SECTION ‘A’

1 (a) “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
Aurelius
What are your personal moral rules of living that enrich your character? Illustrate
two such rules, with examples, that adds to your goodness? (150 words, 10 marks)
HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?
Introduction​: As context to the given quote, mention some of the recent issues.
Body​: Explain why being a good man is more important than arguing about what is good.
Also, write and explain your own rules of living in the context of the question.
Conclusion​: Conclude in the context of the given quote.

In today’s world, we are suffering from various problems such as terrorism, climate change
and a rising crime against women, etc. We debate and expect from other people to behave
responsibly to end all such problems, but we often forget that the change starts from within.
There is a quote often associated with Gandhi, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
Above mentioned quote of Aurelius is also giving the message on the same lines.

BE THE ONE
1. In today's world, people love to talk and be heard, soaking up all the attention. Everyone
wants to be the person with the last word.
2. Talking about right or wrong things won’t move us forward in any way. They
won’t help us to start an ethical business, or become a good leader, or get any better as a
person.
3. We can have endless discussions about what’s right and wrong. But ​the truth is, the
only thing that will move us forward in life is taking action.
4. We have ​many examples from Buddha to Gandhi. ​But the best illustration here
would be of ​Gandhi's efforts to end untouchability and spread the awareness
about sanitation. On various occasions such as visits to various schools, ashrams and
in congress annual sessions, Gandhi ​himself started cleaning the toilets thus
encouraging others to take up the brooms irrespective of their castes.
5. Therefore the above quote gives a message that if we want to try to make the world a
slightly better place, ​we have to lead by example and take action.

MY PERSONAL RULES OF LIVING

There are many foundational values, such as honesty, empathy and integrity, etc that
constitute my personal rules of living to enrich my character. Some of these rules are as
follows;
1. Know, then speak.
2. Do what is right, not what is easy.
3. Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking.
4. Neither money pays, nor name pays, nor fame, nor learning; it is a character that cleaves
through adamantine walls of difference.
 5. Gandhi's Talisman: Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest person whom you may
have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to her.
Will she gain anything by it?
Know, then speak:
We are suffering from ​hatred, fake news, and communalism due to misinformation
and misunderstandings. This misinformation is destroying the social fabric of India. By
being careful before uttering a word or forwarding a message can even save some innocent lives.
Example: There was a hashtag ​trending on social media about #UPSCJihad, saying that
Muslim students are becoming civil servants due to ​Islamic Studies as an optional subject​.
Millions of people believed this lie and forwarded message without verifying it. Therefore a
simple rule of 'Know, then speak' helps me to make the world a slightly better
place.

Gandhi's Talisman: ​Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest person whom you
may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to her. Will
she gain anything by it?
In today's ​world of consumerism and brand culture, people are running after
money to maintain their lifestyle. This is ​not only creating economic inequality but also
affecting the environment and ecology of our only earth. ​Worst sufferers of resource
scarcity and climate change are ​poor and vulnerable sections of society​. Gandhi with his
Talisman taught me how to make decisions whenever I am in doubt or when my self becomes
too much. With this Talisman I ​uphold Empathy and compassion, the two most important
values to me.

The words of Aurelius cut to the core of what it means to live a good life. What defines our
character isn’t what we say, it is what we do. In a world of inequality, exploitation and race
for wealth if we want to establish an egalitarian society living with peace and in harmony
with nature, we must have to take action. An action that will set our own good character as a
beacon for others to follow.

(b) “Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.” Schopenhauer

Do you think practising compassion is the only way for building an inclusive
society and bridging our divisiveness? (150 words, 10 marks)

HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?

Introduction​: Define compassion and morality.
Body​: Write the necessary elements for possessing ethical competency.
Conclusion​: Conclude with a mix of way forward or significance of the ethical competency.

Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by
misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. Morality is a set of
principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour.
According to the given quote of Schopenhauer, whether a particular behaviour is good or bad,
it can be judged only on the basis of compassion involved in it.

COMPASSION: THE WAY FOR BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE SOCIETY AND

BRIDGING OUR DIVISIVENESS
If we look around, we find many instances where our indifference and lack of compassion leads
to inequality and social divisions within society. Some of them are as follows;
1. The exploitation of man and nature: ​In quest to fulfil our greed for wealth and
material well being, we are mercilessly exploiting nature and labour of poor
communities. Compassionate treatment with fellow human beings and
judicious utilization of natural ​resources by prioritising the needs over greeds will
result in inclusive and sustainable development​, where our future generations will
also be able to lead a healthy life.
2. Jingoism and refugee crisis: ​The world has entered into a phase of human
civilization where ​extreme forms of nationalism are becoming popular.
Fractures within the society are being further deepened due to ​xenophobia,
communalism and ethnic hatred fueled by jingoism. Compassionate behaviour
towards refugees and other vulnerable sections of the society will not only make our
society more inclusive but also ​bridge our divisiveness on ethnic and
nationalistic lines.
3. Territorial disputes: ​Recently there was a bloody exchange of fire between ​Armenia
and Azerbaijan. While retreating back, parties killed animals, burnt down
trees and public infrastructure. ​It is a display of lack of compassion towards man
and nature for selfish motives. Similar disputes and merciless display of power is shown
along many disputed borders of the world.
COMPASSION IS NOT THE ONLY WAY
Other than compassion, ​justice, equality and equity are also important ways to establish
inclusive society and bridge divisiveness.
1. Gender and caste discrimination: ​Ill-treatment towards women, homophobia,
and undignified behaviour towards Scheduled Castes and tribes are pushing
them away from mainstream society, further degrading their socio-economic growth
indicators.
2. Mob lynching ​is another result of divisions in the society on caste and religious
grounds. ​Witch-hunting of minorities ​is pushing them further away from
mainstream society.
3. Economic inequalities ​are deepening the divisions between rich and poor. Rich are
becoming richer and the poor are becoming further poorer.
4. Social and economic justice, equal treatment, and equitable opportunities
can bring all sections of the society on the same platform where we can bridge our
differences.
Compassion is central to the mantra of 'live and let live'. One of the best lessons of the
compassion learnt from Gandhi, in his Talisman he taught us to take decisions by keeping in
mind the face of the poorest man/woman. Other ways such as justice, equality and universal
brotherhood are complementary to compassion in making our society more inclusive and
bridge our divisiveness, compassion is the most important way.
2(a) Do you agree with feminist ethicists that women are ‘more emotional’ than
men, and pay more attention to relationships rather than rules, this is not a sign of
their being less ethical, but, rather, “of different values, that are equally valuable”.
(150 words, 10 marks)

HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?

Introduction​: Write a brief background of basic approaches to ethics.
Body​: Write how feminist ethics’ values are different from traditional values, also write how
both the value systems are equally important.
Conclusion​: Conclude with a mix of the way forward in the context of the question.

Traditionally, deontology and utilitarianism are the two dominant moral theories. Feminist
ethics is a third important and recent most approach to ethics based on emotions and care. It
builds on the belief that traditionally ethical theorizing, such as deontology and utilitarianism,
has undervalued or underappreciated women's moral experience. According to feminist
ethicists, traditional ethics is largely male-dominated, and they, therefore, choose to reimagine
ethics through a holistic feminist approach to transform it.

Women are ‘more emotional’: Different values than traditional ethics

1. Traditional ethics such as deontology and utilitarianism, each ​require the moral
agent to be unemotional​. Moral decision making is ​expected to be rational and
logical​, with a focus on universal, objective rules. In contrast, feminist ethics defends
some emotions, such as care or compassion, as moral.
2. Feminist ethics recognises that rules must be applied in a context​, and
real-life moral decision making is influenced by the relationships we have with those
around us.
3. Instead of asking the moral decision-maker to be unbiased, the caring moral person will
consider that ​one’s duty may be greater to those they have particular bonds with, or
to others ​who are powerless rather than powerful.
4. Traditional ethics prize culturally masculine values like independence, autonomy, etc,
and gives less weight to ​culturally feminine values like interdependence,
sharing, emotions, and peace, etc.
5. Traditional ethics has a "male" orientated convention in which moral reasoning is
viewed through a ​framework of rules, rights, universality, and impartiality and
becomes the standard of a society.
6. The feminist approaches to moral reasoning emphasize ​relationships,
responsibilities, particularity, and partiality​.
7. Caring and the moral issues of private life and family responsibilities were
traditionally regarded as trivial matters and generally, women are portrayed as
ethically immature and shallow in comparison to men.

