Mains Practice Questions

Q. The government under PM Awas yojana has promised to provide affordable housing to the urban poor. However, after the inspection, it was found that there is a shortage of residential plots in the city. 

You as the District Magistrate have requested the government to release some vacant public land for the construction of houses under this scheme.  While accepting the proposal, the concerned minister suggests that 20% of houses should be allotted from his discretionary quota. In this situation, you have the following options:

1. Simply follow the orders of the minister. 

2. Tell the minister that the proposed discretionary allotments will lead to serious controversy. 

3. Delay the matter.

4. Oppose the decision tooth and nail.

Analyze these options and what advice you would have given to the minister?

Q. Migrant workers have always remained at the socio-economic margins of our society, silently serving as the instrumental labour force of urban economics. The pandemic has brought them into national focus.

On announcement of a countrywide lockdown, a very large number of migrant workers decided to move back from their places of employment to their native villages. The non-availability of transport created its own problems. Added to this was the fear of starvation and inconvenience to their families. This caused, the migrant workers to demand wages and transport facilities for returning to their villages. Their mental agony was accentuated by multiple factors such as a sudden loss of livelihood, possibility of lack of food and inability to assist in harvesting their rabi crop due to not being able to reach home in time. Reports of inadequate response of some districts in providing the essential boarding and lodging arrangements along the way multiplied their fears.

You have leant many lessons from this situation when you were tasked to oversee the functioning of the District Disaster Relief Force in your district. In your opinion what ethical issues arose in the current migrant crisis? What do you understand by an ethical care giving state? What assistance can the civil society render to mitigate 2 the sufferings of migrants in similar situations? (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020)

Q. 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?  (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020)

Q. 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 78300 crores for National Housing Scheme (NHS), a centrally sponsored social housing scheme for the weaker sections of society. 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 of 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 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? (250 words) (UPSC GS-4 Mains 2020)

You are part of a football team at an international tournament representing your country. Your team has played really well to reach the final. However, a day before the final match you witness the best forward players who scored the maximum goals in the tournament were injecting something using a syringe in private. When you approach them, they explain that it is a performance enhancing drug which is very common in such competitions and they suggested, you should take the same as well. When you enquire more about it, you get to know that those players have been taking the drug throughout the tournament at the advice of the coach himself. You discuss this issue with the coach but he tells you to ignore all this and concentrate on your own performance and threatens you of dire consequences if you reveal this to anyone.

a. Highlight the stakeholders and their ethical issues in this case

b. Discuss your course of action in such a scenario.

c. What long term measures would you suggest to stop the usage of such unfair means in sports.

A coaching centre in an area dominated by migrant workers and daily wage earners, caters to a specific group of women students – those who come from financially poor backgrounds and have dropped out of formal schooling due to familial pressure as well as financial issues. The girls come from such families who will marry them off if they don’t study and pass their exams.

However, the centre has always struggled with poor finances for many years and lacks basic infrastructure and facilities such as laptops or Wi-Fi. Moreover, after a nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, teaching has become more difficult. The teachers at the centre continue to teach students even when their salaries stopped coming due to the financial crisis that the centre faces. Not only the centre but the students also do not have laptops/mobile with a proper internet connection. Also, the students as well as the teachers are not very well versed with technology.

You are the manager of the centre, identify the various ethical issues of the given case. Based on your understanding, suggest measures to deal with the crisis. (250 words)

Hundreds of people have died in a district of Punjab after consuming spurious liquor. The police have conducted several raids to catch the culprits responsible for this mishap. The raiding teams seized large quantities of "lahan" - the raw material for making liquor - from various villages and dhabas in the region around the district border. The preliminary investigation has confirmed a long-established system of illicit liquor outlets in the whole state.

It is alleged by the media that the hooch tragedy is the direct and natural consequence of the patronage given by the leaders, including ministers and MLAs for turning a blind eye to the rampant illicit liquor trade in the state.

Meanwhile, the state government is under attack from opposition parties for not taking immediate and adequate action. The state government in a hasty response transferred district magistrate and suspended several police officials for negligence of duty.

