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APPROACH - ANSWER: GENERAL STUDIES MAINS MOCK TEST - 1245 (2019)

1. (a) Highlighting the attributes of leadership, analyse why it is important for a civil servant.(10)
Approach:
• Introduce by mentioning what is meant by the term leadership.
• Highlight the attributes of leadership.
• Analyse the reasons why leadership is important for civil servants and conclude briefly.
Answer:
Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal.
Though there are numerous styles of effective leadership, there are certain common attributes for
an effective leader such as, being ready for change, willing to redesign and innovate. A leader
leads by example displaying highest level of skill and competency, thereby acting as a role
model for others. He establishes a culture of openness, honesty and integrity. Further,
leadership is characterized by a high level of emotional intelligence, decisiveness
and confidence. Effective leaders often possess a long-term vision with a clear focus.
Civil Servants around the world are under increasing pressures to perform and provide quality
services with ever-fewer resources and face additional stress emanating from increasing global
economic, social, political, and cultural integration.
In this context, leadership in civil services acquire much importance as:
• The growing complexity of issues requires team building and networking among different
agencies. Coordination and cooperation requires leadership abilities to not only establish links
of communication but also a culture of tolerance to diverse opinions. For example, tackling
cybercrime requires coordination across departments ranging from finance to home
department.
• In the age of rapid technological changes, civil servants need to innovate and be open to
changes so as to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the public delivery systems. For example,
a district collector in Manipur used social media for crowd funding for construction of a 100 km
road.
• In crisis situations, civil servants must be able to take decisions and ensure efficient utilization
of public resources. They must be able to motivate and inspire sub-ordinates in these
situations. For example, in disaster relief operations, quick response and effective coordination
is required to mitigate the damages.
• They hold public office having direct interface with the people. Therefore to maintain the
credibility and trust of the people, they need to lead by example upholding the highest values
of the land. The operation Sulaimani is a case in example led by the District collector of
Kozhikode, where hungry people are fed in the most dignified manner.
The Nolan Committee on common standards in public life considered leadership as one of the
foundational values in civil services. Therefore, efforts must be made to instil and promote
leadership qualities in civil servants.

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1. (b) A civil servant needs to be objective as well as empathetic. What do you understand by
objectivity? Discuss its relationship with empathy. (10)
Approach:
• Elaborate the terms objectivity and empathy along with their importance for a civil servant.
• Describe the relationship between objectivity and empathy.
• Conclude the answer by explaining the necessity of having values of objectivity and empathy in
civil servants.
Answer:
Objectivity is basing advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of evidence. It involves being open-
minded, impartial, guided by merit and not letting preconceived notions or prejudices affect one’s
duty or professional conduct. Civil servants require objectivity for:
• providing information and advice, including advice to Ministers, on the basis of the evidence,
and accurately present the options and facts;
• decision-making on the merits of the case – ignoring inconvenient facts or relevant
considerations would result in lopsided policy formulation and would eventually lead to
ineffective implementation.
Empathy is the awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people by placing oneself in their
position. It is a key element of Emotional Intelligence, as it represents a social awareness
competency and a person’s ability to connect with others. Access to basic services, social justice,
and economic prosperity is unavailable to a large number of marginalized and disadvantaged
people. It is therefore imperative to inculcate amongst the civil servants, a strong sense of values
like empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker section.
Objectivity and empathy are complementing values as these result in civil servants behaving in a
compassionate manner and patiently listening to citizens while taking a balanced view. Also, it
ensures that civil servants are passionate about their service and dispassionate about the profile of
the people that they are serving, except in extraordinary situations such as dealing with pregnant
women, widows, divyangjan etc. Objectivity without empathy makes a civil servant robotic,
whereas, empathy without objectivity leads to non-conformity to rules, biasness and wastage of
public resources.
There are instances such as in the public distribution system, where government agencies provide
services for the sake of provisioning without keeping in mind the ultimate objective of public
welfare. For service to the country, civil servants have to imbibe better understanding of whom to
serve – their needs, aspirations and living conditions. While compliance with processes is
important to ensure objectivity and fairness, the processes themselves need to be empathetic,
particularly towards the vulnerable and weaker sections of the society. Priority should be given to
ensure that intended outcomes benefit the society, while duly protecting the interest of poor,
underprivileged and weaker sections.
Therefore, civil servants must be objective as well as empathetic to achieve the vision of national
integration and inclusive development. Mahatma Gandhi’s advice to anyone who was in doubt, to
find out if an action was good or not, was to put oneself in the situation of the poorest of the poor
and see how a particular policy and programme will impact him or her. Serving all citizens equally
without any bias or prejudice with a special focus on those who have been left out of the
developmental process should be the direction, the ‘antyodaya’ approach, leaving no one behind.

2. (a) With rapidly increasing use of information technology, what according to you is the role of
ethics in cyber space? (10)
Approach:
• Briefly discuss the rapid use of IT and state its positive aspects.
• Mention the negative consequences of rapid use of IT.
• Discuss the role of ethics in cyber space.
• Give a suitable conclusion.
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Answer:
Over the years, use of information technology (IT) has proliferated at a rapid pace and has acquired
a central role in the human life. It is inevitably intertwined with day to day life and existence of
human beings at every stage. Though, technology has brought transformative change, it has raised
many ethical issues, and as a consequence, led to ethical dilemmas in decision making.
The role of ethics in Information Technology can be three fold:
• To make laws for regulation of the IT space by the government(s).
• To inform self-regulation and norms that IT companies lay for themselves and their users.
• To inform the actions of the users regarding what is the right thing to do.
Some examples of areas where ethical and legal voids have been exploited:
• Many software companies push additional software to their users without their knowledge and
charge them more than required.
• Adwares and trackers that are pushed by websites and software to track the activities of users.
• Click-baits by using misleading headlines in order to gain traffic.
• Selling of private data of users.
Examples where users have resorted to unethical means:
• Exploiting the freedom of expression facility of social media, many users post hateful, racist,
misogynistic content.
• Exploiting the inability to monitor in real-time, even terrorist activities have been carried out
and streamed live to strike fear.
• Cyber crimes raise the issue of unethical and illegal activities being facilitated by IT. These vary
from socially less consequential like Piracy to individual centric financial crimes to socio-
politically impactful cyber terror.
Examples where Governments are faced with ethical issues:
• Indulging in spying of people and other governments.
• Seeking cooperation of organisations against cyber crimes.
• Laying down reasonable restrictions on free speech through law.
With the onset of Fourth Industrial revolution, the role of technology in human life will increase
several fold. Therefore, there is a need to adhere to ethics in cyberspace:
• Ethics in information technology is significant as it promotes a culture of trust, responsibility
and integrity.
• It has brought to public discourse the importance of issues of privacy, confidentiality of
information and unauthorized access to computer networks. The beginning towards legal
framework to prevent harvesting of data has been made with use of ethics.
• With governments finding it difficult to control/regulate Information Technology due to its
international fluid flow, the onus is on the companies to usher in self-regulation. Ethics informs
their decisions to set norms and define what is acceptable and what is not. For example, Twitter
proactively uses AI to remove content that violates its guidelines. However, there are allegations
of bias in its manner of operations. Ethics can improve this process by incorporating objectivity
in the system rather than letting it function with prejudice. Such a code of ethics would help
curtail instances of cyber bullying, hacking, plagiarism etc.
Such instances can be avoided by developing a broad consensus among the organizations. For
instance, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Internet and Mobile Association of India formulated
‘Voluntary Code of Ethics in Indian General Elections identify and report electoral rule violations.
Thus, ethics in cyber space is important in an age where usage of IT has penetrated into the daily
lives of people, running of businesses, governance etc. Its importance will increase in the future as
rapid strides are being made in the field of IT and avenues of digitization are expanding.

