GENERAL STUDIES

PAPER-4_1
ETHICS INTEGRITY, ATTITUDE AND THEIR CASE STUDIES

TIME ALLOWED: THREE HOURS MAXIMUM MARKS: 250

Question Paper Specific Instructions

Please read each of the following instructions carefully before attempting questions:

There are FOURTEEN questions printed only in ENGLISH.

All the questions are compulsory.

The number of marks carried by a question/part is indicated against it.

Answers must be written in the medium authorized in the Admission Certificate which must be stated clearly on the cover
of this Question-cum-Answer (QCA) Booklet in the space provided. No marks will be given for answers written in a
medium other than the authorized one.

Word limit in questions, wherever specified, should be adhered to.

Any page or portion of the page left blank in the Questions-cum-Answer Booklet must be clearly struck off.

Answer all the following questions. Contents of the answer are more important than its length.

Q1) In the light of degrading ethics to what extent do you
think Rule of law should be replaced by Rule of Ethics.
(250 words/20 marks)
Q2) The role of ethics in the development of civilisation is
secret and it cannot be codified. The need for its
codification is reflection of its failure. Discuss
(250 words/20 marks)
Q3) Life should be balance of philosophy and
Pragmatism. Do you agree. Explain with examples.
(250 words/20 marks)
Q4) Discuss the recent ethical issues in the degradation
of political culture.
(250 words/20 marks)
Q5) What do we mean by professionalism. How far do
you think that profession and ethics are wheels of same
chariot in organisation.
(125 words/10 marks)
Q6) Discuss the role of Gandhian ethics in countering
the menace of electoral mal practices in India.
(125 words/10 marks)
Q7) What is difference between code of conduct and
code of ethics. How far do you think that code of
conduct should be replaced by code of ethics in India.
(125 words/10 marks)
Q8) Discuss the meaning of following using examples:
(a) Righteousness
(b) Courage
(c) Spirit of duty
(d) Perseverance
(250 words/20 marks)
Q9) One of the scientists working in the R&D laboratory
of a major pharmaceutical company discovers that one of
the company’s bestselling veterinary drugs has the
potential to cure a currently incurable liver disease
which is prevalent in tribal areas. However, developing a
variant of the drug suitable for human being entailed a
lot of research and development having a huge
expenditure to the extent of Rs. 50 crores. It was
unlikely that company would recover the cost as the
disease was rampant only in poverty stricken areas
having very little market otherwise.
If you were the CEO, then
(a) Identify the various actions that you could take
(b) Evaluate the pros and cons of each of your actions
(250 words/20 marks)
Q10) There is a disaster prone state having frequent
landslides, forest fires, cloudbursts, flash floods and
earthquakes, etc. Some of these are seasonal and often
unpredictable. The magnitude of the disaster is always
unanticipated. During one of the seasons a cloudburst
caused a devastating floods and landslides leading to
high casualties. There was major damage to
infrastructure like roads, bridges and power generating
units. This led to more than 100000 pilgrims, tourist
and other locals trapped across different routes and
locations. The people trapped in your area of
responsibility includes senior citizens, patients in