You are the newly appointed district magistrate of the region.

a. Identify the stakeholders and the ethical issues involved in the case.

b. What best course of action will you adopt to resolve the issues in this case?

c. What long term steps will you take to make sure such incidents do not occur in future.

According to a report that was published in the major daily newspaper, two school girls who got married after completing their Class X were denied admission in government girls’ higher secondary school.

The reasons cited by the school Headmistress for denial of admission to them in Class XI was that the admission to Class XI was not automatic and that the presence of married girls in the school would distract the other school girls from their studies and adversely affect their academic performance.

You are a newly appointed District Magistrate of that area and come across this information through local newspapers. On investigation it was found that the marriage of the minor girls was a common phenomenon in certain communities of that region and here school going girls often get married immediately after completing Standard X.

The parents of the girls are reluctant to file complaints under the fear of penal action for having solemnised the marriage of minor girls.

a. Identify the stakeholders and ethical dilemmas involved in the case.

b. What would be the best course of action taken by you as a District Magistrate to manage the situation?

Recently, Municipal officials with the help of police razed down several temporary shelter homes in a slum area, claiming that they had encroached upon the land in the city where a beautification project has been planned. The residents of this slum are traditional bamboo artisans who were resettled here five years ago after being displaced from another site.

Eviction from a slum during the lockdown rendered people homeless. The families claimed that the lockdown affected the wedding season during which they used to earn a bare minimum amount for their subsistence to earn a bare minimum amount for their subsistence by selling bamboo items and utensils. Now they are left with no other means of livelihood and are homeless after losing their shelter. means of livelihood and homeless after losing their shelter.

Meanwhile some displaced residents started working as ragpickers, but now due to lockdown the scrap warehouses have been shut. Due to which the savings of the affected people is drained and they are on the verge of being famished.

You are the Divisional Commissioner of that area and it is your responsibility to resolve all the issues including the rehabilitation of the displaced people in implementation of the beautification project.

a. Identify the stakeholders and the ethical issues involved in the case.

b. What are the options available to you? Which one do you think will be the most appropriate step that can be taken. Justify.

You are the District Collector of an area that has recently witnessed a communal riot between Hindu and Muslim communities. Many people have lost their residences, businesses and lives because of these riots. During the communal violence, schools were targeted and burnt; ambulances were denied access to the grievously injured; and journalists were beaten up. A list released by the hospital showed that several victims had died of assault and burns (from acid and fire). The hospitals in the area are flooded with the victims, and are running short of doctors and infrastructure to cater to the large population.

As many people had died of gunshot wounds, several policemen have been accused of siding with the rioters instead of trying to maintain the law and order.

Many students in the area are to write their class 10^th and 12^th Board exams, and are now staging a protest demanding the exams to be postponed. Several families who have lost their homes, have created makeshift tents in front of your office to express their protest. The media is blaming the government for its inaction and you are under the pressure to immediately hold a press conference and speak on the behalf of the government.

a. Identify the stakeholders and the ethical issues involved.

b. What course of action will be most appropriate to establish the law and order in the area again? Justify. (250 words)

You are a Chief Medical officer running a hospital in a primarily lower-income neighborhood, where many of your patients are recent migrants from different parts of the country. You are granted a fixed annual budget of Rs.1 crore through your local public health department, and it is unlikely that you can obtain additional funding for any year. Traditionally, you have used your entire budget for the past several years.

One day, a frightened, thin young man appears to the clinic with a folder of medical records. He is accompanied by his aunt, who explains to you that he was recently diagnosed with a rare type of cancer that, if untreated, will result in his death within six months. After further inquiry, you determine that his cancer is treatable, but will require Rs. 50 Lakh (Half of the total annual budget) to save his life.

Treating this single patient means that there will not be enough money to treat all of the other patients who come to the clinic over the course of the year. In other words, his medication is not cost-effective because for the same amount invested in supplying the clinic, the hospital could prevent many more deaths or disability adjusted life years for a greater number of patients. However, allowing a patient to die of a treatable condition feels wrong on many levels.

a. Identify the stakeholders and ethical dilemmas involved in the case.

b. What are the options available to you? Which one do you think will be the most appropriate step that can be taken and why?

