Ethics: February 2023 UPSC Current Affairs | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

Q.1. (a) How will you apply emotional intelligence in administrative practices? 

Emotional Intelligence can be defined as an ability to comprehend and manage one’s emotions and also of others. It is important for making sound and objective decisions thus making it crucial for success as an administrator.

EI can be applied to administrative practices in the following manner -

• Being self-aware as an administrator helps us in having a clear picture of our strengths and weaknesses. If people are self-aware, they always know their feelings and how emotions affect the people around them.
• Administrators must self-regulate themselves effectively. A self regulated administrator would not verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions and/or stereotype people or compromise values
• Administrators should constantly motivate themselves and their team members thus consistently working towards their goals. This also helps in maintaining an extremely high standard for the quality of their work.
• Applying empathy in administrative practices is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Administrators with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else’s situation.
• By developing social skills administrators would also become great communicators thereby getting their team support and will also be good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. 
• To summarize emotional skills have gained foothold in the public administration sector and are essential for good administrative practices and customer service.

(b) Strength, peace and security are considered to be the pillars of international relations. Elucidate. 

Peace is one of the foremost reasons why we engage in and maintain international relations. This is because, after the two World Wars, the appetite for war and violence decreased dramatically across the world. War became unethical behaviour, unfit for civilisation, hazardous for humanity. We needed to establish peace world over and in order to establish peace we need security. A secure and peaceful world allows us to preserve, protect and create newer solutions to our problems. Peace builds communities, expands trade, aids development, helps sustain the environment, and most importantly, helps us claim our socio-political rights. 

Security is derived from having strength. Strength in international relations is the ability to successfully negotiate in one’s favour. Strength can be sourced from military power, economic strength, a ‘soft-power’ status etc. An ethical use of strength to negotiate for peace and security is ideally what is required in international relations, but such is not always the case. For example, China has been using its strength to claim territories of other countries in the South China Sea, which is nothing but an unethical use of strength, and as such may not lead to peace and security in the region.

Q.2. (a) The crisis of ethical values in modern times is traced to a narrow perception of the good life. Discuss  

A good life is the realization of all the values - material, social, psychological, aesthetical, moral, ethical and human. The classical Indian tradition follows the realization of the four purusharthas (pillars) – Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha (religion, wealth, sensual pleasures, salvation).The crisis of ethical values in modern life can be traced to the narrow perception in terms of material values i.e., Artha and Kama (wealth and sensuous pleasure) alone. 

The sole aim of all life has become attainment of personal success - defined in terms as acquisition of money, power and prestige. Its guiding slogan is, ‘higher the quantity of consumption, better the quality of life’. Therefore, the modern value crisis is mainly due to the narrow perception of a good life which overplays of the importance of material values of life and downplays other life values like the moral and ethical.
Life values like happiness, peace, contentment, etc which give meaning, worth and fullness to human existence are seen as roadblocks and unnecessary diversions from the high road to material success.Since a narrow way of good life cannot sustain in the long-run, there is need for the society in general to focus more on the broader aspects of values to lead a better quality life.

(b) Increased national wealth did not result in equitable distribution of its benefits. It has created only some “enclaves of modernity and prosperity for a small minority at the cost of the majority.” Justify. 

According to a recent research paper by Thomas Piketty, the eminent French economist,  top 0.1% of earners in India captured a higher share of the total growth than the bottom 50%. This shows that there has been no ‘inclusive growth’ in India.

The skewed income distribution patterns depict that the policy making in India has neither favoured the ‘utilitarian approach’ nor the ‘common goods; approach. The nexus between the politicians and corporate (‘crony capitalism’) and the resulting corruption has led to concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a small minority.Rather than assuming the role of trustees of wealth, as Gandhi prescribed, there is an absolute lack of empathy and values like altruism and philanthropy.
Due to the general degradation in the moral fibre of the society, there is unwillingness among the ‘haves’ to part with the wealth and power for the benefit of the majority.Consequently, India is witnessing the phenomena of ‘enclaves of modernity and prosperity for a small minority at the cost of the majority’.

CASE STUDIES

1. You are a senior forest official who has recently been posted in a forest range which has a wildlife sanctuary and pilgrimage center of local hill tribes. The sanctuary is a famous trekking site, but is open only for males as the local tribal culture doesn’t permit the entry of women to the hill site housing their deity.

Recently, the State High Court has lifted this unofficial ban on women following which there has been pressure from women's’ group to open the trekking site for all, while the local tribal group opposes the same. You fear that opening the site might lead to protest from tribals, compromising law and order situation and endanger the safety of trekkers to the site.
What are the options open to you in this scenario? Discuss along with their merits and demerits?
Which would be the most appropriate action that you would take in this situation and why?

The above case study reflects the following ethical dilemma:

• Community interest vs Gender parity.
• Freedom of religion vs Right to equality.
• In this scenario the options that can be taken

Option 1: Ignore the High court order

• Merit:
  • Status quo will lead to stable law and order situation.
  • Sanctity of religious sentiments of tribals can be maintained.
• Demerit:
  • It will lead to Contempt of court.
  • It will endorse the patriarchal mindset, that activities like trekking are masculine exercise.

