IAS 2018

GS Mains
QA &

TEST: 14
ETHICS IN GOVERNANCE +
CASE STUDIES

[Link]
 Test Paper

Test-14

GS Mains Q&A 2018

ETHICS IN GOVERNANCE + CASE STUDIES

Time Allowed: 3 hrs. Max. Marks: 250

Section - A
1. (a) Consider the following statement and explain it in the context of administration and
governance: “It is horribly difficult to perceive our flaws and change our behavior
and, at the same time, it is seductively easy to make guilty of our disasters to the sun,
the moon and the stars.”
(b) What are the essential requirements for being an agent of change?
2. ‘Collusive corruption differs from other type of corruptions because its unethical affects
demoralizes the entire fabric of the society, which is doomed in poverty, illiteracy and
backwardness’. Illustrate.
3. What could be the influence of a civil servant’s private life on his/her public life? How would
you prepare yourself to separate the two?
4. Explain the importance of following attributes with respect to the Civil Services.
(a) Moral attitude
(b) Double effect principle
5. All the discourse of ethics ultimately is another facet of bureaucratic incompetence. Analyze.
6. What does success means to a civil servant? What are the obstacles faced by them in achieving
success in their career. What steps can be taken to win such obstacles?
7. How the innate qualities of people of a country affect ethical values and the effectiveness
of its institutions? Which matters more for progress and growth of the nation---’people’ or
‘institutions’--- and why? Which of the two is more important for good governance? Give
reasons.
8. Concept of accountability is inherent to the Weberian hierarchy. Critically analyze.
9. How do rising expectations, social comparisons, and relative deprivation explain why increased
income does not bring happiness?
10. Discuss few criterias used to define a trait as positive?
11. How does optimism work and what positive functions does it serve?
12. Difference between any two of the following terms:
(a) Emotion and Sentiment
(b) Duty and Obligation
(c) Obedience and Discipline

Ethics in Governance + Case Studies| 1

 Section - B
In the following questions carefully study the cases presented and then answer the questions that
follows:
13. You are a doctor in a government hospital. One of your lady friends got married in very rich
and influential family. However, with passage of time you came to know that the family is very
conservative as she visited you to seek your help in determining sex of the child at fetus stage. As
her in-laws want a boy child to act as inheritor of the family. They have also ordered to abort the
child if it is girl. Later her in-laws insisted hard and connected the doctor with the health minister
on mobile phone. The minister said the doctor to help them in all possible manners without saying
anything about the issue at hand. Thus reporting about the issue to police is waste.
Answer the following questions:
(a) What are the ethical dilemmas in the above case?
(b) Do you think that your moral obligation also demands to help your friend.?
(c) A doctor in a public or government hospital should obey the health minister for whatever he
says. Do you agree and why?
(d) What steps will you take in the above situation?
14. Although India is amongst the fastest growing economies in the world, it still has one third of
the world’s illiterates. India is now confronting the perils of its failure to educate its citizens,
notably the poor. India, being a mixed economy, needs government intervention in the area of
education because education driven by profit motive cannot benefit the masses. But the condition
of government schools in India is pathetic. Except for two or three states, all the Indian states
have poor educational statistics. More Indian children are in school than ever before, but the
quality of government schools has sunk to spectacularly low levels. The children in these schools
come from the poorest of families - those who cannot afford to send away their young to private
schools elsewhere, as do most Indian families who have the means. India has had a legacy of weak
schooling for its young, even as it has promoted high-quality government-financed universities.
If in the past, a largely poor and agrarian nation could afford to leave millions of its people
illiterate, that is no longer the case. Not only has the high growth ensured that we have a shortage
of skilled labor, the nation’s many new roads, phones and television-sets have also fueled new
ambitions for economic advancement among its people - and new expectations for schools to
help them achieve it. In the light of the grim picture of public schooling in India suppose you are
a District Collector, and a group of poor people approach to make you aware about the pathetic
conditions of public schools in their areas. They handed you a letter that contains five problems
regarding dismal states of schools i.e.
(a) Lack of hygienic toilet facility especially for girls as there are common toilets only,
(b) Non availability of clean drinking water,
(c) Lack of proper security,
(d) Absentee teachers and
(e) Rude behavior of teachers and staff with the students.
Because of such problem often parents are not sending their children. Dropout rate is also high.
Your education minister also expects something concrete from you, as he has to answer local
public and media about this issue. With respect to such problems how will you go about providing
solutions so that your action may become example for others to learn?
15. The Civil Services Exam is one of the toughest and the longest exam system in the country. With
the limited number of attempts and nearly five to six lakh applicants appearing each year, of
which only 1,000 or less get selected, there is a huge pressure on the candidates to crack the exam
and it may lead to the bouts of depression, anxiety and mental stress. Civil Services candidate

2 | Ethics in Governance + Case Studies

 faces many issues during the course of the preparation. Many candidates leave their homes and
move to metro cities for coaching and preparation. They take up accommodation that gives them
little comfort. Most of the aspirants do not know how to cook, and some in order to save time
eat at the roadside stalls or depend on “Dubbawalas.” Having improper food and uncomfortable
living, many aspirants end up having health issues. Besides, the coaching institutes in order to
produce good results put pressure on the candidates to increase the hours of studies. Loss of sleep
impacts the body and the aspirants get totally exhausted. Overall level of stress is very high. For an
exam like UPSC, where there is cut-throat competition, the only goal of aspirants is to somehow
clear the exam and they ignore the insurmountable pressure on them. You are also one among
them. After repeated attempts you failed to qualify this exam and you are in stress as you have
lost most valuable time where you could have easily opted for alternate career. One of your best
friends has met the same fate and he is in depression. His mother calls you and asks you to take
care of her only child. She requests you to motivate him to something big in life, one examination
does not make or break everything in life. In the given scenario, how will you motivate yourself
and your friend? And, how will you cope with your stress?
16. One small area of a district headquarter town is in the grip of encroachment. As a result, people
face lots of problems due to the congestion of roads and the most affected lot are senior citizens,
who face difficulty in crossing the congested and crowded roads. This is creating a problem
abound two roundabouts and two parks of that area. Besides, area is also very dirty and there is no
arrangement of cleanliness. Senior citizens of that area have appealed to the state government to
appoint a young but disciplined and energetic officer in the town to take care of the problems and
grievances of the people. Executive officer of the local civic body said they were doing their best to
clear the encroachments in the town from time to time. However, once the encroachments were
removed, the same people find other sites in the same area to be encroached upon. Residents
desire that there should be some attempts to beautify these places as are done in many other
cities of the country. They also want beautification of parks so that even children can play. Local
MLA is also ready to fund. You are Municipal Commissioner of the city and when a delegation
of eminent people has come to meet you with a request to do something for the purpose, you
checked up with your finance and accounts department, which expressed its reluctance to provide
with resources.
What are the issues before you in this case & how will you execute options effectively?
17. You are head of an organization which has large public interface. One day an old man approaches
you and complaints that one Assistant incharge of Old Age Pension Scheme is demanding Rs. 100.00
from him for clearing his pension claims. He has further revealed that this is a common practice in
this office and those who do not pay the bribe money, are harassed. You have become very upset
with the state of affairs and want to solve the problem of the old man along with bringing some
qualitative change in the work culture of the organization, for better service delivery.
(a) What are the options available to you?
(b) Evaluate each of these options and choose the option which would you adopt, giving
reasons.
18. Mr. ‘X’ had applied under RTI Act to the District Planning Officer who was also PIO, asking
information about unspent balance of the last five years on account of MPLAD funds. The name
of a particular MP was mentioned in the RTI application. The PIO knew applicant to be a political
opponent of the particular M.P. The PIO came to know informally about the applicant’s plan to
discredit the sitting M.P. in the forthcoming General Elections, by bringing these information in
the knowledge of the voters.
The following are some suggested options for PIO. Evaluate the merits and demerits of the
options.
(a) PIO should ask M.P. whether he should provide these information to the applicant because
MP is third party in the case. According to the act, third party consent is mandatory.