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2. (b) Transparency in government organisations is an essential pre-condition for good
governance. Elucidate. (10)
Approach:
• Briefly define transparency and its role in a democracy.
• State the tools of transparency in India and discuss how they lead to objective decision-making,
increased efficiency etc.
• Mention the current issues regarding transparency in India.
• Conclude suitably.
Answer:
Transparency refers to the availability of information to the general public and clarity about
functioning of governmental institutions. Governance is the manner in which decisions are taken
and implemented, particularly by the lawful authority. ‘Good’ signifies that governance system
adheres to certain well-accepted principles which make the system of governance ethical, just and
effective. Some of these principles include adherence to rule of law, participation, accountability,
transparency, equity, efficiency & effectiveness and inclusivity.
Transparency as a tool for good-governance
• In a functional democracy, the government is obliged to keep its citizens informed. This helps
citizens to hold their public officials accountable, which is key to just and good governance.
• As per the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, transparency in a democracy allows bi-
directional information flow, which allows citizens to participate in governance.
• It empowers the citizens to demand and get information about public policies and programmes,
keep themselves informed about their rights as well as duties. Thus, it promotes efficiency,
effectiveness and responsiveness in public administration.
Tools for transparency
• In India, the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act), Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013,
Citizen’s Charter, social audit, digitization of records, etc. are tools of transparency and
accountability.
• When the process of decision-making is transparent, decisions are taken objectively in a fair
manner. This ensures equality before law, just allocation of resources, cutting down on
discretionary and arbitrary decisions etc.
• It not only leads to increased transparency but also reduction in corruption. For example, e-
auctions of coal blocks by Coal India in 2018-19 made the auction process more transparent
and fetched 44% higher prices.
Despite these measures, India has not fared well on the global parameters related to transparency
in governance.
• According to Global Corruption Index, 2018 developed by Transparency International
corruption is all pervasive Indian administration. The index ranks India 78 out of 180 countries.
• Despite its positive impacts, there are several issues in the implementation of the RTI Act such
as low level of awareness about the act especially among women, rural population, SC/ST/OBCs
etc., procedural constraints in filing RTI applications, poor quality of information, increased
attacks on RTI activists etc.
• Institutions such as the judiciary, political parties etc. remain outside the purview of the RTI Act,
hence, it is difficult to monitor their functioning.
• Apathetic government officials who are secretive in their workings. This undermines both
transparency and accountability in public functioning.
Measures should be taken to improve transparency in government organizations, accountability of
public servants and involve more citizens in the governance process. The government should
proactively and voluntarily make information public as per Section 4 of RTI act to promote
transparency in governance. It will ensure just and good governance.

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3. Given below are quotations of moral thinkers/philosophers. Bring out what they mean to you
in the present context:
(a) A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.
Nelson Mandela (10)
Approach:
• Briefly explain what you understand by the given quote.
• State the issues faced by the disadvantaged groups in India that need to be addressed.
• Conclude suitably.
Answer:
The quote captures the essence of inclusivity in a society. A nation may grow economically but it
truly progresses when the fruits of growth are not merely appropriated by those who contribute the
most to it, but equitably by those who need them the most. As a corollary, it also means that rule of
law is supreme and that it cannot be different for the ‘highest’ and the ‘lowest’ citizens - it should be
equal for all citizens. This is essentially what the framers of the Constitution also envisioned for an
independent India i.e. a just and equitable society.
In the present context, it applies even more as increasing inequality has created large gaps in the
opportunities - those at the bottom are finding it more difficult to reach the social, economical and
political level that they aspire for. In order to achieve the above, India needs to reduce the gap
between the haves and the have-nots across these domains. The concerns of the deprived and
disadvantaged members of the society need to be addressed. These include:
• Pulling out approximately 73 million people out of poverty and providing a basic standard of
living for all its citizens.
• Ensuring that no one is subjected to social and occupational discrimination based on ascriptive
factors like caste.
• Taking into consideration the relationship of people (such as farmers, tribals) with the land for
their rehabilitation in case of acquisition of land.
• The literacy rates of marginalized sections like SCs, STs, minorities remain below the national
average. The proportion of children suffering from under-nutrition and malnutrition is high,
access to health, education and jobs is poor amongst such groups.
• Ensuring that rule of law is there not merely on paper but in practice as well. The over-
representation of marginalised communities in prisons reflects that those with means are able
to navigate their way out of the clutches of law more easily as compared to others.
• There should be increased opportunities for employment for women and conducive work
environment in order to reduce gender gap in employment. Further, they need adequate
representation in politics.
These issues reveal entrenched discrimination in society. The measure of India’s progress will not
be judged merely by the number of Indian billionaires, strides it makes in the field of space science,
lavish urban communities it creates, its roads & highways etc. But it will be measured by how much
of that development percolates to the bottom most sections of the society. The paradoxical state of
India where affluence co-exists with abject poverty and privilege coexists with lack of rights needs
to be resolved. The focus of the policy-makers should be to resolve them through development
schemes, affirmative action, policies based on inclusive growth, etc. After all, equality is a pre-
condition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and
building good governance.

3. (b) The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life
in harmony with all existence. Rabindranath Tagore (10)
Approach:
• Start with the significance of education.
• Explain the quote and bring out its various dimensions.
• Discuss the present day relevance.
• Conclude suitably.
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Answer:
Education is the basic foundation of human character. It gives information about the world around
us and helps build opinions and viewpoints. However, this should not be the ultimate purpose of
education. Tagore suggested that through information people may become powerful, but they attain
fullness of being through sympathy. The purpose of true education should be to assist humans in
gaining that sense of completeness.
Education should create healthy and wholesome personalities, which are capable of rising
above differences and have a broader outlook towards life and diversity. It should inculcate the
spirit of empathy, service and self-sacrifice, which can help in improving the conditions of
marginalized people. Further, it should also generate a sense of the importance of things around
us, which are important for human life. Therefore, promoting effective and sustainable use of
resources for the good of mankind. Ultimately, the need is to create unity between people
without imposing uniformity that may lead to forcing the individual to blindly imitate the
dominant patterns in society. Therefore, it creates a peaceful and harmonious society.
Challenges such as climate change, refugee crisis etc. require collective action. It requires
understanding of the issue from different perspectives. Then only one would be able to see the
complete picture and act accordingly.
In this scenario, value-based education enables citizens to appreciate the differences and live
peacefully that would lead to the evolution of society rather than stagnation. Knowledge about
the significance of the things surrounding human life would lead to sustainable and judicious use
of resources and promote practices such as resource conservation, adoption and mitigation. As such
the curriculum should revolve organically around nature. The Indian society that is divided along
numerous fault lines and faces a resource crunch stands to gain the most from adopting such
changes to its education system.
Creation of such an education system requires an active contribution from all the stakeholders of
society. It should focus on producing ethically grounded, global citizens rather than profit-makers.
Therefore, need is to transform the education system in ways that bring a happy synthesis between
the individual and society and help to realize the essential unity of the individual with the rest of
humanity.