FEMINIST ETHICS AND TRADITIONAL ETHICS; BOTH ARE EQUALLY

VALUABLE
The ‘Heinz’ dilemma: Should a moral person steal the required medicine he
cannot afford to buy to give to his very sick wife, or stick to the rule ‘do not steal’,
regardless of the circumstances? There are competing duties in this dilemma, a positive
duty to help those in need as well as a negative duty to avoid stealing.
A caring person would place the relationship with one’s spouse above any
relationship they may or may not have with the pharmacist. Here care or compassion or love
would outweigh a rule (or a law) in this case, leading to the conclusion that the right thing to do
is to steal the medicine. ​Whereas a deontological person will let his wife die because
stealing is morally bad behaviour.
1. Situations like the Heinz dilemma occur many times, and in such situations care ethics
plays the role of guiding light; pardoning powers of president and governors in
India, mercy petitions, a counselling rather than punishments ​to the crimes
committed by juveniles, etc.
2. But feminist ethics cannot provide solutions in all situations. For example;
While delivering food grains through the ​public distribution system, ​almost all the
beneficiaries are equally entitled and suffering from similar issues of poverty and
deprivations. In such a situation, ​favouring one and rejecting the other will not
be a suitable option.
3. Similarly, since ​partiality and compassionate considerations based on feminist
ethics cannot be clearly defined and measured, behind the shield of feminist
ethics, there is the possibility of violation of laws and rules to give undue favours.

The importance of values based on emotions is evident from the fact that most of the
empathetic professions such as nursing, teaching, childcare, and counselling are
female-dominated, and women still do the majority of unpaid caring roles including
childrearing and domestic duties in the home. The WEF says that, when women join
negotiations, peace talks are 64% less likely to fail. A combination of feminist ethics and
traditional ethics can bring a better solution to the ethical issues of modern societies.

(b)The language of rights proved to be the most powerful language for moral
change in the 20th Century. Discuss. (150 words, 10 marks)

HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?

Introduction​: Write the significance of the 20th century in the context of moral change.
Body​: Write rights-based moral changes in the society of the world and India.
Conclusion​: Conclude with a way forward for what more needs to be done.

The 20th century was dominated by a chain of events that not only heralded significant
changes in world history but also redefined the morality of human civilisation. Rights of the
individuals, minorities and communities across the world were at the centre of the new moral
order of the human civilisation.

RIGHTS BASED MORAL CHANGES IN THE 20TH CENTURY

 1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was proclaimed by the
United Nations in 1948. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be
universally protected. It recognised the ​inherent dignity of the individuals as the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. These rights-based
values continue to shape our morality since then.
2. Liberty and Equality were the foundational values of the French Revolution in the
18th century, but it ​became global moral values in the 20th century. These ideals
were at the core of The ​civil rights movement in the United States during the
1960s which redefined morality based on humanity.
3. The ideal of Justice in Social, Economic And Political spheres are centred
around the ​rights and welfare of the people. These core ideals of the Russian
revolution brought a drastic moral change in societies across the world.
4. Right to self-determination is also a moral value of the 20th century which led to
mass movements across the world and subsequent ​decolonisation of the nations. This
language of rights gave birth to an increasingly ​critical attitude towards
colonialism and its assumption of moral superiority over the colonized
societies​.
5. The 20th-century moral foundations were not associated with social cohesion and order,
rather those were ​associated with individual welfare and rights. It led to a ​moral
renaissance of the societies​. Now societies are accepting and giving more
importance to individual rights ​rather than imposing societal "moral" norms.
6. Moral change of the 20th century included a new ​appreciation of cultural diversity,
the declining importance of religion in modernized societies; and growing
scepticism toward any form of moral objectivism.
7. Due to ​increasing tolerance and acceptance based on rights, instead of moral
objectivism, ​moral relativism became the widely accepted standards of morality.
Moral relativism is the view that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some
particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that ​no
standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others​.
MORAL CHANGE IN INDIA BASED ON LANGUAGE OF RIGHTS
1. After Independence, the most revolutionary development for India in the 20th century
was the adoption of the constitution. ​India's freedom struggle and the
constitution of India, both played a major role in redefining morality in
Indian society.
2. The language of the Constitution of India is based on moral and human rights. Its
preamble defines the morality of New India in words of liberty, equality,
fraternity and dignity of the individuals.
3. With the Fundamental rights constitution abolished ​untouchability, provided equal
rights to men and women, and tried to instil more progressive, inclusive and right
based moral aspects in the society.
4. Rights-based ​parliamentary enactments, such as Hindu code bills, also played
an important role in changing the biased and unjust moral standards of the traditional
Indian society.
Earlier, morality was defined and regulated by religion or culture of the societies. In the 20th
century, the language of rights based on the concepts of democracy, humanity and rationality,
became the most powerful language of moral change. Despite the change, LGBTQ communities
across the world are still waiting for their moral acceptance. Similarly, the rights of women
are still being violated in many countries across the globe in the name of morality.
Environmental morality is also yet to become part of our moral charter. Therefore, rights
must continue to be the powerful language of morality until there is a triumph of justice for all.

3. (a) “Whatever has a price can be replaced by something else as its equivalent; on
the other hand, whatever is above all price, and therefore admits of no equivalent
has a Würde (Dignity)”. Kant
Explain the relevance of human dignity as a human value and briefly describe the
dignity violations that are observed in Indian society. (150 words, 10 marks)

HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?

Introduction​: With the context of the current society, define human dignity.
Body​: Explain how the dignity of the human is a human value in the context of the Kant’s
given quote. Also, give examples of its violations in Indian society.
Conclusion​: Conclude by writing the significance of human dignity.

We are living in a modern world where civilization has reached its zenith, still, almost daily,
we witness the violation of human dignity sometimes by governments, other times by society
or corporates. Human dignity is understood as something inherent or unearned worth that all
humans share equally. It is typically treated as the moral basis of human rights. Above given
quote, Kant is trying to convey the importance of human dignity.
IMMANUEL KANT: HUMAN DIGNITY AS A HUMAN VALUE
1. For Immanuel Kant, ​dignity is intrinsic to human beings. He argued that dignity is
inviolable​ and cannot be denied to even a vicious man.
2. Kant says that 'Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or
in the person of another, always at the same time ​as an end and never simply as a
means.'
3. Kantian concept of dignity can be further simplified as; "​It is a sense of self-worth,
which we have a duty to develop and respect in ourselves and a duty to
protect in others.”
4. Kant's belief explains the given quote very well that human beings have dignity, they are
above all price, and therefore they cannot be used as a means to something else.

DIGNITY VIOLATIONS THAT ARE OBSERVED IN INDIAN SOCIETY

Indian society is very diverse not only in terms of language and religion but also in the larger
perspective of culture. It is observed that due to various traditions and hierarchy of the society,
the dignity of the human being is often violated in India. These violations are based on various
parameters.
1. Casteism: In our society caste-based discrimination exist since ancient times. Even
after enacting laws, increasing awareness and education, the menace of caste-based
 discrimination in the forms of ​manual scavenging, murder and rapes, and other
forms of ill-treatment towards so-called lower castes are the issues still prevalent.
Similarly, ​Tribal people ​were often ​subjected to evictions and humiliations​.
These crimes and treatments severely damage the dignity of the individuals.
2. The dignity of women: It is evident from the fact that ​every 16 minutes a woman
is raped ​somewhere in India, how frequently dignity of the women is violated. ​Sexual
abuse, domestic violence, character assassination through Social media
trolling and secondary treatment in the family ​are some of the ways in which
violation of dignity is observed in Indian society.
3. LGBTQ community: It is one of the most marginalised communities of our society.
Sexual exploitation, forced beggary, denial and mockery are some of the ways
in which dignity of the individuals of this community is often violated in public as well as
private spheres.
4. Mob Lynchings on caste and communal lines is a newly rising threat to human
dignity, a ​victim of which mostly belongs to Dalits, Tribals and Muslims
communities. It stripes the individuals of their basic human rights such as the ​right
to life, safety and belongingness. It attacks the identity of the individual which is an
important aspect of an individual's dignity.
5. Labours and workers: During ​COVID19 migrant workers' crisis was a shameful
display of violation of dignity. ​Some died on railway tracks, others died due to
hunger and thirst. Similarly, ​violence, ill-treatment, low wages,
discriminatory behaviour towards labourers ​and other workers such as
domestic help ​are various ways in which their dignity is often crushed.
Dignity is of significance in morality and ethics as well as laws of the society. For us, Indians,
dignity is not only a moral but also a constitutional value. It is mentioned in the preamble to
the constitution. Similarly, untouchability is abolished and discrimination is prohibited under
Articles 17 and 15. It is our fundamental duty to renounce the practices which are derogatory
to the dignity of women. Recently, SC in Puttaswamy judgement declared that dignity is
guaranteed by the fundamental rights. Therefore what Kant said is also endorsed by the UN
human rights charter as 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.'

(b)Do you agree that in the Indian context, ethics in governance can be ensured by
administrative reforms and administrative acts? (150 words, 10 marks)
HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?
Introduction​: Define governance and write characteristics of good governance.
Body​: Write arguments in favour and against the need for administrative reforms and acts.
Conclusion​: Write a way forward to ensure ethics in governance.

Governance means the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are
implemented (or not implemented). The UNDP defined 8 major characteristics of good
governance viz. participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive,
effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. All these
characteristics are ethical principles of governance.
NEED OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTS
1. India is not performing well in terms of ​corruption perception index​, her rank
slipped from 78th to 80th between 2018 and 2019. It implies a lack of ethics in public
and corporate governance.
2. The public services have remained largely exempt from the imposition of penalties,
leading to a ​lack of transparency, red-tapism, and no sense of responsibility.
3. While the honest have to be protected, the dishonest seem to corner the full benefit of
Article 311, the Constitutional safeguards to civil servants have in practice
shielded the guilty ​against the swift and certain punishment for abuse of public office
for private gain.
4. Indian governance is suffering from the erosion of accountability. For
example; In the delivery of justice and law & order, be it custodial deaths or number of
undertrials, we are very frequently observing that the poor and vulnerable members of
the society are the worst sufferers.

