IASBABA

ILP 2023

Mains Mock 11 (Ethics)

Instructions

There are 14 questions. All questions are compulsory.

Marks and word limit have been indicated against the question.

The duration for the test is 180 minutes.

Content is more important than the number of words

 SECTION-A
Q1. (a) Does strict adherence to law and regulations always lead to ethical decisions? Critically
examine. (150 words) (10)
(b) Define the following terms and describe their significance in civil services: (200 words)
(10)
(i)Probity
(ii) Accountability
(iii) Code of ethics
(iv) Transparency

Q2. Given below are two quotations. For each of these, bring out what it means to you in the
present context:
(a) “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.” (150 words) (10)
(b) “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” (150
words) (10)

Q3. (a) What effect does political interference have on governance? Explain with the help of
suitable examples. Are there enough safeguards in place to protect civil servants from excessive
political interference? Examine. (150 words) (10)
(b) Taking high moral ground on international matters should not be at the expense of
national interests. Do you agree? Substantiate your views. (150 words) (10)

Q4. (a) The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference. Elucidate.
(150 words) (10)
(b) What do you understand by the concept of collective accountability? Does it improve
performance? Critically examine. (150 words) (10)

Q5. Given below are two statements. Bring out their significance in the present context. (150
words) (10)
(a) “We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, we must be participants; we must
be co-creators.”
(b) “A basic tenet of a healthy democracy is open dialogue and transparency.”
Q6. What is the model of governance in the Nordic countries? Explain. In your opinion, what are
the lessons that can be gleaned from this model? Discuss. (150 words) (10)

Q7. Bold ideas and inventions only emerge in an environment where people are free to speak
up. Do you agree? Do government work places lack such culture? Critically examine. (150 words)
(10)

Q8. A lot of effort is put into maintaining high levels of service quality by popular service
providers. Are there any lessons that government institutions can learn from private brands?
Discuss. (150 words) (10)

SECTION – B
Q9. As an agent of the secret service of the armed forces, you have the responsibility of spying
over the enemies and pass on vital strategic information to the government of your country.
You have been trained and nurtured in a manner that you won’t even hesitate to kill an innocent
person if he/ she becomes an obstacle in your duty even unknowingly. For you, your country
comes first and you regard your duty as the foremost service one can render to one’s
motherland.

One one occasion, you intercept a message that the enemy country is planning to bomb the
pilgrimage base camps stationed at various locations in the bordering state. In fact, troops have
been mobilised to give effect to the plan and it is a matter of hours that heavy bombings would
start. It is not even possible to launch a counter offensive at such a short notice as major
battalions of the army have already been sent to provide relief in the flood hit areas of the
country. Waiting for the army to take command would mean severe loss of lives in the base
camps.
When your commanding officer comes to know about the scenario, he chalks out a plan and
deputes you to give shape to it. However, you are shocked to know his plans. In order to avoid
the bombings, he wants you to immediately bomb a school in the enemy territory which lies in
close proximity to the border. By doing this, the attention of the enemy would get diverted to
the school and they might divert their troops to the school for immediate relief. This would buy
some time for the armed forces of your country and they would be able to evacuate the base
camps and also take positions to retaliate in case of eventual bombings.

What options do you have in this situation. Which one would you choose and why? Examine the
pros and cons of each of the alternatives.. (250 Words) (20)
Q10. It is said that a doctor performs the noblest profession. Doctors are considered God by
many in different parts of the world. You were always attracted to this profession and wanted
to become the best doctor in your area so that you also could save precious lives and serve
people. You were lucky that your parents supported your aspirations. With their support and
your hard work, you cracked the medical entrance examination, attended one of the most
reputed medical colleges in the country and finally became a doctor. You joined a government
hospital and it was nothing less than dream come true for you. You were ready to serve the
people with all those life saving skills that you had learnt in the college. Meanwhile, you got
married to a beautiful girl and had two lovely kids with her.