Ethics in Governance + Case Studies| 3

 (b) PIO should refuse to provide information because the applicant might use these information
against the local M.P. to discredit him.
(c) PIO should provide all the information as has been requested whether local M.P. likes or
not.
(d) PIO should seek the guidance of District Collector Cum District Election Officer because
information sought is related to his jurisdiction and is political in nature.
Also please indicate (without necessarily restricting to the above options) what PIO should do in
future in order to avoid such controversies?
19. You are a head of Water Supply Board of a district town and in-charge of supplying drinking water
to the people. You had a detailed consultation with people regarding a Citizen Charter for water
supply services. Based on the requirement and expectations of people, you had a discussion with
your subordinates who were little reluctant about the Charter but seeing your positive attitude
they ultimately agreed. You committed some hurry in implementation of the Charter and notice
the following problems:
1. The quantum of water promised could not be ensured.
2. The quality of water did not improve.
3. One of your key functionaries went on a long leave and you did not get his replacement.
4. The entire blame on the failure of the Charter came on you.
Ponder over the situation and answer the following questions:
(a) What were the reasons of failure of the Citizen Charter?
(b) What should have been ideal course of action and why?
(c) Draw a Citizen’s Charter for this case.

************

4 | Ethics in Governance + Case Studies

1
GS SCORE

GS SCORE
Test Code

14
Name : ...................................................................

Roll No. : ..................................................................

Mobile No. : ..................................................................

GS MAINS Q&A 2018

ETHICS IN GOVERNANCE + CASE

STUDIES

Time Allowed: 3 Hrs. Max. Marks: 250

Instructions to Candidate Q Answer Q Answer

!! There are 19 Questions. 1 11
2 12
!! All questions are compulsory.
3 13
!! The number of marks carried by a question
4 14
is indicated against it.
5 15
!! Answers must be written within the space 6 16
provided. 7 17
8 18
!! Any page or portion of the page left blank
9 19
in the Question-cum-Answer Booklet must
10
be clearly struck off.

Date:

Candidate’s Signature Examiner’s Signature

Remarks
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REMARKS

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3

Roll No. : ..................................................................

GS SCORE
Section- A
1. (a) Consider the following statement and explain it in the context of
administration and governance: “It is horribly difficult to perceive our flaws
and change our behavior and, at the same time, it is seductively easy to make
guilty of our disasters to the sun, the moon and the stars.”
(b) What are the essential requirements for being an agent of change?
(150 Words) (10 Marks)

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4
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Remarks
5
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Q2. ‘Collusive corruption differs from other type of corruptions because its unethical
affects demoralizes the entire fabric of the society, which is doomed in poverty,
illiteracy and backwardness’. Illustrate. (150 Words) (10 Marks)

Remarks
6
GS SCORE

Remarks
7
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Q3. What could be the influence of a civil servant’s private life on his/her public life? How
would you prepare yourself to separate the two? (150 Words) (10 Marks)

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8
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9
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4. Explain the importance of following attributes with respect to the Civil Services.
(a) Moral attitude
(b) Double effect principle (75 Words Each) (5×2=10 Marks)

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10
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11
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Q5. All the discourse of ethics ultimately is another facet of bureaucratic incompetence.
Analyze. (150 Words) (10 Marks)

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12
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13
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6. What does success means to a civil servant? What are the obstacles faced by them in
achieving success in their career. What steps can be taken to win such obstacles?
(150 Words) (10 Marks)

Remarks
14
GS SCORE

Remarks
15
GS SCORE
Q7. How the innate qualities of people of a country affect ethical values and the
effectiveness of its institutions? Which matters more for progress and growth of the
nation---’people’ or ‘institutions’--- and why? Which of the two is more important for
good governance? Give reasons. (150 Words) (10 Marks)

Remarks
16
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17
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Q8. Concept of accountability is inherent to the Weberian hierarchy. Critically analyze.
(150 Words) (10 Marks)

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19
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Q9. How do rising expectations, social comparisons, and relative deprivation explain why
increased income does not bring happiness? (150 Words) (10 Marks)

Remarks
20
GS SCORE

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21
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10. Discuss few criterias used to define a trait as positive? (75 Words) (5 Marks)

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11. How does optimism work and what positive functions does it serve?
(75 Words) (5 Marks)

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23
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12. Difference between any two of the following terms:
(a) Emotion and Sentiment
(b) Duty and Obligation
(c) Obedience and Discipline (75 Words Each) (5×2=10 Marks)

Remarks
24
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25
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Section- B

In the following questions carefully study the cases presented and then answer the questions that
follows:
13. You are a doctor in a government hospital. One of your lady friends got married in very
rich and influential family. However, with passage of time you came to know that the
family is very conservative as she visited you to seek your help in determining sex of
the child at fetus stage. As her in-laws want a boy child to act as inheritor of the family.
They have also ordered to abort the child if it is girl. Later her in-laws insisted hard and
connected the doctor with the health minister on mobile phone. The minister said the
doctor to help them in all possible manners without saying anything about the issue at
hand. Thus reporting about the issue to police is waste.
Answer the following questions:
(a) What are the ethical dilemmas in the above case?
(b) Do you think that your moral obligation also demands to help your friend.?
(c) A doctor in a public or government hospital should obey the health minister for
whatever he says. Do you agree and why?
(d) What steps will you take in the above situation? (250 Words) (20 Marks)

Remarks
26
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27
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28
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14. Although India is amongst the fastest growing economies in the world, it still has
one third of the world’s illiterates. India is now confronting the perils of its failure to
educate its citizens, notably the poor. India, being a mixed economy, needs government
intervention in the area of education because education driven by profit motive cannot
benefit the masses. But the condition of government schools in India is pathetic. Except
for two or three states, all the Indian states have poor educational statistics. More Indian
children are in school than ever before, but the quality of government schools has sunk to
spectacularly low levels. The children in these schools come from the poorest of families
- those who cannot afford to send away their young to private schools elsewhere, as do
most Indian families who have the means. India has had a legacy of weak schooling for
its young, even as it has promoted high-quality government-financed universities. If in
the past, a largely poor and agrarian nation could afford to leave millions of its people
illiterate, that is no longer the case. Not only has the high growth ensured that we have
a shortage of skilled labor, the nation’s many new roads, phones and television-sets
have also fueled new ambitions for economic advancement among its people - and
new expectations for schools to help them achieve it. In the light of the grim picture
of public schooling in India suppose you are a District Collector, and a group of poor
people approach to make you aware about the pathetic conditions of public schools in
their areas. They handed you a letter that contains five problems regarding dismal states
of schools i.e.
(a) Lack of hygienic toilet facility especially for girls as there are common toilets only,
(b) Non availability of clean drinking water,
(c) Lack of proper security,
(d) Absentee teachers and
(e) Rude behavior of teachers and staff with the students.
Because of such problem often parents are not sending their children. Dropout rate
is also high. Your education minister also expects something concrete from you, as he
has to answer local public and media about this issue. With respect to such problems
how will you go about providing solutions so that your action may become example for
others to learn? (250 Words) (20 Marks)