OBSERVATIONS Of SECOND ARC REPORT ON NEED OF ADMINISTRATIVE

REFORMS
1. There are six perceived governance quality measures according to the second ARC
report; voice and accountability; absence of political instability and violence;
government effectiveness; reasonableness of the regulatory burden; the rule of law; the
absence of graft. ​These measures are significant in the context of ethical
governance.
2. ‘Rule of law’ measures whether the crime is properly punished or not; ​enforceability
of contracts; the extent of the black market; enforceable rights of property;
the extent of tax evasion; judiciary’s independence; the ability of business and
people to challenge government action in courts etc.
3. ‘Absence of graft’ measures relative absence of corruption among government,
political and bureaucratic officials; of bribes related to securing of permits and licences;
of corruption in the judiciary; of corruption that scares off foreign investors.
4. Both measures, ‘Rule of law’ and ‘Absence of graft’, can be effectively improved by
Administrative Acts and reforms. Second ARC also suggested such Acts and
reforms, for example; civil services code and need of police reforms, etc.

BUT, MERELY ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTS WILL

NOT SUFFICE
1. Trust and confidence of the public is the cause and effect of the ethics in governance.
Building trust and confidence requires an environment where there is a
premium on transparency, openness, boldness, fairness and justice.
2. Many organs of the Indian governance, especially the police, judiciary and bureaucracy
are plagued with a colonial mindset. ​Reforms and Acts alone cannot ensure
ethical governance by these organs, we need to bring behavioural change as
well​.
 3. For ethics in governance, ​both demand and supply agents must be involved.
Mere enactment of laws and reforms of the administrative systems will not clean the
governance if the perception of the is not changed by mass awareness.
WAY FORWARD
1. Government is one of the actors in governance. Other actors involved in
governance vary depending on the level of government that is under discussion.
Democratic participation of all the actors is important for ethics in
governance.
2. Programmes on the lines of Mission Karmayogi for civil services should be
implemented for other agents of governance as well.
3. Right to information has brought a huge change in governance​. Key ethical
values of transparency and accountability are strengthened due to it. Still, this tool is not
being utilised to its full capacity. ​There is a need to make it more robust and
inclusive.
4. Digitization of public services and overall governance should be fastened up.
It reduces face to face interaction in governance and acts John Rawls's veil of ignorance
leading to responsible behaviour of the public servants and faster delivery of the services.
5. Hence there is a ​need for a comprehensive examination of the entire corpus of
the administrative system ​to rationalise and simplify the procedures and ethical
standards of governance.

4. (a) “Transparency and accountability are interrelated concepts and mutually

reinforcing.” Explain with suitable examples how both the concepts are
interrelated and mutually reinforcing. (150 words, 10 marks)

HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?

Introduction​: Define transparency and accountability.
Body​: Explain the relationship between both the concepts with examples.
Conclusion​: Write the significance of transparency and accountability in governance.

Transparency refers to sharing information and acting in an open manner. Accountability is

the obligation of a public servant or department to account for its activities, accept
responsibility for them, and to disclose the results in a transparent manner. Transparency and
accountability are major components of good governance as defined by UNDP.

HOW TRANSPARENCY IS RELATED TO ACCOUNTABILITY AND REINFORCES

IT?
1. Transparency is a key element of bureaucratic accountability that demands making
available for ​public scrutiny​ all public accounts and audit reports.
2. Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Transparency allows stakeholders
to gather the information that may be ​critical to uncovering abuses and defending
their interests.
 3. Transparent systems have ​clear procedures for public decision-makin​g and open
channels of communication between stakeholders and officials and make a wide range of
information accessible.
4. Transparency increases accountability of the Government officials. it protects
against government error, the misallocation of resources, and corruption.

HOW ACCOUNTABILITY IS RELATED TO TRANSPARENCY AND REINFORCES

IT?
1. Accountability is often used synonymously with such concepts as ​responsibility,
answerability, enforcement, blameworthiness, liability and other terms
associated with the expectation of account-giving. All these concepts ​create
transparency in the system​.
2. Accountability creates the obligation to
a. Demonstrate that work has been conducted ​in accordance with agreed rules
and standards.
b. Report fairly and accurately on ​performance results vis-a-vis mandated
roles and/or plans​.
3. Transparent demonstration and reporting are possible only if there is accountability in
the agents.
4. Accountability requires a transparent system to monitor and control ​the
performance of government officers and organisations, particularly in relation to the
quality, inefficiencies, and the abuse of resources.
5. Accountability increases transparency in the governance system. ​It reduces
the chances of government error, fraud, misallocation of resources and corruption.

SOME EXAMPLES ON HOW TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ARE

INTERRELATED AND MUTUALLY REINFORCING

RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT

1. Beginning of the RTI movement was based on the menace of corruption and
delays in public service delivery. This corruption and delays are mainly because of
the lack of transparency and accountability.
2. One of the basic objectives of the Right to Information Act is to ​promote
transparency and accountability​ in the working of the Public Authorities.
3. As per this Act, ​disclosure of information related to governance and public
services is mandated. This information shows the transparency of the system. To
maintain this transparency, public servants act in an accountable manner.

SOCIAL AUDIT
1. Social audit is recognised by many, including the Comptroller and Auditor General
(C&AG), as a​ powerful tool to enforce transparency and accountability.
2. Ma​hatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was the
first Act to mandate Social Audit by the Gram Sabha ​of all the projects taken up
in the Gram Panchayat.
 3. Social Audit creates accountability in the public servants to keep the system and
implementation process transparent​.
DIGITIZATION OF GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC SERVICE
1. It makes the system transparent in aspects such as ​allocation of funds, monitoring
and reviewing of programmes and projects ​through PRAGATI platform, etc.
2. Since the information is in the public domain and there is ​less face to face
interaction​, such a transparent system automatically makes agents of the system
accountable.
CITIZEN'S CHARTER
1. Citizen's Charter is a ​document of commitments made by a Government
organization to the citizens/client groups ​in respect of the services/schemes being
provided to them or to be provided to them.
2. Since, through the transparency of the charter, ​citizens already know which
services are being provided by the government organisation, what is the fee for
services and such other details, it becomes easier for them to hold the respective public
servant accountable.
Without transparency, there couldn’t be any accountability. Unless there is accountability,
transparency would be of no value. The existence of both conditions contributes to effective,
efficient and equitable management in public and private institutions. Both the concepts are
not only interrelated but also cause and effect of good governance.

(b). Explain the meaning of the term “empathy bias?” Suggest ways/ measures
using which a public servant can step aside empathy bias and be objective in
carrying out his duties effectively. (150 words, 10 marks)

HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?

Introduction​: Explain the meaning of empathy bias.
Body​: Explain with examples, why civil servants should not have empathy bias. Also, write
how empathy bias can be set aside objectively.
Conclusion​: Write a relevant conclusion in the context of the question asked.

The comparison between how much we empathize with our own social group and another
group is a measure that could be called “empathy bias”. It could help explain our attitudes,
beliefs, and behaviours towards people outside our social groups. It is found that those who
have empathy bias, they feel less empathetic to help others who don't belong to the same social
group.

