UPSC Mains 2021 GS Paper 4 with Solutions - 1 | UPSC Previous Year Question Papers and Video Analysis PDF Download

Q.1. (a) Identify five ethical traits on which one can plot the performance of a civil servant. Justify their inclusion in the matrix. (Answer in 150 words)

A Civil Servant holds the public office based on trust. This single most important connotation is based on the fact that this trust at no cost can be breached as it is the bedrock on which the institution lies. The strong foundational values of civil services lies on trust.

They ensure that there is management of the government affairs, it deals with the system of governance and helps in managing the affairs effectively.

Ethics in Civil Services essentially plays an important role as it is an incessant inquiry that cant be statistically defended through a few conditions. Although governance that is based on the process of decision making that constant improvement in the quality of decision making is the most important aspect.

Some of the ethical traits that help in assessing the performance of a civil servant-

• Commitment and dedication towards service. This quality alone governs the intent and the approach of a civil servant towards the job that has been assigned to the civil servant and governs the accountability towards the work given. S Jaishankar is often said works 9 to 9 in office reflects the kind of work commitment that he has.
• Emotionally intelligent that calls for an administrator to be neutral, impartial, superior and rational. As it helps in enhancing the democratic work culture and self awareness.
• Integrity that helps in accruing a civil servant with a 360 degree viewpoint with a wholesome vision.
• Compassion and empathy towards the section that need an innovative solution and effective resolution of the problem by not compromising on the high standards of objectivity.
• Courage to stand for truth and against all possible injustice that is meted to in the society that appears as a stumbling block for all the good to happen.

Essentially maintaining these high standards of traits help a civil servant maintain the trust repose on him by society and the government.

Q 1 (b). Identify ten essential values that are needed to be an effective public servant. Describe the ways and means to prevent non-ethical behavior in the public servants. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

Ethics are rules that translates the values into everyday life. There are several values but Nolan committee and the 2nd ARC Report has stated values that help in the effective functioning of public servant that is one who works for and in the government

• Transparency that involves the sharing information and acting in an open manner. That helps in controlling corruption in public life and upholds accountability and deliver information to stakeholders. It covers the abuses.
• Accountability is the fundamental aspect that prevents the abuse of power and achieves efficiency, effectiveness, responsiveness and transparency in civil services.
• Justice is the fairness associated and the ability to judge without reference to one’s feelings or interests. These principles of justice and fairness are needed in civil service to ensure that the common man receives his due without biasness, inefficiencies or greed.
• Courage of conviction as against the circumstances, fear, passions, greed governing the best course of action despite various temptations and risks.
• The Spirit of Service that is the Quality of being committed to public service without any self motives that help in staying committed to service.
• Honesty being true to the aim of standing with the profession.
• Legality that protects the action of a public servant as the procedures followed were under the ambit of law.
• Innovative and competence ensures that a public servant is open to the new innovations that takes place in the technological setup and holds on high the professional ethics.
• Leadership qualities in a public servant no matter belonging to whichever organisation helps not just for the individual to develop as a person but also the organisation to grow as in the case of Satish Dhawan ISRO who stood true to the leadership qualities and took the onus on to himself. This learning from him as a subordinate by APJ Abdul Kalam made him what he was.
• Tolerance and humanity as at the end of the day it is the welfare of the people that motivates the servants to work for the public.

Sometimes not all the unethical behaviour in public servants can be regulated. The professional ethics and its maintenance can be assured by observing policies of perform perish. There also needs to be the observance of behavioural change. There should be inducement of discipline and working through clear deadlines. The change must come from the bottom and not top. Ethical standards although to an extent be enforced through adequate maintenance  of law and policy making but the use of behavioural economics to can be imbibed to prevent going against the effective setup.

Q.2. (a) Impact of digital technology as reliable source of input for rational decision making is a debatable issue. Critically evaluate with suitable example.

