Topic 06 Aptitude and Foundational Values for Civil Service

"Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment but a product of civil education and adherence of the rule of law." Examine the significance of constitutional morality for public servant highlighting the role in promoting good governance and ensuring accountability in public administration.

standards of probity. To achieve holistic development goal, a civil servant acts as an enabler and active facilitator of growth rather than a regulator. What specific measures will you suggest to achieve this goal?

Vijay was Deputy Commissioner of remote district of Hilly Northern State of the country for the last two years. In the month of August heavy rains lashed the complete state followed by cloud burst in the upper reaches of the said district. The damage was very heavy in the complete state especially in the affected district. The complete road network and telecommunication were disrupted and the buildings were damaged extensively. People’s houses have been destroyed and they were forced to stay in open. More than 200 people have been killed and about 5000 were badly injured. The Civil Administration under Vijay got activated and started conducting rescue and relief operations. Temporary shelter camps and hospitals were established to provide shelter and medical facilities to the homeless and injured people. Helicopter services were pressed in, for evacuating sick and old people from remote areas. Vijay got a message from his hometown in Kerala that his mother was seriously sick. After two days Vijay received the unfortunate message that his mother has expired. Vijay has no close relative except one elder sister who was US citizen and staying there for last several years. In the meantime, the situation in the affected district deteriorated further due to resumption of heavy rains after a gap of five days. At the same time, continuous messages were coming on his mobile from his hometown to reach at the earliest for performing last rites of his mother. (a) What are the options available with Vijay? (b) What are the ethical dilemma being faced by Vijay? (c) Critically evaluate and examine each of these options identified by Vijay. (d) Which of the options, do you think, would be most appropriate for Vijay to adopt and why?

"One who is devoted to one’s duty attains highest perfection in life." Analyse this statement with reference to sense of Devotion to Duty responsibility and personal fulfilment as a civil servant.

The ethos of civil service in India stand for the combination of professionalism with nationalistic consciousness – Elucidate.

"For any kind of social re-engineering by successfully implementing welfare schemes, a civil servant must use reason Reason & Critical and critical thinking in an ethical framework." Justify this statement with suitable examples.

Ashok is Divisional Commissioner of one of the border districts of the North East State. A few years back, Military has taken over the neighbouring country after overthrowing the elected civil government. Civil war situation is prevailing in the country especially in last two years. However, internal situation further deteriorated due to rebel groups taking over control of certain populated areas near own border. Due to intense fight between military and rebel groups, civilian casualties has increased manifold in recent past. In the meantime, in one night Ashok got information from the local police guarding the border check post that there are about 200-250 people mainly women and children trying to cross over to our side of the border. There are also about 10 soldiers with their weapons in military uniform part of this group who wants to cross over. Women and Children are Border Civil War & also crying and begging for help. A few of them are injured and bleeding profusely need immediate medical care. Ashok tried to contact Home Secretary of the State but failed to do so due to poor connectivity mainly due to inclement weather.

Mindless addiction to Form, ignoring the Substance of the matter, results in rendering of injustice. A perceptive civil servant is one who ignores such literalness and carries out true intent” Examine the above statement with suitable illustrations.

"The duty of the Comptroller and Auditor General is not merely to ensure the legality of expenditure but also its propriety." Comment.

The Doctrine of Democratic Governance makes it necessary that the public perception ofthe integrity and commitment of civil servants becomes absolutely positive. Discuss.

The soul of the new law, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) is Justice, Equality and Impartiality based on Indian culture and ethos. Discuss this in the light of major shift from a doctrine of punishment to justice in the present judicial system.

The application of Artificial Intelligence as a dependable source of input for administrative rational decision-making is a debatable issue. Critically examine the statement from the ethical point of view.

Mission Karmayogi is aiming for maintaining a very high standard of conduct and behaviour to ensure efficiency for serving citizens and in turn developing oneself. How will this scheme empower Mission Karmayogi the civil servants in enhancing productive efficiency and delivering the services at the grassroots level?

What do you understand by ‘moral integrity’ and ‘professional moral integrity and efficiency in the context of corporate governance in India? Illustrate with suitable examples.

A man came running to you with a request for urgent medical help for his pregnant wife who is in labour and in loosing blood. You directed your medical team to examine his wife. They return and convey to you that this woman needs blood transfusion immediately. Upon enquiry, you come to know that a few blood collection bags and blood group test kits are available in the ambulance accompanying your team. Few people of your team have already volunteered to donate blood.

Who are entitled to receive free legal aid? Assess the role of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in rendering free legal aid in India.