4. (a) For achieving success, attitude is equally, if not more important than ability. Discuss with
the help of examples from your daily life. (10)
Approach:
• Introduce by explaining in brief the meaning of attitude and ability.
• Then discuss briefly how ability is important for achieving success in life.
• Discuss how attitude is equally important as ability to achieve success.
• Give appropriate examples to support your arguments.
Answer:
Attitude is a predisposition or a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain
idea, object, person or situation. Whereas, ability is an acquired or natural capacity that enables an
individual to perform a particular job or task successfully and efficiently. Ability as well as attitude
plays important role in achieving success.
Ability determines the skill set that an individual can acquire to do any task. It instills confidence in
an individual, which helps a person to take advantages of opportunities available, overcome the
difficulties and challenges in any tasks. However, ability sometime depends on individual capacity,
which cannot be stretched beyond a point thus limiting an individual’s achievements.
In such a scenario it is attitude, which will determine the individual’s success despite his/her
limited ability to perform a task. An example of this is Ira Singhal, who topped the Civil Service exam
despite being differently abled person. Her physical challenges could not hamper her motivation
which led to success.

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 Attitude serves as functions for the individual, which can help an individual to organize and
structure his experiences as well as help him know himself better. Attitude also makes an individual
adaptive. It is attitude which helps a person to change his/her disability into ability.
Attitude can be positive or negative towards a particular task or challenge. Positive attitude
manifests through constructive and creative thinking, optimism, increased motivation and energy to
do things and accomplish goals. Positive attitude increases person’s faith in his/her abilities as well
as motivates and brings hope of brighter future. Negative attitude on the other hand can do exactly
opposite of the same. Negative attitude can, in fact, limit one’s abilities.
Further, attitude determines whether a person will rise from the current level of success or fall from
there. It is the attitude which will let him follow the value of hard work even after getting success.
The best example can be that of a batsman in cricket, who is playing after making a century. It is his
attitude which will allow him to eventually lead his team to a victory from there as he will keep on
making the same effort and will not allow his mind to get cluttered with arrogance or ignorance.
Thus, attitude and ability are equally important for achieving success; however, it is attitude, which
will motivate a person to enhance his/her ability to achieve more success in life. In fact, attitude
supplements ability.

4. (b) The core of high Emotional Intelligence is self-awareness. If you don't understand your own
motivations and behaviours, it is nearly impossible to develop an understanding of others.
Discuss with the help of appropriate examples. (10)
Approach:
• Briefly define Emotional Intelligence and mention its constituents
• Explain the importance of self-awareness as core of high emotional intelligence.
• Provide appropriate examples to show that lack of self-awareness in terms of behavior and
motivations is making it impossible to develop and understanding of others
• Conclude accordingly.
Answer:
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise, understand and manage one’s own emotions as
well as that of others. An emotionally intelligent person is competent in four areas i.e. Self-
awareness, Self-management, Social awareness and Relationship management.
Among these four, the core of high emotional intelligence is Self-awareness i.e. the ability to
accurately perceive our own emotions, strengths, limitations, motivations, etc. and understand how
they affect a person and those around and shapes the individual’s behavior.
Benefits of self-awareness are:
• It helps in self-evaluation, accepting constructive feedback.
• Understanding one’s motivation and values in life helps a person enjoy what they do and keeps
them focused even in case of a setback.
• Those who are aware of their limits refrain from setting an unrealistic goal for oneself or for the
organization.
• Ability to relate and empathize with those in a similar situation, which creates sensitivity in a
person towards any issue. It also helps in earning loyalty of the peers.
• It helps in dealing with external factors that cannot be controlled and behaving appropriately in
adverse situations.
For instance, being stuck in traffic after a long day at work can make one angry and agitated with
the rest of the day being negatively influenced by it. This may further affect one’s interaction with
others at home. If, however, one is self-aware, then the person at least has the option to change the
way he reacts to it. One can actually decide that being stuck in traffic will not bother him.
In absence of self-awareness, however, not only one’s interest but also interest of people dependent
on him also gets affected.

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 For instance, an administrator who is not aware about his or her motivation for delivering public
services may impact his behavior which might further aggravate the issue. For instance, while
serving in a backward district, a bureaucrat may readily indulge in corruption for personal gains but
this not only tarnishes his image but also impacts the well-being of those residing in those areas.
Such actions also alienate the administration from the very people it intends to serve.
Similarly, parents who fail to identify their own motivations and responsibilities to inculcate values
and sense of affections in the family might end up with their children falling prey to drug abuse, bad
influences, etc.
Therefore, evaluation about self-awareness with regard to attributes like attitude, behavior,
responsibilities, motivations is also necessary for high emotional intelligence in absence of which a
person fails to identify and connect with the emotions of others.

5 (a) What do you understand by Integrity Pacts? Highlight the role they can play in bringing
transparency in allotment of public contracts and ensuring proper utilization of public funds in
India. (10)
Approach:
• Explain in brief the concept of Integrity Pacts (IP).
• Elaborate how they can ensure transparency in public contracting and proper utilisation of
public funds in India.
• Conclude briefly with the need for an institutional mechanism for IP implementation.
Answer:
Integrity Pacts are essentially an agreement between the government agency offering a contract
and the companies bidding for it that they will abstain from bribery, collusion, extortion and other
corrupt practices for the extent of the contract. To ensure accountability, Integrity Pacts also
include a monitoring system, typically led by the civil society organisations.
Integrity pacts can ensure transparency in allotment of public funds because of its features such as:
• Contractual obligations:
o An undertaking by the contracting authority that its officials will not demand or accept any
bribes, gifts or payments of any kind and maintain appropriate disciplinary, civil or criminal
sanctions in case of violation.
o A statement by each bidder that it has not paid, and will not pay, any bribes in order to
obtain or retain the contract.
o An undertaking by each bidder to disclose all payments made in connection with the
contract in question to anybody.
o Bidders must have a company code of conduct and a compliance programme for the
implementation of the code of conduct throughout the company.
• It demonstrates a commitment to fight corruption, reinforces existing anti-corruption
measures and sends a strong message that the public procurement processes will be fair and
transparent.
• It encourages institutional changes with focus on transparency, such as the increased use of e-
procurement systems, simplified administrative procedures and improved regulatory action.
These pacts are even more important for India as there has been a history of delays and scandals in
public procurement in India and existing anti-corruption regulations have had limited success.
Given the situation, Integrity Pacts can play an important role by also ensuring proper utilization
of public funds, as seen from the following:
• It levels the playing field in public procurement processes, boosting fair competition and
innovation.
• Smooth procurement process means projects are likely to start and end on schedule.
• Public works contracts are more likely to be awarded to the bidder offering the best value for
money.
• It empowers civil society, as the independent external expert monitor, in its contribution to
the integrity of public procurement processes.
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 It pinpoints to systemic anomalies in a given contracting authority’s functioning mode which, if
corrected, will result in considerable improvement of future procurement processes.
Integrity Pacts are a must-have in all public contracting in India and its mandate needs to be backed
by an institutional mechanism that involves a multi-stakeholder effort between the government,
private sector and the civil society with adequate resources, capacity, leadership, commitment and
credibility.