You are the manager of a reputed firm. One of your employees has just been diagnosed with a treatable form of cancer. He has confided in you about the status of his health. He has also asked you not to say a word to anyone because he considers his health to be a personal matter. Over the next few months, this employee is absent frequently, especially during his radiation treatments. His absences are not a major problem for the company because he can work from home.

However, some of your other employees think that their co-worker is getting special treatment, and they are ready to go to your boss to complain. This would create unnecessary and unhelpful problems for the sick employee if other employees complain about him.

a. Identify the stakeholders and the ethical issues involved in the case.

b. How would you handle this situation? Suggest most appropriate course of action. (250 words).

You are the manager of a company that has been worst affected by the lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. All the businesses of the company have been halted and there is no source of revenue generation in the company during the lockdown. Due to this, the company will not be able to sustain for long and pay full salaries to all of its employees. Moreover, the government plans to extend the lockdown period in order to tackle the spread of the infectious disease.

As a manager, you have to decide on cutting down the salaries of the workers and lay off some of them in order to keep the company running. However, your decision will leave many poor workers without any source of income.

a. Identify the ethical dilemmas involved in the case.

b. What are the possible courses of actions available to you? Which one do you think will be the most appropriate step that can be taken and why?

The global death toll has crossed one lakh due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It spreads via airborne droplets (sneeze or cough) or contact with the infected person/surface. In this context, ‘lockdown’ was the step taken by most of the countries in the world, including India, to stop the spread of pandemic. The ‘lockdown’ has also left many poor and vulnerable people facing extreme hardships.

People are forced to stay home but shocking statistics revealed that domestic violence has surged globally since the start of the coronavirus lockdown. In India, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has also flagged the issue of a spike in cases of domestic violence since the enforcement of the national lockdown. However, it is also imperative to continue with the lockdown to stop the spread of deadly pandemic.

a. Identify the ethical issues involved in the case.
b. Suggest measures to resolve them.

You are the DM of Rampur. The issue of stray dogs has created a lot of controversy in the area. After several incidents of dog-biting in the area, people have taken several radical decisions to fight the menace of stray dogs. There have been instances where stray dogs have been tortured by the people. Several local vigilante groups have started distributing airguns to the people at subsidized rates to kill stray dogs. The National Human Rights Commission has taken cognizance of media reports on the stray dog menace and observed that "prima facie, it is of the view that Human Rights should weigh above animal rights in a situation where human lives are at risk due to attack by animals"

On the other hand, several international NGOs including PETA have filed a petition in the Supreme Court to provide protection to the stray dogs.

a. Identify the stakeholders and the ethical issues involved in the case.

b. What measures will you take to amicably solve the issue of stray dogs considering all parties involved?

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges which humankind is facing right now. While several mitigations and adaptation methods have been researched, scientists have high hopes from geoengineering that include Carbon Dioxide removal and reflecting sunlight back into space. The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, is pursuing a framework for working of geo-engineering at the international level. However, several ethical issues have been identified with geoengineering which include the following:

a. It would be morally unacceptable to use geoengineering, in any form, as a replacement for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. To do so would impose unacceptably large risks and costs on vulnerable people and future generations.

b. Whether the positive and negative impacts of any geoengineering could be fairly distributed (issue of the distributive justice).

c. How should decisions of geoengineering be made (issue of procedural justice)?

In this context, critically analyze the issues identified by the ethicists.

You are a graduate who, after completing the studies, has been preparing for competitive examination for two years. But despite your best efforts success has eluded you. You don’t belong to a well-off family and now you must start working to support yourself. On scanning the job sites you realize that there are hardly any vacancies for a fresher with an academic gap. One of your friends runs a consultancy firm and he suggests that he can get you fake work experience certificates from a few companies. He also tells you that this is very common practice and even companies are not very concerned about these things at entry-level jobs. 

1. Identify the ethical dilemmas faced by you.
2. What would be the most appropriate course of action in such conditions? Justify. (250 words)

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. It was first discovered in the Wuhan province of China and by February 2020, it has affected more than 70,000 people and caused more than 1700 deaths around the world. The World Health Organization has declared it a “global health emergency”.