“Development and welfare schemes for the vulnerable, by its Welfare schemes nature, are discriminatory in approach.” Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer.

(i) Constitutional morality (ii) Conflict of interest (iii) Probity in public life (iv) Challenges of digitalization (v) Devotion to duty

same, yet there is difference in the performance. Positive minded officers are able to interpret the Rules and Regulations in favour of the case and achieve success, whereas negative minded officers are unable to achieve goals by interpreting the same Rules and Regulations against the case. Discuss with

overlook. An officer being engrossed with the periphery, ignoring the core issues before him, is no rare in the bureaucracy. Do you Good Governance vs agree that such preoccupation of an administrator leads to travesty of justice to the cause of effective service delivery and

wrongdoing and misconduct to the concerned authorities, runs the risk of being exposed to grave danger, physical harm and victimization by the vested interests, accused persons and his team. What policy measures would you suggest to strengthen

empathy and compassion are some of the other vital attributes that facilitate the civil servants to be more competent in tackling the crucial issues or taking critical decisions. Explain with suitable illustrations.

Identify five ethical traits on which one can plot the performance of a civil servant. Justify their inclusion in the matrix.

Identify ten essential values that are needed to be an effective public servant. Describe the ways and means to prevent Public service values non-ethical behaviour in public servants.

“Integrity is a value that empowers the human being.” Justify with suitable illustration. Apart from intellectual competency and moral qualities,

Sunil is a young civil servant and has a reputation for his competence, integrity, dedication and relentless pursuit of difficult and onerous jobs. Considering his profile, he was picked up by his bosses to handle a very challenging and sensitive assignment. He was posted in a tribal-dominated district notorious for illegal sand mining. Excavating sand from river belt and transporting it through trucks and selling them in black market was rampant. This illegal sand mining mafia was operating with the support of local functionaries and tribal musclemen who in turn were bribing selected poor tribals and had kept the tribals under fear and intimidation. Sunil being a sharp and energetic officer immediately grasped the ground realities and the modus operandi followed by the mafia through their devious and dubious mechanism. On making inquiries, he gathered that some of their own office employees are in hand and glove with them and have developed close unholy nexus. Sunil initiated stringent action against them and started conducting raids on their illegal operations of movement of trucks filled with sand. The mafia got rattled as not many illegal Sand Mining officers in the past had taken such steps against the mafia. Some of the office employees who were allegedly close to mafia informed them that the officer is determined to clean up the mafia’s illegal sand mining operations in that district and may cause them irreparable damage. The mafia turned hostile and launched a counter-offensive. The tribal musclemen and mafia started threatening him with dire consequences. His family (wife and old mother) were stalked and were under virtual surveillance and thus causing mental torture, agony and stress to all of them. The matter assumed serious proportions when a muscleman came to his office and threatened him to stop raids, etc., otherwise, his fate will not be different than some of his predecessors (ten years back one officer was killed by the mafia). 1) Identify the different options available to Sunil in attending to this situation. 2) Critically evaluate each of the options listed by you. 3) Which of the above, do you think, would be the most appropriate for Sunil to adopt and why?

Should impartial and being non-partisan be considered as indispensable qualities to make a successful civil servant? Discuss with illustrations.

Besides domain knowledge, a public official needs innovativeness and creativity of a high order as well, while resolving ethical dilemmas. Discuss with a suitable example. The Rules and Regulations provided to all the civil servants are

“Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.-Swami Vivekananda

The coronavirus disease (CoVID-19) pandemic has quickly spread to various countries. As on May 8th, 2020, in India 56342 positive cases of corona had been reported. India with a population of more than 1-35 billion had difficulty in controlling the transmission of coronavirus among its population. Multiple strategies became necessary to handle this outbreak. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India raised awareness about this outbreak and took all necessary actions to control the spread of COVID-19. Indian Government implemented a 55-day lockdown throughout the country to reduce the transmission of the virus. Schools and colleges had shifted to an alternative mode of teaching- learning-evaluation and certification. Online mode became popular during these days. India was not prepared for a sudden onslaught of such a crisis due to limited infrastructure in terms of human resource, money and other Healthcare Resource facilities needed for taking care of this situation. This disease did not spare anybody irrespective of caste, creed, religion on the one hand and have and have not’ on the other. Deficiencies in hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, ambulances, hospital staff and crematorium were the most crucial aspects You are a hospital administrator in a public hospital at the time when coronavirus had attacked large number of people and patients were pouring into hospital day in and day out. 1) What are your criteria and justification for putting your clinical and non-clinical staff to attend to the patients knowing fully well that it is highly infectious disease and resources and infrastructure are limited? 2) If yours is a private hospital, whether your justification and decision would remain same as that of a public hospital?

