Mains Practice Questions

Q. International laws and treaties act as the sources of ethical guidance in contemporary international relations. Critically examine. (250 words)

Case Study

You are the Sarpanch of a Panchayat. There is a primary school run by the government in your area. Midday meals are provided to the children attending the school. The Headmaster has now appointed a new cook in the school to prepare the meals. However, when it is found that the cook is from Dalit community, almost half of the children belonging to higher castes are not allowed to take meals by their parents. Consequently the attendance in the school falls sharply. This could result in the possibility of discontinuation of midday meal scheme, thereafter of teaching staff and subsequent closing down the school.

(a) Mention ethical issues of the case and also discuss some feasible strategies to overcome the conflict and to create the right ambience.
(b) What should be the responsibilities of different social segments and agencies to create positive social ambience for accepting such changes?

Q. Examine the following, along with relevant examples:
(A) An action can be legally wrong but ethically correct and vice versa.
(B) Under what situations, a person cannot be held as unethical despite his actions looking seemingly unethical or illegal. (250 words)

Q. All human beings aspire for happiness. Do you agree? What does happiness mean to you? Explain with examples. (150 Words)

Q. Ethics of society at large is reflected in any organization’s work culture. Discuss. (150 Words)

Q. What do you understand by natural law ethics? Discuss with examples the criticism of this branch of ethics. (150 Words)

Case Study

Abhishek Singh hails from an influential family of landlords. Being educated in Delhi in a top notch college he developed a preference for the civil services and got selected in the IRS and joined as an Income Tax Officer. Even after joining civil service he could not control the nightlife culture of visiting discotheque and night clubs with friends and getting inebriated.

Nowadays he is invariably out every weekend and can never come punctually to the office. Monday mornings are important in his office because the Commissioner takes a review of results achieved in the last week and plans for the ensuing week. Being late in the office every time, he tries to fabricate a story and explain the delay. His overall performance being good he has not attracted adverse notice of the bosses yet, but his immediate subordinates know why he is late.

What are the ethical issues involved in the present case? What are the alternatives available to Abhishek and choose the most appropriate alternative.

Q. What do you understand by ethical responsibility? What are the commonly recognised ethical responsibilities of government servants? (150 Words)

Q. Define the following terms: (150 words)

(a) Altruism

(b) Humility

(c) Power and Morality

Q. Free media (including social media) has an important role in the fight against corruption. Comment. (150 Words)

Case Study

Suman was a young,idealistic development officer in a district panchayat. After joining the District, she studied about its social and economic situation. She consulted various plan documents and looked at the social and economic parameters of the district. She found that the district is relatively better off than other districts in terms of irrigation, crop diversification and industry. But its social indicators were poor with high infant mortality rate, high maternal mortality rate and low literacy percentage among women. Based on his analysis, Suman thought that large investments in the social sector will be necessary inorder to tackle these problems.
The panchayat was an elected body. It has decided to spend 40% of its budget on minor irrigation. Suman felt that the large allocation to minor irrigation will benefit land owning farmers and starve other social programmes.

What are the ethical issues involved in the case. What are the options available to her and which would be the most appropriate step that can be taken.

Q. A public servant must need to control his emotions. Discuss the undesirable negative emotions he should refrain from. (150 Words)

Q. What do you understand by bioethics? Discuss issues related to bioethics in India. (250 words)

Q. ‘People must not be turned back to countries where they would face persecution or severe human rights violations.’ Discuss the statement in terms of ethics of refugees. (150 Words)

Case Study

Farmers and their families have been protesting on the interstate border of Delhi for months, camped out on roads demonstrating over the government's new farm laws which they think will ruin their livelihoods.

Farmer unions and their representatives have demanded that the laws be repealed and have stated that they will not accept a compromise. Farmer leaders have welcomed the Supreme Court of India stay order on the implementation of the farm laws but rejected the committee appointed by the Supreme Court.

Farmer leaders have also rejected a government proposal of suspending the laws for 18 months. Eleven rounds of talks have taken place between the central government and farmers represented by the farm unions; all were inconclusive.

The protesting farmers sometimes turn violent and damage public property in the guise of peaceful protest. A number of telecom towers of a particular company and other infrastructure were also damaged. The roads approaching to Delhi have been turned into protesting sites and are blocked by protesters causing nuisance to passengers and local population.

However supporters of the laws say improvements are badly needed, as thousands of farmers are struggling. 

What are the ethical issues in the case? Discuss the different options available and how will you respond in this case?

Q. Mahatma Gandhi created a moral system which also served as the framework for his political practice. Elucidate. (150 Words)

Q. Human actions should aim at promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. Comment. (150 Words)

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 primarily subsistence due to the very small land holdings. 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? (250 words)

Q. What do you understand by the term ethical egoism? (150 words)

Q. With the changing nature of public administration and higher expectations from public servants, codes of conduct in the public sphere assumed greater importance. Comment. (150 Words)

Q. Gauav successfully cleared the prestigious civil services examination and was excited about the opportunity that he would get through the civil services to serve the country. However, soon after joining the service, he realized that things are not as rosy as he had imagined.

He found a number of malpractices prevailing in the department assigned to him. For example, funds under various schemes and grants were being misappropriated. The official facilities were frequently being used for personal needs by the officers and staff.

After some time, he noticed that the process of recruiting the staff was also not up to the mark. Prospective candidates were required to write an examination in which a lot of cheating was going on. Some candidates were provided external help in the examination.

Gaurav brought these incidents to the notice of his seniors. However, he was advised to keep his eyes, ears and mouth shut and ignore all the things which were taking place with the connivance of the higher-ups. Gaurav felt highly disillusioned and uncomfortable. He comes to you seeking your advice.

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?

Q. Discuss the major contributions of Socrates in the field of ethics and morality.

Q. Discuss the role of social influence in shaping the behavior of a person. 

Q. Explain the term conscience with a special reference to various explanations given by various moral thinkers on it.

Q. Discuss the role of emotional intelligence in handling mob protests and violence. 

Q. Discuss the role of the family in the development of the value system in an individual.

Q. Sense of unity, pride in the past and sense of mission – which Vivekananda proclaimed greatly strengthened India’s nationalist movement. Discuss. 

Q. Maruti is working as deputy secretary in Uttar Pradesh’s revenue department, dealing with grants of government land for various purposes. As land has become very scarce and very expensive, such grants have to be carefully made. The government has formulated a policy for the grant of its land for public purposes. 

The Government’s policy has been that government lands can be granted for purposes such as public educational institutions, hostels, hospitals, charitable institutions, government offices and rural infrastructure. 

Further, land could be given to private parties in a few cases for institutions that undertake programmes of education, health and skill up-gradation for weaker sections of society. 

One day a proposal for granting land to a cultural centre proposed in a prime urban location reached Maruti’s desk. The centre was not proposed by the state culture department, but by a private group. 

As Maruti was reading the file, he received a phone call from the Revenue minister’s private secretary that the person who wants to set up the centre is closely related to a prominent central leader of the ruling political establishment. 

The private secretary added that the proposal was cleared by the lower levels in the department and that Maruti should also endorse it positively. Maruti saw that the proposal could not be cleared under the government’s policy. 

The lower level staff justified the proposal since the official policy resolution contained a residual phrase that grants can be made for “other public purposes as may be decided by the government”. Maruti feared that the grant of valuable land to a private person with political connections could lead to controversy.

In this situation, what should be the correct course of action and why?

Q. "Public service is a public trust."  In light of the statement highlight some of the major principles of the Public Service.

Q. Analyse John Rawls’s concept of justice as fairness.