Work- life balance was going smooth until one day, the news of a new viral strain spreading in
the southern most coastal state of the country broke out. The strain was so severe that even
many doctors and nurses had succumbed to the infection and died. The situation had become
so worse that no doctor was ready to treat the dying patients.

This troubled you a lot and you felt that the time had come to serve the people in the truest
sense. You decided that you would visit the state and render your services to the ailing patients.
However, your parents, wife and children are strictly against this decision. They fear that you
would get affected by the virus. You tried to convince them by telling them that the foremost
duty of a doctor was to save lives no matter what and if you didn’t go, the guilt of turning your
back towards the needy would haunt you forever. But your family members aren't ready to let
you go. After all, you are the sole breadwinner and caretaker of the family. How can they simply
let you be in danger? They love you so much and can’t afford to lose you.

Now, you were in a complex situation that demanded a reasoned yet moral action from you.
What would you have done in this situation? Examine the alternatives available to you and
comment on the pros and cons of each one of them. Also, which alternative you would have
chosen and why? (250 Words) (20)
Q11. You are the founding member of a political party that was born out of an agitation against
corruption in the country. Even though you and your partners never wanted to contest
elections, the circumstances were such that you were forced to enter the very same political
system that you abhorred for its disconnect and corruption. But then, someone has to cleanse
the system after all.

Your decision to form a political party has been welcomed by many and your supporters are
eagerly waiting to witness the transformation that your party would bring about in the political
discourse. However, as the days pass by, reality dawns at you and your partners. It is getting
difficult to run the party and pursue its agenda without adequate money. Donations have
thinned and the party workers are demotivated. A sense of despondency has creeped in
wherein everyone believes that it is impossible to bring about a change without money and
muscle in Indian politics.

While you are deeply worried about the party and its followers, a business tycoon accompanied
by a famous media honcho visits your party office. They have an offer. If you agree to twist the
tender and procurement rules in the favour of the businessman after you come to power, they
are ready to fund your party and become a mouthpiece of your ideology and agenda through
various media.

This appears to be an offer that you can’t resist. What are you going to lose? Literally nothing!
Rather a symbiotic relationship with the gentlemen would ensure the revival of your party and
also a genuine shot at power. Your partners and party workers are infatuated by this offer and
they insist that you accept it. Even though it would mean a compromise with the fundamental
ideals of your party, sometimes stepping down from the moral plank can give you enough
leeway to fulfil your aspirations.

Now answer the following questions:

i) What options do you have in this situation?
ii) Of all the options available to you, which one will you choose and why? Elaborate. (250
Words) (20)
Q12. Communal sentiments flare up quite easily in the district where you are posted as the SP.
Frequent clashes between the two conflicting communities during fairs, festivals and at several
other occasions have brought your district on the national stage many a times in the past. The
higher ups in bureaucracy and politics have given stern directions to the police force under you
to ensure law and order in the sensitive areas.
One day, you receive a telephone call from a boy belonging to the minority community. He loves
and intends to marry a girl from the majority community. Even she wants the same. However,
members from both the communities are hell bent to stop this “unholy” alliance and are ready
to resort to violence if need arises. The boy asks you to provide security to the couple and
arrange a safe and secure place for their marriage. You turn to action immediately and direct
your subordinates to visit the distressed couple immediately and bring them to your office. You
are confident that no one will be hurt in this process and everything will go as planned.
However, a difficult situation awaits you. Just as the couple is brought to your office, thousands
of members from both the communities start assembling in front of the building that houses
your office. They are chanting all sorts of slogans and demand that the boy and the girl break
their marriage and return to the respective families. You deploy hundreds of police personnel
in front of the building to make sure that the crowd doesn’t get violent. However, the tempers
are running high and the crowd is getting really impatient. You are scared that if the crowd
overpowers the force, it might lead to pandemonium and violence. You start thinking of using
tear gas or other crowd controlling measures. In the middle of all this, you receive the call of the
Home Minister of the state. He insists that no force should be used against the crowd and that
their demands should also be acceded to. When you tell him about your constitutional duty of
protecting individual freedom and fundamental rights, he tells you that on any given day,
security and law and order take precedence over individual freedom.

