February 24 – GS4/Ethics: 2026 | UPSC Daily Answer Writing Practice PDF Download

In one of the districts of a frontier state, the 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. (UPSC MAINS GS4)

Dimensions of the crisis:

• One needs to identify different stakeholders and vested interest in this case. They are drug mafia, arms dealer, money launderers, politicians and police officers. Each one has some vested interest to protect that helps this system sustain and the victims are the youth of this area who are deprived of education and are engaged in self-destructive practices like drugs and crime. 
• There is a loop in which system has been caught. It has been self- sustaining mechanism since products of a failed education system supply manpower to run this ecosystem of crime. 
• Those who are responsible to deal with such crises are themselves involved. Possibly, this money from drug menace is being ploughed back into elections that sustains political career of many people and in return drug mafia and arms dealers and smugglers are protected from law. 
• There can also be a crisis of institutions like family that propels youth towards consumption of drugs and give up education and some constructive work. 

Measures to deal with the crisis: 

• First of all, there should be stock taking of the situation in detail to get a grassroots understanding of the problem. Any knee jerk response or crackdown by the administration may backfire at both personal and professional level without solving the issue. I must realize that the problem is deeply entrenched and has multiple strong stakeholders. Any adventurism or bravado is bound to create more pain than pleasure. 
• Coercive and constructive steps needs to be initiated in parallel because one cannot wait for all things to be normal before some positive direction is given to youth. It is when positivity comes that negativity goes away. 
• I will rope in authorities responsible for border security to ensure that supply chain of drugs and arms and counterfeit currency is disrupted. This will at least put a brake on the momentum of the situation which is worsening. 
• There will be total ban on poppy farming within the territory and area under jurisdiction. 
• There will be raids on infamous locations in police records to seize illegal arms and currency. Habitual offenders will be taken into judicial custody and interrogated to get inputs about people involved. 
• Side by side, an internal department enquiry will be initiated to nab culprit police officers and strict actions will be taken on them. 
• Side by side, a massive campaign against drugs will be started. Large signboards will be placed in public spaces to educate people about fallout of these practices. There will be door to door campaign to raise awareness and get a sense of how many people are affected. 
• Rehabilitation centers will be opened to help those who have been made aware and want to deengage with drugs. 
• Schools will be opened and door to door campaigning will be done to bring back people to school and divert their energies through active participation in constructive work.

Challenges and administrative limitations:

• All powerful stakeholders can join hands against me and oust me through political weight. I may face physical threats. I may be transferred. I may be given a punishment posting. I should be prepared for all this. What should drive me in my quest is public service. 
• There may also be lack of institutional support from border security agencies, political class, my colleagues in police department etc. 
• Raising awareness itself is a long-term task which may be frustrating in the wake of a lack of public Enthusiasm.