What factors affect the formation of a person’s attitude towards social problems?

In our society, contrasting attitudes about many social problems are prevalent.
What contrasting attitudes do you notice about the caste system in our society? How
do you explain their existence? (150 words) AnswerThe attitude of a person depends
on several factors like age, gender, family background, economic status, religion,
nationality, profession, region and educational background. Attitude also depends
on the nature of the person and the ideologies followed by him.The contracting
attitudes about the caste system in Indian society are -• Some people strongly
believe in caste system and hierarchy.• Some people disapprove of the caste system
and treat everyone the same.• Some upper caste people look down upon lower caste
people, and disapprove inter-caste interaction and marriages.• Some people advocate
special privileges to the lower caste to make up for their backwardness and social
discrimination. The contrasting attitudes are found because most people in India
believe in the caste system which originated in the Hindu religion. Caste system is
more prevalent in rural than urban India due to lack of modern education. Educated
people are less likely to have caste prejudices than the uneducated people. Indian
politicians use caste as an important tool to divide and rule people. Two different
kinds of attitudes exhibited by public servants towards their work have been
identified—bureaucratic attitude and democratic attitude. (10 marks) (150 words)(a)
Distinguish between these two terms and write their merits and demerits.(b) Is it
possible to balance the two to create a better administration for the faster
development of our country? Answer(a) Bureaucratic attitude means performing the
job strictly according to rules. It means following the hierarchy, convention and
procedures prescribed by the government. It is a top-down approach where everything
is decided on the top and the rest follow the directions. Democratic attitude is a
bottom-up approach where the decision is based on the popular demand of the people.
This approach is more humanistic and flexible.(b) The development of a country
depends on the harmonious balancing of the democratic and the bureaucratic
attitude. A good administrator is flexible and his eyes and ears are with the
people. He listens to their concerns, takes their advice and then implements the
law and various schemes according to and in public interest. He uses his
discretionary powers to ensure that the actions are according to the will of the
people and yet not illegal. When you listen to the people and also follow the law,
you provide the best administration for the development of your country.How could
social influence and persuasion contribute to the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan?
(150 words) AnswerSwachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) is a campaign in India that aims to
clean up the streets, roads and infrastructure of India’s cities, smaller towns and
rural areas, particularly by eliminating open defecation through the construction
of self-owned and community-owned toilets and by establishing an accountable
mechanism of monitoring toilet use.The success of SBA depends on the active
participation of the common people of India, which is possible through persuasion.
Social influence operates when people imitate national leaders and popular
personalities as their role model. Therefore, even the Prime Minister, Chief
Ministers and celebrities from the film and sports world are campaigning for the
SBA mission.The government is also imparting messages through different mediums
like newspapers, television and social media to clean up our house/s and
neighbourhood. People have also become more conscious about cleanliness and avoid
throwing garbage in public places. Consistent persuasion has motivated the people
of India to value cleanliness and keep their surroundings clean.
Our attitudes towards life, work, other people and society are generally shaped
unconsciously by the family and the social surroundings in which we grow up. Some
of these unconsciously acquired attitudes and values are often undesirable in the
citizens of a modern democratic and egalitarian society.

(a) Discuss such undesirable values prevalent in today’s educated Indians.

(b) How can such undesirable attitudes be changed and socio-ethical values
considered necessary in public services be cultivated in the aspiring and serving
civil servants? (150 words)
Answer

There are many undesirable values in India like casteism, communalism, unnecessary
rituals, selfishness, indifference to underprivileged members of the society,
distrust for other communities and regionalism. These values are passed from one
generation to another through family and social surroundings. Many people are
inspired to make illegal money through corruption because the society does not
condemn such activities. Gender-based discrimination is also an undesirable trait
which most people develop from their family.

Aspiring civil servants must learn public service from our great social and
political leaders. They must draw inspiration from our freedom fighters who had
given their lives for the sake of our country. Parents and teachers have a great
responsibility to impart moral values to children at a young age so that they
continue to imbibe ethical values even when they grow up. There should be regular
training of civil servants to provide them with the right attitude and socio-
ethical values. There should also be incentives for civil servants if they follow
the ethical path and punishment for behaving unethically. (170 words)