The growth of the digital technology is grown heaps and bounds. The people have widely accepted the use of the digital technology in their everyday lives. The government too has variedly given a push to the usage of digitisation. The cOVID 19 pandemic that has changed the way we look the world has made a lot of things even classrooms online.

There was also a push for Digital India Mission. Which connotes for a positive figurance of the technology that is served digitally. The public offices too have also pushed for the online certification, online banking  as it enduces a sense of being more hassel free, more error free and less time consuming. The technique is more efficient.

But the reality involved is that acceptance of this technology must not forego the involved rationality and scientific temper. As recently there was a news that Aadhar cards with fake names of the celebrities. This too can also be a potent weapon in the hands of the miscreants who can use it against individuals and the larger society. Thus the adoption of the technology must be done with a lot of responsibility, rationality and also equality. As one must be vary of the Digital Divide and illiteracy that the country is crept with it. There also should be adequate redressal of the ethical issues that are closely connected to digital technology, that is trust, knowledge, privacy, and individual autonomy.

The registration for vaccines, the effective management of the treatment of the virus, the constant track of the COVID Cases the possible awareness of the dos and don’ts in the pandemic when the whole world was been able to connect together hence this all earmarks to the effectiveness of the digital technology. If the concerns are well addressed it can be a boon to the country.

Q 3 (a) “Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.” – Swami Vivekananda (Answer in 150 words)

Swami Vivekananda is considered as the greatest thinkers of India. His teachings made sure that there is enough attention paid on to the upliftment of humanity and also the pan whole world in equal terms. Ethics for him is nothing but a code of conduct that helps a man to be a good citizen of the world. As he always emphasised a man to be a human first that garners respect to and for all.

Morality in both individual life and social life is mostly based on fear of societal censure. Based on purity of oneself and actions. He preached tolerance and peace for humankind.

He always believed that a person is capable of achieving all feats provide that he tries and tries till the goal is not achieved as human alone has all the rationality and the scientific temper that makes him different. This ability alone will guide the person to rise against all the injustices meted against him and the ability is in not to lose hope and have patience to innovate and trust in the abilities that one has. A person must be fearless to achieve personal or professional goals. The necessity is the development of character through education. For him, education was a way to build one’s character, intellect, strength, etc.

A decision that requires the grit and ability to succeed also requires a lot of patience that test ones nerves anything good or permanent that has to happen, happens slowly but that is evolutionary. No one thought with the advent of the space technology from the very basics would ever be able to bring laurels when India was able to successfully send the mission to Mars. It was patience , perseverance that the country showcased and to most importantly do things that we are exceptionally good at that is try. We tried and reached where only few were able to.

Thus the teachings of Vivekananda are still relevant to us in the recent times and do act as the torch bearer.

Q 3 (b) “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until and unless we obtain peace within ourselves.” – Dalai Lama (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

Peace is absence of violence and war and also the presence of justice and harmonious relations. One that is integrating and inclusive. It comes with tolerance and it extends compassion to all living things like Gandhian philosophy of nonviolence.

The significance of Buddhism for peace is the elevation of ahisma, that is, doing no harm to others, as a central ethical virtue for human conduct on which Dalai lama has based his understanding on.   There is avoidance of desire that peacefully attributes, gives a cause of war and conflict, and helps in the creation of a genuinely peaceful and harmonious society.

Peace is usually viewed as the ultimate goal of human existence. An ecstatic state of being. There has been a moralizing of the need for peace. In Gandhism, peaceful means is to become united with and indistinguishable from peaceful ends.

The realization that peace is more than the absence of conflict lies at the heart of the emergence of the notion of a culture of peace, a notion which has been gaining greater attention within peace research in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.  The notion was implicit within the UNESCO mandate, with the acknowledgment that since wars begin in human minds, it follows that the defense against war needs to be established in the minds of individuals.  The need is to ensure respect for life, ending of violence and promotion and practice of nonviolence through education, dialogue and cooperation.

