GS 4 Sample Questions

                                                          General Studies Paper IV

PART A

1.      How social influence and persuasion shape up one’s attitude? Give instances.

2.      Tolerance and compassion towards the weaker sections are two fundamental requirements for a civil servant. Do you agree?

3.    Assess the role of emotional intelligence in today’s administration and governance

4.    Prepare a comparative study of the contribution of one moral thinker each from India and the world.

5.    What are the problems in inculcating ethics in public service in India? How to surmount the issues?

6.      Establish a connect between Indian culture, ethics and India’s foreign policy.

7.      What could be the philosophical basis of probity in governance?

8.      How can work culture and quality of service delivery in government improved?

9.      Cite examples of cases of corruption in the utilisation of public funds. What could be the role of civil servants in this regard?

10.    Name an administrator from India who you admire. Explain the reasons for your admiration.

11.    Aristotle argued that virtues are good habits that we acquire, which regulate our emotions. For example, in response to my natural feelings of fear, I should develop the virtue of courage which allows me to be firm when facing danger. Discuss.

12.    “He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.” Critically examine.

13.    According to Hobbes, for purely selfish reasons, the agent is better off living in a world with moral rules than one without moral rules. Do you agree? Is this idea relevant in today’s context?

  
                                              PART B [All questions carry 12 marks each]

14.    Dy Commissioner of Police Rukmini Bhatt spearheaded a campaign in which four individuals with drugs and un-licensed guns were nabbed by the police. She was about to attend the Press Conference in which she was supposed to divulge the success of the district police. But her Commissioner called up and advised her to allow him to meet the press so that he could announce the achievements. What was/were the options available to Rukmini?

15.    Shiva is a state-level bodybuilder. The national level championship is six months away. He belongs to a less than middle class family. His road to financial well being depends on his success in the national level show. Shiva’s brother is suffering from kidney failure and needs a kidney transplant. His coach suggests that he needs to take steroids in order to lift more weights and hence become more muscular. Shiva is in a dilemma. What should he do and why?

16.    Amrita is a manager in a nationalised bank. Her superior has ego problems with her since the latter is a promote officer whereas Amrita is a direct recruit based on All-India level open competition. Her superior Mr Bhatia keeps on harassing her in the workplace, and at times with sexual connotations. Amrita decides to report to the women’s cell of the bank. However, none of her co-workers agree to stand up as witnesses for her since they are afraid of Mr Bhatia since he is in-charge of the branch. Should Amrita file the complaint? Or should she compromise with her superior? Substantiate your opinion.

17.    Dr Saswat is a fresh PhD in mathematics from a premier research institute of the country. He has innovative ideas. He joins as an Assistant Professor in a major technological institute of India. The head of the department [HOD] of mathematics of the institute had a dislike for Dr Saswat since his preferred candidate couldn’t get through the interview in the post which was bagged by Dr Saswat. The HOD tries to corner Saswat in whatever he does. He even provoked students to agitate against Dr Saswat since in one of the papers set by Saswat, some students failed. Upon instigation of the HOD, some students manhandled Saswat. At that juncture, Dr Saswat is not sure how to react. Should he file a police complaint? Or should he report to the higher authorities. He does not have any direct evidence against the HOD, but he can identify the students who shoved and pushed him outside the campus.  

18.    A fresh pass out from the National Police Academy, Iqbal joins his district as the Assistant Superintendent of Police. His district is a left wing insurgency affected region. In one of the intelligence-fed anti-maoist operation which was led by his DIG, Iqbal is in a situation in which the police were about to shoot two suspected Maoists from a close range – in an encounter killing. Iqbal intervenes and appeals to his DIG not to do that. DIG Mr Chaturvedi is of the firm opinion that there is nothing wrong to kill two Maoists when the Maoists are indiscriminately killing innocent civilians and the police personnel. Who is correct, Iqbal or the DIG? Why?

19.    Six individuals are arrested by the police. They are the prime suspects in a ghastly rape case in the city in which the lady is not only raped, but her intestines have also been churned out with an iron rod by one of the accused. Jt Commissioner of Police Ira Sachdeva is in-charge of the case. She and her commissioner are constantly being pressurised from different quarters – politicians, media and public. Ms Sachdeva’s daughter too is of the opinion that the police could have avoided the incident. If you are the Commissioner of Police, what directives would you have given to Ms Ira. What other things would you have done?

20.   Kallol is working in a condensed matter laboratory in a research institute in India. He is in the final year of his doctoral studies. He is yet to have published any paper in a refereed journal, which is a minimum requirement to obtain the PhD degree. His scholarship will end after 6 months. In an act of desperation, he fudges on the data and publishes a path-breaking report in the topmost journal in the field. Nobody detects the issue and Kallol starts receiving offers from abroad for post-doctoral research with high packages of honorarium. Should Kallol go ahead? Else, what option is left to him?