Remarks
29
GS SCORE

Remarks
30
GS SCORE

Remarks
31
GS SCORE

Remarks
32
GS SCORE
Q15. The Civil Services Exam is one of the toughest and the longest exam system in the
country. With the limited number of attempts and nearly five to six lakh applicants
appearing each year, of which only 1,000 or less get selected, there is a huge pressure
on the candidates to crack the exam and it may lead to the bouts of depression, anxiety
and mental stress. Civil Services candidate faces many issues during the course of the
preparation. Many candidates leave their homes and move to metro cities for coaching
and preparation. They take up accommodation that gives them little comfort. Most
of the aspirants do not know how to cook, and some in order to save time eat at the
roadside stalls or depend on “Dubbawalas.” Having improper food and uncomfortable
living, many aspirants end up having health issues. Besides, the coaching institutes in
order to produce good results put pressure on the candidates to increase the hours
of studies. Loss of sleep impacts the body and the aspirants get totally exhausted.
Overall level of stress is very high. For an exam like UPSC, where there is cut-throat
competition, the only goal of aspirants is to somehow clear the exam and they ignore
the insurmountable pressure on them. You are also one among them. After repeated
attempts you failed to qualify this exam and you are in stress as you have lost most
valuable time where you could have easily opted for alternate career. One of your best
friends has met the same fate and he is in depression. His mother calls you and asks
you to take care of her only child. She requests you to motivate him to something
big in life, one examination does not make or break everything in life. In the given
scenario, how will you motivate yourself and your friend? And, how will you cope with
your stress? (250 Words) (20 Marks)

Remarks
33
GS SCORE

Remarks
34
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Remarks
35
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16. One small area of a district headquarter town is in the grip of encroachment. As a result,
people face lots of problems due to the congestion of roads and the most affected lot are
senior citizens, who face difficulty in crossing the congested and crowded roads. This is
creating a problem abound two roundabouts and two parks of that area. Besides, area
is also very dirty and there is no arrangement of cleanliness. Senior citizens of that area
have appealed to the state government to appoint a young but disciplined and energetic
officer in the town to take care of the problems and grievances of the people. Executive
officer of the local civic body said they were doing their best to clear the encroachments
in the town from time to time. However, once the encroachments were removed, the
same people find other sites in the same area to be encroached upon. Residents desire
that there should be some attempts to beautify these places as are done in many other
cities of the country. They also want beautification of parks so that even children can play.
Local MLA is also ready to fund. You are Municipal Commissioner of the city and when
a delegation of eminent people has come to meet you with a request to do something
for the purpose, you checked up with your finance and accounts department, which
expressed its reluctance to provide with resources.
What are the issues before you in this case & how will you execute options
effectively? (250 Words) (20 Marks)

Remarks
36
GS SCORE

Remarks
37
GS SCORE

Remarks
38
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17. You are head of an organization which has large public interface. One day an old man
approaches you and complaints that one Assistant incharge of Old Age Pension Scheme
is demanding Rs. 100.00 from him for clearing his pension claims. He has further revealed
that this is a common practice in this office and those who do not pay the bribe money,
are harassed. You have become very upset with the state of affairs and want to solve
the problem of the old man along with bringing some qualitative change in the work
culture of the organization, for better service delivery.
(a) What are the options available to you?
(b) Evaluate each of these options and choose the option which would you adopt, giving
reasons. (250 Words) (20 Marks)

Remarks
39
GS SCORE

Remarks
40
GS SCORE

Remarks
41
GS SCORE
18. Mr. ‘X’ had applied under RTI Act to the District Planning Officer who was also PIO,
asking information about unspent balance of the last five years on account of MPLAD
funds. The name of a particular MP was mentioned in the RTI application. The PIO
knew applicant to be a political opponent of the particular M.P. The PIO came to know
informally about the applicant’s plan to discredit the sitting M.P. in the forthcoming
General Elections, by bringing these information in the knowledge of the voters.
The following are some suggested options for PIO. Evaluate the merits and demerits of
the options.
(a) PIO should ask M.P. whether he should provide these information to the applicant
because MP is third party in the case. According to the act, third party consent is
mandatory.
(b) PIO should refuse to provide information because the applicant might use these
information against the local M.P. to discredit him.
(c) PIO should provide all the information as has been requested whether local M.P.
likes or not.
(d) PIO should seek the guidance of District Collector Cum District Election Officer
because information sought is related to his jurisdiction and is political in nature.
Also please indicate (without necessarily restricting to the above options) what PIO
should do in future in order to avoid such controversies? (250 Words) (20 Marks)

Remarks
42
GS SCORE

Remarks
43
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Remarks
44
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19. You are a head of Water Supply Board of a district town and in-charge of supplying
drinking water to the people. You had a detailed consultation with people regarding a
Citizen Charter for water supply services. Based on the requirement and expectations of
people, you had a discussion with your subordinates who were little reluctant about the
Charter but seeing your positive attitude they ultimately agreed. You committed some
hurry in implementation of the Charter and notice the following problems:
1. The quantum of water promised could not be ensured.
2. The quality of water did not improve.
3. One of your key functionaries went on a long leave and you did not get his
replacement.
4. The entire blame on the failure of the Charter came on you.
Ponder over the situation and answer the following questions:
(a) What were the reasons of failure of the Citizen Charter?
(b) What should have been ideal course of action and why?
(c) Draw a Citizen’s Charter for this case. (250 Words) (20 Marks)

Remarks
45
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Remarks
46
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Remarks
GS SCORE Test - 14
Hints

GS MAINS Q&A 2018

Ethics in Governance + Case Studies

Section - A
Q1. Answer the following questions:.

(a) Consider the following statement and explain it in the context of administration
and governance: “It is horribly difficult to perceive our flaws and change our
behavior and, at the same time, it is seductively easy to make guilty of our
disasters to the sun, the moon and the stars.”
Thinking line
!! A team’s effectiveness is also somewhat dependent upon the environment in which it operates.
A healthy work culture and a good team leader act as the motivator for the team. However,
blame game is one of the weakest links between the leaders and team mates.
!! In the administration a leader must own errors and omissions as well as failures and inspire the
team mates to solve a problem rather than pointing fingers.

(b) What are the essential requirements for being an agent of change?
Thinking line
!! An agent of change has all the leadership attributes including a purpose, moral principles behind
it and conviction in the ideals preached through practice, open mind, effective communication,
charisma and popularity.
!! People being agent of change create and maintain positive, professional and trusting working
relationships with a wide range of people within and outside the service to help get business
done. It requires working collaboratively, sharing information and building supportive,
responsive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders, whilst having the confidence to
challenge assumptions.

Q2. ‘Collusive corruption differs from other type of corruptions because

its unethical affects demoralizes the entire fabric of the society, which is
doomed in poverty, illiteracy and backwardness’. Illustrate.
Thinking line
!! The corruption is defined as the misuse of power and authority for personal gains. It can be
coercive and collusive.
!! In collusive corruption, there is no victim. Here, both the bribe giver and the taker collude
together to misuse the system for their usage.
!! Awarding of contracts for public works and procurement of goods and services, recruitment
of employees, evasion of taxes, substandard projects, violation of regulations, adulteration of
foods and drugs, obstruction of justice and concealing or doctoring evidence in investigation
are all examples of collusive corruption.

GS SCORE Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies 1

 !! It corrupts the entire body politic, whether individual groups, institutions or political process.
!! Collusive corruption takes place at the high levels of the political system, when politicians
and state agents entitled to make and enforce the laws in the name of the people, are using
this authority to sustain their power, status and wealth and collude with the private parties in
give and take process.
!! It not only leads to misallocation of resources, but it also perverts the manner in which
decisions are made. Under it, the laws and regulations are abused by the rulers, side-stepped,
ignored, or even tailored to fit their interests. The 2G scam is a case in point. Telecom
companies were said to have colluded with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats and achieved
their ends.
!! Collusive corruption becomes paramount evil in developing societies because masses in
general are illiterate and poverty stricken.
!! It destroy the very fabric of nation in a developing society as the resources meant for inclusive
growth are used by few powerful people.