The need for the countries who want to develop a deeper understanding of Dalai lama is that not just peaceful geographical borders but the disputes, the inequalities and the discrimination that is meted to the population of the country also be dealt well where grievances are redressed well also ensures peace. The socio economic development and the redistributive justice to all the sections of population also ushers peace.

But the idea that the world must not turn a blind eye against injustice happening around the world also stands true. This is the paradox of peace. As the idea must be peace for all where justice for all is promoted.

Q.3 (c) “Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, it is better for us all.” – Erik Erikson (Answer in 150 words)

The idea of freedom is always more relieving. As it gives an adequate breathing space to the populace. The human has been independent born individual and would alone die. But in between the liaison there is massive dependence that one is build up upon. The dependence on nature and the interdependence on each other. The idea of the world being a global village stands as a testimony to it.

In the fight against diseases that swept the general populations, the famines, colonisation, wars in all the negative sense when the world was taken over by the storm people around the world acted together. During tsunamis, nuclear attacks and disaster the entire world reached where it was needed. This helping hand reflected the high handedness and establishment of peace. This is inter dependence on each other.

The fight against terrorism or climate change can’t be achieved alone without multilateralism and the world cooperation. Thus, certainly world can achieve laurels independently where India’s culture and ethos, or the American way of life stands independent. But the interdependence lies in the learning from each other which again reflects interdependence.

Thus the recent pandemic is a reality that needs for the world to come up together and reduce the consequence of it and stand together to fight against it. Thus Eric Erikson viewpoints need to thus balance independence and interdependence on each other because we stand stronger if we are together. Thus domination of a country is worse than cooperation of all together.

Q.4 (a).  Attitude is an important component that goes as input in the development of human being. How to build a suitable attitude needed for a public servant?

A set of feelings, beliefs, and behaviours toward a specific item, person, thing, or event is referred to as an attitude. Attitudes are frequently formed as a result of personal experience or upbringing, and they can have a significant impact on behaviour. Attitude is a significant subject matter of applied psychology and it has practical importance in our day to day life. It is understood in terms of mind set of a person or mental forming on the basis of which evaluation is made with regard to attitude objects. So it is the evaluated tendency of mind by which a person makes expression in terms of favour or disfavour. It is also considered positive or negative expression towards different things.

Public Servants have an obligation to protect and promote our constitutional ideals enshrined in the preamble, to uphold the rule of law, dispense administrative justice and ensure administrative facilitation. As an elite segment of society, public servants have an important role in informing and even formulating public opinion and perception on various issues.

The public servant should be emphatic as also advised by Mahatma Gandhi’s that if anyone was in doubt if an action was good or not was to put oneself in the situation of the poorest of the poor in the country and see how a particular policy and programme will impact him or her.

They should also be ‘efficient’ as administrators occupying positions of power and authority, it is their responsibility to translate policies into programmes, to implement schemes on the ground.

They need to be agile in their thoughts and actions. For instance, they should be able to access the latest information and knowledge and use them for improving service delivery. They should be impartial and incorruptible as also observed by Sardar Patel and should work for an inclusive national development as mandated by the Constitution.

Public Servants should behave in a dignified manner and have the ability to patiently listen and take a balanced view. They must eschew arrogance and authoritarianism and be able to approach even the most intractable issues and irritants with a calm demeanour.