5. (b) In the context of rapid technological change, discuss the significance of inculcating moral
and spiritual values in educational institutions. (10)
Approach:
• Give a brief introduction relevant to the context of the question.
• Discuss the challenges that children and youth, in particular, are facing due to rapid
technological changes and their repercussions for the society at large.
• Highlight the significance of inculcating moral and spiritual values in educational institutes and
discuss how it can help in tackling the above situations.
Answer:
Technological advancement has simplified the way we do things, it saves time, it simplifies
communication, it has improved the health care and it has also improved our educational
environment.
On the other side, it has resulted into several problems like increased environmental pollution,
dependency on technology, etc. which is causing a serious threat to our lives and society.
Being exposed to rapid technology and social change from an early age has brought with it a fresh
set of challenges for the new generations, such as:
• Rapid and disruptive technological changes have left many youth alienated and confused,
thus encouraging their search for a ‘new identity’ and a ‘sense of belonging’.
• Internet is giving a distorted view of what is acceptable and normal in society, resulting in
misguided perceptions of appropriate behaviour.
• Youth have begun to exhibit signs of maladjustment in society due to poor interpersonal
skills.
• Cultural and social clashes between generations have been evident in almost every family.
• Anti-social behaviour, sexual deviance and religious fanaticism are fuelled by continuous
exposure to inappropriate content, unmonitored chat rooms and violent/ hate-inciting games.
Education is one of the most powerful agencies in moulding the character and determining the
future of individuals and nations. The present educational system has given very less attention to
character building; hence there is a need to inculcate moral and spiritual values in educational
institutes. Its significance can be understood from the following:
• Young people will be trained with the right aims and objectives of human life so as to reverse
the erosion of values.
• Such education can become a major agent in teaching self-awareness, self-realization and
self-evaluation.
• It will promote selflessness, cooperative spirit, spirit of sharing, civic sense along with
independent thinking.
• It may contribute immensely to a culture of peace, cohesion and collaboration.
• Students will learn from the lives of great personalities and will understand the significance of
positive values like empathy, compassion, public service etc.
• Technology will become an enabler in character building not an inhibitor.
Mahatma Gandhi considered education as a means for awakening of the soul. He said, “If we
succeed in building character of the individual, society will take care of itself”. Hence, a value based
approach must form the backbone of the educational system and conscious efforts should be made
for the development of moral and spiritual values with the help of ethical teachings of all the great
religions and leaders in educational institutions.

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6. Explain the main elements of integral humanism as propounded by Deen Dayal Upadhyay and
highlight its contemporary relevance. (10)
Approach:
• Introduce the concept of integral humanism.
• Highlight its main elements.
• Discuss its contemporary relevance.
Answer:
Integral humanism was advocated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965. Tracing its origins to the non-
dualistic philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, integral humanism propagated the oneness of various
souls, be it of human, animal or plant origin. Rejecting the intrinsic diversity based on race, colour,
caste or religion, it identified all human beings as part of this one organic whole, sharing a common
consciousness of national thought.
Main elements of doctrine of integral humanism
• Man at the centre of development: The philosophy considered that it was of utmost important
for India to develop an indigenous economic model with the human being at center-stage. It did
not reject western philosophies completely rather it evaluates both capitalism and socialism on
their respective merits, while being critical of their excesses and alienness.
• Refutes individualism: It stresses on the need of an organic relation between an individual and
society. There has to be coordination between common goals and individual goals whereby
individual goals should be sacrificed for the sake of broader social goals. It encourages the
significance of family and humanity to build a complete society.
• Cultural ethos: It talks about the integration of indigenous culture with social, economic and
political fabric of the nation. It maintains that the essence of Indian culture and its uniqueness
should form the background of any political philosophy or development model to be adopted by
India.
• Integrated view: While accepting various differences, it focuses on the inter-dependency,
association and unity rather than divergence, denial and disagreement in various aspects of life.
Hence, it works for the welfare of everyone.
• Dharma Rajya: It represents the ideal duty-oriented state where every individual has power as
well as obligations towards its state.
• Antodaya: This concept ensures that decision is taken considering that the person who is last in
the queue is also taken care of.
Contemporary relevance
• It advocates the holistic idea of human welfare. The philosophy of integral humanism opposes
unbridled consumerism and rapid industrialisation without its benefits trickling down to the
poorest of the poor – which is relevant in today’s context of inclusive development for all.
• The philosophy of integral humanism is also in sync with the modern notions of democracy,
social equality and human rights since respect and equality of all faiths and castes is an
important feature of the Dharma Rajya.
• Integral Humanism aims to provide a life of dignity to every human being, thus, promoting
policies and principles that can balance the use the labour, natural resources and capital at the
same time.
• Adopting this philosophy may change the approach towards politics as Pandit Deen Dayal
believed that the purpose of politics is to bring about social and economic changes. This is
required in today’s context where criminal elements, money power etc. is beginning to
dominate politics.
• It may lead to strengthening of family institution as this philosophy highlights the role that
families and society plays in building a nation
A world where large population lives in poverty this can be an alternative model for development in
which social, political and economic needs converge and which is integral and sustainable in nature.