Q3. What could be the influence of a civil servant’s private life on his/her
public life? How would you prepare yourself to separate the two?
Thinking line
!! There is a two way linkage between private and public life of a civil servant.
!! The private life act both as a motivation or an obstacle to public service, according to the
personality of the public servant.
!! The public servant of high integrity, honesty, empathy and objectivity maintain these
characteristic in public life also. Only a compassionate civil servant can understand the need
of marginalized and vulnerable people.
!! Similarly on the negative side, private life can induce the dilemmas of personal gain or
organizational goal. The decision making may get influenced by personal preference, political
or other affiliations, or even personal aggrandizement, thereby disregarding known facts and
thus the possibility of rational decision-making.
!! Hence, to maintain a balance between the two, a detached personality should be maintained.
Civil servant should practice right set of values and conduct. They should work according to
code of ethics and high conscience so that the goal of civil service vocation can be achieved.

Q4. Explain the importance of following attributes with respect to the Civil
Services.

(a) Moral attitude

Thinking line
!! Attitude represents the positive or negative mental and neural readiness towards a person,
place, thing or event. However, Attitudes rooted in moral conviction (or moral mandates)
represent moral attitudes. Moral conviction is a subjective assessment that one’s attitude
about a specific issue or situation is associated with one’s core moral beliefs and fundamental
sense of right or wrong. Family, society, religion and education play important role in framing
those moral convictions as they lay the foundation of the value system of the human being
and taught how to follow right path under each circumstances.
!! In case of civil services, moral attitude guides in the decision making process. He should not
succumb to pressures from politicians, conflict of interest, people etc. leading to biasedness
and partiality. He shuld work for the betterment of the society.

2 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE

(b) Double effect principle
Thinking line
This doctrine says that if doing something morally good has a morally bad side-effect, it’s ethically
ok to do it providing the bad side-effect wasn’t intended.
Conditions for the application of the principle of double effect:
1. The act itself must be morally good or at least indifferent.
2. The agent may not positively will the bad effect but may permit it. If he could attain the good
effect without the bad effect he should do so. The bad effect is sometimes said to be indirectly
voluntary.
3. The good effect must flow from the action at least as immediately as the bad effect. In other
words the good effect must be produced directly by the action, not by the bad effect. Other-
wise the agent would be using a bad means to a good end, which is never allowed.
4. The good effect must be sufficiently desirable to compensate for the allowing of the bad ef-
fect“
Example – A police officer came to know that terrorists have planted a bomb with a timer at a
busy market place. He does not have much time and using a temporary mike shouts at the people
to leave the place immediately and goes for detonating it by using indigenous techniques and in
the process, the bomb explodes killing himself and two other people and injuring 10 others.
Explanation – The action of the Police Officer is ethical because he could save many lives. There
was some collateral damage, but it is much less than the benefits of the action of the police
officer.
!! The intention of the action of police officer is also fair.
!! There was also a valid reasons for the action

Q5. All the discourse of ethics ultimately is another facet of bureaucratic

incompetence. Analyze.
Thinking line
!! Bureaucracy is the administrative structure and set of regulations in place to control (rationalize,
render effective and professionalize) activities, usually in large organizations and government.
!! The bureaucracy act as the most visible part of the government which mainly participate in
proper implementation of programmes and policies for better governance.
!! The ideal-typical bureaucracy is characterized by hierarchical organization, delineated lines of
authority in a fixed area of activity, action taken on the basis of and recorded in written rules,
bureaucratic officials need expert training, rules are implemented by neutral officials, career
advancement depends on technical qualifications judged by organization, not individuals.
!! Due to these rigid rules the bureaucracy has suffered from many lacunas such as red-tapism,
lack of professionalism, lack of transparency and accountability. The organizational inefficiency
has reduced the very purpose of bureaucrats.
!! However, bureaucracy is not just about rationality, duties, etc, moral aspect of bureaucracy is
also there. Over a period of time it has been analysed that only laws and rules are not sufficient
to govern the society, they have limitations too, thus the discourse of ethics came into being.
!! These ethics discourse have been born out of the concern for a transparent, accountable and
citizen centric governance. Now when we talk about problems of inefficiency, ineffectiveness
in bureaucracy, we talk on individual basis based on ethical principles. But it has failed to bring
any concrete solution.
!! This is because ethics as a discipline is more concerned with evaluation and description,
whereas administrative situations are complex and solutions may require hard decisions. Thus,
Ethical evaluation may be a hindrance to effective decision making. The discourse of Ethics
has ultimately fallen short of perfect prescriptions for real life problems which are part of
bureaucratic structure.

GS SCORE Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies 3

 !! Also bureaucracy working is more about actions than words, thus steps need to be taken to
implement these ethical principles and code of conduct in practice.

Q6. What does success means to a civil servant? What are the obstacles faced
by them in achieving success in their career. What steps can be taken to
win such obstacles?
Thinking line
!! Success is the status of having achieved and accomplished an aim or objective. Being successful
means the achievement of desired visions and planned goals.
!! For the civil servant, success means fulfilment of one’s duty with complete honesty and zeal,
maintenance of integrity and honesty in working procedure at all level - organisation, society
and individual. He should show empathy and compassion towards the vulnerable as he has to
serve the public.
!! Public servants find themselves in dilemmas that include conflict between: the values of public
administration; justifications for the institutions; aspects of the code of conduct; personal
values and supervisor or governmental directive; professional ethics and supervisor or
governmental directive; personal values and professional ethics versus government directive;
blurred or competing accountabilities; and the dimensions of ethical conduct.
!! Also due to political interference, outmoded rules and procedures that restrict the civil servant
from performing effectively, and arbitrary and whimsical transfers - insecurity in tenures
impedes institutionalization act as obstacle in career advancement.
!! The steps which can be taken are:
 Rule of Law - Zero Tolerance Strategy
 Making Institutions Vibrant, Responsive and Accountable
 Active Citizens’ Participation - Decentralization and Delegation
 Transparency and Accountability to be defined at each stage
 Periodic & Independent Evaluation of the Quality of Governance
 Maintaining ethical values at individual level and act as role model for the organisation for
success of the organisation which in turn will lead to career advancement.

Q7. How the innate qualities of people of a country affect ethical values and
the effectiveness of its institutions? Which matters more for progress and
growth of the nation---’people’ or ‘institutions’--- and why? Which of the
two is more important for good governance? Give reasons.
Thinking line
!! Institutions are the different government settings that act as facilitator of the government for
the provision of goods and services for societal progress and sustainability.
!! However, the Institutions are culture-bound. It is shaped by the setting or the environment in
which it operates. This interaction is bilateral.
!! The innate qualities of an individual affect ethical values and the effectiveness of the
institutions.
!! A vigilant and awakened citizen participate more positively in government functioning.
!! These help in bringing transparency and accountability in the government institutions and
also establish a bonding of trust between citizens and the institutions.
!! This may lay the platform for the concrete establishment of good governance.
!! For the progress and growth of nation and for establishment of good governance, coordination
and cooperation between institutions and peoples are needed. None can develop its capability
in the absence of other in the democratic society.

4 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE

Q8. Concept of accountability is inherent to the Weberian hierarchy. Critically
analyze.
Thinking line
!! Weber’s bureaucratic theory emphasized the need for a hierarchical structure of power.
!! This hierarchy serves as lines of communication and delegation of authority. It implies that
communication coming down or going up must pass through each position.
!! Similarly, a subordinate will get authority from his immediate superior. However, this hierarchy
is net unitary but sub-pyramids of officials within the large organisation corresponding etc.
functional divisions exist.
!! Thus, concept of accountability is inherent in the system as each one in hierarchy is bounded
by authority and responsibility mechanism.
!! According to him, these formal set of rules bound into the hierarchy structure to insure stability
and uniformity which could improve the efficiency of the organization’s performance.
!! These formal rules clearly defines the barometer through which the acts of the bureaucrat
can be calculated.
!! This system of management avoids biasness and make the job description very clear to
everyone in the organizational hierarchy.