Q.4. (b) In case of crisis of conscience does emotional intelligence help to overcome the same without compromising the ethical or moral stand that you are likely to follow? Critically examine. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

Crisis of Conscience

• It is the dilemma of being ethically unfair or wrong in the decision making process. Sometimes in complex and emotional situations, it is very hard to decide what is the right thing to do. The situation might need a different solution practically which might be immoral but our conscience strongly suggests us a completely different approach.
• It is ethically proper to violate an ethical principle only when it is clearly necessary to advance another true ethical principle which will create the greatest amount of good and the least amount of harm to the greatest number of people, which is the utilitarian approach.
• It manifests in the decision making process by civil servants where the decision can impact a huge number of people. The problem arises when they are pressurized under some ministerial influence to take immoral decisions or implement unethical policies.
• It manifests in the tussle between ethics and the law. For example, restricting public movement in Kashmir for upholding law and order raised the situation of crisis of conscience. Similarly, despite having a legal status as a third gender, trans-genders continue to face oppression, marginalization, lack of employment opportunities which forces them to resort to beggary, and this failure to ascertain to them life of dignity is a manifestation of the crisis of conscience in public domain.
• Emotional Intelligence is a matter of great concern in psychology. It is also important for inter-personal life. Simply, speaking it is related to manage one’s own emotion, in such a way that it can be functional and productive or useful. So, it is the ability to understand and control one’s own emotion and the emotion of others (Salovey and Mayer). In this regard, Daniel Goleman has define emotional intelligence in terms of ability of a person to keep oneself motivated even in the case of frustration and failure and ability to postpone one’s own immediate needs, gratification, desires and wishes and it is also a ability to control one’s own passion and the emotion of others.
• It is common to come across such crises of conscience in public domain where lives and decisions overlap and come face to face almost every time. The key to overcome such crisis of conscience for public servant is through keeping all dimensions in mind, freeing themselves from desires or pressures and staying calm and true to public service ethical code and legal framework.

Q.5. (a) “Refugees should not be turned back to the country where they would face persecution or human right violation.” Examine the statement with reference to ethical dimension being violated by the nation claiming to be democratic with open society. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

People who have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution and crossed an international boundary in search of safety in another country are known as refugees. They have often forced to run with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, abandoning their homes, belongings, jobs, and loved ones behind. The world is witnessing the highest and fastest increase in the number of individuals displaced from their homes. Thousands of people are fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, as well as persecution in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, for the first time since World War II. Their arrival in the destination country instils resentment among the local population, and political leaders are influenced by local attitudes, denying refugees basic human rights.

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Importance of Refugee ethics

• Refugee ethics provides insight into how countries and other entities treat fellow refugees and migrants.
• Refugee ethics ensures that migrants and refugees have access to basic human rights. These rights cannot be taken away by any boundaries or political system in the globe.
• Political leaders, as well as the local populace, need to show compassion and empathy for the refugees.

Non Discrimination: Refugee ethics encourage no discrimination towards destitute refugees in a foreign country. They must be treated with respect.
Collective Solution: It encourages impacted countries to work together and debate possible solutions. To attain the public good, great leadership and determination are required.
Increase Tolerance: Refugee ethics encourages tolerance and compassion for migrants’ weaker sections in their home countries.

Important steps need to be taken

• Provision of Basic Human Needs: All refugees must have a safe haven, as well as access to basic necessities such as food, clothing, housing, and medical assistance.
• Action as a Group: The multinational organisation should continue to provide financial assistance to refugees and governments in the resettlement and rehabilitation of refugees.
• With financial assistance from the organisation, peacefully seek permanent safe havens in other developing/island states.

Conclusion
Humanity encourages us to rise above petty self-interest and national pride and promote the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam-“the world is one family.”

Q.5. (b) Should impartial and being non-partisan be considered as indispensable qualities to make a successful civil servant? Discuss with illustrations. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

Impartiality & Non-Partisaniship

Both the terms are related to foundational values of administration. They are related to non-discrimination or absence of discrimination. They are based on principle of justice and fairness which suggest that civil servants should perform their duty with high commitement to public interest and they should not discriminate against anybody. They are understood in two sense:

• Political Sense. 
• Social Sense

Political Sense: In Political sense it is based on the concept of civil service neutrality which is the foundation of civil services and which requires that civil services should be politically neutral. It is the part of politico-administration dichotomy which requires that civil servant should be politically neutral. So, the Concept of impartiality & non- partisanship also suggest that civil servants should not participate in any political activity, should not support any political ideology publicly and it also requires that a leader should not be helped unfairly. In this regard, Masterman Committee finds three components of it:-

• Minister’s confidence upon a civil servant and a civil servant undivided loyalty to the ministers.
• Citizen’s confidence upon a civil servant for greater legitimacy of his actions and decisions.
• Civil service confidence upon civil servants which is required to protect them in case of political victimization.