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7. It is imperative for a country like India, that code of ethics should be implemented for civil
servants on social media platforms as well. Discuss. (10)
Approach:
• Briefly define code of ethics.
• Then with examples bring out the need for implementation of code of ethics for civil servants on
social media platforms.
• Then give a brief idea about what should be the code of ethics in this context.
• Then discuss why a balanced approach is required in this context.
Answer:
A code of ethics is a guide of principles designed to help professionals conduct business honestly
and with integrity. A code of ethics document may outline the mission and values of the business or
organization, the ethical principles based on organization’s core values.
As India’s public debates moves online, quite a few bureaucrats have been vocal about their
personal views on social media. Recently, a Defense Ministry spokesperson was sent on indefinite
leave after a controversial tweet targeting former Chief of Naval Staff surfaced online. Controversies
like this make it imperative that code of ethics for civil servants should be implemented on social
media platform too.
As civil service code of conduct and ethics makes it imperative for a civil servant to be impartial,
accountable, empathetic, honest and to maintain integrity in public life. In this era of social media,
there is need to revise and implement new set of code of ethics as rules were made when there was
no social media.
New code of ethics should not bar a civil servant from expressing his freedom of speech and
expression. It should be formulated within the code of conduct of the service. The distinction
between official and personal accounts should be addressed, but the basic conduct rules should be
applicable to the latter as a bureaucrat does not cease to represent the government when he is using
his personal account. In any case, social media is a public forum and the same considerations should
apply as, say, to speaking in public or writing for a publication either officially or out of work. Thus,
social media should not be used by civil servants for self-promotion or airing their personal views. A
civil servant needs to always act in a way that retains the confidence of all the people he/she deals
with.
A code of ethics for civil servant on social media would help in holding them accountable for the
information they have put online in terms of its accuracy and sensitive nature. It would help prevent
any kind of damage to the socio-political fabric of nation since once something is posted online, it is
very difficult to remove it or undo its impact. It would also ensure that the ethical principles of civil
services are adhered to in every aspect of a civil servant’s life.
However, one should not also overlook the fact that social media has improved the connectivity and
brought the civil servants even more closer to the common people. It presents a much better
understanding of the real needs and concerns of the citizen and has the potential to aid public
servants in their work. It not only helps improve the outreach of government policies but also act as
a platform for quick redressal of grievances. So, a balanced code of ethics should be implemented
for civil servants for the use of social media as well.

8. Discuss how effective corporate governance can ensure the equitable treatment of all
stakeholders. (10)
Approach:
• Briefly, write about corporate governance. Also, highlight the various stakeholders and their
interests in a company.
• Provide arguments to bring out the way effective corporate governance can ensure the
equitable treatment of all stakeholders.
• Conclude suitably.

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Answer:
Corporate governance is the framework of rules, processes and practices which guides, directs,
control and manage a company. It aims at achieving goals and objectives in a manner that adds
value to the company and is also beneficial for all stakeholders in the long term. Therefore, it is an
act of balancing the interests of a company's internal and external stakeholders.:
Stakeholders and their interests
Internal Stakeholders External Stakeholders
• Shareholders – increasing the • Customers – increasing customer satisfaction through
value and wealth of shareholders timely delivery of quality services
• Top management – growth and • Suppliers – timely payments for the delivery of goods
recognition and services
• Employees – creating a healthy • Financiers – the safety of principle amount and
work environment, equal pay for interest payments
equal work etc. • The government – ensure legal compliance
• The community – job creation and least impact on the
environment
All parties to corporate governance have an interest, whether direct or indirect, in the
performance of the company. Effective corporate governance can ensure the equitable treatment of
all stakeholders as it ensures fairness in dealing with various stakeholders, which promote and
protect the right of all the parties without compromising their interest in the following ways:
• Adequate representation to various stakeholders in the decision making, promoting inclusivity
in the company.
• Appointment of independent directors preventing conflict of interest and bringing impartiality
in the functioning of a company.
• Promoting accountability by holding top management answerable for their actions and conduct,
therefore, restricting arbitrariness in decision making.
• Increasing transparency in the functioning of the company and informing stakeholders about
the company’s activities.
• Proactive disclosure of issues in accounting and auditing practices to protect the interest of
financiers and shareholders.
• Voluntary compliance with government rules and regulations to develop good business
practices. It also ensures fulfilling corporate social responsibility.
Fundamentally, the stakeholder shows a high level of confidence in a company that is known to
have good corporate governance. It attracts stakeholders’, especially foreign institutional investors
and also has a positive influence on the value of the company.
On the contrary, when these rules are not followed by way of circumventing the internal controls,
making misrepresentations to auditors etc., it can have disastrous consequences for all
stakeholders. In past, several organizations such as Enron, Satyam, Cadbury were severely
impacted, which resulted in loss of shareholder’s wealth, poor legal compliance, exploitation of
workers, loan default and bad debts.
In view of such risks, adoption of digital solutions can help firms implement a robust corporate
governance mechanism for ensuring equitable treatment of all stakeholders.

9. You are posted as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in a district of a state where alcohol
prohibition has been imposed recently. The District Excise department has conducted many
raids and seized liquor in large quantities, for which it has received state-wide public
appreciation. A few months later reports surface in the media that in this district, hundreds of
seized bottles of illicit liquor are missing from the government malkhanas or stores. As a
result, the government is left red-faced. You are asked by the DM, who is the overall in-charge
of the district excise setup, to investigate the matter. Upon investigation, you unearth a nexus
of politicians and government officials who smuggled seized liquor and sold it through
spurious means both inside and outside the state.

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 In this context, evaluate these options:
1. Report your findings to the DM and seek instructions for further actions, stating clearly the
criminal offences committed prima facie.
2. Charge all accused under legal provisions and let the law take its own course.
3. Being aware of the seriousness of the matter, discretely put the detailed investigation
report in the public domain and expose the nexus.
Also, suggest, without restricting yourself to the given options, the final course of action that
you would prefer. (20)
Approach:
• Briefly analyse the ethical issues.
• Mention the key stakeholders involved in the case study.
• Evaluate each given option with its pros and cons.
• Mention the final course of action you would follow in the given circumstances.
Answer:
The given case poses serious ethical concerns as it involves graft or unscrupulous use of the public
office for personal gain including theft from official stores as well as illegal inter-state and intra-
state trade of a commodity banned in the state. Such actions lead to public mistrust in the
government officials and bring disrepute to the whole department and administration due to wrong
actions of a few. In the given case, it is the duty of the government apparatus to ensure the
accountability of public servants, which is paramount in ensuring public faith in the government.
The key stakeholders in this case include: few government officials and politicians as alleged
culprits, I (Superintendent of Police) as the investigating officer, District Magistrate (DM) as the
overall in-charge of the district excise setup, media, State administration and the public at large.
Following are the options to deal with the case:
1. Report your findings to the DM and seek instructions for further actions, stating clearly
the criminal offences committed prima facie.
The DM, who designated me as the investigating officer in this case, becomes my supervising
officer for this case. As per the government rules on hierarchy, it is imperative for me to submit
my investigation report to the DM. As the overall in-charge of the district excise setup, it is
his/her prerogative to take action based on my investigation report and submit it to his/her
superiors or the courts, if required.
The issue with taking this action is that it may take a considerable amount of time to bring the
culprits to justice, who may utilize this delay to get off easily. It may also point as a dereliction of
duty on my behalf.
2. Charge all accused with legal provisions and let the law take its own course.
Here, the justice will be swift in nature and the public faith in the government and its machinery
will be strengthened. Such a step would possibly avoid any controversy or blame by any party
involved i.e. the culprits, media, public or the department, by taking this action. It will show the
upright and strict demeanor of the administration and will send a message to prospective
offenders.
But, the issue with this course of action is that it doesn’t involve thorough investigation of
matter at the first place. Charging all accused without verifying the facts of the matter might
weaken the case in subsequent stages. Further, since such a step doesn’t require any mandatory
submission of report to the DM, who is the overall in-charge of the district excise setup, so I may
be asked by the DM to comply with the government procedures and the rules of hierarchy.
3. Being aware of the seriousness of the matter, discretely put the detailed investigation
report in the public domain and expose the nexus.
It may win public trust as it will show the transparent and unbiased nature of the investigation
but it is not advisable to put an investigation report in public domain without the urgent need to
do so. The law dictates that such a report needs to be submitted either to the superiors or to the
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 court. Putting it in public domain may weaken any further enquiry as the culprits may use the
report in public domain to cover their tracks. Additionally, pursuing such a step can amount to
violation of Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 as well. Exposing such a nexus via this
option should be considered as a last resort measure only.
My final course of action would involve a further thorough investigation of the incident at the
first place. Pending the investigation, I would recommend that such government officials who
are being investigated be suspended during the course of the investigation. Then I would
document all my findings into an official report, submit it to the DM and seek further actions so
that justice is served in a timely manner. Such a course of action would ensure that the requisite
laws and government procedures are followed in letter and spirit. Lastly, I would also provide
few suggestions that can be adopted in order to avoid such a situation in the future, such as
installation of CCTVs in the government stores, incentivising whistleblowers or common
citizens to come forward etc.