EXAMPLES OF EMPATHY BIAS

1. Reservation policy in education and employment is often criticised by many
who do not belong to reserved categories. Those who criticise, they ​do not feel or
understand the historical deprivation of scheduled castes or tribes due to
empathy bias.
2. Xenophobia: In many developed and rich westerns countries, people are protesting
against the influx of refugees. Crimes against foreign nationals are increasing in many
 countries. People are ​not able to empathise with the problems of refugees
because they themselves do not belong to that group.
3. Homophobia: ​LGBTQ communities are suffering from discrimination and inhuman
treatment throughout the world. ​Societies across the world are not able to help
these members of the LGBTQ communities​ because of empathy bias.
4. Radicalisation: Muslim youth radicalisation, right-wing extremists, and left-wing
extremist are some of the examples of radicalisation ​based on false empathies​.
Sympathisers are supporting extreme ideologies based on their social groups and
identities.
WHY SHOULD CIVIL SERVANTS NOT HAVE EMPATHY BIAS?
1. Public servants ​have to serve all the citizens under their respective domains of
work, therefore "empathy bias" is considered as a negative trait for public servants.
2. When a person feels decreased empathy for another due to empathy bias, it ​implies
less motivation to help people from the ‘outside’​. It defeats the very purpose of
neutrality of the civil servants.
3. When we look at the pain of others, our personal lenses can distort our
understanding of their pain and suffering. In a group, we accord values and
meaning to “our” people and diminish the value of those outside them. It goes against
the foundational values of public life.
4. Due to empathy bias, a civil servant will ​compromise his professional integrity.
Selflessness, Objectivity, and such other principals of public life will clash with
empathy bias. These values are ​key principles of public life as stressed by the
Nolan Committee​.
MEASURES TO STEP ASIDE EMPATHY BIAS AND BE OBJECTIVE
1. John Rawls's veil of ignorance is the best way to practice fairness and justice.
Behind the Veil of Ignorance, no one knows who they are​. They lack clues as to
their class, their privileges, their disadvantages, or even their personality. In such a
situation, civil servants would act fairly as rational individuals.
2. Civil servants should ​practice and promote cooperation among many groups to
work together. Such groups should have a ​diversity of members in terms of
various identities such as language, religion, race, and caste etc.
3. Civil servants should ​diversify their interpersonal relations with respect to friends
and family and other social circles.
4. Civil servants ​must not forget that neutrality and impartiality are foundational
values​ of public services.
5. Despite all different identities, they must ​find common threads to connect with
people. ​Being Indian and being human we have a common identity which is
superior to all other identities and belongingness.
Empathy might be distorted by feelings or swept aside by our choices, but it does not simply
disappear. Through training and effort, at home and in society, or at workplaces, we can learn
to encourage empathy and discourage biasness. Public servants must also remember the
Weberian model of bureaucracy which says that public servants must be apolitical, organized
and governed by formal rules and procedures, not by emotions and identities.
5. (a) Poor work culture is the bane of Indian bureaucracy, besides red-tapism
what are the other fundamental flaws of Indian Administrative work culture and
suggest measures for improving the same. (150 words, 10 marks)
HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?
Introduction​: In the context of the current situation of India, write impacts of the flawed
work culture in Indian bureaucracy.
Body​: Write the fundamental flaws of Indian work culture and measure to improve it.
Conclusion​: Write the significance of bureaucracy and its work culture.
Despite being a welfare state and impressive economic growth India could not achieve
remarkable welfare of its people. It is evident from India's social indicators particularly in
hunger, health, nutrition, gender, and sanitation. A major reason for this poor performance is
the inefficient implementation of government policies which is in turn affected by the flaws of
administrative work culture.

FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS OF INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE WORK CULTURE

The poor work culture of Indian bureaucracy is suffering from multiple fundamental flaws.
Some of them are as follows;
1. Lack of transparency and accountability: The public services have remained
largely exempt from the imposition of penalties and punishments, leading to
lack of transparency and absence of accountability.
2. Complex hierarchy and political interference: ​Due to such hierarchy, it becomes
very difficult for a common citizen to receive public services. It leads to complex
procedures, delays and then opens the routes of corruption to get work
done. Rather than being citizen-centric and functioning as a unit, the administration
becomes self-centred and works in a manner to meet individual interests.
3. Strictly Rule-based decision making: Indian administrative work culture is
strictly rule-based, there is no place for humane considerations and
empathetic treatment. The recent death of a tribal woman due to hunger is a
classic example of such apathy. She was denied ration because she didn't have the
Adhaar card.
4. Culture of secrecy and control: Such culture also leads to corruption in the
administrative system. Since ​people do not know exact procedures, updates on
the progress and such other details, they have to bribe everyone from a peon
to the group A officer to move his file and get his work done.
5. Understaffed departments: ​There are huge vacancies in various government
departments of the government. For example, in the ​police department, there are
only 144 police officers for every 100,000 citizens against the United
Nations-recommended ratio of 222. It creates work pressure, overburdened police
personnels, who ​do not get enough holidays and work breaks, resorting to
corruption and brutalities.
6. Lack of professional training to group C, D or lower services: For example, due
to ​lack of proper professional and moral training police constables, who are first
respondents in any law and order situation, are not prepared to respond properly often
 leading to more losses to the victim, destruction of evidence and suffering to the
innocents.

MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE WORK CULTURE OF INDIAN ADMINISTRATION

1. Most of the laws and conventions, on which Indian administration is working, are
colonial in nature. For example, the Indian Police is governed by the Police Act of 1861.
There is a need for ​new enactments to overhaul the system based on the needs
of modern democratic Indian society.
2. Other than Acts, there is a ​need for structural reforms in almost all aspects of the
administration. It includes ​long-pending police reforms and Civil Services Code,
etc as recommended by the Second administrative reforms commission.
3. There is a need for ​rightsizing various departments, ministries and institutions of
administration which would bring greater efficiency in terms of cost and human
resources in the spirit of ​minimum government maximum governance.
4. Privatization of Services is also an option to be considered based on the successful
example of ​passport automation project managed by TATA consultancy
services. The efficiency of Passport services has drastically improved with ​faster
delivery and zero corruption ​in the process. It is expected that privatisation will
promote competition leading to cost-cutting and greater customer satisfaction.
5. Political pressure and instructions erode the decision making culture of bureaucracy,
therefore we must ​address the political-bureaucracy relationship in
administration.
6. Measures such as ​biometric attendance, transparent and objective
performance assessment system, regular feedback and updates, ​etc. can help
develop a healthy work culture and increase productivity.
India is moving ahead to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030 which includes the
targets related to poverty, hunger, health, equality and sustainable cities and communities,
etc. All these goals cannot be achieved without a robust, transparent and efficient
administrative system. For such an administration to be effective there is a need for more
humane and ethical bureaucracy.

(b). Female foeticide is a cause for concern even in the 21st century. Explaining the
challenges faced by the government of India in attempting to change the prevailing
attitudes towards girl children, suggest some implementable measures for
affecting an attitudinal change. (150 words, 10 marks)
HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?
Introduction​: Define female foeticide and its current status in India.
Body​: Write the steps taken by the government and explain the challenges in the
implementation of these steps. Suggest measures to overcome these challenges.
Conclusion​: Conclude with the need and significance of saving the girl child.
Female foeticide is the killing of a female foetus through illegal methods. Female feticide
remains a challenging issue because the preference for a son is a prevalent norm in many
Indian households. This is evident from the declining sex ratio which has dropped to alarming
levels. Despite various steps taken by the governments at all the levels, the SRS (Sample
Registration System) Report 2018 shows that sex ratio at birth in India further declined from
already low 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018.​

Some of the steps taken by the government are

1. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign
2. Sukanya Samriddhi yojana
3. Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT)

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Social challenges:
1. The proliferation and ​abuse of advanced technologies coupled with various social
factors have led to an increase in female feticide.
2. The social factors such as the low status of women, issues such as ​dowry,
patriarchy and concerns with the family name and looking up to the son as a
breadwinner has made the evil practice of female feticide to become common in the
middle and higher socioeconomic households.
3. Crime against women i​s also a social challenge, as it is both cause and effect of biased
sex ratio. Girls are considered as "honour" of the family. Such honour is becoming
difficult to be protected amid rising crimes.
Administrative challenges:
1. Poor enforcement of the law ​is the major issue in containing female feticide.
Considering the geographical extent, cultural diversity and huge population, it is difficult
to keep an accurate track of whether the PCPNDT Act is being implemented in letter and
spirit or not.
2. Challenges such as corruption, regulatory lacunae, and prevalence of
quacks​, etc are in the way of changing the prevailing attitudes towards girl children.
3. Many ultrasound centres fail to maintain adequate records or fail to keep in
line with the Act in other ways.
4. In India, there is a ​very limited social security system so parents look to their sons
to ensure their futures and care for them in old age
Economic challenges:
1. Huge population pressure has created resource scarcity in India which is coupled by
widespread poverty.
2. In such situations, under the gender-biased social structure, many families consider
girls as liability whereas they believe that a son would help in bringing some more
bread to the family.
3. Cheap ultrasound technology has given people an easier option to shed their
liability.

IMPLEMENTABLE MEASURES FOR AFFECTING AN ATTITUDINAL CHANGE

To bring a social change by changing attitude, we should address three components of Attitude
that are ABC; Affective, Behavioural, and cognitive.
1. Affective change; We have to ​use emotional intelligence along with the policy
measures to improve sex ratio. A successful ​model of South Korea is based on such
 a combination of efforts in favour of girl children. South Korea was acknowledged as ​the
"first Asian country to reverse the trend in rising sex ratios at birth", in a
report by the World Bank.
2. Behavioural change: Using nudge theory is an effective way to bring behavioural
change as we have seen in Swachh Bharat Mission. ​Mission mode campaigns,
advertising, using role models and influencers such as Amitabh Bachchan or
icons such as Priyanka Chopra can help in bringing attitudinal change.
3. Cognitive change: It is necessary to ​gear efforts against the cultural, economic
and religious roots ​of this social malady by women empowerment and intensive
Information, Education and Communication campaigns. ​There is a dire need to
strengthen PCPNDT law since the number of convictions is despairingly low as
compared to the burden posed by this crime. ​The medical colleges and
professional bodies have a vital role to play by sensitizing medical students who
are the doctors of tomorrow.
Causes of female feticide are deeply rooted in our social and economic attitudes. There is no
single formula to resolve this issue. There is a need for a multi-pronged approach by involving
all the stakeholders in legal and moral measures to bring a change. In these stakeholders, the
key stakeholders are women themselves, success stories across the world have proved that
educated, socially and economically empowered women can bring a positive change to
balance the sex ratio.