It has come to the notice that, while the first case of Coronavirus was reported on 8 December 2019, the Wuhan Health Authorities took more than 3 weeks to issue a notice. Even when Doctor Li Wenliang, who warned of the Virus was forced to sign a police statement for 'illegal behaviour'. The secret and authoritarian regime of China, lead to the proliferation of a deadly virus which constitutes now a global emergency.

a. Identify the ethical issues involved in the case.
b. What should be the role of the World Health Organization and the United Nations to prevent the spread of such deadly diseases.
c. How can conflict between the sovereignty of a nation and global governance be resolved?

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a secure line of communication that blocks third-party users from accessing transferred data. When the data is being transferred online, only the sender and recipient can decrypt it with a key. In that way, E2EE can help mitigate risk and protect sensitive information by blocking third parties from accessing user data when data is transferred from one source to another.  This can be seen as a concern in many cases where privacy is very important, such as persons living under repressive governments, whistle-blowing, mass surveillance, businesses whose reputation depends on its ability to protect third party data.

Facebook and WhatsApp along with other social networking sites are announcing the end to end encryption to protect the privacy of people. But the National Society for the Prevention to Cruelty to Children, the UK along with other organizations have expressed significant concerns over this. According to these organizations, E2EE will reduce child safety online as it will prevent the monitoring of content that is not safe for children and might lead to child grooming and the proliferation of pornographic materials. 

1. Identify the ethical issues involved in the case.
2. Suggest measures to resolve them. (250 words)

Q. You are Abhishek and you went to Jodhpur to attend the wedding of your friend Neeraj. The wedding went very well and all the rituals were properly followed. At the end of the wedding, the father of the bride offered Rs 10 Lakh to Neeraj to buy a car as a dowry. Since Neeraj and his family are very progressive, they are against the practice of dowry, they denied it. They also reminded the father that under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, it is illegal to offer a dowry. But the father insisted that being a father, he has the right to give his money to his daughter and her husband.

1. Identify the ethical dilemmas involved in the case.
2. What suggestions will you give to your friend Neeraj in this scenario? 
3. Are legislative solutions effective to solve social issues?

Q. 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 enquirers 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 a violation of rules. But denying her the support would be cruel and inhuman.

1. Can you think of a rational way to resolve this dilemma?
2. Give your reasons for it. (250 words)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of Computer Science that enables the computer system to analyze data and situation and make a decision as a human do. It learns from experience, uses learning to reason, recognizes images, solves complex problems, understands languages and creates perspective, etc. It is seen as a foundation of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Many companies have already started to use AI to do some of the work. 

But such applications raise troubling ethical issues because AI systems can reinforce what they have learned from real-world data, even amplifying familiar risks, such as racial or gender bias. Examples abound. In 2014, Amazon developed a recruiting tool for identifying software engineers it might want to hire; the system swiftly began discriminating against women, and the company abandoned it in 2017. In 2016, ProPublica analyzed a commercially developed system that predicts the likelihood that criminals will re-offend, created to help judges make better sentencing decisions, and found that it was biased against blacks.

1. Identify the ethical issues involved in the use of AI.
2. By what means, we can inculcate ethical and moral values in an AI-based system?
3. Is it too soon for the world to adopt the AI?

Indian Parliament recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, which amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan belonging to six religious communities, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. There have been nationwide protests against the Act and many scholars are terming it violative of the Constitution. 

Suppose that you are an IAS officer stationed at Indore. You yourself believe that the Act is discriminatory and may lead to communal polarization of the country. You have got the information that two opposite religious groups are planning for 'Pro CAA' and 'Anti CAA' protests respectively. The venue and timing of both protests are the same. There are high chances of the matter getting out of hand and turning into communal riots that might spread in the whole district. 

1. Identify the ethical issues involved in the case.
2. What is the best possible course of action to solve the matter in a peaceful manner?