Q9. How do rising expectations, social comparisons, and relative deprivation

explain why increased income does not bring happiness?
Thinking line
!! The pursuit of happiness is a basic human right and there are many paths for achieving it
however, there is evidence that seeking worldly pleasure as a way to be happy could actually
be the wrong focus in life.
!! It is because seeking and living a life of pleasure might make you happy in the short run, but
without deeper meaning it could become miserable over time.
!! Wealth is instrumental value only, it can give pleasure but not happiness.
!! Pleasure raises the urge for more seeking more pleasure and this vicious cycle raises urge
towards new expectations, social comparisons, and relative deprivations.
!! However the meaning of true happiness is based on meaningful life. A meaningful life has
sense of fulfilment, contentment, realism of once potential and Altruism.
!! People who have a meaningful life are givers and not takers.

What is happiness?
Happiness is commonly understood as how much one likes the life one lives, or more formally,
the degree to which one evaluates one’s life-as-a-whole positively. A central element in this
definition is subjective ‘evaluation’ or ‘liking’ of life, also referred to as ‘satisfaction’ with life.
A “happy person” experiences the spectrum of emotions just like anybody else, but the frequency
by which they experience the negative ones may differ. It could be that “happy people” don’t
experience as much negative emotion because they process it differently or they may find
meaning in a way others have not.

GS SCORE Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies 5

 Different theories related to happiness
!! Hedonistic theories represent happiness as a — balance of pleasure over pain.
!! Desire-satisfaction theories describe happiness as the satisfaction of certain central desires
(rarely do its proponents claim implausibly that happiness is the satisfaction of all desires) for
one’s life.
!! Life-satisfaction theories describe happiness as the satisfaction of certain standards or goals
for one’s life. The basic problem with these conceptions is that happiness does not track the
satisfaction of desires or standards; instead it tracks positive affect.
!! Objective List theory lodges happiness outside of feeling and onto a list of “truly valuable”
things in the real world. It holds that happiness consists of a human life that achieves certain
things from a list of worthwhile pursuits: such a list might include career accomplishments,
friendship, freedom from disease and pain, material comforts, civic spirit, beauty, education,
love, knowledge, and good conscience.
!! Cognitive theories hold that happiness is a product of human thinking and reflects discrepancies
between perceptions of life-as-it- is and notions of how-life-should-be.
!! Aristotle enshrines happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. According
to Aristotle, happiness consists in achieving, through the course of a whole lifetime, all the
goods - health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc. - that lead to the perfection of human nature
and to the enrichment of human life. This requires us to make choices, some of which may be
very difficult. Often the lesser good promises immediate pleasure and is more tempting, while
the greater good is painful and requires some sort of sacrifice.

Q10. Discuss few criterias used to define a trait as positive?

Thinking line
!! Traits are internal characteristics that define an individual. They influence the meanings we give
to life events, the goals we select, and the actions we take.
!! The criteria are discussed below:
 Examine whether a particular individual characteristic enhances or diminishes a person’s
level of happiness. A positive quality may increase the experience of positive emotions,
decrease negative emotions, or increase life satisfaction.
 From the eudaimonic well-being point of view, Positive qualities are those that enhance
mental health, foster high-quality relations with others, and contribute to success in meeting
life’s many challenges. This lead to contented life.
 The trait should showcase the virtuous behavior and strength of character, as defined by
religion and culture. Examples of traits defining people of good character include modesty,
humility, kindness, forgiveness, bravely, and integrity. Character strengths may increase our
life satisfaction and make life more meaningful and healthy.

A trait is a particular characteristic, quality, or tendency that someone or something has.

Some of the positive traits are:
!! Benevolence: Giving to others basic needs without having as my motive personal reward.
!! Boldness: Confidence that what I have to say or do is true, right, and just.
!! Compassion: Investing whatever is necessary to heal the hurts of others.
!! Contentment: Realizing that true happiness does not depend on material conditions.
!! Creativity: Approaching a need, a task, or an idea from a new perspective.
!! Decisiveness: The ability to recognize key factors and finalize difficult decisions.
6 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE
 !! Dependability: Fulfilling what I consented to do, even if it means unexpected sacrifice.
!! Determination: Purposing to accomplish right goals at the right time, regardless of the
opposition.
!! Diligence: Investing my time and energy to complete each task assigned to me.
!! Endurance: The inward strength to withstand stress and do my best.
!! Enthusiasm: Expressing joy in each task as I give it my best effort.
!! Faith: Confidence that actions rooted in good character will yield the best outcome, even when
I cannot see how.
!! Flexibility: Willingness to change plans or ideas according to the direction of my authorities.
!! Forgiveness: Clearing the record of those who have wronged me and not holding a grudge.
!! Generosity: Carefully managing my resources so I can freely give to those in need.
!! Gentleness: Showing consideration and personal concern for others.
!! Gratefulness: Letting others know by my words and actions how they have benefitted my
life.
!! Honor: Respecting those in leadership because of the highter authorities they represent.
!! Hospitality: Cheerfully sharing food, shelter, or conversation to benefit others.
!! Humility: Acknowledging that achievement results from the investment of others in my life.
!! Initiative: Recognizing and doing what needs to be done before I am asked to do it.
!! Joyfulness: Maintaining a good attitude, even when faced with unpleasant conditions.
!! Justice: Taking personal responsibility to uphold what is pure, right, and true.
!! Loyalty: Using difficult times to demonstrate my commitment to those I serve.
!! Obedience: Quickly and cheerfully carrying out the direction of those who are responsible for
me.
!! Orderliness: Arranging myself and my surroundings to achieve greater efficiency.
!! Patience: Accepting a difficult situation without giving a deadline to remove it.
!! Persuasiveness: Guiding vital truths around another’s mental roadblocks.
!! Punctuality: Showing esteem for others by doing the right thing at the right time.
!! Responsibility: Knowing and doing what is expected of me.
!! Self-Control: Rejecting wrong desires and doing what is right.
!! Sensitivity: Perceiving the true attitudes and emotions of those around me.
!! Sincerity: Eagerness to do what is right with transparent motives.
!! Tolerance: Realizing that everyone is at varying levels of character development.
!! Truthfulness: Earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts.
!! Virtue: The moral excellen ce evident in my life as I consistently do what is right.
!! Wisdom: Seeing and responding to life situations from a perspective that transcends my
current circumstances.

Q11. How does optimism work and what positive functions does it serve?
Thinking line
!! Optimism is the tendency to believe, expect or hope that things will turn out well. Optimists
believe that their own actions result in positive things happening, that they are responsible
for their own happiness, and that they can expect more good things to happen in the future.
Optimists don’t blame themselves when bad things happen. They view bad events as results of
something outside of themselves.

GS SCORE Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies 7

 !! The positive function does it serve are:
 It acts as a source of motivation as it projects that outcomes will be good.
 It is better at dealing with stress as they confront problems and try to solve them.
 It leads to creative problem solving, offset the effects of negative emotions, and increase
the likelihood of social support from other people.