10. You are posted as a District Magistrate in a Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected district. The
district has witnessed many instances of violence by the naxalites in the past. It has been
observed that instances of violence increase as the elections approach. You, as a Returning
Officer, are responsible for the smooth conduct of elections. Soon after the announcement of
elections, the naxalites gave a call for their boycott and have been threatening people to stay
away from them. The people of the district are eager to exercise their voting rights but are
scared of the impending acts of violence. Further, with threat to their lives and a low expected
turnout, the other electoral officers are also reluctant to go to these areas.
In this context, answer the following:
(a) Identify the civil service values that are crucial for working in such adversities.
(b) Suggest a plan of action to ensure the conduct of free and fair elections in such a situation.
(20)
Approach:
• Introduce by giving the gist of the given case study.
• Mention the key stakeholders involved in the given case study.
• Enumerate the civil service values that can be helpful for working in such adversities.
• Discuss in brief the plan of action needed to conduct free and fair elections in given situation.
• Conclude on the basis of the above points.
Answer:
The given case study accurately portrays the situation faced in the areas affected by Naxalism,
during the election period. It becomes a challenging task for the authorities to conduct free and fair
elections in such a situation. Also, the right of people to cast their vote comes under threat. Thus, it
becomes the responsibility of the state to tackle this situation in an effective manner.
Stakeholders involved:
• State administration (Politicians, Bureaucrats, Police, etc.)
• Inhabitants of the affected areas
• Election commission and election conducting officials and staff
(a) Civil servants working in the naxalism affected areas should be guided by the following civil
services values, to deal with such adversities:
• Upholding Rule of law: A civil servant working in the affected area needs to ensure that the
people’s rightful will is upheld and any threat to it is handled in an effective manner.
• Courage and commitment: Working in Naxalite prone areas requires courage and
commitment towards work as there looms a threat to their lives, especially during elections.
• Service towards people and compassion: A civil servant must be committed towards
serving the people and always be ready to help the people in need (compassion) and thus
should effectively utilize administrative machinery to achieve this goal.

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 • Openness and transparency: There is a lack of trust between the administration and the
people living in Naxal affected areas. Thus, it becomes important for the civil servants
working in such areas to gain the confidence of people through confidence building
measures and ensuring transparency and openness in working of administration.
(b) The situation given in the case study presents a complex problem which can be effectively
handled by adopting a multidimensional plan of action involving various stakeholders as
follows:
• Understanding the situation: One needs to appraise the situation with the help of police
administration and the intelligence agencies.
• Assuring the people: People need to be assured that each and every effort has been taken
to ensure that there is no threat to their lives as well as their rights. This will help in
boosting the confidence of the people and can build up trust between the administration
and the people.
• Identify hotspots: Security agencies needs to identify the hotspots and the sensitive areas
based on the previous records and intelligence data and should ensure that adequate
measures are taken to take care of the security related issues in these areas.
• Rope in local leaders: Help of local leaders, social activists and influential persons can be
taken to bridge the gap between people and the administration.
• Boosting confidence of election conducting officials and staff: Election conducting
officials and staff should be reminded of their duties and the importance of each and every
vote. They should also be assured that adequate security measures have been taken to
prevent any mishap..
• Preparedness: Security forces and emergency response teams should always be ready to
handle any emergency if at all in case there is a security breach (during election as well as
post-election period).

11. You are posted as a District Magistrate in a district, where many large factories and
commercial establishments are located. One such factory is owned by one of your close friends.
You visit each other’s home frequently and are often seen in public together.
Recently, media reported about poor working conditions in your friend's factory. Upon enquiry
with the labor office, you come to know that the factory has witnessed frequent labour unrests
in the past as well. However, the labour officer told you that he was hesitating to take any
action due to your proximity with the owner of the factory. With reference to the facts of the
case, answer the following questions:
(a) Identifying the stakeholders and public cause, discuss the ethical issues involved in the
case.
(b) As the District Magistrate, what appropriate course of action will you take? Give reasons for
the same. (20)
Approach:
• Briefly mention the issues mentioned in the case.
• Highlighting the major stakeholders and public concern related to the case, mention the ethical
issues involved.
• Mention the suitable course of action to be taken by DM and enumerate reasons for the same.
Answer:
This is case of poor working conditions in a factory brought to light by the media. Government has
many laws and regulations to ensure safety and security of the labourers. As a District Magistrate it
is incumbent upon one to ensure that rules are implemented in letter and spirit to ensure larger
public good.
Stakeholders involved in the case
• Labourers: They are made to work in a factory with unsafe work environment. This puts their
health and life to grave risk.

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 • The factory owner: He has the responsibility to ensure safe and secure working conditions for
the workers. He should be held accountable.
• Labour Office and officers: The officers during their routine visits to the factories under their
jurisdiction should have identified the issues pertaining to the working conditions.
• District Magistrate: He/she should not let his personal relationship dictate administrative
issues in the district.
• Local Media: Since the media has been reporting the issue, they will also follow and report the
action or inaction on the part of administration.
• General Public: Prompt action on the behalf of the district administration will send a message
to the public about efficiency and work ethic of the district administration.
Ethical Issues
• Frequent labour unrests and the media reports show that the labour officers have failed to do
their duty. They should have reported such issues to the district administration much earlier. It
shows lack of efficiency and professional work ethic on their behalf. They should have been
objective while reporting the issue without getting swayed by the personal relationships of the
DM.
• If due care is not taken, the District Magistrate’s appearance in the public with an industrialist
friend may not only reflect poorly on his ethics in private and public relationships but also
erode public trust in the administration.
• Media report gives an impression that the industrialist friend felt protected while indulging in
wrong doings. This brings into question the integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship of
DM.
Course of action
• The DM should immediately direct labour office to conduct surprise visit to the factory. They
should hold meeting with labourers as well as the management of the factory. The management
needs to be enquired about frequent labour unrest in the recent pasts.
• If the report submitted by the labour office corroborates the media report, the DM should take
appropriate actions against the factory owner and the management under relevant sections of
the labour laws.
• The management should be directed to follow the regulations related to occupational safety
and health, safety, health, efficiency and well-being of the persons at work places under
Factories Act, 1948.
• Also, the the labour office should be directed to conduct similar visits to other industrial
establishments in the district and submit the report to the DM office. And the labour officers
should be warned against future inactions against erring factory owners.
• The DM should adopt due diligence in mixing socially with industrialists of the district. Under no
circumstance it should be allowed to be portrayed as a personal relation which could be used
for influence by others.
Under Article 43 (DPSP) of India Constitution, the state is directed to ensure proper working
conditions for workers. Also making workers work in the inhumane conditions is against their basic
human rights. The district administration should uphold these rights and privileges of the workers.