More than a hundred children, who were being treated at a government hospital, have lost their lives in the course of a month. The agitated family members have accused the hospital of having extremely unhygienic conditions and negligence. Relatives of one of the families have staged a protest, carrying the body of a three-day-old girl who was born via c section. The relatives have alleged that the doctors did not treat her properly and that the paramedical staff was mostly busy on their mobile phones. The representatives of the hospital have denied the allegations claiming that the children are mostly referred from other hospitals and many of them come when they are at the terminal stage of their illness. They have also claimed that infants develop serious problems during transit. Quoting data from a national-level survey conducted by the government, the hospital management has also stated that they do not receive the required amount of funds to upgrade the infrastructure. 

You are the DM of the district. What are the possible courses of actions available to you? Which one do you think will be the most appropriate step that can be taken and why?

You’re a manager at an NGO. Your subordinate has been working in the NGO for five years. Four years ago, his performance was poor because he was undergoing chemotherapy. Since then, it’s improved to average but, in the past few months has declined severely again. He explains that his cancer has recurred and has spread to his lymph nodes, so he’s in the middle of a six-month round of chemotherapy and his prognosis is not good. He says he prefers to keep working but if you terminate him, he won’t file a legal claim. He is his family's sole source of income and his salary is modest and so he has little in savings. What are the options available to you? Point out the pros and cons of each of them.

Q. You are a Superintendent of Police in a district where caste-based discrimination is rampant. In a recent case, members from the Dalit community were prevented from cremating the body of an old woman from their community at the public crematorium. People belonging to the dominant upper caste community have destroyed the funeral pyre and have allegedly threatened the family of the deceased.
After the police intervention, the Dalits staged a protest and the body was cremated on the ground in front of the residence of MLA of the region, who also belongs to the dominant community. In the process of investigation, you come to know that not only family members of the MLA but some of your relatives too have been involved in the destruction of the funeral pyre.

1. What will be the possible ethical dilemmas that you might face?
2. What will be your course of action? Justify. (250 words)

Q. You are an auditor with a government department. Your son is starting a business and for that, he needs a large amount of loan from a bank you are auditing. But he couldn’t secure a loan from the bank because of his bad CIBIL score. Moreover, you cannot take the loan as the amount far exceeds your salary range. When you scrutinize the accounts of the bank, you find that its balance sheet has hidden stressed assets. However, one Assistant General Manager of the bank offers you help in return of favour that you do not reveal the balance sheet of the bank.

1. What are the values in conflict in the above situation?
2. What are the various options before you? Also, provide justification for each of the option. (250 Words)

Q. Amrita, a young IAS officer, has joined a government department. After working for a while in this department, she realizes that the position of women staff is subservient to male staff. The male staff does not want to take orders from senior women officers. Moreover, women are not taken on serious departmental projects and are discouraged from participating in such projects. Amrita through informal channels comes to know that even the Head of the Department is of the same mindset and believes that women should not be sent to this department. Discuss the course of action Amrita should take so that the work culture becomes conducive for women.

Q. Several villages in Jharkhand have resorted to Pathalgarhi – a tribal tradition of erecting stone slabs to demarcate the area of their villages’ jurisdiction, declaring their autonomy and self-rule in the areas under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. In these localities, no outsider including the government servants is allowed. From various sources, it has come to be known that tribals are not happy with the state and central government as they feel ignored, marginalized and have been experiencing the plunder of their resources on which traditionally they enjoyed control. They hold new laws and developmental activities responsible for their plight.

Suppose you are a DM in one such affected district where this movement is going on, what strategies will you adopt to tackle the issues on short term as well as long term basis. Give justification for your strategies. (250 Words)

Rajesh is posted as a District Nodal Officer for a leading oil marketing company in a certain district. He has been authorized to make the Ujjwala scheme a success in the district. However, he finds that behavioural issues on the part of residents are a big hurdle. Most of the residents have the apprehension that food cooked on LPG is not healthy and is tasteless. They are also apprehensive about the safety of LPG. These challenges persist even after the conduct of LPG Panchayat and safety awareness camps, and residents dismiss these as misleading. Apart from this, other factors that are checking the success of the scheme include the affordable availability of biomass and unaffordability to refill the LPG cylinder. In view of the above situation, identify and evaluate the options before Rajesh so that he can make the Ujjwala scheme successful in the district. (250 words)