What is optimism?
!! Optimism is the belief that things will turn out well. It is the expectation that good things will
come your way and that you have the ability to control the direction of your life. There are
plenty of common phrases that capture the essence of optimism: “seeing the glass as half
full,” “making lemonade out of lemons,” “every cloud has a silver lining.” Each of these phrases
captures the belief that optimism can transform a negative situation into something positive,
and that optimism helps guide people to look for meaning in times of hardship.
Types of optimism
!! Dispositional optimism/pessimism refer to broad, stable individual differences that are
influenced by interactions between environment and genetics. Early interest in dispositional
optimism/pessimism arose from its role in self-regulation models, because our expectations
drive our responses during goal pursuit, especially when we encounter obstacles. Dispositional
optimism is associated with a wide variety of positive outcomes, including better mental and
physical health, motivation, performance, and personal relationships. Dispositional optimists
typically show more persistence and approach-focused ways of coping with short- and long-
term stressors.
!! The term ‘unrealistic’ in unrealistic optimism describes the objective mismatch between the
expectations of dispositional optimism and actuarial evidence about probability of life events
occurring. It also refers to the presumed non-congruence between the inevitability of adversity
and the anticipation of experiencing life as more good than bad.
!! Optimism as attributional style views optimism as a style of reasoning about cause. Optimists
attribute good events with permanence (likely to recur), pervasiveness (the ‘goodness’ will
extend to other future events) and internality (I caused it and can cause it again). Bad events
are, by contrast, regarded as impermanent, non-pervasive and due to causes external to the
self.

Q12. Difference between any two of the following terms:

(a) Emotion and Sentiment

Thinking line
!! Emotions can be defined as complex psychological states. Emotions consist of three main
components such as the subjective experience, the physical response, and the behavioral
response.
!! However, a sentiment can be defined as a thought that has been influenced by emotion. A
sentiment allows the individual to convey his emotion through expression.
!! Emotions are mostly confined to the psychological dimensions whereas Sentiments go a step
further capturing the social dimension.
!! Emotions are very raw and natural whereas Sentiments are highly organized.

8 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE

(b) Duty and Obligation
Thinking line
!! Obligation, can be defined as something that an individual must perform due to an agreement, law,
etc. In this sense, the person is compelled to complete a task or engage in an activity due to
the existence of rules and regulations.
!! The term duty, on the other hand, highlights a sense of morality which makes an individual
engage in an activity. It is a responsibility that comes to the individual that is not compelled by
others. The individual has the choice of doing it or not. The existence of rules and regulations
as in the case of an obligation, cannot be observed in a duty. It can even be viewed as a societal
demand and expectation from individuals.

(c) Obedience and Discipline

Thinking line
!! Discipline is the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment
to correct disobedience, whereas being obedient is following directions or commands from an
adult/authority, etc
!! In the traditional sense of discipline much emphasis is placed on the use of external stimuli
including punishments, but focus should be on self discipline. The self-disciplined person will
complete an action, regardless of who is watching. He will do the behavior because it is the
right thing to do. In contrast, an obedient person may follow directions to please a person,
authority (as in organisation), to avoid a consequence, or to receive a reward.

Section - A
Section - B
In the following questions carefully study the cases presented and then answer the
question that follows:

Q13. You are a doctor in a government hospital. One of your lady friends got
married in very rich and influential family. However, with passage of time
you came to know that the family is very conservative as she visited you to
seek your help in determining sex of the child at fetus stage. As her in-laws
want a boy child to act as inheritor of the family. They have also ordered to
abort the child if it is girl. Later her in-laws insisted hard and connected
the doctor with the health minister on mobile phone. The minister said the
doctor to help them in all possible manners without saying anything about
the issue at hand. Thus reporting about the issue to police is waste.

Answer the following questions:

(a) What are the ethical dilemmas in the above case?

Thinking line
!! Sex ratio, an important social indicator measuring extent of prevailing equity between males
and females in a society, is defined as number of females per 1000 males. Changes in sex ratio
reflect underlying socio-economic and cultural patterns of a society.
!! The family is well educated and affluent and then also they are moving for this test in lieu for
male child. Also in the above case doctor is being persuaded or ordered to go for sex selective
test by the Health Minister.

GS SCORE Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies 9

 !! The ethical dilemma will be whether to follow the medical and moral duty of saving a fetus or
saving the friend in need from the pressure of her in-laws by accepting their demands or follow
the orders of the seniors.
!! If she follows the medical and moral duty and reject for the conduct of the test and abortion,
she might have to leave the job on account of misbehavior by not following the orders of the
seniors. Further her friend will suffer from the pressure and taunts of in-laws her whole life (if
it will be girl).
!! Similarly on the other end, if she follows their orders and conduct test and abortion, it will be
unethical. Conduct of sex determination test with the intent to terminate the life of a female
foetus is completely against professional ethics.
!! In both the cases she will have to face the consequences. Thus it is an ethical dilemma
situation.

(b) Do you think that your moral obligation also demands to help your friend.?
Thinking line
!! It is true that there is moral obligation towards the friend, but as stated in the case, she herself
not willing to move for sex-selective test and abortion in case of girl child.
!! Thus the moral obligation calls for helping her to move out of the dilemma and take control
over her reproductive rights.
!! Her in-laws and husband should be persuaded to understand the present situation and
complications related to it. It is not just physical complications but abortion may harm her self-
esteem and mental health too.

(c) A doctor in a public or government hospital should obey the health minister for
whatever he says. Do you agree and why?
Thinking line
!! A doctor is obliged to listen to her seniors in the government hospital but she is not bound to
listen or encourage unethical acts. She should work according to the code of conduct prescribed
for doctors as well as by her conscience.
!! According to the code of conduct for doctors the prime object of the medical profession is to
render service to humanity; reward or financial gain is a subordinate consideration; she should
be modest, sober, patient, prompt in discharging her duty without anxiety.
!! Thus in the above case she should not subdue to the orders of Health Minister. If she cannot say
straightforward no to the orders of her seniors, she can take the help of medical terminology
or complexity to disallow the termination of child.

(d) What steps will you take in the above situation?

Thinking line
!! Conduct of sex determination test with the intent to terminate the life of a female foetus is
against professional ethics and he can be liable to criminal proceedings as per the provisions
of the Act.
!! As the family is very influential and in link with health minister, thus taking direct action will
not help. She should speak to the in-laws her husband and discuss the legal and other issues
of concern associated with the situation.

Q14. Although India is amongst the fastest growing economies in the world, it
still has one third of the world’s illiterates. India is now confronting the
perils of its failure to educate its citizens, notably the poor. India, being a
mixed economy, needs government intervention in the area of education
because education driven by profit motive cannot benefit the masses. But
10 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE
 the condition of government schools in India is pathetic. Except for two or
three states, all the Indian states have poor educational statistics. More
Indian children are in school than ever before, but the quality of government
schools has sunk to spectacularly low levels. The children in these schools
come from the poorest of families - those who cannot afford to send away
their young to private schools elsewhere, as do most Indian families who
have the means. India has had a legacy of weak schooling for its young,
even as it has promoted high-quality government-financed universities.
If in the past, a largely poor and agrarian nation could afford to leave
millions of its people illiterate, that is no longer the case. Not only has the
high growth ensured that we have a shortage of skilled labor, the nation’s
many new roads, phones and television-sets have also fueled new ambitions
for economic advancement among its people - and new expectations for
schools to help them achieve it. In the light of the grim picture of public
schooling in India suppose you are a District Collector, and a group of poor
people approach to make you aware about the pathetic conditions of public
schools in their areas. They handed you a letter that contains five problems
regarding dismal states of schools i.e.

(a) Lack of hygienic toilet facility especially for girls as there are common toilets
only,

(b) Non availability of clean drinking water,

(c) Lack of proper security,

(d) Absentee teachers and

(e) Rude behavior of teachers and staff with the students.