Apart from these provisions a civil servant is required to follow the principle of confidentiality and other restrictions or limitations imposed on him.

Social Sense: So, it is clear from the above that political neutrality is required for impartial policy making but civil servants are the main policy implementing body or agents of the government. Therefore, for the impartial and effective policy implementation, civil servant should have non discriminatory behavior towards the public for which they should work on merit and Principle of Equal treatment to everybody.

In the present situation, impartiality and non partisanship is  fundamentally required because today political division is increasing, sectional interest is being more asserted, coalition government is found in practice, politico-administrative Nexus is also found which may cause corruption and at the level of society rising or increasing level of Identity politics and social divisions, many problems are appearing in our society like castism, communalism, regionalism, naxalism, separatism, opportunism etc. This problem can be countered and people can be represented equally on the basis of principle of impartiality and non partisanship.

Q.6. (a) An independent and empowered social audit mechanism is an absolute must in every sphere of public service, including judiciary, to ensure performance, accountability and ethical conduct. Elaborate. (Answer in 150 words)

The process of sharing details of the financial and non-financial resources utilised by governmental bodies for development initiatives with the public, frequently through a public platform, is known as social auditing. People can use social audits to enforce accountability and transparency, allowing the final users to analyse development activities.

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• It improves a scheme’s efficiency and efficacy while also having a favourable impact on governance.
• A social audit is used to determine whether or not a benefit intended for an individual or community has reached them.
• It emphasises the importance of stakeholders’ voices, particularly those of marginalized/poor people whose voices are rarely heard. The 73rd Amendment of the Constitution, for instance, gave Gram Sabhas the authority to undertake social audits in addition to other duties.
• The social audit method incorporates people’s participation and monitoring with the audit discipline’s requirements.
• The goal of social auditing is to improve local government, namely to promote accountability and transparency in local bodies. Regular social audits aid in improving the system’s accountability and openness.
• Regular “Social Audits” are also required under Section 17 of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (NREGA) to maintain transparency and accountability in the scheme.
• The social audit, in addition to environmental and economic considerations, focuses on the often overlooked subject of social consequences, assisting in full policy review.
• The public hearings that social audits conclude with remain its soul. 
• The proceedings cannot be planned, and the social audit as a whole is frequently a dramatic process of power redistribution based on facts and fact.

Challenges

• Due to a lack of administrative and political will to institutionalise social audit to combat corruption, social audits in many parts of the country are not independent of implementing agencies’ influence.
• Village social audit facilitators, for example, continue to confront resistance and intimidation, making it difficult to access primary documents for verification.
• Due to a lack of knowledge, awareness, and capacity building among the general public, public participation has been minimal.
• There is no impartial agency to investigate and act on the results of social audits.

Suggestions

• Citizens’ groups must advocate for the strengthening of social audits and make significant progress in holding the political executive and implementing agencies accountable.
• In each district, a team of social audit experts should be established to train members of the social audit committee (stakeholders).
• Training programmes on social auditing procedures such as performing and drafting social audit reports, as well as presentation at Gram Sabha, should be developed.
• The system of social audits requires widespread support and encouragement from multiple authorities in order to become an institutionalised structure that cannot be challenged by vested interests.

Conclusion

The social audit method is designed to increase decision-makers’, representatives’, managers’, and officials’ responsibility through social involvement, openness, and information communication. As a result, social audit has a lot of potential for bridging the gap between policy goals and outcomes.

