Question : “Municipal governance in India is not sufficiently prepared to meet the challenges of frequent natural disasters.” Elucidate the statement and add your own suggestions.
(2015)
Answer : Municipal governance (74th Constitutional Amendment Act) is the layer of government closest to people therefore most important in three tier government structure. It is realised that deficit in the delivery of urban services results in chaos, which forms the basis for citizens doubting the functioning of the local government.
Municipal Governance included Municipal Administration and Non-state actors like NGOs. As seen in floods in Mumbai-2005, Srinagar 2014, Vizag-2015, Chennai 2015, drought like situation in Bangalore 2016, ....
Question : “Information Communication Technology (ICT) improves the quality of public service delivery, but fails to check bribery.” Comment.
(2015)
Answer : ICT is the game changer during the end of 20th century which has expanded into various areas of today’s public services realm. India has embarked on its ICT journey since 1980’s. Mostly used for information dissemination and creating contact with People, ICT has been bereft of accountability measures.
ICT improved quality of service delivery: Used for Awareness and Public relations….
Question : “Most Civil Servants in India are competent administrators, but they pay little attention to encourage people’s participation in decision-making.” Comment on the statement.
(2015)
Answer : Bureaucracy has been important agent for development administration and good governance. Civil servants are competent enough for carrying out citizen centric administration.
Civil servants in India are recruited based on merit through an all India examination. They are generally intellectual, liberal and broader in their outlook. They implement policies in best of public interest and effectively monitor the implementation of policies. Free and fair elections for last 60 years, achieving food security shows that they are ....
Question : ‘Minimum government, maximum governance’ is not just a slogan but a philosophy of administration with enormous potentialities.” Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer.
(2015)
Answer : Governance has the role of meeting the demand of the governed. The process is influenced by the politics and economic reality of the time. Till 1970s, NPA stressed on increasing government’s role in every sphere, but after NPM and liberalization thinning the government is the objective. Minimum government, maximum governance is beneficial because-
Question : “From coalition government to one-party dominance is a big change that is bound to affect the governmental system.” Explain why and how.
(2014)
Answer : In a multicultural and multi lingual country like India coalition govt is much suited than the one part dominant system. But the coalition govt too had the some problems.
Positives of one party Govt.
Positive Aspects of coalition govt:
Question : The basic ethical problem of an administrator is to determine how he/she can use discretionary power in a way that is consistent with democratic values. Comment with reference to corruption in administration.
(2013)
Answer : The transformation of the philosophy of state in the twentieth century from laissez faire to welfare has augmented the state’s responsibility towards its subjects. There is no modern state in this epoch which can execute such innumerable functions devoid of any discretionary power of its own. India being a welfare democratic state is no exception to this procedure and therefore, administrators are bestowed with greater power and authority to meet the goals of a welfare ....
Question : The concept of social audit is more comprehensive than that of traditional audit. Comment.
(2013)
Answer : In a social audit, resource inputs initiated by policy are traced from the point at which the intended recipients of those resources experience them. The assumption is that those resources, which (as experienced) are related to outcomes, rather than the resources as disbursed. ‘There are two possible causes of the ineffectiveness of resources: i) the resources as experienced may be ineffective in bringing out any change; or ii) the resources as disbursed never reach the ....
Question : Bureaucratic agencies, characterized by established procedures, specialization, leadership, clean objectives, are not ideal to handle Disaster Management. Examine with reference to the need for Administrative flexibility in managing disasters.
(2013)
Answer : When disasters strike, traditional administrative agencies need to show flexibility in their functioning to take care of needs that arise during such times. Even in bureaucratic setup itself, flexibility-concerns are taken care of at designing stage itself.
For example, composition of management authorities at various levels. A National Emergency Management Authority has been designed as per the Secretariat -Directorate structure to make it an integral part of administration, at the same time, retaining the flexibility of ....
Question : ‘Panchayati Raj Institutions are still affected by State control and domination by bureaucracy.’ Do you agree?
(2012)
Answer : There is no meaning of any power given to panchayats if there is not sufficient fund available to exercise them. There are several income sources in the form of tax and non-tax revenues. If there is some power to collect resources with Gram Panchayat then there is not sufficient administrative machinery with the help of which it can do so. Panchayats always have to look at State and Union government for financial resources.
State Finance Commissions ....
