Ethics 2019
Section A
1.(a) What are the basic principles of public life?
Illustrate any three of these with suitable examples. (150 words) 10
1.(b) What do you understand by the term ‘public
servant’? Reflect on the expected role of public servant. (150 words) 10
2.(a) Effective utilization of public funds is
crucial to meet development goals. Critically examine the reasons for under-utilization
and mis-utilization of public funds and their implications. (150 words) 10
2.(b) “Non-performance of duty by a public servant
is a form of corruption”. Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer.
(150 words) 10
3.(a) What is meant by the term ‘constitutional
morality’? How does one uphold constitutional morality? (150 words) 10
3.(b) What is meant by ‘crisis of conscience’? How
does it manifest itself in the public domain? (150 words) 10
4.(a) Explain the basic principles of citizens charter
movement and bring out its importance. (150 words) 10
4(b) There is a view that the Official Secrets Act
is an obstacle to the implementation of Right to Information Act. Do you agree
with the view? Discuss. (150 words) 10
5.(a) What do you understand by probity in
governance? Based on your understanding of the term, suggest measures for
ensuring probity in government. (150 words) 10
5.(b) “Emotional Intelligence is the ability to make
your emotions work for you instead of against you”. Do you agree with this
view? Discuss. (150 words) 10
6. What does each of the following quotations mean
to you?
a) “An
unexamined life is not worth living”. – Socrates(150 words) 10
b) “A
man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.” – M.K.
Gandhi(150 words) 10
c) “Where
there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When
there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is
harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the
nation, there is peace in the world” – A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (150 words) 10
Section B
7. You are heading the rescue operations in an area
affected by severe natural calamity. Thousands of people are rendered homeless
and deprived of food, drinking water and other basic amenities. Rescue work has
been disrupted by heavy rainfall and damage to supply routes. The local people
are seething with anger against the delayed limited rescue operations. When
your team reaches the affected area, the people there heckle and even assault
some of the team members . One of your team members is even severely injured.
Faced with this crisis, some team members plead with you to call off the
operations fearing threats to their life.
In such trying circumstances, what will be your
response? Examine the qualities of a public servant which will be required to
manage the situation. (250 words) 20
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8. Honesty and uprightness are the hallmarks of a
civil servant. Civil servants possessing these qualities are considered as the
backbone of any strong organization. In line of duty, they take various
decisions, at times some become bonafide mistakes. As long as such decisions
are not taken intentionally and do not benefit personally, the officer cannot
be said to be guilty. Though such decisions may, at times, lead to unforeseen
adverse consequences in the long-term.
In the recent past, a few instances have surfaced
wherein civil servants have been implicated for bonafide mistakes. They have often been prosecuted and even
imprisoned. The instances have greatly rattled the moral fibre of the civil
servants.
How does this trend affect the functioning of the
civil services? What measures can be taken to ensure the honest civil servants
are not implicated for the bonafide mistakes on their part? Justify your
answer. (250 words) 20
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9. An apparel
manufacturing company having a large number of women employees was losing sales
due to various factors. The company hired a reputed marketing executive, who
increased the volume of sales within a short span of time. However, some
unconfirmed reports came up regarding his indulgence in sexual harassment at
the workplace.
After sometime a woman employee launched a formal
complaint to the management against the marketing executive about sexually
harassing her. Faced with the companies’ indifference, in not taking cognizance
of her grievances, she lodged an FIR with the police.
Realizing the sensitivity and gravity of the
situation, the company called the woman employee to negotiate. In that she was
offered a hefty sum of money to withdraw the complaint and the FIR and also
give in writing that the marketing executive is not involved in the case.
Identify the ethical issues involved in this case.
What options are available to the woman employee? (250 words) 20
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10. In a
modern democratic polity, there is a concept of the political executive and
permanent executive. Elected people’s representatives form the political
executive and bureaucracy forms the permanent executive. Ministers frame policy
decisions and bureaucrats execute these. In the initial decades after
independence, the relationship between the permanent executive and the
political executive were characterized by mutual understanding, respect and
cooperation, without encroaching upon each other’s domain.
However, in the subsequent decades, the situation
has changed. There are instances of the political executive insisting upon the
permanent executive to follow its agenda. Respect for an appreciation of
upright bureaucrats has declined. There is an increasing tendency among the
political executive to get involved in routine administrative matters such as
transfers, posting etc. Under this scenario, there is a difinitive trend
towards ‘politicization of bureaucracy’. The rising materialism and
acquisitiveness in social life has also adversely impacted upon the ethical
values of both the permanent executive and the political executive.
What are the consequences of this ‘politicization of
bureaucracy’? Discuss. (250 words) 20
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11. In one of the districts of a frontier state,
narcotics menace has been rampant. This has resulted in money laundering,
mushrooming of poppy farming, arms smuggling and near stalling of education.
The system is on the verge of collapse. The situation has been further worsened
by unconfirmed reports that local politicians as well as some senior police
officers are providing surreptitious patronage to the drug mafia. At that point
of time a woman police officer, known for her skills in handling such
situations is appointed as superintendent of police to bring the situation to
normalcy.
If you are the same police officer, identify the
various dimensions of the crisis. Based on your understanding, suggest measures
to deal with the crisis. (250 words) 20
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12. In recent
times, there has been an increasing concern in India to develop effective civil
service ethics, code of conduct, transparency measures, ethics and integrity
systems and anti-corruption agencies. In view of this, there is a need being
felt to focus on three specific areas, which are directly relevant to the
problems of internalizing integrity and ethics in the civil services.
These are as follows:
·
Anticipating specific threats to ethical
standards and integrity in the civil services
·
Strengthening the ethical competence of
civil servants
·
Developing administrative processes and
practices which promote ethical values and integrity in civil services
Suggest institutional measures to address the above
three issues. (250 words) 20
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