Revision summary
Illegal extra floors, sleeping inspectors, collusion and informal migrant labour explain repeated collapses. Cash relief and arresting the builder treat the symptom after death. Prevention needs digitised sanctions, real inspections, prosecution of officials and signing engineers, and BOCW protections including no children on site. Regularising illegal height with a fee trains the next crime. Dignity for migrants includes identified dead, wages on record, and welfare cess that actually pays.
Model answer
Introduction
The collapse is not a surprise that fell from the sky. It is a three-floor permission wearing six floors of greed, and a workforce that was cheap enough to be unnamed until they died.
Body
Stakeholders
- Dead and injured workers, including women and children on or near the site, and families in source States who now have no wage and no body that is easy to claim.
- Other residents and passers-by who might have been under the slab.
- The builder, engineers, architects and contractors in the chain.
- Municipal and development-authority staff who permitted three floors and then did not stop six.
- The State government that pays relief and makes an arrest after the fact.
- You as a public observer or officer asked for reasons and prevention, not for a television quote.
Ethical issues and values
- Right to life (Article 21) of workers who had no say in the illegal floors.
- Justice: cash after death is not the same as a building that was never allowed to kill.
- Integrity in the permit and inspection chain; a file that sleeps is a partner.
- Dignity of migrant labour: they are not disposable inputs.
- Accountability that reaches the official who looked away, not only the builder who is already in the news.
Reasons such incidents occur across the country
- Illegal extra floors are profitable. Each extra slab is rent. The risk is shifted onto workers and later buyers.
- Building by-laws exist; enforcement is episodic, often after a complaint from a rival, not as a routine.
- Collusion and conflict of interest: a site inspector who can be paid to unsee a column, or a local notable who is a silent partner.
- Weak professional ethics: a structural engineer who signs a drawing that the soil and steel cannot carry, or who never visits.
- Migrant labour is informal, often without written contracts, helmets, or the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 protections in practice.
- Children on sites show that housing, creche and labour inspection have already failed before the slab failed.
- Fragmented responsibility: municipality, fire, environment, electricity and police each hold a piece; the collapse holds all of them.
- Cheap materials, rushed curing, and night work to beat a stop-work notice are technical cousins of the same greed.
- After a disaster, arrest-plus-ex-gratia is politically quick. It does not change the next plot if the permit software still has no teeth.
Options
- Option 1: Only cash relief and one arrest.
- Merit: immediate help and a villain.
- Demerit: the inspection system that allowed six floors stays in place.
- Option 2: Demolish all extra floors everywhere at once without due process.
- Merit: fear.
- Demerit: new deaths, selective targeting, and courts that will stay a vendetta.
- Option 3: Treat this as a safety-and-governance failure: prosecute the chain, compensate with dignity, and rebuild inspection so that the next extra floor is stopped at the first beam.
Measures to prevent occurrence
- Map and digitise permissions: what was sanctioned must be visible on a public portal with floor count and a photograph, so that six floors cannot be a neighbourhood secret.
- Risk-based inspections with body-worn cameras or time-stamped photos, rotation of inspectors, and a third-party structural audit for buildings that add load.
- Prosecute the company, the signing engineer and the negligent public servant, not only the face of the builder. The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 applies where a public servant sold a blind eye.
- Enforce BOCW registration, cess, helmets, and a ban on children on sites; link labour camps to the Building and Other Construction Workers' welfare boards for immediate relief that does not wait for a cabinet decision.
- Independent collapse inquiry with published findings, like a small National Building Code post-mortem, so that "poor soil" is not a magic phrase.
- Fast, fair demolition of illegal storeys with notice, alternative shelter where families live in the same building, and no VIP exceptions.
- Professional bodies should suspend licences of engineers and architects who signed the lie.
- Migrant support: portable identity, wages in accounts, and a district protocol to identify the dead and send bodies home without a tout.
- Fire and structural safety should be conditions of electricity and occupancy, not a separate optional NOC that is photocopied.