A positive attitude is considered to be an essential characteristic of a civil servant who is often required to function under extreme stress. What contributes a positive attitude in person.?

“Institutional quality is a crucial driver of economic performance”. In this context suggest reforms in Civil Service for strengthening democracy.

Rampura, a remote district inhabited by a tribal population, is marked by extreme backwardness and abject poverty. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local population, though it is subsistence due to the very small landholdings. There is insignificant industrial or mining activity. Even the targeted welfare programs have inadequately benefited the tribal population. In this restrictive scenario, the youth has begun to migrate to other states to supplement the family income. Plight of minor girls is that their parents are persuaded by labour contractors to send them to work in the Bt Cotton farms of a nearby state. The soft fingers of the minor girls are well suited for plucking the cotton. The inadequate living and working conditions in these farms have caused serious health issues for the minor girls. NGOs in the districts of domicile and the cotton farms appear to be compromised and have not effectively espoused the twin issues of child labour and development of the area. You are appointed as the District Collector of Rampura. Identify the ethical issues involved. Which specific steps will you initiate to ameliorate the conditions of minor girls of your district and to improve the overall economic scenario in the district Migrant workers have always remained at the socio-economic

margins of our society, silently serving as the instrumental labour force of urban economics. The pandemic has brought them into national focus. On announcement of a countrywide lockdown, a very large number of migrant workers decided to move back from their places of employment to their native villages. The non-availability of transport created its own problems. Added to this was the fear of starvation and inconvenience to their families. This caused, the migrant workers to demand wages and transport facilities for returning to their villages. Their mental Lockdown Migrant agony was accentuated by multiple factors such as a sudden loss Crisis & Care-Giving of livelihood, possibility of lack of food and inability to assist in harvesting their rabi crop due to not being able to reach home in time. Reports of inadequate response of some districts in providing the essential boarding and lodging arrangements along the way multiplied their fears. You have learnt many lessons from this situation when you were tasked to oversee the functioning of the District Disaster Relief Force in your district. In your opinion what ethical issues arose in the current migrant crisis? What do you understand by an ethical care giving state? What assistance can the civil society render to mitigate the sufferings of migrants in similar situations?

In such trying circumstances, what will be your response? Examine the qualities of a public servant which will be required to manage the situations. In one of the districts of a frontier state, narcotics menace has been rampant. This has resulted in money laundering, mushrooming of poppy farming, arms smuggling and near stalling of education. The system is on the verge of collapse. The situation has been further worsened by unconfirmed reports that local politicians, as well as some senior police officers, are providing surreptitious patronage to the drug mafia. At that point of time a woman police officer, known for her skills in handling such situations is appointed as superintendent of police to bring the situation to normalcy. If you are the same police officer, identify the various dimensions of the crisis. Based on your understanding, suggest measures to deal with the crisis. Honesty and uprightness are the hallmarks of civil servants. Civil

What do you understand by the term ‘public servant’? Reflect on Concept of Public the expected role of a public servant.

“Non-performance of duty by a public servant is a form of Non-performance of corruption” Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer

What are the consequences of this ‘politicization of bureaucracy? Discuss. You are heading the rescue operations in an area affected by severe natural calamity, thousands of people are rendered homeless and deprived of food, drinking water and other basic amenities. Rescue work has been disrupted by heavy rainfall and damaged to supply routes. The local people are seething with anger against the delayed limited rescue operations. When your team reaches the affected area, the people there heckle and even assault some of the team members. One of your team members is even severely injured. Faced with this crisis some team member pleads with you to call off the operations, fearing threats to their life.

State the three basic values, universal in nature, in the context of Foundational Values civil services and bring out their importance.

integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they do not have the first, the other two will kill you.” – Warren Buffett. What do you understand by this statement in the present-day scenario? Explain.

chemicals on a large scale. It proposes to set upon the additional unit. Many states rejected its proposal due to the detrimental effect on the environment. But one state government acceded to the request and permitted the unit close to a city, brushing aside all opposition. The unit was set up 10 years ago and was in full swing till recently. The pollution caused by the industrial effluents was affecting the land, water and crops in the area. It was also causing serious health problems to human beings and animals. This gave rise to a series of agitation thousands of people took part, creating a law and order problem necessitating stern police action. Following the public outcry, the State government ordered the closure of the factory. The closure of the factory resulted in the unemployment of not only those workers who were engaged in the factory but also those who were working in the ancillary units. It also very badly affected those industry which depended on the chemicals manufactured by it. As a senior officer entrusted with the responsibility of

