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Total Questions:- 774

Q-1 You are officer-in-charge of a very important railway junction, which is an artery of trade and commerce. A peasant disturbance has been brewing in your district for the past few weeks. Their discussions with the political and district leadership has borne no fruit and it has come to the stage that now they are protesting by organizing a sitin on the railway tracks near the station. They have thereby succeeded in blocking movement of all trains. This disruption is causing significant harassment for the passengers waiting at the platform as well. (a) What will be your course of immediate action? (b) How can emotional intelligence act as a tool in handling this issue? (c) What steps will you take so that such incidents are not repeated in the future?( 250 words) 15 marks 11 min
Q-2 Mobota is a small and very poor country in Africa. A major epidemic of a new disease breaks out in Mobota. The only medicine in the market for this disease is a drug made in India by a new pharmaceutical company called Biomed. Since the drug has been developed at heavy cost and Biomed is partly owned by a major international company, the medicine is priced very high. Mobota cannot not afford to pay the price for the large quantities it needs to control the outbreak. What are the different options for Mobota’s health minister to deal with this situation? What according to you would be the best option & why ? (250 words) 15marks 11min
Q-3 You are a Public Information Officer (PIO) in a government department. You are aware that the RTI Act 2005 envisages transparency and accountability in administration. The act has functioned as a check on the supposedly arbitrarily administrative behaviour and actions. However, as a PIO you have observed that there are citizens who filed RTI applications not for themselves but on behalf of such stakeholders who purportedly want to have access to information to further their own interests. At the same time there are these RTI activists who routinely file RTI applications and attempt to extort money from the decision makers. This type of RTI activism has affected the functioning of the administration adversely and also possibly jeopardises the genuineness of the applications which are essentially aimed at getting justice. What measures would you suggest to separate genuine and non-genuine applications? Give merits and demerits of your suggestions. (250words) 15marks 11min
Q-4 What factors should guide a police officer deciding to fire or not to fire on a protesting mob- ‘deontology or consequentialism’? Give reasons. (250 words) 15 marks 11min
Q-5 You and your friend are living together in a metropolitan city and preparing for civil service examinations. While you manage to meet your daily targets, you sense that your friend is unable to cope up with the pressure of the exam. Fear of not passing the exam and meeting the expectations of his family is stressing him further. You realise that with time your friend is losing interest in everything and often talks about committing suicide if he is unable to meet his goal. He is also missing out on meals and prefers to stay indoors when asked to venture out. When you sought professional help, the doctor diagnosed your friend with clinical depression. Being aware that your friend needs professional counselling and psychiatric care, you reach out to his parents who reside in a rural area. They rebuff you for suggesting counselling and instead reiterate that nothing is wrong with him. They sternly mention that your bringing up the matter will only make people engage in loose talk. They also ignore you when you politely inform them that it is not wise to ignore one’s mental health. Your friend’s parents see his state as a sign of failure and decide to call him home where he can continue with his preparation. You are aware of the gravity of the situation if your friend goes back to his house. You also know that there is very little awareness about mental health and that the solution is not to ignore it but to take necessary measures to tackle it. (a) As a concerned friend and an aspiring civil servant who can frame policies for the public in the future and has a moral duty towards them, what are the options available to you in such a situation? (b) Evaluate each of these options and choose the option you would adopt, giving reasons. (250 words) 10 marks 11min
Q-6 During your election duty you caught hold of a vehicle full of cash. On inquiry, it was revealed to you that the vehicle belongs to a very popular politician of the region and even the exit polls are predicting his victory. The politician calls you up to release the vehicle. You try to approach your senior to seek advice but can’t reach him.  (a) What are the options available to you?  (b) What course of action will you take?  (250words) 15 marks 11min
Q-7 You are a civil servant posted in a state where elections were recently held. The newly elected Chief Minister had promised to ban alcohol in several of his election campaigns as well as his election manifesto, which was widely praised and supported by women of the state. Fulfilling his electoral promise, the Chief Minister has ordered a blanket ban on the sale of alcohol in the state. Following the ban, concerns have been raised about the feasibility of the ban and whether the government should interfere in what is considered by many to be a matter of personal choice. (a) Who are the stakeholders in this case and how are they affected by the ban? (b) Is blanket ban on alcohol a feasible action? (c) Identify the issues that may arise while enforcing the ban and the steps you will take to handle them, as a civil servant. (150 words)  10 marks 7min
Q-8 A building permitted for three floors, while being extended illegally to 6 floors by a builder, collapses. As a consequence, a number of innocent labourers including women and children died. These laborers are migrants of different places. The government immediately announced cash relief to the aggrieved families and arrested the builder. Give reasons for such incidents taking place across the country. Suggest measures to prevent their occurrence. (250words) 15 marks 11 min