12. You are a resident of a remote tribal district, where there is high incidence of malnutrition. As
a remedial measure, the District Magistrate has initiated a programme to promote millet
cultivation, especially on the lands currently lying fallow in the district.
However, this well-intentioned move of the officer receives flak from the local tribals as this
may not only change their age-old food habits, but also alter their traditional agricultural
practices. They further cite lower remunerative prices of millets as another reason for
continuing with their existing crop production pattern.
As a civil servant aspirant, who has a keen interest in development of tribal areas, answer the
following questions:
(a) What according to you are the key issues and challenges involved in the above situation?

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 (b) Identify the key stakeholders and their respective interests.
(c) Suggest a course of action that the District Magistrate can take keeping in mind the larger
tribal interests. (20)
Approach
• Introduce the answer with a statistic on malnutrition.
• Enlist the key issues and challenges in the given case.
• Map the stakeholders and their interests.
• Propose a course of action that the DM can take to tackle the given challenges.
Answer
The case involves changing the age old food habits and agricultural practices of tribals in a district
where there is high prevalence of malnutrition for ensuring long term benefits to the local tribal
community. This case assumes importance in the wake of a recently released Food and Nutrition
Security Analysis, India, 2019, which highlights that the prevalence of stunting is highest amongst
children from the Scheduled Tribes (43.6 percent).
(a) The key issues and challenges involved in the case are:
o Stakeholder disagreement: Persuading tribals to change their traditional food habits and
agricultural practices in favour of a new way of life is likely to generate friction, thereby
reducing the trust between district officials and tribals.
o Incidence of malnutrition: Imbalanced dietary pattern and lack of awareness amongst
tribals will act as key barrier in lowering down the incidence rate of malnutrition.
o Non-remunerative prices for millets: Lower remunerative prices of millets as compared
to other crops acts as a disincentive for the tribals to switch over to the cultivation of millets.
o Sustaining the change: For the vision to be translated into reality, the key issue will be
sustaining the dietary change over a longer period of time among the residents of the
district.
(a) The key stakeholders and their interests are as follows:
o Tribal communities: Tribal communities are the key stakeholders here, as they are both
the producers of crops in the district as well as the consumers. Their interests related to
food habits, agricultural practices and remunerative prices are of prime importance for the
administration,
o District Magistrate and district administration: The DM has to come up with this idea to
solve the issue of reviving millets and promote land use. Their interest is to clearly improve
the health indicators of the district and to benefit everyone.
o Myself and other tribal youth like me, who can play a key role in creating awareness
about the benefits of millet cultivation and convince the families to put their trust in the well
intentioned move of the district administration.
(a) In order to arrive at a model that is suitable for all the stakeholders, the District Magistrate
should propose a public private community partnership model in line with the UN SDG 17,
which espouses bottom up/community driven approach for fostering effective partnerships.
Under it, a tender can be floated for engaging the private sector in association with an NGO in
bringing about a change among the community members. Initially, a mixed cropping model
along with livestock farming may be followed to avoid drastic changes in tribal daily lives.
Meanwhile, the district administration should focus on generating awareness about the
importance of cultivating millets on the fallow land. Focus should be on highlighting the benefits
of proper land utilisation, agricultural diversification, and ill-effects of malnutrition among the
tribals. Workshops for interested tribal farmers should be organized in association with local
bodies in order to minimise their opposition. Funds from MPLADS or donor organisations shall
be used to reduce the operational costs in order to make the cultivation of millets even more
remunerative. Further, bodies like TRIFED can be roped in to help market the produce with
proper branding for ensuring better prices of the surplus produce.
Overall, the tribals must be educated about the benefits of millet cultivation to dispel any fears.
This would not only help bridge their trust deficit with the district administration, but would
also empower them to act like catalysts in bringing about their own change in the long term.
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13. You have recently been posted as a District Labour Officer in a state, which derives a
substantial revenue from tourism. You come to know that a big hotel in the area has not been
paying wages as per the Minimum Wages Act. The hotel owner is a powerful local leader
having contacts with many influential officials of the state. You have the power to take sou-
moto cognizance of such violations and accordingly you initiate a preliminary enquiry into the
matter. However, no worker is willing to come forward to lodge a formal complaint because
they fear loss of employment. Meanwhile, your action has attracted notice of the higher
authorities, and you are advised to drop the matter altogether. You are deeply concerned about
the situation as it involves not only violation of the Minimum Wages Act but also denial of basic
human rights of the worker.
(a) Identify the issues involved in the given case.
(b) Consider the options given below:
1. Follow the informal advise of the higher authorities.
2. Convince the owner of the hotel to take note of these violations and take appropriate
remedial measures.
3. Submit a detailed report on the matter highlighting violations of workers’ rights and
seek formal directions from the competent authority.
4. Serve a notice to the hotel owner and initiate action as per your powers under the
Minimum Wages Act.
Evaluate the merits and demerits of each of these options and suggest your preferred course of
action, giving reasons. (20)
Approach:
• Giving a brief introduction of the case study, highlight the issues involved in it.
• Analyse the merit and demerit of the given options
• Give the final course of action in this case and justify it with appropriate reasons.
Answer:
The given case presents a classic case of exploitation of vulnerable class by employers. Even after
the legal mandate which requires the employer to provide minimum wages for the work performed
and services rendered by the worker, the employer in its pursuit exploits the lack of bargaining
power with the workers. The bargaining power may be low due to multiple factors including less
skilled nature of job, fear of unemployment, low savings to fall back on etc.
(a) The given case involves multiple issues at various levels:
• Violation of legal right of the workers as per the minimum wage act.
• Lack of trust in the system as can be seen from the inaction of workers to fight for their
rights.
• Bureaucratic-Political nexus due to which there is pressure from higher authorities to
drop the matter.
• Economic ramifications on the district revenue and image of the administration if any
action catch the attention of the media as the district derives substantial revenue from
tourism.
• Responsibility as Labour Officer to implement Minimum Wages Act.
(b) Following are the merits and demerits of each of the given option
Option - Follow the informal advise of the higher authorities.
Merits
• Maintains hierarchy of the system
• Fear of being harassed by way of transfer, posting etc. would not be there.
• Tourism of the region won’t be affected.
Demerits
• Violation of workers’ rights would continue.
• Negligence of duty, which might lead to accountability on the part of the existing officer in
near future.
• It might incentivize other such employers in the area to adopt such practice.
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 Option - Convince the owner of the hotel to take note of these violations and take
appropriate remedial measures.
Merits
• It gives a benefit of doubt to the owner and provides a second chance in the case
• It may lead to solving the situation informally while not entering into formal dispute
whereby workers may even deny any such situation.
Demerits
• Any informal agreement leaves room for exploitation of workers in the future.
• It also shows lack of courage as well as commitment on the part of administration to take
appropriate action as time demands.
• Employer might find another way of exploiting, like in terms of more working hours.
Option - Submit a detailed report on the matter highlighting violations of workers’ rights
and seek formal directions from the competent authority.
Merits
• It may result in written orders and then action can be taken through appropriate channels.
• It would put pressure on all the members up the line towards adherence of the law as
proper accountability will be set up in case on inaction.
• It may also put pressure on the hotel owner.
Demerits
• It may be seen as a rebellion by the higher authorities against their informal order.
• In case of lack of support and inaction from higher authority, employer will be encouraged
more as well as people will lose faith in system.
Option - Serve a notice to the hotel owner and initiate action as per your powers under
the Minimum Wages Act.
Merits
• It may result in restoring rights of the workers to a minimum wage.
• It would increase trust in the administrative system.
• It may embolden other workers in such situation as well to stand up for their rights.
Demerits
• It may tarnish reputation of the hotel.
• It may also result in hasty action by employer resulting in loss of employment of the
workers.
• It may be seen as a rebellion by the higher authorities against their informal order and may
also impact the career prospects of the existing officer.
Considering the above merits and demerits, the best course of action would be submitting a
detailed report of the matter and seeking formal directions from the higher authorities. If formal
orders are not provided, the next step would be going ahead and initiating action as per the
powers given under the Minimum Wages Act.
The foremost reason for such an action is that the position of power comes with a set of
responsibilities towards the system, administration and most importantly the citizens. Public
interest should be the top most consideration of any decision taken while resolving any matter.
Furthermore, it is unconstitutional to deny the basic wage rights to the workers. Also, this
action would justify the attributes like empathy, impartiality, honesty that a civil servant should
carry while performing his duties. It will also restore faith of the people in the system.