Rakesh is a responsible district level officer, who enjoys the trust of his higher officials. Knowing his honesty, the government entrusted him with the responsibility of identifying the beneficiaries under a health care scheme meant for senior citizens. The criteria to be a beneficiary are the following: 1) 60 years of age or above. 2) Belonging to a reserved community. 3) Family income of less than 1 Lakh rupees per annum. 4) Post-treatment prognosis is likely to be high to make a positive difference to the quality of life of the beneficiary. One day, an old couple visited Rakesh’s office with their application. They have been the residents of a village in his district since their birth. The old man is diagnosed with a rare condition that causes obstruction in the large intestine. As a consequence, he has severe abdominal pain frequently that prevents him from doing any physical labour. The couple has no children to support them. The expert surgeon whom they contacted is willing to do the surgery without charging any fee. However, the couple will have to bear the cost of incidental charges, such as medicines, hospitalization, etc., to the tune of rupees one lakh. The couple fulfils all the criteria except criterion ‘b’. However, any financial aid would certainly make a significant difference in their quality of life. How should Rakesh respond to the situation?

Dr X is a leading medical practitioner in a city. He has set up a charitable trust through which he plans to establish a super-speciality hospital in the city to cater to the medical needs of all sections of the society. Incidentally, that part of the State had been neglected over the years. The proposed hospital would be a boon for the region. You are heading the tax investigation agency of that region. During an inspection of the doctor’s clinic, your officers have found out some major irregularities. A few of them are substantial which had resulted in considerable withholding of tax that should be paid by him now. The doctor is cooperative. He undertakes to pay the tax immediately. Tax Irregularities vs However, there are certain other deficiencies in his tax compliance which are purely technical in nature. If these Super-Speciality technical defaults are pursued by the agency, considerable time Hospital Prospects) and energy of the doctor will be diverted to issues which are not so serious, urgent or even helpful to the tax collection process. Further, in all probability, it will hamper the prospects of the hospital coming up. There are two options before you: 1) Taking a broader view, ensure substantial tax compliance and ignore defaults that are merely technical in nature. 2) Pursue the matter strictly and proceed on all fronts,whether substantial or merely technical. As the head of the tax agency, which course of action will you opt and why?

It is a State where prohibition is in force. You are recently appointed as the Superintendent of Police of a district notorious for illicit distillation of liquor. The illicit liquor leads to many death, reported and unreported, and causes a major problem for the district authorities. The approach till now had been to view it as a law and order problem and tackle it accordingly. Raids, arrest, police cases, and criminal trials – all these had only limited impact. The problem remains as serious as ever. Your inspections show that the parts of the district where the distillation flourishes are economically, industrially and educationally backward. Agriculture is badly affected by poor irrigation facilities. Frequent clashes among communities gave boost to illicit distillation. No major initiatives had taken place in the past either from the government’s side or from social organizations to improve the lot of the people. Which new approach will you adopt to bring the problem under control? A big corporate house is engaged in manufacturing industrial

What does this quotations mean to you in the present context: Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding. Management(Anger “ _ Mahatma Gandhi.

Examine the relevance of the following in the context of civil service: (a) Transparency (b) Accountability (c) Fairness and justice (d) Courage of conviction (e) Spirit of service.

Discipline generally implies following the order and subordination. However, it may be counter-productive for the organisation. Discuss.

One of the tests of integrity is complete refusal to be compromised. Explain with reference to a real life example. “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities:

Initially Civil Services in India were designed to achieve the goals of neutrality andeffectiveness, which seems to be lacking in the present context. Do you agree withthe view that drastic reforms are required in Civil Services. Comment

Indicate various options that you think are available in this situation. How would you help him to evaluate these options and choose the most appropriate path to be adopted? You are aspiring to become an IAS officer and you have cleared various stages and now you have been selected for the personal interview. On the day of the interview, on the way to the venue you saw an accident where a mother and child who happen to be your relatives were badly injured. They needed immediate help. What would you have done in such a situation? Justify your action. Edward Snowden, a computer expert and former CIA administrator, released confidential Government documents to the press about the existence of Government surveillance

surroundings in which we grow up. Some of these unconsciously acquired attitudes and values are often undesirable in the citizens of modern democratic and egalitarian society. (a) Discuss such undesirable values prevalent in today’s educated Indians. (b) How can such undesirable attitudes be changed and socio-ethical values be cultivated in the aspiring and serving civil

In the integrity index of Transparency International, India stands very low. Discuss briefly the legal, political, economic, social and cultural factors that have caused the decline of public morality in India.

