QUESTION 4(b)
GS4
10 marks
There is a heavy ethical responsibility on public servants because they occupy positions of power, handle huge amounts of public funds, and their decisions have wide-ranging impact on society and environment. What steps have you taken to improve your ethical competence to handle such responsibility?
WRITE IN
7 min
150 words
What the examiner wants
Describe the concrete steps you have taken to build ethical competence for a powerful public role.
ExplainMake clear how and why it happens: causes, process, and an example for each point.
Demand-wise check
- 1Self-awareness: reflection, journalling, recognising biases and temptations≈30 words
- 2Knowledge: study of constitutional values, conduct rules, case studies, financial and environmental rules≈30 words
- 3Practice: small acts of honesty (no shortcuts in exams, returning extra change), volunteering, leading teams fairly≈30 words
- 4Emotional strength and support: meditation, mentors, peer group with values; commitment to public funds as trust≈30 words
Open in about 20 words and close in about 20.
Answer plan
Why responsibility is heavySelf-awareness stepsKnowledge stepsPractice stepsCommitment ahead
Where marks usually go
- Listing what civil servants should do instead of what you have done
- No link to the three areas named: power, public funds, social and environmental impact
Draw this
- Cycle: reflect → learn → practise → review
Value addition
- LawAll India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 require integrity, political neutrality, accountability and courtesy.AIS Conduct Rules
- ThinkerAristotle: virtues are formed by habit; 'we become just by doing just acts'.Nicomachean Ethics
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Aakash Garg · AIR 5 · Page 9 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 7 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aakash Garg · AIR 5 · Page 5 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 7 minutes, then get it checked.