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14. You are the Chairman of a Committee, constituted by the government, to suggest measures to
improve the quality of education in state-run schools. In view of the increasing dropout rate
and the widening gap between students’ learning ability in state-run and private schools,
answer the following questions:
(a) Examine the role of government in the education sector, especially providing primary and
secondary education through state-run schools.
(b) Identify the principles and values that would guide your recommendations in this regard.
(c) Suggest some ways in which quality of education in state-run schools can be improved. (20)
Approach:
• Briefly discuss the issue of increased enrolment in private schools
• Discuss the role of the government in the education sector.
• State the principles & values that should form the core of the recommendations
• Suggest ways in which quality of education can be improved in state-run schools
Answer:
Around 25% of schools comprise of private schools in India. According to data from Unified District
Information System for Education, total enrolment in government schools fell by 9% while private
school enrolment increased by 36% from 2011 to 2015. This is because parents believe that
infrastructure, quality of education, learning environment etc. are better in private schools.
(a) The role of the government in the education sector especially with regard to primary and
secondary education include:
• Education is the basic building block of a modern society. A minimum basic level of literacy
has to be ensured for everyone in the society. It is not merely because private sector is
unable to provide education for everyone, but it is the core responsibility of the government
to ensure that at least quality primary and secondary education is provided to all the
citizens.
• Right to Education Act (RTE) Act, 2009 makes compulsory provision for free education to
children between the age of 6 to 14 years under Article 21A of the Constitution. However,
most of the government schools have yet to meet the norms such as pupil-teacher ratio laid
down by the law.
• To encourage participation and stem the drop out rate, government also provides
nutritional support through Mid Day Meal’ to students in Classes I-VIII of government and
government-aided schools.
• To make public education accessible, schools are established in remote and border areas as
well.
• It encourages research in the field of education, prepares and publishes model textbooks,
etc. through organizations like the NCERT.
(b) The principles and values which would guide the recommendations:
• The core principle is responsibility- it is the core duty of government to provide for school
education for the nation to progress.
• At the same time, merely provision is not enough. It should be accompanied by the
principles of quality and efficacy, The schools have to be accessible as well as desirable.
They must add educational value to pupil, not merely be centers of enrolment.
• In order to ensure quality of education, apart from educational reforms (mentioned below),
it must be ensured as a principle that school teachers are given proper training and also that
they are not required to do any government duty which compromises their ability for the
primary purpose for which they were recruited- teaching.
• Another principle that would inform the recommendations would be the attractiveness of
schools- they must demonstrate their vitality by being a place where students feel the need
to come and parents are motivated and encouraged to send their children to. Infrastructure
improvement and regular parent-teacher meeting would be incorporated as principles in
the recommendations in this regard.

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 • There is a need to bring government schools at par with private schools. Primary education
should be a leveller and not a source of inequality. It will ensure equality of
opportunity for government school students in an excessively competitive environment.
• Establishment of more state-run schools ( under section 6 of RTE Act, 2009) as private
schools are getting increasingly expensive and there is lack of uniformity regarding
regulation of fees. This will lead to increased access, equity and affordability.
• There should be emphasis on education and sensitization about social issues including
gender issues, communal harmony, environment etc. It will help pupils develop into socially
aware and sensible citizens.
• The ambit of the RTE Act, 2009 should be expanded to include early childhood education
and secondary school education so that maximum students are benefitted.
(c) Ways in which quality of education can be improved in state-run schools include:
• There should be increased investment in public education. Schools should have improved
infrastructure in order to provide basic facilities to students such as spacious classrooms,
hygienic toilets, accessible drinking water, practical laboratories etc.
• The quality of education needs to be improved through periodic training and evaluation of
teachers, updation of curricula and promoting extracurricular activities. More teachers
should be hired to address the issue of teacher shortage. Further, teachers should be trained
in programmes that combine high-quality content, pedagogy, and practical training.
• Classes should be synergetic i.e. increased student-teacher interaction and interaction
among peers. Also, teachers should emphasise on conceptual learning rather than rote
learning.
• To reduce content load in school education curriculum so that children can indulge in other
developmental activities like sports, yoga etc. Children should be given opportunities to
develop in a holisitc manner. Extra-curricular activities such as painting, drama, sports
etc. should be a part of the school curriculum as they help students in better time
management, improved organizational skills, boost in self-esteem, etc.
• There should be adoption of digital education through modern teaching aids, tools etc. such
as smart classrooms and digital course content.
Schools not only impart education to students but also act as a bridge between an individual and the
society. They aid in dissemination of knowledge, development of personality, promotion of
secularism, etc. Thus, efforts should be taken to qualitatively transform state-run schools.

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