MTS GS Paper 4_1 Byju’s Classes: 9873643487

1
hospitals, women and children, hiker, tourist, ruling
parties, regional presidents along with his family,
additional chief secretary of the neighboring state and
prisoners in jail.
As a civil services officer of the state, what would be the
order in which you would rescue these people and why?
Give Justifications
(250 words/20 marks)
Q11) You are working as DM of a district where illegal
mining of sand is rampant. Recently there was an
accident between a truck illegally carrying sand and a
government passenger bus. Many passengers died on the
spot because of the accident. Ever since you assumed
power, you are trying to curb this illegal mining of sand.
Because of negligence and involvement of police officers
at local level, illegal mining is going on in many parts of
the district despite your efforts to curb it. These trucks
which travel on narrow village roads, have not only
damaged roads, they have also caused traffic problem for
passenger vehicles frequently causing accidents.
The media and some people from a political party are
protesting against you after the bus accident. They are
saying that you are working hands in glove with the
sand Mafia. There is also an accusation that you have
some personal rivalry with the Superintendent of Police.
Moreover, even local media is portraying you as someone
intentionally allowing illegal sand mining in the district.
In this situation, what are your options? How will you
deal with accusations? And how will you manage the
situation?
(250 words/20 marks)
Q12) You are a newly appointed district magistrate of a
town, which has world famous religious site. This district
is a world famous tourist destination. The common
problems of this district are stampede, security of
MTS GS Paper 4_1
2
tourists and pilgrimage, lack of basic public utility
services for tourist, water pollution, hygiene and
sanitation, and unorganised local markets, heavy traffic.
The local people largely depend on tourist for their
livelihood. Suggest a model of development which has
potential to solve these problems.
(250 words/20 marks)
Q13) You are the district magistrate of a communally
tensed district. The district has lot of potential for cotton
cultivation but the cultivable land is mainly owned by
people who belong to one religious community. The
water resources and labour are owned by members of
other religious section. This often creates conflict of
interest between them, and is reason for daily clashes
between the two communities. This particular year the
villagers have seen bad monsoon which is further
aggravating the situation. A murder of a person who
belongs to one of the religious community has taken
place and it has created a communal tension.
Suggest the actions which will take to avoid the
communal conflict and plan a model of development for
a sustainable healthy relation between two communities.
(250 words/20 marks)
Q14) You are newly elected as the President of students
union of your college. You have very less funds for the
development of college and students. The common
problems of the college and students are as follow.
(a) Lack of basic facility such as drinking water and toilets.
(b) Lack of parking space for teachers as a result teachers
depend on public transport and often get late for class.
(c) The practice of child labour at college canteen.
Suggest the order of priority in which you would like to
spend the funds.
Give reasons for the same.
(250 words/20 marks)
Byju’s Classes: 9873643487
 UPSC CIVIL SERVICES MAINS EXAMINATION

ANSWER SHEET

NAME SUBJECT Ethics Integrity, Attitude and

their Case Studies
MOBILE NO. REGISTRATION
NO.
UPSC PRELIMS
ROLL NO.
DATE July 22, 2017

TIME ALLOWED: 3 HOURS

INDEX TABLE
QUES.NO PAGE NO. MAXIMUM MARKS MARKS OBTAINED
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. (a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. (a)
(b)
(c)

TOTAL MARKS

INSTRUCTIONS

 PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS THE CANDIDATE’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENCODE AND FILL THE FIRST PAGE
OF THE ANSWERSHEET AS REQUIRED. IN ANY CASE IF IT IS LEFT VACANT, YOUR ANSWER WILL NOT
BE EVALUATED.
 DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS SHEET.
 PLEASE CHECK YOUR ANSWER SHEET BEFORE STARTING THE PAPER. IF YOU FIND ANY ERROR,
GET IT REPLACED BY ANOTHER ONE.
 PLEASE FOCUS ON THE RELEVANCY OF THE CONTENT AND SKILL OF WRITING WHILE WRITING THE
EXAM.

1 MTS - GS Paper 4_1 Byju’s Classes: 9873643487

Q1) In the light of degrading ethics to what extent do you think Rule of law should be
replaced by Rule of Ethics.
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 3

Mains Test Series 4
Q2) The role of ethics in the development of civilisation is secret and it cannot be
codified. The need for its codification is reflection of its failure. Discuss
(250 words /20 marks)

Mains Test Series 5

Mains Test Series 6
Q3) Life should be balance of philosophy and Pragmatism. Do you agree. Explain with
examples.
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 7

Mains Test Series 8
Q4) Discuss the recent ethical issues in the degradation of political culture.
(250 words /20 marks)

Mains Test Series 9

Mains Test Series 10
Q5) What do we mean by professionalism. How far do you think that profession and
ethics are wheels of same chariot in organisation.
(125 words/10 marks)

Mains Test Series 11

Q6) Discuss the role of Gandhian ethics in countering the menace of electoral mal
practices in India.
(125 words/10 marks)

Mains Test Series 12

Q7) What is difference between code of conduct and code of ethics. How far do you
think that code of conduct should be replaced by code of ethics in India.
(125 words/10 marks)

