Revision summary
Emotional intelligence is awareness, regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill. In disasters it stops false bravado, keeps protocols, and treats victims as persons. Coordination without turf war is harmony as logistics. At work it contains posting and caste tensions so the counter still serves. It does not replace boats, law or appraisal; it makes them usable under stress.
Model answer
Introduction
Emotional intelligence is the skill of noticing, naming, and steering feelings in oneself and in others. In a flood camp and in an office corridor it is the difference between panic and a working team.
Body
Meaning
- Daniel Goleman grouped it as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill.
- It is not softness. It is Aristotle’s practical wisdom applied to fear, grief, and anger so that the lawful task still gets done.
Disaster management
- A disaster is a factory of fear: families, media, and juniors all pull the officer. Self-awareness stops the officer from shouting a false number to look strong.
- Self-regulation keeps the control room on facts, relief lists, and NDMA or State disaster protocols instead of rumour.
- Empathy hears the person who lost papers in a Ghagra or Ganga flood, then restores the document camp, not only the statistic.
- Social skill coordinates police, health, panchayat, and volunteers without a turf war, which is harmony as logistics.
- Motivation holds the night shift after the camera leaves; that is public-service value under Article 21 life and dignity.
- Case-ready: a calm SDM in an eastern Uttar Pradesh flood who explains boat rotation and ration, versus a panicked office that hides, both decide whether the camp riots or rests.
Workplace harmony
- The same five skills cool a posting quarrel, a caste slight, and a missed deadline before they become a grievance file.
- An emotionally intelligent senior gives correction without public shame, which the Second ARC’s human-resource ethic would call a learning culture.
- Harmony is not silence. It is conflict named and contained so the citizen at the counter is not punished for an inner office war.
Limit
- Emotional intelligence cannot replace equipment, law, or a fair appraisal. It makes those tools usable when nerves fail.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD EI[Emotional intelligence] --> SR[Self-regulation] EI --> EM[Empathy] SR --> H[Harmony] EM[EM] --> H[H] H --> D[Disaster desk] H --> W[Workplace]
Conclusion
Emotional intelligence establishes harmony by governing fear and anger without abandoning the task. In disasters it keeps relief human and coordinated; at work it keeps the team from eating itself.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Why is the evaluation of unanticipated consequences important in public policy planning? Answer with appropriate arguments.
Next question in the 2024 paper (Q7). View answer →
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Is emotional intelligence the same as being emotional?
No. It is steering emotion. Unregulated emotion in a control room is a risk; named and governed emotion is a skill.
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Can EI excuse a delayed relief order?
No. Empathy without a boat and a list is theatre. EI must serve the lawful relief task, not replace it.
Same topic · past papers
UPPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2025 · Q7 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
"Emotional intelligence is the ability to make your emotions work for you instead of against you." Do you agree with this statement? Discuss. -
2023 · Q9 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
Explain the role of emotional intelligence for good governance and administration. -
2022 · Q4 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
What do you understand by emotional intelligence? Discuss its dimensions. -
2021 · Q8 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
‘Emotional Intelligence is very important in effective administrative practices.’ Throw light on this statement. -
2020 · Q6 · UPGS4 · 8 marks
How will you apply emotional intelligence in administrative practices? Explain.
More from this paper
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How far are the views of Swami Vivekananda successful in developing the core ideals and values of morality in human behaviour? Discuss.
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Vivekananda placed dignity, fearlessness and service of the poor at the centre of morality. Man-making education and harmony of faiths still feed public-service values. They work as inner motive when no inspector is watching. They do not replace Conduct Rules, audit or equality before law. Success is high as ideals, partial as a full machine of behaviour without institutions.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2024 · UPGS4 · 8 marks · Solution
Discuss the various skills by which a public servant may enhance public commitment to the rules of law.
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