Revision summary
A code of ethics states values; a code of conduct states forbidden acts; both need leaders who obey them. Whistle protection, rotation, checked assets and small consistent punishments build culture. India’s fourth-largest-economy rank (IMF) sits beside under-used and stolen public money in some schemes. PFMS, outcome budgets, social audit, GeM and CAG follow-up are the accountability kit. Growth to third place is ethical only if the ladder is not stolen from the poor.
Model answer
Introduction
A code of ethics says what we believe. A code of conduct says what we may not do on Tuesday. Part (a) wants both, alive in an office, not framed for a VIP. Part (b) notes IMF’s line that India is the fourth-largest economy in the world and still loses public money in some sectors. Size without probity is a hollow rank.
Body
(a) Measures for an ethical work culture
Write a short code of ethics: integrity, objectivity, empathy, constitutional morality. Write a conduct code: gifts, conflict of interest, social media, sexual harassment. Induction that uses case discussion, not only a PPT. Leaders eat last: if the head takes a private jet for a family wedding on an official booking, the code is dead. Speak-up: a protected whistle channel to CVO. No revenge posting. Rotate sensitive desks. Asset declarations that are checked. Celebrate the clerk who refused a tout. Punish the first small leak; culture is a thousand Tuesdays.
Value-based culture is Socrates in the canteen. Compliance culture is the audit trail. India needs both. Second ARC and the Nolan principles (selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership) are ready furniture.
(b) Accountability so the fourth can become a third without theft
IMF’s 2025-class projection of India as the fourth-largest economy (nominal dollars) is a headline of scale. Under-used and misused funds are a headline of waste: stalled irrigation, empty food parks, ghost MGNREGA, delayed health buildings. Measures: just-in-time releases (PFMS) so money does not rot in a park account; outcome budgets that a legislature can read; social audit that is not captured by the same sarpanch; geotagged assets; CAG and PAC with time-bound ATR; benami and procurement e-markets (GeM) with blacklisting that bites; CWC/CVC on big tickets; Parliamentary and media sunlight; capacity so a district can spend well, not only surrender in March.
Probity is Kautilya’s watchmen. Gandhi’s talisman — the face of the poorest — is the test of a leaked scholarship. Becoming third by honest productivity is ethics. Becoming third by inflated invoices is a statistical sin.
The civil servant’s specific honour is to stop the leakage without stopping the school.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD CE[Code of ethics] --> CUL[Culture] CC[Code of conduct] --> CUL PF[PFMS social audit GeM] --> ACC[Accountability] ACC --> G[Honest third-largest path]
Conclusion
An ethical office needs a living code, a speaking leader and a safe whistle. A fourth-largest economy still leaking funds will not become a fair third without PFMS, audits, geotags and punishment that is real.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Case study. Vijay was Deputy Commissioner of remote district of Hilly Northern State of the country for the last two years. In the month of August heavy rains lashed the complete state followed by cloud burst in the upper reaches of the said district. The damage was very heavy in the complete state especially in the affected district. The complete road network and telecommunication were disrupted and the buildings were damaged extensively. People's houses have been destroyed and they were forced to stay in open. More than 200 people have been killed and about 5000 were badly injured. The Civil Administration under Vijay got activated and started conducting rescue and relief operations. Temporary shelter camps and hospitals were established to provide shelter and medical facilities to the homeless and injured people. Helicopter services were pressed in, for evacuating sick and old people from remote areas. Vijay got a message from his hometown in Kerala that his mother was seriously sick. After two days Vijay received the unfortunate message that his mother has expired. Vijay has no close relative except one elder sister who was US citizen and staying there for last several years. In the meantime, the situation in the affected district deteriorated further due to resumption of heavy rains after a gap of five days. At the same time, continuous messages were coming on his mobile from his hometown to reach at the earliest for performing last rites of his mother. (a) What are the options available with Vijay?(b) What are the ethical dilemma being faced by Vijay?(c) Critically evaluate and examine each of these options identified by Vijay.(d) Which of the options, do you think, would be most appropriate for Vijay to adopt and why?
Next question in the 2025 paper (Q7). View answer →
-
Is a framed code enough?
No. Culture is what happens when the boss is not in the room.
-
Does stopping leakage mean stopping welfare?