Q-9 Aryaman is a brilliant Science Teacher in a private English medium school in Lucknow and gets yearly package of Rs.4 lakhs. Another school at Ghaziabad offers him package of Rs.4.5 lakhs. Aryaman makes a verbal commitment to the Ghaziabad school principle, “Sure,l’ll join your school from next month.” But when Aryaman submits his resignation to Lucknow school, its Principle Mr. Raj requests him to stay and offers new package of Rs.3.8 lakhs. Should Aryaman take back his resignation? yes/no/why? Explain. ( 250 words)15 marks 11min
Q-10 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 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 under the scheme without necessary documents would clearly be violation of rules. But denying her the support would be cruel and inhuman. (2016) (a) Can you think of a rational way to resolve this dilemma? (b) Give your reasons for it. (250 words)15 marks 11 min
Q-11 Once Ravi goes to market with his mother for celebratory shopping. There he finds that most of the shopkeepers have employed children as attendants and are being treated harshly. Ravi gets very touched by seeing all this and argues with one of the shopkeepers on this issue. His mother tells him to stop and explains that the shopkeeper will remove the child and child may have no earning source for family. (a) What should Ravi do in consonance with moral quality in this situation? (b) Discuss limitations of various possible actions that Ravi is supposed to take. (250 words) 15 marks 11 min
Q-12 Aryaman is a brilliant Science Teacher in a private English medium school in Lucknow and gets yearly package of Rs.4 lakhs. Another school at Ghaziabad offers him package of Rs.4.5 lakhs. Aryaman makes a verbal commitment to the Ghaziabad school principle, “Sure,l’ll join your school from next month.” But when Aryaman submits his resignation to Lucknow school, its Principle Mr. Raj requests him to stay and offers new package of Rs.3.8 lakhs. Should Aryaman take back his resignation? yes/no/why? Explain. (250 words) 15 marks 11 min
Q-13 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 damage 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 members plead with you to call off the operations fearing threats to their life. In such trying circumstances, what will be your response? Examine the qualities of a public servant which will be required to manage the situation. (250 words) 15 marks  11 min
Q-14 Honesty and uprightness are the hallmarks of a civil servant. Civil servants possessing these qualities are considered as the backbone of any strong organization. In line of duty, they take various decisions, at times some become bonafide mistakes. As long as such decisions are not taken intentionally and do not benefit personally, the officer cannot be said to be guilty. Though such decisions may, at times, lead to unforeseen adverse consequences in the long-term. In the recent past, a few instances have surfaced wherein civil servants have been implicated for bonafide mistakes. They have often been prosecuted and even imprisoned. The instances have greatly rattled the moral fibre of the civil servants. How does this trend affect the functioning of the civil services? What measures can be taken to ensure the honest civil servants are not implicated for the bonafide mistakes on their part? Justify your answer. (250 words) 15 marks  11 min
Q-15 Rajesh Kumar is a senior public servant, with a reputation of honesty and forthrightness, currently posted in the Finance Ministry as Head of the Budget Division. His department is presently busy in organising the budgetary support to the states, four of which are due to go to the polls within the financial year. This year’s annual budget had allotted Rs.8300 crores for National Housing Scheme (NHS), a centrally sponsored social housing scheme for the weaker sections of society. Rs. 775 crores have been drawn for NHS till June. The Ministry of Commerce had long been pursuing a case for setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in a southern state to boost exports. After two years detailed discussions between the centre and state, the Union Cabinet approved the project in August. Process was initiated to acquire the necessary land. Eighteen months ago a leading Public Sector Unit (PSU) had projected the need for setting up a large natural gas processing plant in a northern state for the regional gas grid. The required land is already in possession of the PSU. The gas grid is an essential component of the national energy security strategy. After three rounds of global bidding the project was allotted to an MNC, M/s XYZ Hydrocarbons. The first tranche of payment to the MNC is scheduled to be made in December. Finance Ministry was asked for a timely allocation of an additional Rs.6000 crores for these two developmental projects. It was decided to recommend re-appropriation of this entire amount from the NHS allocation. The file was forwarded to Budget Department for their comments and further processing. On studying the case file, Rajesh Kumar realized that this re-appropriation may cause inordinate delay in the execution of NHS, a project much publicized in the rallies of senior politicians. Correspondingly, non-availability of finances would cause financial loss in the SEZ and national embarrassment due to delayed payment in an international project. Rajesh Kumar discussed the matter with his seniors. He was conveyed that this politically sensitive situation needs to be processed immediately. Rajesh Kumar realized that diversion of funds from NHS could raise difficult_questions for the government in the Parliament. Discuss the following with reference to this case: (a) Ethical issues involved in re-appropriation of funds from a welfare project to the developmental projects.  (b) Given the need for proper utilization of public funds, discuss the options available to Rajesh Kumar. Is resigning a worthy option? (Answer in 250 words) 15 marks 
Q-16 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 over-all economic scenario in the district? (250 words) 15 marks 11 min
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UPSC GS Mains Crash Course - RAW Prelims Answer Key 2024