Sunil is a young civil servant and has a reputation for his competence, integrity, dedication and relentless pursuit of difficult and onerous jobs. Considering his profile, he was picked up by his bosses to handle a very challenging and sensitive assignment. He was posted in a tribal-dominated district notorious for illegal sand mining. Excavating sand from river belt and transporting it through trucks and selling them in black market was rampant. This illegal sand mining mafia was operating with the support of local functionaries and tribal musclemen who in turn were bribing selected poor tribals and had kept the tribals under fear and intimidation. Sunil being a sharp and energetic officer immediately grasped the ground realities and the modus operandi followed by the mafia through their devious and dubious mechanism. On making inquiries, he gathered that some of their own office employees are in hand and glove with them and have developed close unholy nexus. Sunil initiated stringent action against them and started conducting raids on their illegal operations of movement of trucks filled with sand. The mafia got rattled as not many officers in the past had taken such steps against the mafia. Some of the office employees who were allegedly close to mafia informed them that the officer is determined to clean up the mafia’s illegal sand mining operations in that district and may cause them irreparable damage. The mafia turned hostile and launched a counter-offensive. The tribal musclemen and mafia started threatening him with dire consequences. His family (wife and old mother) were stalked and were under virtual surveillance and thus causing mental torture, agony and stress to all of them. The matter assumed serious proportions when a muscleman came to his office and threatened him to stop raids, etc., otherwise, his fate will not be different than some of his predecessors (ten years back one officer was killed by the mafia).1) Identify the different options available to Sunil in attending to this situation.2) Critically evaluate each of the options listed by you.3) Which of the above, do you think, would be the most appropriate for Sunil to adopt and why?
What the examiner wants
Sunil faces threats to himself and his family for acting against an illegal sand-mining mafia with insider support. Identify, evaluate and choose options.
Demand-wise check
- 1(a) Options: give in and ease action; seek transfer; continue alone; continue with institutional backing (police protection, inform seniors, use technology)≈65 words
- 2(b) Evaluate each on rule of law, personal and family safety, effect on the district≈65 words
- 3(c) Best: continue enforcement with formal protection, document everything, act against colluding staff, use drones and e-challans, involve tribal communities with alternative livelihoods≈65 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
Where marks usually go
- Giving up or seeking transfer as the best option
- Ignoring the tribal livelihood angle
Draw this
- Option table: safety | rule of law | effect
Value addition
- GuidelinesMoEFCC's Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines (2016) and Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines (2020) recommend drone surveys and online tracking.MoEFCC
- ExampleDurga Shakti Nagpal (IAS) acted against sand mining in Gautam Buddh Nagar (2013) and was suspended, sparking a national debate on protection of honest officers.Public record
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 31 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Astha · Page 29 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Ayush Pathak · Page 29 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Chitwan Jain · Page 29 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
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