6. ​What does each of the following quotations mean to you in the present
context?
(a) “From morality comes wisdom and from wisdom morality . . . Like washing one
hand with the other . . . so is morality washed round with wisdom and wisdom with
morality” -Digha-Nikaya. (150 words, 10 marks)
HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?
Introduction​: Define wisdom and morality.
Body​: write how wisdom and morality are interrelated or cause and effect of each other.
Illustrate with examples, how in various walks of life wisdom and morality can affect
positively.
Conclusion​: Write the significance of morality and wisdom.

Wisdom means the ability to analyze any situation with logic, reasoning and experience to
arrive at the best result. It is a decision making process by deploying all the mental faculties.
whereas Morality deals with individual's values and preferences which they consider as right
or wrong. Morality and wisdom both are interrelated and interactive.

FROM MORALITY COMES WISDOM

1. When an individual makes ​a moral decision​, such decisions end up in best results
making him wiser than he was earlier.
2. Moral judgement ​is not merely an expression of emotion but has cognitive elements in
it. These ​cognitive elements develop the wisdom earned through logic, reasoning
and experiences.
 3. Gandhiji is a good example, by observing his life we can understand how morality paves
way for wisdom. ​His moral character, integrity, and belief in non-violence
helped him to shape his personal and public life ​making him one of the wisest
men of modern India.

FROM WISDOM COMES MORALITY

1. Wisdom is meant to serve as a guide of action ​and would thus be geared towards
the ‘right’ action. This right action is nothing but the morality of the individual.
2. Wisdom demands the harmonisation of the conscious and unconscious
aspects of the mind. A wise person does not act in a way which is against his
individual values​.
3. Gautam Buddha meditated for years and thought about human beings, life and pain
etc. ​Through his Gyan and wisdom, he gave us Eight Fold Path; ​right view, right
resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and
right samadhi. All the elements of the eightfold path are ​moral elements derived
from the wisdom of Buddha.
NEED OF MORALITY AND WISDOM IN TODAY’S WORLD
In India and the world, we are facing various challenges in all aspects of our life. Many of
these challenges can be addressed by morality and wisdom together.
1. Wisdom says that we all are equal human beings. Therefore it is immoral to deny
education and other equal opportunities to non-male genders including females and
trans genders. Similar is the case of caste and race discrimination.
2. Deforestation, fossil fuel, industrial pollution, etc lead to a huge change in climatic
conditions of the earth. ​It is all due to the greed of the human. ​Eradicating poverty,
hunger and economic inequalities, protecting nature and avoiding wastage are moral
attributes. Such morality will help us to ​wisely achieve inclusive and sustainable
development ​for human existence on the face of the earth.
3. Wisdom of understanding that ​‘an eye for an eye will turn the whole world blind’
should guide us to bridge our differences and establish ​humanity as the highest
moral value​ to put an end to continuous chaos of our society.
A righteous or moral person, according to Buddha's eightfold path, will have the right view
and Right thought. Right views and right thoughts or right knowledge brings wisdom.
Wisdom not only unifies the knowledge of the wise person but unifies her desires and values as
well. From the above-given quote, it can be inferred that from observing the moralities come
wisdom and from observing wisdom comes morality.

(b) “I slept and dreamt that life was a joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I
acted and behold, service was a joy.” -Tagore. (150 words, 10 marks)
HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?
Introduction​: Define joy and service.
Body​: Write some real-life examples of selfless service. Give arguments to justify that service
is joy.
Conclusion​: Write the significance of the service in the context of the given quotation.
Joy is an attribute of a full, rich and deeply meaningful life. The word "service" has many uses,
it can be used as a noun, "an act of helpful activity;" it can be used as an adjective, "of service,
useful;" it can be used as a verb, "to make fit for use;" and it's even employed in idioms, "at
someone's service" and "be of service."
SLEEP AND DREAMS VS REAL LIFE HARDSHIPS
1. We think that happiness is in comfort. Having material well being, a comfortable
house and absence of hardship are the dreams we all chase for.
2. When we sleep, we may find joy and pleasure. But sleep is a temporary state of joy, after
getting up every morning, the real world is waiting for us.
3. Real-life is very different from what we dream. There are hardships, misery,
poverty and pain.
4. In the above quotation, Tagore is trying to explain that embracing reality and helping
each other gives us ​a lasting joy ​which cannot be found in comfort or sleep.
Examples of Service
In our day today life, we come across many people or we listen to the stories of the people who
live to serve the people without expectations of any material reward. Some of the examples of
such services which we observed in the last few days are;
1. Azhar Maqsusi, a social activist from Hyderabad​, has made it his life's mission to
reach out to the poor and provide them with ​free food. He arranges food for around
400 people in the city daily.
2. Dr Prakash Amte saved the wild animals from man’s cruelty by starting the
‘Animal Ark’, an animal orphanage ​that started with an orphaned baby monkey
and has now blossomed into a home for leopards, snakes, hyenas.
3. Jitender Singh Shunty ​and his Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal (SBSSD) ​conducted
cremations and performed last rites of, including seven of unclaimed or unidentified,
coronavirus victims during the COVID19 pandemic.
4. Mohammad Rafi, an Assistant Sub-Inspector of police in Telangana, has made
the tunes of his legendary namesake part of drill practice for recruits. ASI Rafi ​brings
recruits out of homesickness & physical duress by singing songs while
conducting physical drills.

SERVICE IS JOY
After reading or witnessing such examples of selfless service, the question arises; what
motivates these people to serve others, sometimes at the cost of personal loss? Because they
experience how even a small act of kindness brings joy to not only the one who is served but
also to the servant.
1. Doing things for others​, whether small, unplanned acts or regular volunteering, is a
powerful way to boost our own happiness as well as those around us.
2. Compassion and kindness towards others act as glue which connects individual
happiness with the wider community and societal wellbeing.
3. Scientific studies show that helping others boosts happiness​. It increases life
satisfaction, provides a sense of meaning, increases feelings of competence, improves our
mood and reduces stress. It can help to take our minds off our own troubles too
 4. Service spreads from one person to the next, influencing the behaviour of
people ​who never saw the original act. it really is the key to creating a happier, more
trusting local community.
Gandhi once said Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the
served. If we all had the "service habit", compassionate acts would be everywhere. Rather than
greed, we might exhibit understanding and kindness as the first response many of us have to
life situations.

c) The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and
majority decisions but by iron and blood. - Otto von Bismarck. (150 words, 10
marks)
HOW TO APPROACH THE QUESTION?
Introduction​: Write some context from current events which can illustrate the given quote.
Body​: Write arguments in favour or against the given quotation.
Conclusion​: Write the significance of the stand you have taken.

Recently, Armenia and Azerbaijan attacked each other to resolve the territorial conflict over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region. As a result of this war, Armenia agreed to secede some of the
regions of the conflict region. The above-given quote fits perfectly in this example, that a
century-old conflict is coming to an end due to this war.

CAN BLOOD AND IRON SETTLE THE QUESTIONS?

What Bismarck meant by this statement was that only war would settle the most important
disputes between countries. Things like diplomacy and the creation of treaties could not, in his
mind, settle disputes.
1. Bismarck led Prussia in a series of wars that ended up creating a unified and
relatively powerful Germany​. In that way, he used “blood and iron” to settle the
questions of whether Germany would be unified and powerful.
2. The havoc caused by WWI and WWII, wars of Korea and division of the peninsula,
the partition of India and Pakistan, etc are some of the many examples in the world,
which show that ​Blood and Iron ​cannot resolve the questions of the day.
3. Azerbaijan may have won the territory, but it didn't win the trust of the
people.​ Hate and enmity between the two countries are growing continuously.
4. The truth is No One Wins in a War. All it does is bring pain and suffering to every
country, including those countries that “win.”
THERE ARE BETTER WAYS THAN BLOOD AND IRON
1. After the Second World War, we established ​the United Nations with the primary
purpose of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war.
2. The European Union grew over decades from a trade treaty to an organization that
won the Nobel Peace Prize for its part in ​transforming Europe from a continent of
war to a continent of peace.
3. Research by the Human Security Report demonstrates that ​peace negotiations and
cease-fire agreements reduce violent conflict even when they fail.
 4. Our global society consists of billions of people divided into various communities due to
their various identities and nationalities. India can be called as a sample space of global
diversity.
5. When diverse people live together, conflicts are bound to arise, to resolve
each, it is not wise to resolve the conflict by blood and iron.
Resource scarcity, environmental change, economic stress, refugee flows and racism all fuel
the engendering of conflicts in the world. It is true that no approach or system is perfect, but it
does not mean we resort to blood and iron to resolve these conflicts. Dialogues and peace
processes along with Gandhian ideals of Ahimsa and Satyagraha can resolve the great
questions of the day.

SECTION ‘B’

7. Mr Sharma was the regional head of a State Insurance branch, and the office
premises were leased from Mr Joshi, a prominent realtor of the city. The relations
between Mr Sharma & Mr Joshi was cordial and professional. Every Diwali, Mr
Joshi made it a point to send Mr Sharma gift certificates worth ten thousand
rupees of a departmental store. Mr Sharma, to not to offend Mr Joshi he routinely
accepted the gift certificates. To avoid any sort of ethical dilemmas in his mind, Mr
Sharma routinely threw the gift certificates away instead of redeeming them.