- Political message: an illegal floor is not regularisable by a later fee if it was always a death trap. Regularisation culture is how three becomes six.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD PERM[Three-floor permit] --> ILLEGAL[Six floors] ILLEGAL --> COLL[Collapse] COLL --> RELIEF[Cash and arrest] RELIEF --> SAME[Next site unchanged] ILLEGAL --> FIX[Public map audits prosecute BOCW] FIX --> STOP[Stop the next slab]
Conclusion
These deaths happen because extra floors pay, inspections sleep, and migrants are cheap. Arrest and cash are the minimum. Prevention is a public map of permissions, a prosecuted chain, licensed professionals who fear a ban, and labour law that treats a construction worker as a person.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Case study. You are an honest and responsible civil servant. You often observe the following: (a) There is a general perception that adhering to ethical conduct one may face difficulties to oneself and cause problems for the family, whereas unfair practices may help to reach the career goals. (b) When the number of people adopting unfair means is large, a small minority having a penchant towards ethical means makes no difference. (c) Sticking to ethical means is detrimental to the larger developmental goals (d) While one may not involve oneself in large unethical practices, but giving and accepting small gifts makes the system more efficient. Examine the above statements with their merits and demerits.
Next question in the 2017 paper (Q10). View answer →
-
Is the government wrong to give cash relief?
No. Relief is a duty. It is wrong only if it replaces prosecution of the full chain and reform of inspections.
-
Should every extra floor in a city be demolished tomorrow?
Illegal dangerous load must be stopped. Mass demolition without process can kill and can be selective. Use risk, notice and equality before the law.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2017 · Q10 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. You are an honest and responsible civil servant. You often observe the following: (a) There is a general perception that adhering to ethical conduct one may face difficulties to oneself and cause problems for the family, whereas unfair practices may help to reach the career goals. (b) When the number of people adopting unfair means is large, a small minority having a penchant towards ethical means makes no difference. (c) Sticking to ethical means is detrimental to the larger developmental goals (d) While one may not involve oneself in large unethical practices, but giving and accepting small gifts makes the system more efficient. Examine the above statements with their merits and demerits. -
2017 · Q11 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. You are aspiring to become an IAS officer and you have cleared various stages and now you have been selected for the personal interview. On the day of the interview, on the way to the venue you saw an accident where a mother and child who happen to be your relatives were badly injured. They needed immediate help. What would you have done in such a situation? Justify your action. -
2017 · Q12 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. 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. -
2017 · Q13 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. You are the head of the Human Resources department of an organization. One day one of the workers died on duty. His family was demanding compensation. However, the company denied compensation because it was revealed in investigation that he was drunk at the time of the accident. The workers of the company went on to strike demanding compensation for the family of the deceased. The Chairman of the management board has asked for your recommendation. What recommendation would you provide to the management? Discuss the merits and demerits of each of the recommendation. -
2017 · Q14 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. You are the manager of a spare parts company A and you have to negotiate a deal with the manager of a large manufacturing company B. The deal is highly competitive and sealing the deal is critical for your company. The deal is being worked out over a dinner. After dinner the manager of manufacturing company B offered to drop you to the hotel in his car. On the way to hotel he happens to hit motorcycle injuring the motorcyclist badly. You know the manager was driving fast and thus lost control. The law enforcement officer comes to investigate the issue and you are the sole eyewitness to it. Knowing the strict laws pertaining to road accidents you are aware that your honest account of the incident would lead to the prosecution of the manager and as a consequence the deal is likely to bejeopardised, which is of immense importance to your company. What are the dilemmas you face? What will be your response to the situation? -