Mains Test Series 13

Q8) Discuss the meaning of following using examples:
(a) Righteousness
(b) Courage
(c) Spirit of duty
(d) Perseverance
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 14

Mains Test Series 15
Q9) One of the scientists working in the R&D laboratory of a major pharmaceutical
company discovers that one of the company’s bestselling veterinary drugs has the
potential to cure a currently incurable liver disease which is prevalent in tribal areas.
However, developing a variant of the drug suitable for human being entailed a lot of
research and development having a huge expenditure to the extent of Rs. 50 crores. It
was unlikely that company would recover the cost as the disease was rampant only in
poverty stricken areas having very little market otherwise.
If you were the CEO, then
(a) Identify the various actions that you could take
(b) Evaluate the pros and cons of each of your actions
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 16

Mains Test Series 17
Q10) There is a disaster prone state having frequent landslides, forest fires,
cloudbursts, flash floods and earthquakes, etc. Some of these are seasonal and often
unpredictable. The magnitude of the disaster is always unanticipated. During one of
the seasons a cloudburst caused a devastating floods and landslides leading to high
casualties. There was major damage to infrastructure like roads, bridges and power
generating units. This led to more than 100000 pilgrims, tourist and other locals
trapped across different routes and locations. The people trapped in your area of
responsibility includes senior citizens, patients in hospitals, women and children,
hiker, tourist, ruling parties, regional presidents along with his family, additional chief
secretary of the neighboring state and prisoners in jail.
As a civil services officer of the state, what would be the order in which you would
rescue these people and why? Give Justifications
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 18

Mains Test Series 19
Q11) You are working as DM of a district where illegal mining of sand is rampant.
Recently there was an accident between a truck illegally carrying sand and a
government passenger bus. Many passengers died on the spot because of the
accident. Ever since you assumed power, you are trying to curb this illegal mining of
sand. Because of negligence and involvement of police officers at local level, illegal
mining is going on in many parts of the district despite your efforts to curb it. These
trucks which travel on narrow village roads, have not only damaged roads, they have
also caused traffic problem for passenger vehicles frequently causing accidents.
The media and some people from a political party are protesting against you after the
bus accident. They are saying that you are working hands in glove with the sand
Mafia. There is also an accusation that you have some personal rivalry with the
Superintendent of Police. Moreover, even local media is portraying you as someone
intentionally allowing illegal sand mining in the district.
In this situation, what are your options? How will you deal with accusations? And how
will you manage the situation?
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 20

Mains Test Series 21
Q12) You are a newly appointed district magistrate of a town, which has world famous
religious site. This district is a world famous tourist destination. The common
problems of this district are stampede, security of tourists and pilgrimage, lack of
basic public utility services for tourist, water pollution, hygiene and sanitation, and
unorganised local markets, heavy traffic. The local people largely depend on tourist for
their livelihood. Suggest a model of development which has potential to solve these
problems.
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 22

Mains Test Series 23
Q13) You are the district magistrate of a communally tensed district. The district has
lot of potential for cotton cultivation but the cultivable land is mainly owned by people
who belong to one religious community. The water resources and labour are owned by
members of other religious section. This often creates conflict of interest between
them, and is reason for daily clashes between the two communities. This particular
year the villagers have seen bad monsoon which is further aggravating the situation. A
murder of a person who belongs to one of the religious community has taken place
and it has created a communal tension.
Suggest the actions which will take to avoid the communal conflict and plan a model
of development for a sustainable healthy relation between two communities.
(250 words/20 marks)

Mains Test Series 24

Mains Test Series 25
 Q14) You are newly elected as the President of students union of your college. You
have very less funds for the development of college and students. The common
problems of the college and students are as follow.
(a) Lack of basic facility such as drinking water and toilets.
(b) Lack of parking space for teachers as a result teachers depend on public transport
and often get late for class.
c) The practice of child labour at college canteen.
Suggest the order of priority in which you would like to spend the funds.
Give reasons for the same.
(250 words /20 marks)

Mains Test Series 26

Mains Test Series 27
Mains Test Series 28