As years progressed, Mr Sharma began to be concerned about whether he had

taken the right action in accepting the first gift. He felt he could not stop accepting
each year’s gift since he had accepted it in preceding years. Mr Sharma’s concern
was that he was beginning to think that he had unwittingly indebted to Mr Joshi,
and guilt started setting in for Mr Sharma.
1. Do you notice any integrity conflict with Mr Sharma’s situation, if yes,
explain?
2. Suggest ways by which Mr Sharma can resolve the above integrity conflict
and can avoid future such conflict situations. (250 words, 20 marks)

The gifts have always been used to leverage business relationships. While gifts are often given
as a gesture of goodwill, overly generous business gifts tend to put pressure on the recipient to
extend more than just goodwill to the giver. In the given case study, Mr Sharma is the key
stakeholder as the recipient of the gift certificates, other stakeholders are Mr Joshi, Insurance
company and all the clients of the company.

1. Do you notice any integrity conflict with Mr Sharma’s situation, if yes, explain?
Professional Integrity
1. A gift is something of value given without the expectation of return, whereas a bribe is
the same thing given in the hope of influence or benefit. Because it is often impossible to
determine the expectation of the giver, most of the government and corporate bodies are
governed by rules restricting gifts.
 2. Since the amount of the gift is significant, it is possible that Mr Joshi would expect any
favours in future from Mr Sharma. It is unethical and in some instances illegal to accept
gifts or invitations to any event where the intent is to buy favour.
3. Since the intent of Mr Joshi is not clear, and there is no clarity on the company's code of
conduct, therefore, we cannot say that there is any conflict in the professional integrity of
Mr Sharma.
Personal Integrity
1. The relationship between Mr Sharma and Mr Joshi is cordial and professional, built on
the context of the office leased from Mr Joshi.
2. Mr Sharma is at the position of decision-maker in the branch and decisions are supposed
to be made on the merits of the case. But frequent receiving of gifts may create a soft
corner for Mr Joshi in professional decision making of Mr Sharma.
3. Even though professional code does not have any clarity on acceptance of gifts, accepting
gifts of significant amounts from professional relations, without reciprocity, comes in
conflict with personal integrity.
2. Suggest ways by which Mr Sharma can resolve the above integrity conflict and
can avoid future such conflict situations.

Is there a company policy on gifts?

1. If Mr Sharma's company has a code of conduct or policy on gifts, Mr Sharma must
adhere to such policy.
2. Having a professional relationship with Mr Joshi, Mr Sharma can directly show him the
company policy and can politely refuse to take gift certificates any more.
3. He can also tell Mr Joshi that he has not redeemed any of the earlier gift certificates so
that Mr Joshi can make a decision about the money he invested in gift certificates.

Reciprocity​:
1. To reduce the burden of guilt and feeling of indebtedness, Mr Sharma can start
reciprocating the Diwali Gift certificates to Mr Joshi.
2. It will help him to continue his cordial relationship with Mr Joshi without affecting the
professional decision making.
3. Though a simple solution but this course of action may create an unnecessary burden on
Mr Sharma in the long run to maintain a professional relationship.

Simply, Talk to Mr Joshi:

1. In the absence of company guidelines and unaffordability of reciprocity, a simple
solution in front of Mr Sharma is to talk to Mr. Joshi.
2. Mr Sharma can politely refuse to accept the gift by conveying a fair message that we must
not burden our cordial and professional relationship with such gifts.
3. This way could offend Mr Joshi for once but persuasion skills of Mr Sharma can save the
professional relationship between the two and can uphold the integrity of himself.

TO AVOID FUTURE SUCH CONFLICT SITUATIONS

1. Mr Sharma must remember that accepting gifts or favours without transparency of
intent ultimately undermines trust in business relationships
 2. There's no such thing as a free lunch. If accepting a gift at someone else's largess
undermines our integrity or creates the appearance of impropriety, we shouldn't do it.
3. Since Mr Sharma is the regional head of a State Insurance branch, ​he should
formulate company policy for the branch or he can suggest superiors to form such
policy for the company ecosystem regarding the acceptance of gifts. Such a formal policy
will help him and other colleagues in directly refusing such gifts without offending the
person.
4. Professionally some companies allow their employees to accept gifts​, but when
received, they donate them to a non-profit organisation. There are some other
organisations where gifts received must be declared and it is maintained in registers.
5. With such steps, Mr Sharma can avoid such conflict situations in future.

The given case study is a classic example of cognitive dissonance, where the main stakeholder
is aware of the fact that accepting gift certificates in professional relations are unethical, but
still, he accepts to avoid offending. We can resolve such dissonance by confronting it on the
basis of ethical and professional guidelines. Here we can also use our professional and
persuasion skills to keep a healthy professional relationship along with resolving the ethical
issue.

8. Prashant works as a Senior Scientist in a major Pharmaceutical company and

his primary job was to develop drugs for better care of HIV positive individuals. He
along with his colleagues were successful in developing a drug combination that
showed some promise of lengthening the lives of late-stage AIDS patients.
However, laboratory tests and field trials indicated the drug may cause liver
cancer and ulcer. Despite the adverse effect the company plans to market the drug
as a prescription drug after getting the relevant regulatory clearances.
1. What do you think are the ethical issues involved in marketing the drug? Is
it justified for the company to sell the drug despite knowing its side effects?
2. What do you think should be Prashant’s course of action as a senior
scientist? (250 words, 20 marks)

1. What do you think are the ethical issues involved in marketing the drug? Is it
justified for the company to sell the drug despite knowing its side effects?
The pharmaceutical industry is a sector where along with the ideas of corporate involvement,
the responsibility towards patients, ethical behaviour and an overall duty towards society are
omnipresent. The drug developed by Mr Prashant would benefit a significant number of people
living a miserable life in the last stage of AIDS. At the same time, proved side effects of the drug
puts some ethical questions on the marketing of such drugs.
ETHICAL ISSUES INVOLVED IN MARKETING THE DRUG
1. The most prominent ethical issues plaguing the pharma industry are drug safety, pricing,
data and information disclosure, and the cost-effectiveness, etc.
2. The above-given case study is one such example where two stakeholders a senior
scientist and pharma company are at the brink of compromising the safety of third and
important stakeholder i.e. HIV positive individuals.
 3. Another ethical issue, in this case, is for Mr Prashant whose primary job is to develop
drugs. The issue is whether or not he should care about the marketing of the drug despite
its probable adverse effects.

Is it justified for the company to sell the drug despite knowing its side effects?
1. Few important points to be noted in this case study are;
a. First; Laboratory tests and field trials indicated that the drug ​may cause liver
cancer and ulcer. Here is the ​factor of "probability", the drug may or may not
cause adverse effects.
b. Second; The company plans to market the ​drug as a prescription drug after
getting the relevant regulatory clearances. Almost all the relevant
regulatory clearances throughout the globe include the detailed study of positive
and negative outcomes of the drug before approval.
2. From a ​utilitarian point of view, the company and regulatory bodies must consider
the ​larger benefits of the drug. ​For example; in the case of chemotherapy, the
growth of cancer cells can be reduced by killing many of them. It can lengthen the life of
last stage cancer patients. But it has an established list of serious adverse effects such as
effects on kidney, hair fall and anaemic conditions, and in some cases fatality due to
infections.
3. Since the company will launch the drug only after regulatory clearances, it is justified for
the company to sell the drug. This justification is also supported by the fact that there are
many drugs out in the market with a cautionary note of the side effects.

2. What do you think should be Prashant’s course of action as a senior scientist?

On one hand, as a senior scientist, Prashant's primary job is to develop drugs for better care of
HIV positive individuals. Therefore, professionally speaking, marketing is not Prashant's
primary concern. On the other hand, being a moral agent, Prashant has to take action for the
safety of AIDS patients.
Being a senior scientist, Prashant can resolve his dilemma by taking the following
actions:
1. Talk to the head of the regulatory wing of the company​. Ask them to clearly
convey the probable adverse effects to regulatory bodies who are going to
approve the drug.
2. Suggest the marketing department to put up the information related to
probable adverse effects ​in the public domain, through websites and information
brochures to doctors and druggists.
3. If Prashant is not able to convince the respective departments about the above two
options, then ​he can directly inform about the probable effects to regulatory
bodies. This may affect his rapport with the pharma company, but he will be able to
resolve the conflict of his own integrity as a drug developer scientist.
4. If Prashant fails with all the above options, he can choose to be a
whistleblower himself with the help of the media. This may blow the issue out of
proportion but for the sake of transparency and patients' right to know, this can be a
solution at the last resort.
While resolving the above issue, utmost priority must be given to save human life. Safety of
human life is above any other goals or objectives. Considering the right to make informed
choices, declaring the possible adverse effects are important in the given case. Mr Prashant
can resolve the ethical dilemma related to his role as a senior scientist and as a moral agent by
going through the given rational courses of actions. The pharma company must uphold its
ethical behaviour considering its responsibilities towards patients and duty towards society.