Option 2: Try to persuade the tribals by myself.

• Merit:
  • It will uphold Tribal's right to decide themselves about their choice of settlement.
• Demerit:
  • This option has very little chance to succeed, as the tribals are living with this religious narrative since ages.

Option 3: Implement the order, if tribals get violent, then the help of force should be taken

• Merit:
  • It will implement the court's order and upheld the principle of gender equality.
• Demerit:
  • It is against Teleological ethics as unethical means are used to lead to the desired end.
  • By making Tribals submit to the judicial process which they did not consent to is a broader injustice.

2. The course of action
Since it is a social issue, the mere legal solution is not enough, it requires emotional intelligence.

• Steps that should be taken:
  • Involve civil society to undertake trust-building measures with the community.
  • Aware tribals about the law of the land, which guarantee gender equality
  • Police and other forces must be held on standby to avoid any escalation of the conflict.
  • Extension for executing the court's order can be asked, so that issue can be resolved amicably.
  • However, Patriarchal attitudes cannot be changed overnight. therefore:
  • Few Tribal leaders can be roped in for a campaign strategy for creating awareness.
  • This would persuade people because the source of the message will have more credibility than district administration.
  • Tribals should be educated about gender parity.

Community interest and Individual freedom should be balanced, but the human right to dignity cannot be compromised. This can be achieved through a socio-political movement which will raise the consciousness of the masses against the menace of patriarchy while maintaining the sanctity of tribal culture.

2. You are posted as the district magistrate for a remote district in a state that shares its boundaries with a neighbouring country. The district you are in has no recent history of mob violence or mass violent protests. In the last decade, some textile mills were set up in the district which saw a surge of migrant workers coming in for jobs. Without these migrant workers it will be very difficult to run these textile mills. These workers also send home money to their families and without this work they will suffer as well.
Recently, some miscreants belonging to the migrant worker community were arrested for the rape and murder of a small child. Following which there was a violent backlash against the community. Local political leadership is also taking advantage of the situation to portray the incident as a communal matter rather than a criminal one. Miscreants are also using social media to spread hatred and issue warnings against the migrant worker community. The migrant workers have therefore, started fleeing their homes, leaving their jobs and belongings behind, afraid for their lives.

• Given that you are responsible for the safety of the migrant workers as well as the local populace, what solutions will you provide to reduce enmity between the two said communities?
• In what ways can you help the fleeing workers and make them feel safe enough to stay back?
• Suggest measures to stop the spread of hatred on social media, and also to stop politicians from using this issue to further their careers.
• All over the country, there are similar situations where a criminal act by a few miscreants from a particular community gets painted as a communal act blaming the entire community - triggering the exodus of ‘outsiders’ from that region or state. We have seen this repeatedly in cases of North Eastern states, Maharashtra and recently, Gujarat. What can be done to stop this challenge to national integration? Suggest remedial measures backed up by moral-ethical principles to justify your answer.

3. A seasoned criminal with many murder charges on him has escaped from a jail. There is a likelihood that he will kill more people while he is on the run.
Mr. A who is the police inspector in the area has found links to trace the criminal’s presence in his area. Mr. A has a reputation of a being an encounter specialist since he doesn’t believe much in the efficacy of judicial trials as they are time consuming. It is likely that Mr. A will do the same this time. His subordinates, though, disapprove of encounter killings as a routine measure, dare not oppose him due to hierarchical pressure. A constable Mr. C doesn’t want to participate in the encounter operation, but due to the fear of being terminated he is left with no choices.
Given the above situation, consider the following questions:

• What are the moral issues involved in this situation?
• Though encounter killing is legally valid is it morally correct too? If yes, how?
• How is Mr. C participating in the encounter morally valid?

Solution

• The moral issues involved in the above situation are:
• The right to life and fair justice, even for a seasoned criminal.
• The extent to which humanitarian concerns can be bypassed so as to maintain law and order.
• An individual being forced to participate in a specific work against his/her voice of conscience.
• The culture of extra-judicial killings in a just society.
• An individual’s (in power) discretion to determine the type of justice to be given to a criminal.
• Encounter Killing is not legally correct as even in the case of Ajmal Kasab, he was tried and when proven guilty then hanged. Extra-judicial killings can be validated only on grounds of self-defence, killing in warfare or in extreme cases to protect lives of innocent people and to maintain law and order. The Indian judicial system discourages such killings even for Army and the court marshal of the officers involved in Pathribal killings (2000) enunciate it more strongly. In the Indian administrative setup, police officers are like shields for innocent people and the sword of justice lies with the judiciary.
• Even morally it is not right, as it sets a wrong precedent for the future and in the future, even innocent under trials might be killed to close a case or as a case of revengeful killing. Further, as Mahatma Gandhi had said, “An eye for an eye makes the world blind.” Thus, the killing doesn’t necessarily end crime in a society.
• The participation of the constable in the operation is valid on following moral grounds.
• As a public servant, he must submit all his inclinations to the call of duty.
• In this case the virtue of integrity, i.e., his faithfulness to the organization must be given more importance than his voice of conscience.
• If he refuses to participate, it will adversely affect the overall morale in the team.
• His condition of service demands that he should follow orders from his superiors without complaint.