Now answer the following questions:

i) What options do you have in this situation?
ii) Would you agree to the directions given by the Home Minister? What can be its possible
fallouts?
iii) What is the best possible way out in this situation? Substantiate. (250 Words) (20)
Q13. In an unfortunate accident, one of your subordinates is hit by a car while riding his bike to
office. He dies at the spot and his body is brought to the morgue of the city hospital. You and
your colleagues visit the city hospital. The wife and kids of your subordinate are unconsolable.
You are deeply disturbed to see all this. The kids are still in school and the wife is a homemaker.
The savings aren’t much to sustain the family for long. The only way out of the suffering can be
the compensation paid by the life insurance company. However, the insurance company would
require a report from the police about the accident that took the life of your subordinate. Your
talk to the police and get to know that the accident has taken place on the highway passing right
across the city. Two wheelers aren’t allowed on the highway and if the police mentions the same
in the report, the family would be denied any compensation from the insurance company. That
would mean an effective end to the last hope for the family.

Your colleagues suggest that the only way out of this situation is to bribe the concerned police
officer to fudge the report to show that the accident took place on the service road. The police
officer has agreed to give a false report if paid Rupees Fifty Thousand in cash.

Now answer the following questions:

i) What kind of dilemma confronts you in this situation?

ii) How would you address this dilemma? (250 Words) (20)

Q14. You belong to a traditional Indian middle class family. Your parents hold Indian values in
high esteem and have taught you and your siblings the same. Their emphasis on good ‘sanskar’
means that they intend to marry you to a cultured, traditional and devoted girl. They have their
expectations spelled out clearly to all the families and prospective brides they meet with. One
family fits in perfectly in their matrix of expectations. The family is deeply religious, visits
temples regularly, eats only vegetarian food and in certain aspects outscore your parents’
‘sanskar’ parameters. It makes your parents really happy and they fix a meeting immediately.
They also decide that you should meet with the girl to know her and have some level of
acquaintance before taking any decision.

On the day of the meeting, the expectations of your family are not only met but exceeded with
the hospitality offered by the family and their display of ‘sanskars’. Gauging the expressions of
your parents, you have realised that they are really elated and would fix the marriage then and
there. You are a bit sceptical as you don’t know the girl yet. However, once you meet he girl, all
your doubts start vanishing. She is the perfect match for you as she has interest in football that
you are crazy about, she likes adventure sports that you are so passionate for and above all she
does poetry in which you are so good at. Everything starts appearing like a dream to you and
you tell yourself that you have found your ‘soulmate’.
But then, there comes few shockers from the girl. Before tying the knot with you, the girls wants
to reveal few truths about herself. She tells you that she has been in many relationships before
and had even been physical with her partners. She also lets you know that she loves tattoo art
and intends to have a couple of them on her neck and forearm and that one day she wants to
become a tattoo artist herself. She also wants you to agree to the condition that she won’t take
your title after marriage. Finally, she expects that in return of the respect, love and care that she
would bestow upon you and your family, she shouldn't be prohibited from doing what she
wants, be it her choice of clothes, her aspirations of a good career or her desire to have a baby
or not!

While her truths and demands hardly make a difference to your liking for her, the thoughts of
your parents start popping up while you are still chatting with her. In no way, the girl you like
fits into the parameters of a ‘sanskari’ daughter-in-law that they have always wanted. You are
sure that when they come to know about it, they wouldn’t let this marriage happen. But that
would leave you broken hearted.

Now answer the following questions:

i) What would you do in this situation? Discuss.

ii) Why do families in India have such values? Are such values compatible to modern life?
Critically examine. (250 Words) (20)