Because of such problem often parents are not sending their children. Dropout
rate is also high. Your education minister also expects something concrete from
you, as he has to answer local public and media about this issue. With respect
to such problems how will you go about providing solutions so that your action
may become example for others to learn?
Thinking line
There are many reasons for the failure -
!! First of all, there is an acute shortage of teachers.
!! Children often don’t get a support from their parents.
!! Parents seem to be indifferent to their child’s learning and only see them as additional hands
for work.
!! There is also longstanding neglect, insufficient public financing and accountability, and a lack of
motivation among some teachers to pay special attention to poor children from lower castes.
!! Even basic amenities like water and electricity are not being provided.
There is an urgent need for improvement in the level of education. The steps needed are:
(a) The officer concern should first collect the detailed information, data so that he can reach
to some conclusion about further course of action.

GS SCORE Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies 11

 (b) Call a meeting of teachers and direct them to be punctual and sincere in their duty, failing
which strict disciplinary action would be initiated. Action should be taken against the failing
teachers, as soon as possible, as it would act as deterrence for other erring teachers.
(c) Reward and recognition can be used to motivate the teachers to act in the interest of the
children. Steps may be initiated of offering incentives and rewards to teachers who are
punctual, sincere and successful in bringing good educational outcomes measured against
an objective set of parameters.
(d) The innovative practices which concentrate more on practical knowledge rather than
theoretical mugging up of information may initiate a new learning experience within
students.
(e) Interactive sessions may be initiated with the students and parents to inspire and motivate
them from time to time.
(f) Counseling, workshops etc. may be arranged to realize the teachers about their role in
making future of the country and their role in imparting values.
(g) Sanitation facilities should be provided within school premises and awareness drive should
be initiated among students towards the importance of hygiene and sanitation.
Officer concerned should not go for any innovative ideas that demand big funds as this is
generally not appreciated in day-to-day government functioning, rather it is expected to bring
excellence with available resources.

Q15. The Civil Services Exam is one of the toughest and the longest exam system
in the country. With the limited number of attempts and nearly five to six
lakh applicants appearing each year, of which only 1,000 or less get selected,
there is a huge pressure on the candidates to crack the exam and it may
lead to the bouts of depression, anxiety and mental stress. Civil Services
candidate faces many issues during the course of the preparation. Many
candidates leave their homes and move to metro cities for coaching and
preparation. They take up accommodation that gives them little comfort.
Most of the aspirants do not know how to cook, and some in order to
save time eat at the roadside stalls or depend on “Dubbawalas.” Having
improper food and uncomfortable living, many aspirants end up having
health issues. Besides, the coaching institutes in order to produce good
results put pressure on the candidates to increase the hours of studies. Loss
of sleep impacts the body and the aspirants get totally exhausted. Overall
level of stress is very high. For an exam like UPSC, where there is cut-throat
competition, the only goal of aspirants is to somehow clear the exam and
they ignore the insurmountable pressure on them. You are also one among
them. After repeated attempts you failed to qualify this exam and you are
in stress as you have lost most valuable time where you could have easily
opted for alternate career. One of your best friends has met the same fate
and he is in depression. His mother calls you and asks you to take care of
her only child. She requests you to motivate him to something big in life,
one examination does not make or break everything in life. In the given
scenario, how will you motivate yourself and your friend? And, how will you
cope with your stress?

12 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE

 Thinking line
Overcoming failure is all about starting again yourself to achieve your goal. The failure of a
project, relationship, or other goal might initially overwhelm you, but if you acknowledge your
disappointment and accept your mistakes you will be able to move on. Realistic optimism will
help you form a new plan without setting yourself up for failure. Remember, your long term goal
is resilience: the ability to adapt and thrive.
!! Feel your emotions. When you feel you have failed, you may overcome with self
disappointment, and despair. Holding in your painful feelings can have negative effects on
your health, your relationships, and your future success. Notice each emotion as it comes to
you. Take time to name the emotion, be it anger, sadness, fear, or shame. This will enable you
to work through it without turning it on yourself or others.
!! Take time to heal emotionally Failure is often heartbreaking, and you won’t get over it in a
day. Life is not easy and it cannot be controlled, but be happy with your small victories as you
try and get up from a huge failure.
!! Accept what happened - After the first shock of disappointment wears off, work on
accepting what happened. It will be harder to move forward if you blame yourself or others,
or pretend that what happened didn’t matter or didn’t really happen. Write down or reflect
on everything that happened, what lead to it and what the consequences were. State only the
facts, without blame, judgment, or justification.
!! Identify fears that are irrational or excessive. Do you worry that failure calls your
intelligence and capability into question? Do you imagine that you are the only one who has
ever experienced this setback and that you are being judged? Are you worried that everyone
will be disappointed or lose interest in you if you don’t succeed?
!! Practice positive reframing. Positive reframing is all about discovering the positives in any
situation, even failure. Look at the situation in which you feel you failed, and contemplate
different ways of describing it. Failure presents you with an opportunity to learn until you get
it right.
!! Consider all the athletes, scientists, and other successful people who have tried and failed,
only to persevere until they achieved their goal. Michael Jordan was famously cut from his
high school basketball team, only to work hard and become one of the greatest players of
all-time.
!! Set realistic goals. Once you have worked through the causes of your past disappointments,
work on setting a more realistic goal for the future. What would you like to see happen next?
What sorts of actions on your part could make success likelier? Check with people you trust
to measure the realism of your new goal.
!! Choose to be happy - Happiness is definitely a choice; unfortunately many of us choose to
be sad. When you fail, your natural emotion will be sadness however don’t let your failures
define your emotions. Similarly, don’t let your happiness be dependent on your success.
Choose to be happy even during the worst times, and you will feel in control of your failures.

Q16. One small area of a district headquarter town is in the grip of encroachment.
As a result, people face lots of problems due to the congestion of roads
and the most affected lot are senior citizens, who face difficulty in crossing
the congested and crowded roads. This is creating a problem abound two
roundabouts and two parks of that area. Besides, area is also very dirty and
there is no arrangement of cleanliness. Senior citizens of that area have
appealed to the state government to appoint a young but disciplined and
energetic officer in the town to take care of the problems and grievances of
the people. Executive officer of the local civic body said they were doing their
best to clear the encroachments in the town from time to time. However,
GS SCORE Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies 13
 once the encroachments were removed, the same people find other sites in
the same area to be encroached upon. Residents desire that there should
be some attempts to beautify these places as are done in many other cities
of the country. They also want beautification of parks so that even children
can play. Local MLA is also ready to fund. You are Municipal Commissioner
of the city and when a delegation of eminent people has come to meet you
with a request to do something for the purpose, you checked up with your
finance and accounts department, which expressed its reluctance to provide
with resources.

What are the issues before you in this case & how will you execute options
effectively?
Thinking line
!! The issues/problems discussed in the above case are:
(a) Problem of encroachment of road, which reduces space for travelling.
(b) Lack of cleanliness, which is a major cause of disease.
(c) Lack of amenities, demand for beautification of region to increase tourism potential of the
place.
(d) Lack of funds.
The problems/ issues discussed above require step-by-step analysis of each process to ensure
its rationality and simplicity. Such analysis should incorporate the viewpoints of all stakeholders,
while maintaining the citizen-centricity of the exercise, to bring a sense of citizen participation.
The various options are:
(a) Encroachment mainly occurs through the vendors, which establish their ferries on the
footpaths and roadside. Thus to handle this, a place in the town may be allotted to them
where they can place their shops.
(b) For solving the issue of sanitation, awareness drive is must. Services of Public Relations
department can be utilized for awareness generation among people. The people can be
made aware of their rights and duties.
(c) The NGOs can also be important in order to take up the work of awareness generation since
they are already connected with the people at gross root level. But, adequate measures will
have to be taken to monitor the working of NGOs.
(d) Ward meetings can be arranged to increase rapport between government and citizen by
fixing the accountability of employees towards citizens.
(e) For the fund generation, the provision of Corporate Social responsibility can be utilized
as stated there is lack of government funding. However, proper transparency should be
maintained in utilization of that.
Further ethical conduct at individual level is must as it creates a sense of surety and belongingness
to the system. The head of the project should act as role model.