9. Ashok and Sapna are ambitious, energetic urban planners employed by a

district planning agency in a growing metropolitan region. Their work on several
city comprehensive plans brings them much praise, including several positive
stories published in the local vernacular newspapers. One day Sapna says to
Ashok, “why don’t we try to make some money as planning consultants? We can
advertise ourselves on the World Wide Web with a web site. The costs would be
minimal, and as long as we don’t contract with clients doing business with our
agency, there shouldn’t be any ethical or legal issues to contend with.”

Ashok gives Sapna’s suggestion a few days of thought, and a week later they have a
website in place. On the web page, Ashok and Sapna are presented as A&S
Associates, Urban Planners. Services that their firm can provide include, among
other things, market analysis, community planning, business site selection, and
geographic information systems. Although the web page does not identify Ashok’s
and Sapna’s current employer by name, it does note that they have local
government experience as planners. Moreover, the page contains their firm’s
e-mail address and telephone number.
1. What do you understand by the conflict of interest? Do you think the above
case reflects a situation of conflict of interest? Explain.
2. Do you think Ashok and Sapna’s actions are a violation of Duty or Work
Ethics, or is it both Duty and Work ethics. Explain. (250 words, 20 marks)
In a free-market economy, various market players are free to engage in multiple business
services simultaneously. The above case is a similar example where key stakeholders Ashok
and Sapna are already employed by a district planning agency, a third stakeholder. Besides
the services to the district planning agency, Ashok and Sapna planned their own business to
provide similar services to clients directly, creating another stakeholder of the given case.
Some of the important ethical issues in the given case are conflict of interest, duty and loyalty
towards the current employer, and work ethics.
1.What do you understand by the conflict of interest? Do you think the above case
reflects a situation of conflict of interest? Explain. (150 words, 10 marks)

1. A conflict of interest arises when what is in a ​person’s best interest is not in the
best interest of another person or organization to which that individual
owes loyalty​.
2. A conflict of interest can also exist when a person must answer to two different
individuals or groups whose needs are at odds with each other. In this case,
serving one individual or group will injure the other.
POSSIBILITY OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN THE ABOVE CASE
 1. Based on the ​second definition of conflict of interest ​written above, there is the
possibility of a conflict of interest-based on the following arguments;
2. Ashok and Sapna are employed by a district planning agency in a growing metropolitan
region. The ​services they provide to this agency are overlapping with the
services they are going to provide ​to other clients.
3. There is a possibility that they will use insider information of metropolitan regions
gained through their primary employing agency for the profitable deals with their clients
through their new business venture.
4. Other than the firm's e-mail address and telephone number, they have not
clearly ​mentioned anywhere about their current employer.
BUT IT IS NOT A CLEAR CASE OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST BECAUSE
1. The professional relationship of ​Ashok and Sapna with their current employer, a
district planning agency, is not clear. As per the contract between the two and the
agency, whether or not they can engage in private business aside from their current
employer agency is not clear.
2. They have clearly decided that ​they will not contract with clients doing business
with their current employer​ agency.

2. Do you think Ashok and Sapna’s actions are a violation of Duty or Work Ethics,
or it is both Duty and Work ethics? Explain.
1. In business and law, having a ​'fiduciary responsibility' to someone is known as
having a 'duty of loyalty' which is based on a ​legal or ethical relationship of trust
with one or more other parties.
2. In a free-market economy, people can have multiple business loyalties. There is ​no
violation of duty as far as they uphold their fiduciary responsibility​.
3. Work ethic is used to refer to key characteristics that include ​honesty, integrity,
and accountability, among others. Ashok and Sapna must keep their professional
relationships transparent to uphold the work ethics.
4. By keeping their new business venture aloof from their current employer,
especially when services are overlapping, Ashok and Sapna are ​compromising the
work ethics​.
5. Ashok and Sapna have every right to have their own business if the professional
relationship with their current employers permits. ​Avoiding conflict with the
company is the core value of business ethics.
6. Though ​due to lack of complete transparency ​both of them are ​compromising
business ethics​, but for their own business, they ​are not compromising the
services they are giving to their employer firm​. Therefore there is no violation of
duty here.

Ethical people must consciously avoid situations where we benefit ourselves by being disloyal
to others. Therefore, in the above case study, transparency, responsibility and
adherence to the professional contracts without any conflict of interest are the
key ethical concerns to be addressed. Similarly, business ethics and values are also
evolving with the changing nature of the economy, therefore individuals should have the
opportunity to freely and openly utilise their capacities without restricting them to single
party loyalty.

10. Mr Pandey personally would never try to bribe a public official for anything.
But Mr Pandey is responsible for constructing a new manufacturing facility, under
a strict and extremely tight deadline. If he fails to meet the deadline, there would
be severe career repercussions. As the job nears completion, it becomes quite
evident that, despite his initial warnings to follow the letter of the law
meticulously, the contractor has been making illegal payments to individual
members of the municipal corporation to ensure that inspections and permits are
completed on schedule. Mr Pandey thinks of investigating into the contractor’s
methods and reporting it to appropriate authorities. But he chooses to leave
matters alone. He realized that taking the high moral road will jeopardize not only
the project but also his career. So Mr Pandey ignores the methods of the
contractor, and as a professional, he chooses to get the job done.
1. Do you think using illegal practices, as we saw in the above case, can be
justified in the name of consequentialism? Explain.
2. What according to you must be Mr Pandey’s course of action? Justify. (250
words. 20 marks)
India’s ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI-2019) has slipped from 78 to 80
compared to the previous year. Given a case study is a typical example of daily affairs in the
municipal corporation where bribing officials to get work done on time is a usual thing.
Stakeholders involved in the case study are Mr Pandey and the contractor who have to
complete the project on time, else their career is at stake. Other stakeholders are the municipal
corporation and its members and the public in general.
Important arguments to be considered here are;
1. Mr Pandey personally would never try to bribe a public official for anything, it is the
contractor who bribed officials.
2. If Mr Pandey fails to meet the deadline, there would be severe career repercussions.
3. Project is almost about to complete, and at this stage, Mr Pandey came to know about
corruption.
4. As a professional, Mr Pandey chooses to get the job done irrespective of the methods of
the contractor. To get the job done is the primary duty of Mr Pandey.
1. Do you think using illegal practices, as we saw in the above case, can be justified
in the name of consequentialism? Explain.
Consequentialism is a class of normative, teleological ethical theories that hold that the
consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the
rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, ​a morally
right act is one that will produce a good outcome​.
1. According to the definition and above-mentioned arguments from the case study, illegal
practices are justified in the name of consequentialism, ​but this type of extreme
consequentialism is called Egoism.
2. Due to Mr Pandey's silence, contractor's bribes will contribute to the
perpetuation of the already corrupt work culture of the corporation, which will
 harm the public in the general and overall governance of the country in the larger
picture.
3. According to egoism, ​the consequences for the individual agent are given more
importance than any other result. Thus, egoistic consequentialism will prescribe
actions that may be beneficial, detrimental, or neutral to the welfare of others.
4. Therefore, using illegal practices, as we saw in the above case, cannot be justified in the
name of consequentialism.
2.What according to you must be Mr Pandey’s course of action? Justify.
Considering the above mentioned key arguments, the following are the options available to Mr
Pandey as choices for his course of action.
1. He should keep ignoring since he himself is not indulging in corruption. This option
will help him to complete the project on time without risking his career. But it has
negative repercussions in the long run. It will perpetuate the menace of
corruption. ​Also, it is an unacceptable option for a moral agent.
2. He should investigate the contractor’s methods and report it to the
appropriate authorities. With this course of action, there are two possibilities;
Authorities will take action against the contractor, it will lead to delay and ultimately risk
to Mr Pandey’s career, or Authorities will warn the contractor and ignore any further
action, this will not resolve Mr Pandey’s cognitive dissonance.
3. He came to know about bribery at the stage when the job is near to completion. He
should talk to the contractor, and remind his earlier warnings. If the
contractor does not agree to follow the letter of the law meticulously, then Mr Pandey
could ​end the contract on the basis of not following the agreed terms and
assign it to another contractor who agrees to work transparently​.
4. The third option is a solution with minimum negative repercussions. Though
at the cost of ​delay and risk to career​, this course of action ​will resolve the
cognitive dissonance ​of Mr Pandey and will uphold his personal and professional
integrity.

Ethical altruism is a consequentialist theory which prescribes that an individual take actions
that have the best consequences for everyone except for himself. Here in the given case, Mr
Pandey's any action against corruption will land him in trouble, but it will definitely be helpful
in discouraging corruption. Therefore, ethical altruism will help in taking a moral course of
action for Mr Pandey.

11.Mr Verma is a software engineer working with the IT Section of the Health
Department, who has recently developed an application which helps patients keep
track of medical information, doctor’s appointments, and prescriptions.
Information about the patient/user is stored in this app, including what
prescriptions they are taking and how frequently they schedule doctor’s
appointments. As the developers of the app, Mr Verma and his colleagues have
access to this information.