21.    You are the district magistrate. One of your female junior colleagues has charged the BDO- a state civil service officer, for being a sexual predator. The BDO is on leave for a long time, without intimation. Before initiating any enquiry against him, you wish to talk to him. You call up the BDO and try to persuade him to return to duties. However, he continues to argue on frivolous basis. You lose your temper and abuse him, also threaten him. The BDO records this conversation and puts up in social media. Who is at fault here? Discuss.

22.   The IG (prisons) finds the jailer abuse a murder convict inside the prison cell. The person who is abused had raped a minor and was serving his term. The IG suspends the jailer. Is the IG morally correct? What would you have done in his place?

23.   The district magistrate’s wife has a quarrel with a young fellow in social media. Both abuse each other, whereas the young individual passes lewd comments against her. The wife complaints to the DM. The DM asks the police to call for the guy in the police station. Both the DM and his wife go to the police station and beat up the guy black and blue. The police remain as mute spectators. The SP of the district takes note of the case and reports to the state government. Is the SP correct in his approach? Is the DM well within his rights? Identify the problem and comment on the roles of the characters in this case study.

                                                                     General Studies Paper IV

                                                                  Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude

1.      “Globally the concept of privatization has been promoted in new public administration.” Is it ethical to introduce privatisation in government system?

2.      “Ethics are standards of conduct. These standards can be applied to personal behaviour. Ethics distinguish between the right and wrong ways directing behaviour in our personal and professional life”. Using this definition, arrive at a description of ‘Administrative Ethics’.

3.      “The role of civil society institutions in ethical infrastructure of public life is very often compared with position of the watchdogs on the behaviour of public officials” Comment, while bringing to the fore the role of Vigilance Commission.

4.     What is ‘collusive bribery’ as defined by the second Administrative Reforms Commission [ARC]? How is ‘burden of proof’ configured in the Prevention of Corruption Act? 

5.      “Be brave, but not too much”. Cite some examples of public servants / activists to explain the statement.

6.      Can you draw a parallel between Gandhian philosophy and Buddhism? Do they have any relevance in the present context?

7.      Discuss the administrative contributions of any medieval Indian ruler who could be epitomised for secularism, ethics and values.

8.      “Are only Civil Servants of the higher bureaucracy to be held responsible for creating this matrix of corruption? Isn’t the lower bureaucracy equally responsible, if not more? And what about the political executives? But who dare ask such questions? The guillotine swiftly comes down upon the higher bureaucracy.” Justify.

9.      “We recommend that Article 311 of the Constitution be amended to provide that if there are allegations against a civil servant / person holding a civil post of accepting illegal gratification or of having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and the President or the Governor is satisfied that the civil servant / person holding a civil post be removed from service forthwith in the public interest, the President or the Governor may pass an order removing the civil servant / person holding the civil post from service and give him an opportunity in a post-decisional hearing to defend himself.” In light of this recommendation of the Hota Committee, bring out the arguments for and against Art 311.

10.    What is Corporate Social Responsibility? How has this discourse evolved in the government sector in India?  Explain the concept of ‘Just War’.

11.    Define ‘attitude’. What are the special attitudes, if any, a public/civil servant should possess?

12.    What is the difference between a leader and an administrator? Can you cite examples from history?                    

13.    In life, have you ever compromised in return for uplifting your career? Do you feel guilty about it? If not, would you be ready to compromise in future?           

PART B

14. Ms. Z was a young IAS officer posted in a State Government. She was only six years in her service when she was posted as the Managing Director of the State Tourism Corporation [STC]

The STC was not new to her. Less than five years ago, she had studied the corporation very thoroughly for an assignment as part of IAS induction training. She kept herself abreast of the corporation because of her academic interest in tourism.

There were five General Managers in the corporation who reported directly to the Managing Director. She already knew about all the five of them. They were Mr. A, B, C, Ms. D & Mr. E.

Like most young IAS officer, Ms. Z was very energetic and upright. She was all for promoting probity in public life, and acting against corrupt officers. Ms. Z had prior knowledge that Mr. A and Mr. B, even though very bright officers, were not very upright and simple. It was an open secret that both maintained very cozy and symbiotic relationship with the major private tourist operators, and had good rapport with ruling political party. In order to promote honesty, she always thought that the honest officers like Mr. C, Ms. D and Mr. E should be given important and sensitive assignments.

Immediately after joining as the Managing Director of the STC, the first thing in the mind of Ms. Z was to re-allocate works among the General Managers so that Mr. A and Mr. B were given only less lucrative assignments. Ms. Z verbally sounded to Mr. C. Ms. D and Mr. E about the important assignments that were in the offing for them. While Mr. C and Mr. E gleefully agreed to take on the sensitive assignments, Ms. D raised the point that she had some domestic compulsions as she had to take care of her young sons and old parents-in-law because her husband was posted in a faraway district in the state. Ms. Z had know that Ms. D was a very capable and smart officer. During the IAS training assignment, Ms. D was very helpful to Ms. Z. Mr. Z started wondering if Ms. D was now refusing the sensitive assignments just because Ms. D viewed Mr. Z as “another woman” like her (Ms. D).