Q17. You are head of an organization which has large public interface. One day
an old man approaches you and complaints that one Assistant incharge of
Old Age Pension Scheme is demanding Rs. 100.00 from him for clearing his
pension claims. He has further revealed that this is a common practice in
this office and those who do not pay the bribe money, are harassed. You have
become very upset with the state of affairs and want to solve the problem
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 of the old man along with bringing some qualitative change in the work
culture of the organization, for better service delivery.

(a) What are the options available to you?

(b) Evaluate each of these options and choose the option which would you adopt,
giving reasons.
Thinking line
!! Such wrong practices in any organization of demanding for bribes do not culminate over a day
but over a period of months and years. The various options available with the head to set things
right are-
I. He should try to arrive at the root cause of problem as in such cases there is a nexus within
the organization. Without going to the deeper cause, proper solution cannot be find out.
II. He can create a vigilance cell to trap the case as to why the things are going wrong but this
is a time taking procedure.
III. The head can also himself go for the inspection of officials that why such a wrong
environment is prevalent in the organization. This involves a personal investigation on his
part.
IV. The pension money can directly by transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries. But this
requires that they should have a bank account and putting the things, into action for first
time is a cumbersome process. But once it starts function, it will decrease corruption.
IV. The head can consult the beneficiaries, ask them about the problems they are facing.
!! The suggested course of action for the head should be first to arrive at the root cause as to why
such wrong practices are culminating in the organization. To reduce the cases of corruption
and bribe taking, the suggested step is to transfer the pension directly to the bank accounts of
the beneficiaries so that leakages do not occur. The beneficiaries should be consulted time in
between and their cooperation should be ensured to correct the things.

Q18. Mr. ‘X’ had applied under RTI Act to the District Planning Officer who was
also PIO, asking information about unspent balance of the last five years on
account of MPLAD funds. The name of a particular MP was mentioned in
the RTI application. The PIO knew applicant to be a political opponent of
the particular M.P. The PIO came to know informally about the applicant’s
plan to discredit the sitting M.P. in the forthcoming General Elections, by
bringing these information in the knowledge of the voters.

The following are some suggested options for PIO. Evaluate the merits and
demerits of the options.

(a) PIO should ask M.P. whether he should provide these information to the applicant
because MP is third party in the case. According to the act, third party consent
is mandatory.
Thinking line
!! In this case, the PIO will not be in controversy. The MP will have a final say. However, if MP says
not to give information, the PIO will be in problem as he is the person on duty. Under the ambit
of RTI act, MP is not a third party as it is public money for which Mr. X is asking and the PIO is
not required to take the stand of MP.

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(b) PIO should refuse to provide information because the applicant might use these
information against the local M.P. to discredit him.
Thinking line
!! If the PIO refuses to provide information, PIO will have a good equation with the sitting MP.
But under section 8 of RTI act, 2005 which specifies the cases under which information can be
denied, there is no such provision of refusal without any specific reason.

(c) PIO should provide all the information as has been requested whether local M.P.
likes or not.
Thinking line
!! This is a good option and it shows integrity of PIO to his duty. However furnishing the information
might spoil the equation between him and MP.

(d) PIO should seek the guidance of District Collector Cum District Election Officer
because information sought is related to his jurisdiction and is political in
nature.

Also please indicate (without necessarily restricting to the above options) what
PIO should do in future in order to avoid such controversies?
Thinking line
!! If the DC cum District Election Officer clears the information the MP cannot put the blame on
PIO. The matter falls between DC and MP. But it is possible the DC might not give any opinion
as he is not involved anywhere in the matter and he might simply refuse.
!! To avoid such controversies in future, the PIO should give the information’s of RTI act. In future,
PIO can go with suo-moto disclosure under section 4 (b) (xi) as to what is the money allocated
under funds and what is the part that has been spent over time. By doing this the things will be
open to public when the information is given already, there will be no controversy.

Q19. You are a head of Water Supply Board of a district town and in-charge of
supplying drinking water to the people. You had a detailed consultation
with people regarding a Citizen Charter for water supply services. Based
on the requirement and expectations of people, you had a discussion with
your subordinates who were little reluctant about the Charter but seeing
your positive attitude they ultimately agreed. You committed some hurry in
implementation of the Charter and notice the following problems:

1. The quantum of water promised could not be ensured.

2. The quality of water did not improve.

3. One of your key functionaries went on a long leave and you did not get his
replacement.

4. The entire blame on the failure of the Charter came on you.

Ponder over the situation and answer the following questions:

(a) What were the reasons of failure of the Citizen Charter?

Thinking line
!! Citizen Charter is a document that specifies the services which an organisation intends to
provide to its users. In the above situation, the various reasons for failure of the charter are-

16 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE

 a) There was no internal restructuring prior to making charter so the quantum of water promised
and its quality could not be ensured.
b) Big promises were made without thinking how they will be fulfilled.
c) There was no arrangement made to replace any personnel in any grave or emergency
situation.
d) No accountability was fixed as to ensure who is responsible for which work. The result was
that nobody could be held responsible for non-delivery of services and the blame came on
the head himself.

(b) What should have been ideal course of action and why?
Thinking line
!! The ideal course of action before formulating the charter should have been to finish the
homework.
!! The assessment of resources as to what promises can be fulfilled should have been done.
!! Instead of making promises to impress the people, the available resources should have been
assessed.
!! The steps need to be taken in case of emergency or in absence of any personnel should have
been planned before hand.
!! There should have been proper fixing of accountability so that appropriate person could be
held accountable in case of non performance of duty.
!! These measures would have helped the head to implement the charter properly and deal with
any emergency situation. The charter should not be implemented in hurry but after proper
assessment.

(c) Draw a Citizen’s Charter for this case.

Thinking line
The design of Citizen Charter should be as follows:
!! Name of the office: Water Supply Board
!! Quantity: Assures a minimum of 250 litres / connection/day
!! Quality: Assures to provide potable water
!! Residual Chlorine to be maintained in the water supplied
Minimum: 0.25 pm
Maximum: 1.00 pm
!! Timings: Adhere to the notified timings. Any change will be informed in advance.
a) Planned interruptions will be informed within 24 hours of advance notice.
b) Any unplanned delay will be informed at least 2 hours in advance.
!! Duration of Supply: Assured one-hour minimum supply on a supply day.
!! Contingency Plan: In case of disruption in regular piped water supply, a Contingency Plan will
be implemented as per the area in which the supplies are disturbed. Details can be perused at
the concerned Section Office of the Board.
!! Billing Services
a) First bill will be issued within a maximum of three months after the release of connection.
b) All subsequent/regular bills shall be issued presently on a B i-monthly basis for Domestic
category;
!! Grievance Redressal: The categories of complaints include no water supply, leakage in
distribution main and service connection, suspected water pollution, low pressure, blockage and
chokes, missing manhole cover, sewage overflow, repairing or replacement of meters, dispute

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 on bills, change in category of consumption, etc. Under the Citizen’s Charter, minimum and
maximum time has been fixed in terms of days for attending to all the above such categories
of complaints.
!! Name /telephone no of Grievance Redressal office: Mr. ‘B’ with telephone no and ‘e’ mail
(time to be specified) Grievances to be redressed within 3 days.

18 Hints: Ethics in Governance + Case Studies GS SCORE