The health promotion section of the Department requests Mr Verma to supply

them with patient-specific information so they can target promotional messages to
the users in an efficient manner. Mr Verma understood the importance of health
promotional messages but also felt that the privacy of the app users should be
protected. Additionally, as a Software Engineer, he feels he should be responsible
for those who use his technology.

1. Do you think the Health Promotion section’s demand for information is

ethically justifiable? Why/Why not?

2. According to you, is this an appropriate time for Mr Verma to display moral

courage and stand up for user rights vis-à-vis his Department priorities?
(250 words, 20 marks)

Breach of privacy due to information sharing by app developers and internet giants is a hot
topic of debate nowadays. Given case study is also one such situation where there is a dilemma
whether or not the key stakeholder Mr verma should share patients' information with the
health promotion section. Here right to privacy of one of the important stakeholders i.e.
patients is the core ethical issue. Here, loyalties of Mr verma are towards the health
department as well as patients who use the app developed by him.

1.Do you think the Health Promotion section’s demand for information is ethically
justifiable? Why/Why not?
The demand for information is ethically justifiable or not, this can be concluded on the basis of
following arguments from the given case study;
1. Mr Verma is a software engineer working with the IT Section of the Health Department.
He is ​not an independent developer, rather he works for the health
department.
2. The health promotion section is also part of the same Department for whose
IT section Mr Verma works.
3. Therefore, the ​main fiduciary responsibility lies with the parent Health
department​, not with Mr Verma or Health promotion section.
4. Information sharing of the client within the organisation is a usual practice unless and
until patients' information is ​not shared to the third party outside the
organisation without their consent. ​We can justify information sharing by
understanding the example of the ORS system of the government of India.
5. Online Registration System (ORS) ​is a framework to link various hospitals across
the country for Aadhaar based online registration and appointment system. Here
information Ministry of information and technology is shared with the
respective hospitals selected by patients. Further information is shared
between the departments based on the OPD referrals.

Though the above arguments and example justify that the demand for information is justifiable,
there are some ethical question still remains;
1. Whether ​consent of the patient is taken for sharing information with the departments
other than to which they have consulted?
 2. Are patients ​aware of the fact that which of their information is being stored?
Their names, ages, disease, prescriptions and what else?
3. Whether all the stakeholders are clearly informed that the information stored in the app
will be used only for health and wellbeing or for commercial purposes as
well?
In most of the organisations, the IT section works as a database, all the other sections of the
same organisation rely on the IT section for their functioning. Since the IT section is not an
independent developer of the app and handler of the patients' information, various sections of
the same parent department can use the information without compromising patients' privacy
and their fiduciary responsibility.
2.According to you, is this an appropriate time for Mr Verma to display moral
courage and stand up for user rights vis-à-vis his Department priorities?
Being the key developer of the health app and part of the IT section of the health department, it
is ​the moral duty of Mr Verma to make sure that the information collected by his
app must not be misused and privacy of the patients not breached.
1. With the app, Mr Verma must have provided patients with details of terms and
conditions. At this time, Mr Verma must make sure that the ​rights of the patients are
not breached by compromising the terms and conditions agreed between the
stakeholders.
2. If the consent of patients was not taken, Mr Verma has to display moral courage
and stand up for user rights;
a. Mr Verma should refuse to share the information for time being,
meanwhile, he can develop an update of the app including the request for the
consent of the patients.
b. He should make sure to establish ​an accountability mechanism ​with each of
the stakeholders having access to the patients' information.
c. He should ​clearly convey his colleagues and health promotion section, ​the
extent to which information can be used as per the consent taken
from the patients​.

Like any other information related to individuals, health-related information also amounts to
​ rivacy of the individuals. On the other hand, such information is also critical to
the p
​ oral duty of the app developer as well
improve the health of the sample space. It is the m
as a parent organisation to provide better health services without compromising
the privacy of the individuals. Throughout the process, from developing the app, taking
consent, to sharing information within the wings of the same organisation, there s ​ hould be
transparency between the health department and the patients.

12. Mr Prashanth has been working as a Project Head for a Technology Consulting
firm for a few years now and has recently been promoted to review projects for
in-need communities. He has been put in charge of managing the company’s
charity projects for marginalised communities and determining how to distribute
the funding for them. Some of the projects are quite straightforward, but for one
project, Prashanth isn’t sure whether the company should be funding it. The
project’s mission is to provide new solar panels for a tribal village but the project
data suggests it is more practical to just install better lighting inside the homes.
Based on the company’s research on the village, Prashanth knew that the solar
panels would be an expensive and high maintenance affair for the village and the
village actually needed better lighting for their homes. Further, from his previous
experience, Prashanth knew that the probability of solar panels being stolen and
sold is very high. Looking at the actual need and the prospect of having the
equipment stolen made Prashanth rethink about supporting the village project.
But there was huge pressure from the Local MLA and Tribal Associations for the
high visibility solar panels because of impending elections in the area. Further,
Prashanth’s boss despite knowing everything was in favour of appeasing the MLA
and going in with solar panels, whereas Prashanth knew that such a decision is
doomed to fail.

1. What are the options available to Prashanth? What should be Prashanth’s

justifiable course of action?
2. What are the value conflicts you notice in the above case? (250 words,
20marks)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the integration of socially beneficial programs and
practices into a corporation’s business model and culture. It includes engaging in or
supporting activities which are philanthropic or charitable in nature. Above case study is an
example of one such charity project being funded by a Technology Consulting firm. Key
Stakeholders are Mr Prashanth, boss of Technology Consulting firm, Local MLA and Tribal
Associations and most important, people of the village.
1.What are the options available to Prashanth? What should be Prashanth’s
justifiable course of action?
Mr Prashanth has recently been promoted and put in charge of managing the company’s
charity projects. Since he recently started his new work to review projects for in-need
communities, he has to be careful while taking any course of action against the interest of his
boss and local MLA
1. First option: He should keep quiet, and follow what his boss expects from
him. ​This course of action will save him from any personal loss regarding professional
relationships with the boss and future interests of the company. But keeping quiet
against what is wrong is not an acceptable option for a moral agent. It will create conflict
in his integrity or he may also experience cognitive dissonance.
2. Second option: Call for a press conference and expose the unholy nexus
between the corporate and political leaders. This option will help in protecting
the interests of the tribals of the village but it will blow the issue out of proportion. Along
with local MLA, Mr ​Prashanth and his employer firm, all stakeholders will suffer from
the chaos created by the public and media.
3. Third option: Mr ​Prashanth should skillfully persuade the boss directly and
MLA indirectly that providing better lighting inside homes is a profitable option for all
the stakeholders. Here, Mr ​Prashanth could ​use three modes of persuasion;
Logos, Ethos, and Pathos​.
 a. Ethos: Mr ​Prashanth has recently been promoted to review projects for in-need
communities. ​He should use his position and recent promotion, due to
his good performance, gain the confidence of the boss, and persuade
him ​to believe in his views related to the project.
b. Logos: Mr ​Prashanth should ​logically explain how installing better
lighting inside the homes will save the firm's hard-earned money,
which can be invested in some other more productive projects. Similarly, he
should convince his boss that, rather than solar panels, continuous electricity
supply within homes ​will help in winning the trust of the tribals in favour
of local MLA. Not only coming elections but also in future he can win due to
durable infrastructure​ that the firm will fund.
c. Pathos: Mr ​Prashanth should use his emotional intelligence to convey
to the boss that the main ​intention of the project is to help the poor and
marginalised tribes of the village. The firm has its own market position, it
doesn't need to please the MLA. Similarly, MLA and Tribal associations can also
be convinced that poor tribals expect honest service delivery from their
representatives. ​Implementing a project despite knowing its flaws will
be a deception to their very own people.
The third option provides a balanced course of action to Mr Prashanth, through which he will
be able to implement the project in favour of the people of the village without compromising
neither his professional relations nor his personal integrity.
2.What are the value conflicts you notice in the above case?
Above case is a classic example of how an unholy nexus between corporate and politicians
works. In the given case, there are many ethical issues involved, some of them are following;
1. There is a ​conflict with respect to seven principles of public life ​which are
selfless, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. Such as;
a. Selflessness:​ Project is being implemented with selfish motives of local MLA.
b. Integrity: Despite knowing the flaws of the project, Mr ​Prashanth's boss wants
to implement it.
c. Objectivity: Project is clearly against the objective findings of the company's
research, flaws are being ignored.
2. It is the case of a ​conflict of interest. Boss, local MLA and Tribal association want to
implement the project, which is meant for tribals, for their own interest.
3. It also involves ethical issues such as ​deception, trickery, fooling people and
wastage of financial resources​.
4. Firm or the boss is resorting to ​favouritism in decision-making based on ​ulterior
motives.
In the given case study people of the village, the tribals, are the main stakeholders. To fulfil
their needs is the primary objective of the charity project of Mr Prashanth’s employer firm.
Thus Mr Prashanth has to use his leadership skills, persuasion skills and professional skills to
fulfil the objectives of the project. The suggested course of action will help in upholding the
values such as personal and professional integrity, public trust and objectivity.