Q.6.(b) “Integrity is a value that empowers the human being.” Justify with suitable illustration. (Answer in 150 words)

Integrity

The truthfulness of a person in terms of his speech and action is called integrity. Integrity is considered a core value of our society in philosophical sense or philosophy the term stands for the oneness of a person in terms of his thought, speech and action. It is the consistency or harmony between theoretical and practical life of a person.

Integrity is a foundational value for society and for administration. It refers to oneness of a person in terms of his thought speech and action. It is also related to consistency between critical, theoretical and real life of a person. It is also related to the integration between body and mind.

In administration, integrity is a positive value. It is related to the work commitment of a civil servant .Therefore, second ARC defines integrity in terms of civil servants highest commitment to public interest which means a civil servant should be solely guided by the public interest regardless of financial consideration and advantages to family and friends.

Integrity is broadly classified into intellectual integrity and moral integrity.

Intellectual integrity: It is the commitment of a civil servant or a person towards his understanding, philosophy, knowledge etc. Therefore, it is the absence of intellectual hypocrisy.

Moral Integrity: It is related to self control and it is also related to the ability of a person to use common moral standard for oneself and for others. In case of judgement of conduct and character it involves absence of duality of standard.
Integrity can also be classified in terms of personal, organizational, administrative and societal integrity.

Personal Integrity: It means principled self governance. 

Organisational Integrity: It is related to commitment to organisational objectives and values.

Administrative Integrity: It is a kind of organisational integrity. Therefore, a civil servant should be committed to public objectives there should be a dedication towards work.

Societal integrity: It is the commitment of a person to positive values, principles and ideals of the society and doing for the betterment of it.

In public life integrity can also be promoted by ensuring integrity agreement between the government authority and next party. It is a clause in agreement where it is declared that no bribery or commission given or accepted in this agreement.

Q.7. Sunil is a young civil servant and has a reputation for his competence, integrity, dedication and relentness 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 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 officers in the past had taken such strong steps against the mafia. Some not many officers in the employees who were allegedly close to mafia informed them that the of the office employees who were allegediy close to officer is determined to clean up the mafia’s itlegal district and may cause them irrepairable damage. 

The mafia turned hostile and launched counter-offensive. The tribal musclemen and mafia started threatening him with dire consequences. His family (wife and 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 the preaders otherwise, his fate will not be different thar back one officer was killed by the mafia).
(a) Identify the different options available to Sunil in attending to this situation.
(b) Critically evaluate each of the options listed by you.
(c) Which of the above, do you think, would be the most appropriate for Sunil to adopt and why? (Answer in 250 words) 20 Marks

Stakeholders

• Sunil- a competent civil servant with his integrity, dedication and honesty.
• Mafia
• His family ( wife and mother)
• Local functionaries 
• Employees of his office 

Ethical issues involved

• Integrity to the service vs family security 
• Professional values vs personal values 

(b) Options available

(1) Stop the raids

Merit: 

• He will able to secure the life of himself and his family.
• Win the confidence of mafia, local functionaries and tribal musclemen resulting no threat to him in future 
• May get some illegal gratification and led a luxury life. 

Demerit

• He compromised  with his integrity to the job 
• Lost the honesty so lost his previous image and respect. 
• Set a wrong precedent for his office employees 
• Increased corruption in the whole system as he is a superior authority.
• Damaged hugely to river system as well as environment.

(2) Continue conducting raids against mafia:

Merit

• He do justice with his job and the inhabitants.
• Prevent the damage to environment.
• Discourage the mafia and associated crimes like illegal sand mining. 

Demerit

• He may lost his live or of his family 
• He may hot permanent injury or a fearful life 
• He endangers the life of his subordinates 

(3) Rescue himself and seek transfer:

Merit

• At the same time he can save his life and family as well as his honest image in service 
• He can bring the issue to the higher authority.

