  15. Q15Government has issued a tender for a mega road project. As a senior official in the Ministry, you are responsible for issuing the notice, examining the prospective tender offers and selecting the final vendor for providing the services. You are an upright officer. One of your relatives owns an infrastructure company and his company have applied for the above mentioned contract. After preliminary examination, you have reached the conclusion that your relative's offer best suits the government requirement. Initially, you had taken enough care that you are not at all instrumental in helping your relative. The Minister in charge of the Ministry wants you to allot the contract to the company of his choice-Company B. The said company has no previous experience in the field of Infrastructure. For contract to be allotted to company B, even the pre-established criteria may have to be changed. Therefore, you suspect the promoters of the company have made generous donations to ruling political party. The Minister is promising your career advancement in lieu of complying with him. a. Critically examine various conflicts of interest and explain what your responsibilities as a public servant are. b. Faced with this situation, what will you do?20 marks
  16. Q16A social audit was conducted by a reputed national institution for all state funded shelter home for girls in your district. The audit has pointed towards possible sexual abuse of girls living in a particular shelter house located in posh locality near district headquarters. The shelter home is run [by] an influential person who has political connections with big politicians and has a good influence on government officials including district child protection officer. It is in the news that district child protection officer is involved in the case as an accomplice with shelter home owner. Also news is coming of involvement of politicians and government officials in the case. An FIR has also been registered by the auditing institution with the nearest police station. a. As the district magistrate, what actions will be taken by you in the case? Also provide the objective behind the actions taken by you. b. The investigating officer of the case have cited the political pressure on him due to the ongoing investigation of the case. Also as the District magistrate, you are also getting frequent calls from influential persons pertaining to investigation for removing their names from investigation. What measures will be taken by you to ensure free and fair investigation without any influence? c. Discuss the safeguards that should be put in place to make sure that such cases do not occur in the future.20 marks
  17. Q17You are the Head of Department in a University. Recently, a clerical staff in your department was terminated from the job as he was found under the influence of alcohol during office hours. In the previous month there were a lot of complaints regarding his poor quality of work, tardiness and some incoherent behaviour. Later you came to know that this change in behaviour was concurrent with the death of his wife after a prolonged illness. It has also made him debt ridden. This may be further compounded by the fact that he has a daughter to marry off soon and a handicapped son to take care of. He desperately needs a job. He has applied for a position at a private University and has already given your name as a reference. He pleads you to give him a good recommendation and not mention his drinking, which he assures you are now under control. He also asks you to mention that he voluntarily left the University to address a family medical crisis and that the University was pleased with his work. You like this person and believe that he is a good worker when he is not drinking. But you doubt whether he has really overcome his drinking problem. Valid arguments can be advanced, both, for rejecting his plea with the consequence that his condition may become even worse and for accepting his plea with a noble intention, but keeping the third party in the dark. a. What could those arguments be? b. Could there be any better way to get out of this dilemma? If so, outline the main elements of this third way, pointing out its merits.20 marks
  18. Q18You are the Chief of District Transport department, who issues registrations for motor vehicles. The office is plagued with corruption, delays and arbitrariness. Some of the citizens complained that the absence of citizen charter in the office is the reason for all the other issues. You have decided to draw a citizen charter for the office. Your seniors and subordinates are also ready to support you in this regard with capacities, facilities etc. a. Draw out a citizen charter for your organization and list out its merits. b. What are the difficulties you think could occur in implementing the charter?20 marks
  19. Q19You have been appointed by the Election Commission as a booth level officer to oversee the conduct of elections in a remote and under-developed area. For the preparations of elections, you have been instructed to ensure maximum voter turnout. For this, you conduct a series of meetings with the people in villages encouraging them to vote in large numbers. However, they confront you with the fact that despite so many previous elections, the promises made by representatives remain unfulfilled. And even the basic necessities of livelihood are not available. As such, they are not forthcoming even to listen to you, let alone giving assurances to participate in voting. Based on this information, answer the following questions: a. Identify the stakeholders in the situation along with their interests. b. How will you convince the people and ensure maximum voter turnout?20 marks

The answers

Question 1 · 10 marks · 151 words written

Indian ethics teach moderation as a moral standard. Examine.

Opening · a definition

Moderation refers to a middle between deficiency and extreme. eg Cowardice and Recklessness → Moderation is Courage.

Body · points

Indian Ethics - Moderation as Morality

  1. Buddha
  1. Preached Middle path of conduct → Neither asceticism nor hedonismEight fold path of moderation as the means for nirvana
  1. Sikhism Emphasized householder's life, emphasis on charity and character → did not demand followers to renounce world
  2. Hinduism
  1. Ashramas or stages of life
  • Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa
  1. 4 goals Purushartha - Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha Thus, recognized material desires as well as spiritual salvation

(4) Moderation seen in tolerance of other religions and secularism → no attempt to impose beliefs (5) Indian Islam - rejects extremism → Despite 2nd largest Muslim population, very few incidents of radicalization

Close · a summary

Thus, moderation is a fundamental feature of Indian ethics, similar to Aristotle's Golden Mean, which stresses moderation as the key to virtue.