The ethical aim is the opposite: every rupee that was meant for work should become work, not a Swiss joke.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2024 · Q1(a) · GS IV · 10 marks
The application of Artificial Intelligence as a dependable source of input for administrative rational decision-making is a debatable issue. Critically examine the statement from the ethical point of view -
2024 · Q1(b) · GS IV · 10 marks
"Ethics encompasses several key dimensions that are crucial in guiding individuals and organizations towards morally responsible behaviour." Explain the key dimensions of ethics that influence human actions. Discuss how these dimensions shape ethical decision-making in the professional context. -
2024 · Q5(b) · GS IV · 10 marks
The soul of the new law, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) is Justice, Equality and Impartiality based on Indian culture and ethos. Discuss this in the light of major shift from a doctrine of punishment to justice in the present judicial system. -
2024 · Q6(a) · GS IV · 10 marks
"In Indian culture and value system, an equal opportunity has been provided irrespective of gender identity. The number of women in public service has been steadily increasing over the years." Examine the gender-specific challenges faced by female public servants and suggest suitable measures to increase their efficiency in discharging their duties and maintaining high standards of probity -
2024 · Q6(b) · GS IV · 10 marks
Mission Karmayogi is aiming for maintaining a very high standard of conduct and behaviour to ensure efficiency for serving citizens and in turn developing oneself. How will this scheme empower the civil servants in enhancing productive efficiency and delivering the services at the grassroots level? -
2023 · Q2 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) "Corruption is the manifestation of the failure of core values in the society." In your opinion, what measures can be adopted to uplift the core values in the society? (b) In the context of work environment, differentiate between 'coercion and undue influence' with suitable examples. -
2022 · Q3 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have the right to do and what is right to do.'-Potter Stewart . (b) "If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher." - Abdul Kalam. (c) "Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it." Dalai Lama. -
2022 · Q4 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) What do you understand by term 'good governance'? How far recent initiatives in terms of e-Governance steps taken by the State have helped the beneficiaries? Discuss with suitable examples. (b) Online methodology is being used for day-to-day meetings, institutional approvals in the administration and for teaching and learning in education sector to the extent telemedicine in the health sector is getting popular with the approvals of the competent authority. No doubt it has advantages and disadvantages for both the beneficiaries and system at large. Describe and discuss the ethical issues involved in the use of online method particularly to vulnerable section of society.
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2025 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) In the present digital age, social media has revolutionised our way of communication and interaction. However, it has raised several ethical issues and challenges. Describe the key ethical dilemmas in this regard. (b) "Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment but a product of civil education and adherence of the rule of law." Examine the significance of constitutional morality for public servant highlighting the role in promoting good governance and ensuring accountability in public administration.
Ethics in Public Administration
Social media speeds speech and also rumour, hate, privacy harm and blurred official voice. The ethical knots are truth versus virality, privacy versus publicity, and freedom versus incitement. Constitutional morality, as Ambedkar taught, is learned respect for constitutional forms, not a natural feeling. For a civil servant it means equality, dignity, reasoned process and files that can face a court. Good governance and accountability rest on that habit when popular anger or a minister wants a shortcut.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2025 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) Carl von Clausewitz once said, "War is a diplomacy by other means." Critically analyse the above statement in the present context of contemporary geo-political conflict. (b) Keeping the national security in mind, examine the ethical dilemmas related to controversies over environmental clearance of development projects in ecologically sensitive border areas in the country.
Ethics in Public Administration
Clausewitz is right that wars have political aims; he is incomplete because civilians, nuclear weapons and non-state actors change the moral math. Just-war rules and Gandhi’s stress on means still bind a democracy. Border projects pit delay-as-threat against forest, landslide and tribal consent. The ethical path is necessity with least harm, not a fake choice between soldier and tree. Integrity is a file that records both the threat and the ecology.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2025 · GS IV · 10 marks
(a) "Those who in trouble untroubled are, Will trouble trouble itself." - Thiruvalluvar. (b) "The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes." - William James. (c) "The strength of a society is not in its laws, but in the morality of its people." - Swami Vivekananda.
Attitude
Thiruvalluvar’s line is about equanimity: a calm officer can master a crisis that a panicked one worsens. William James argued that changing attention and attitude can change a life; for an officer that means seva, not cynicism, without blaming the poor. Vivekananda held that a society’s real strength is the people’s morality, not the thickness of the statute book. Laws still matter; they work when character supports them. Together the quotes train inner weather, professional will and social ethics.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.