2016 · Q9 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. ABC Ltd. is a large transnational company having diversified business activities with a huge shareholder base. The company is continuously expanding the generating employment. The company, in its expansion and diversification programme, decides to establish a new plant at Vikaspuri, an area which is underdeveloped. The new plant is designed to use energy efficient technology that will help the company to save production cost by 20%. The company's decision goes well with the Government policy of attracting investment to develop such underdeveloped regions. The government has also announced tax holiday for five years for the companies that invest in underdeveloped areas. However, the new plant may bring chaos for the inhabitants of Vikaspuri region, which is otherwise tranquil. The new plant may result in increased cost of living, aliens migrating to the region, disturbing the social and economic order. The company sensing the possible protest tried to educate the people of Vikaspuri region and public in general that how its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy would help overcome the likely difficulties of the residents of Vikaspuri region. In spite of this the protests begin and some of the residents decided to approach the judiciary as their plea before the Government did not yield any result. (a) Identify the issues involved in the case. (b) What can be suggested to satisfy the company's goal and to address the residents' concern? -
2016 · Q10 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. Saraswati was a successful IT professional in USA. Moved by patriotic sense of doing something for the country she returned to India. Together with some other like-minded friends, she formed an NGO to build a school for a poor rural community. The objective of the school was to provide the best quality modern education at a nominal cost. She soon discovered that she has to seek permission from a number of Government agencies. The rules and procedures were quite confusing and cumbersome. What frustrated her most were delays, callous attitude of officials and constant demand for bribes. Her experience and the experience of many others like her have deterred people from taking up social service projects. A measure of Government control over voluntary social work is necessary. But it should not be exercised in a coercive a corrupt manner. What measures can you suggest to ensure that due control is exercised but well meaning, honest NGO efforts are not thwarted? -
2016 · Q11 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. A fresh engineering graduate gets a job in a prestigious chemical industry. She likes the work. The salary is also good. However, after a few months she accidentally discovers that a highly toxic waste is being secretly discharged into a river nearby. This is causing health problems to the villagers downstream who depend on the river for their water needs. She is perturbed and mentions her concern to her colleagues who have been with the company for longer periods. They advise her to keep quite as anyone who mentions the topic is summarily dismissed. She cannot risk losing her job as she is the sole beard-winner for her family and has to support her ailing parents and siblings. At first, she thinks that if her seniors are keeping quiet, why should she stick out her neck. But her conscience pricks her to do something to save the river and the people who depend upon it. At heart she feels that the advice of silence given by her friends is not correct though she cannot give reasons for it. She thinks you are a wise person and seeks your advice. (a) What arguments can you advance to show her that keeping quiet is not morally right? (b) What course of action would you advice her to adopt and why?
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2017 · GS IV · 10 marks
Conflict of interest in the public sector arises when (a) official duties, (b) public interest, and (c) personal interest are taking priority one above the other. How can this conflict in administration be resolved? Describe with an example. (150 Words, 10).
Ethics in Public Administration
Conflict of interest is a clash among official duty, public interest and personal interest, not only a caught bribe. Public interest must lead; duty is the lawful means; personal interest must be last and declared. Resolution uses disclosure, recusal, reduced discretion, speaking orders and enforcement of Conduct Rules. An example is a District Magistrate who recuses from a mining lease in which a relative has a stake. A medical officer steering patients to a spouse's lab is the same conflict in a smaller room.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2017 · GS IV · 10 marks
Examine the relevance of the following in the context of civil service: (150 Words, 10) (a) Transparency (b) Accountability (c) Fairness and justice (d) Courage of conviction (e) Spirit of service.
Probity in Governance
Transparency is lawful openness of rules, queues and reasons so that bribes lose their dark room. Accountability is the duty to explain a file to superiors, auditors, courts and citizens. Fairness and justice are equal treatment plus hearing and reasons, rooted in Article 14 and natural justice. Courage of conviction is a recorded lawful no under pressure, not rude stubbornness. Spirit of service is treating the citizen as the purpose of the post, which completes the other four.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2017 · GS IV · 10 marks
Young people with ethical conduct are not willing to come forward to join active politics. Suggest steps to motivate them to come forward. (150 Words, 10).
Ethics and Human Interface
Honest youth avoid active politics because of money, muscle, closed tickets, smears and a culture that calls all politics dirty. Motivation needs inner-party democracy, cheaper campaigns, faster justice, disclosure that voters use, and local offices as a first step. Education should teach the Constitution as a craft, not as a reason to stay home. Parties must select on record, not only on family. Ethics in politics is entry plus reform, not a vow of absence.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.