Anyway, Ms. Z issued an order allocating sensitive and important works to Mr. C, Ms. D and Mr. E, and less important works to Mr. A and Mr. B.  Within a week of the re-allocation of work, Ms. D went on a prolonged childcare leave. Ms. Z distributed the work of Ms. D between Mr. C and Mr. E.

However, Mr. C and Mr. E proved unequal to their assignments. There were undue delays in preparation of project reports, and monitoring of important infrastructure developments. Also, reports prepared by them contained many inaccuracies and mistakes. Ms. Z received strictures from her boss for a mistake in the proposal sent to the Government for approval.

Ms. Z coached Mr. C and Mr. E. However, she did not find them any enthusiastic. Consequently, Ms. Z had to work till late hours and harder, and perform and supervise many works that should have been done by the General Managers (Mr. C and Mr. E). Despite her best efforts and coaching, the performance of Mr. C and Mr. did not improve.

Moreover, unlike Mr. A and Mr. B, Mr. C and Mr. E did not have good contacts in the state and central bureaucracies. Consequently, getting even routine approvals from state and central bureaucracies appeared daunting task.

Hard work started taking its toll on the health of Ms. Z. She started wondering if she was right in sidelining Mr. A and Mr. B.

J1. Do you think the young IAS officer was correct in her approach?
J2. What should she do now?     

J3. An honest staff proves unequal to the job, or is it vice-versa?      [20]

15. A junior officer’s wife appeared at the doorsteps of his office to complain against him. According to her, she had filed a case u/s CrPC 125 in which the magistrate had given verdict in favour of her. She was allowed a monthly maintenance of Rs 5,000/- and her daughter was granted Rs 3,000/- monthly by the court. The junior officer had been ordered by the court to submit the amount. However, as alleged by his wife, he is highly irregular in disbursing the amount. Hence his wife in writing, requested the Under Secretary to order the junior officer to comply with the court order.

 

It was also found after scrutiny that the officer concerned did not endorse the names of his wife or daughter in his Service Book. He did not even nominate either his wife/daughter as beneficiary of his pension and other terminal benefits. The Under Secy had to initiate the file and get approval of the JS. The subordinate staff put up a noting which suggested 2 options:

·       Issue an SCN to the junior officer based on the allegations

·       Instruct him to nominate his wife as the just beneficiary

What do you think the Under Secy needs to do?             [15]

16. Seema was a finance manager in an MNC and felt that gender discrimination at the workplace hampered her career growth. Frustrated, she quit the job and started a company. While starting her company, Seema decided that she would have equal proportion of males and females. Over the next six years, Seema emerged as a very successful entrepreneur and expanded her business to eight locations in the country. However, Seema recently started facing an ethical dilemma because she realized that female employees were not willing to travel across cities and work late hours, as the work required them to do. Male employees did not hesitate undertaking such work. Seema started to feel the pressure of

reducing the proportion of female employees. On the other hand, she is aware that equal representation was one of the strongest reasons for her to have founded the company.

 

What should she do as a conscientious female entrepreneur?                   [15]                                

 

17. You, a recruitment manager, are interviewing Mayank, a hard- working young man, who has problems in speaking fluent English. He has studied in vernacular medium schools and colleges. Amongst the following options, what would you choose to do, if your company has vacancies?            

A. I would hire him at all costs.              B. I would hire him for the job he is good at, and provide training in other areas.

C. I would hire him for production or finance job but not for marketing job, which requires good communication skills.

D. I would ask him to improve his communication skills and come back again.               [15]                                    

18. You are inspecting the books of a manufacturer that has violated the law. At noon you break for lunch and go to a restaurant. The company manager joins you there and asks you to be lenient regarding the manufacturer's practices and subtly suggests that he could offer you a very good deal on a computer. At the end of the meal, the manager offers to pay for your lunch. What should you do?                                                   [15]                                                      

19. You are the supply officer for a peacekeeping mission. On the day that a supply arrives, you are asked to sign for a quantity of 100 of a particular item, when only 70 are in the box. Thirty have been skimmed off as the cost of doing business in this particular country. No signature, no delivery. You need the item badly. What should you do?        [15]

20. In a recent press release, the minister is quoted as saying that a decision will result in significant savings. As a member of the project team, you know this is not quite true. The political interest and involvement in the project was high. To create the savings will require that other projects may have to be delayed or forgone. What should you do?         [15]

21. You are a platoon commander in a country plagued with sectarian violence and power struggles between the government and rebel factions. Your platoon is ordered to a remote area to evacuate Indian civilian aid workers from a dangerous situation. At the location, you find that there are many other civilians from other nations who are at risk. What should you do?     [10]