Demerit

• He can flee from his job due to fear from mafia which causes mental stigma to him for whole life. 
• Encouragement to mafia resulting in more environmental damages and crime in that region. 
• Encouragement to the employees to take bribe and spoil system. 

 (c) I thing Sunil should choose the second available options and continue conducting raid and save environment by doing this he can do justice with the people of the region and with his professional integrity. 

And if he is able to stop mafia then local tribal people give him support so local functionaries were compelled to take out their support to mafia then mafia weakens and may surrender. 

With doing this he get this issue into the knowledge of higher authority state government and demand extra force like CRPF, Army , also extra security for him and his family.

Government will provide security and support then he go ahead to end the whole crime and exposed local functionaries to the public who are involved in crime. 

So as he set a right precedent and encouragement for all officers in the country to be moral and not to succumbed against crime and also discourage such disloyal employees. 

If he do so he realise the true spirit and respect to his duty , similarly like wing commander Abhinandan Vardhaman, who were caught by hostile enemies in their nation but  not succumbed to their torture and injuries and make the nation prod on such soldiers.

Q. 8 You are Vice Principal of a degree college in one of the middle-class towns. Principal has recently retired and management is looking for his replacement. There are also feelers that the management may promote you as Principal. In the meantime, during annual examination the flying squad which came from the university caught two students red-handed involving in unfair means. A senior lecturer of the college was personally helping these students in this act. This senior lecturer also happens to be close to the management. One of the students was son of a local politician who was responsible in getting college affiliated to the present reputed university. The second student was son of a local businessman who has donated maximum funds for running of the college. You immediately informed the management regarding this unfortunate incident. The management told you to resolve the issue with flying squad at any cost. They further said that such incident will not only tarnish the image of the college but also the politician and businessman are very important personalities for the functioning of the college. You were also given hint that your further promotion to Principal depends on your capability in resolving this issue with flying squad. In the meantime, you were intimated by your administrative officer that certain members of the student union are protesting outside the college gate against the senior lecturer and the students involved in this incident and demanding strict action against defaulters.
(a) Discuss the ethical issues involved in the case.
(b) Critically examine the options available with you as Vice Principal. What option will you adopt and why? (Answer in 250 words) 20 Marks

Stakeholders

• You as vice principal
• College management may promote you as principal
• Senior lecturer helping in cheating 
• Students protesting outside the college 
• Flying squad 

Ethical issues involved

• Professional duty vs personal gains 
• Order of management and image of college  vs justice to other honest students 
• Fund and affiliation for college vs voice of protesting students 

Options available

• Follow the order of management and make settlement by hiding true facts to the flying squad.
• Show your incapability to the management that you can not deal with flying squad.
• Refuse the management to support an illegal act and tell the truth to flying squad.

I as a vice principal will choose the third option which has following merit and demerits:

Merits

• I succeeding in my professional integrity 
• I set a right precedent for both students and senior lecture and the management 
• Flying squad reported that all other staff of college are honest except senior lecturer.
• Student learns a lesson to be truthful with study and life as well.
• Do justice  with large section of students including who are protesting  outside college .

Demerits

• I may not be promoted as principal 
• Image and reputation of college may be tarnished, funding may be stopped and affiliation may also.
• Local political and businessman may also hurt me in every walk of life. 

Justification for 3rd option

• As a vice principal I decided to choose the third optional so as I maintained my professional integrity which may hamper my present personal gains but definitely in future it will gives me sense of confidence and job satisfaction. 
• By doing this I convey the management that image of college would not be tarnished but a right precedent set in college and to support such senior lecturer will more degraded the college in future. 
• I also convey that supporting such dishonest student will definitely tarnish image of college in future and also become undesired for society and the nation at large in future. 
• I would request the flying squad not to take such as strict action which destroy the future of student but a light punishment may be given that their career prospects not spoiled and also they get lesson.