Why should impartiality and non-partisanship be considered as foundational values in public services, especially in the present day socio-political context? Illustrate your answer with examples.

Suppose you are an officer in-charge of implementing a social service scheme to provide support to old and destitute women. An old and illiterate woman comes to you to avail the benefits of the scheme. However, she has no documents to show that she fulfils the eligibility criteria. But after meeting her and listening to her you feel that she certainly needs support. Your enquiries Rules vs Compassion also show that she is really destitute and living in a pitiable condition. You are in a dilemma as to what to do. Putting her Woman Scheme) under the scheme without necessary documents would clearly be violation of rules. But denying her the support would be cruel and inhuman. 1) Can you think of a rational way to resolve this dilemma? 2) Give your reasons for it.

How do the virtues of trustworthiness and fortitude get manifested in public service? Explain with examples. Public servants are likely to confront with the issues of ‘Conflict

2) Some of the options for action available to you are listed below. Discuss the merits and demerits of each of the options : 1)You can await the visit of the superior officer and let him take a decision. 2) You can seek his advice in writing or on phone. 3) You can consult your predecessor/colleagues, etc., and then decide what to do. 4)You can find out if any alternate plot can be got in exchange and then send a comprehensive written report. Can you suggest any other option with proper justification? There is a disaster-prone State having frequent landslides, forest fires, cloudbursts, flash floods and earthquakes, etc. Some of these are seasonal and often unpredictable. The magnitude of the disaster is always unanticipated. During one of the seasons, a cloudburst caused devastating floods and landslides leading to high casualties. There was major damage to infrastructure like roads, bridges and power generating units. This led to more than 100000 pilgrims, tourists and other locals trapped across different routes and locations. The people trapped in your area of responsibility included senior citizens, patients in hospitals, women and children, hikers, tourists, ruling party, regional president along with his family, additional chief secretary of the neighboring state and prisoners in jail. As a civil services officer of the State, what would be the order in which you would rescue these people and why? Give justifications.

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, but knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. What do you Integrity vs understand by this statement? Explain your stand with Knowledge illustrations from the modern context.

In the context of defense services, ‘patriotism’ demands readiness to even lay down one’s life in protecting the nation. According to you, what does patriotism imply in everyday civil life? Explain with illustrations and justify your answer.

What do you understand by ‘values’ and ‘ethics’? In what way is it important to be ethical along with being professionally competent?

What do you understand by the term ‘voice of conscience’? How do you prepare yourself to heed to the voice of conscience?

A. What do you understand by the following terms in the context of public service? : a) Integrity b) Perseverance c) Spirit of service d) Commitment e) Courage of conviction B. Indicate two more attributes which you consider important for public service. Justify your answer

2) Make an exhaustive report of the situation bringing out all facts and analysis along with your own viewpoints stated clearly and seek for written orders from the chief Engineer. 3) Call for explanation from the Junior Engineers and issue orders to the contractor for necessary correction within targeted time. 4) Highlight the issue so that it reaches superiors above the Chief Engineer. 5) Considering the rigid attitude of the Chief Engineer, seek transfer from the project or report sick. Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu is known for its manufacturing clusters on firecrackers and matches. The local economy of the area is largely dependent on firecrackers industry. It has led to tangible economic development and improved standard of living in the area. So far as child labour norms for hazardous industries like firecrackers industry are concerned, International Labour Organization (ILO) has set the minimum age as 18 years. In India, however, this age is 14 years. The units in industrial clusters of firecrackers can be classified into registered and non-registered entities. One typical unit is household-based work. Though the law is clear on the use of child labour employment norms in registered/non-registered units, it does not include household-based works. Household-based work means children working under the Child Labour Laws & supervision of their parents/relatives. To evade child labour norms, several units project themselves as household-based works but employ children from outside. Needless to say that employing children saves the costs for these units leading to higher profits to the owners. On your visit to one of the units at Sivakasi, the owner takes you around the unit which has about 10-15 children below 14 years of age. The owner tells you that in his household-based unit, the children are all his relatives. You notice that several children smirk, when the owner tells you this. On deeper enquiry, you figure out that neither the owner nor the children are able to satisfactorily establish their relationship with each other. 1) Bring out and discuss the ethical issues involved in the above case. 2) What would be your reaction after your above visit?