Question : “Disaster insurance is desirable but not an easy proposition to implement.” Illustrate with suitable examples.
(2011)
Answer : Disaster insurance which include earthquake, avalanche, flood, health and many more. The insurance sector though provides health care insurance, medical insurance, people claim the road accident insurance. But, it has been found that magnitude of the hazards include loss of life property and even displacement.
Disaster insurance which is yet not matured in India has been playing for more. Through Disaster management authority has been constituted. Yet absence of proper policy regarding this has not to ....
Question : (i) Identify the different conceptual categories of disasters.
(ii) Write a note on the new culture of disaster management.
(2011)
Answer : (i)The definition of a disaster adopted by the WHO, and the United Nation the result of vast ecological breakdown in the relationship between man and environments. It is the damage that results from the impact on society that constitute the disaster, not the event that is disaster Health disaster, hazard disaster.
Health disaster is an event that result in casualties that overwhelm the healthcare system in which the events occurs. A health disaster include impaired public ....
Question : It is argued that the Bhopal gas disaster and the response pattern to it reflect multiple vulnerabilities relating to systems of corporate social responsibility, governance at local, state and central levels, and legal safeguards and liabilities.
(2010)
Answer : People across the ideological spectrum have repeatedly pointed out that the 26 year old Bhopal gas tragedy trial was a travesty of justice. A court in Bhopal, India sentenced seven people to two years each in jail on 7th June 2010, for their roles in the Bhopal gas plant leak that killed thousands of people in 1984. The convictions are the first since the disaster at the Union Carbide plant which has been termed as ....
Question : “The National Human Rights Commission has done a commendable job in developing a sense of responsibility among organizations towards the protection of human rights.” Comment on this assessment.
(2009)
Answer : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India is an autonomous statutory body established on Oct. 12, under the provisions of the ‘The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (TPHRA)’. NHRC is a five number body appointed by President of India which includes a chairperson who has been a chief justice of the Supreme Court of India, one member who has been a judge of Supreme Court, one member (chief justice of a High Court), ....
Question : Do you agree with the view that ‘citizens’ charters in India have not succeeded in their objective of making the administrative system citizen-centric? Analyze and give your suggestions in this regard.
(2009)
Answer : In a democratic welfare state, a very important aspect of an administratim is its legitimacy. This legitimacy of administration is an outcome of its accountability to people, transparency and citizen friendliness. Citizen charter is an effort to achieve these very goals. In fact it is a means to enforce good governance. However, it is not legally enforceable agreement rather it is a local commitment of the public agency to make citizens the center of its ....
Question : India has failed to devise a long-term strategy for drought management!
(2009)
Answer : Drought is a natural disaster owing to decreased rainfall in comparision to normal level in a year. Disaster management is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks. It is a discipline that involves preparing for disaster before it occurs, disaster response, as well as supporting and rebuilding society after natural or human made disaster have occurred.
Disaster Management process involves four phases-
Due to its Geographical location 68% of land of India is prone to ....
Question : ‘In India, there appears to be more disaster of management than management of disaster.’ Comment.
(2008)
Answer : National Disaster Act defines Diasters as, ‘’natural or man made events’’ that cause substantial loss of life, property and environment. Disaster means, catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurance in any area, arising from natural and man-made causes or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life of human suffering or damage to, and destruction of property or degradation of environment.
Even Second Administrative Commission defines crisis as, ‘an emerging situation arising out of ....
Question : If information is power, nothing can perhaps empower a citizen more than the secret and developmental informations need by various public authorities.” Analyse the merits and demerits of RTI Act, 2005 in the light of this statement.
(2007)
Answer : The twenty-first century is driven, primarily, by information. The flow of information from public authorities to citizens determine the process of development in any country. The administrators of India rightly recognized its importance and gave Statutory Protection to flow of information through Right To Information Act, 2005. Like any their landmark development, the enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005 brought many unprecedented benefits to the Indian politico – social administrative set up. Some significant ....
Question : “The role played by National Human Rights Commission in maintaining and preserving dignity of India’s citizens has been satisfactory and up to the expectations”. Elucidate.
(2006)
Answer : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) came into being by an statute of parliament in 1993 known as Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. Thus, it is a statutory body. The members of NHRC are appointed by a committee consisting of the PM (chairman), speaker of Lok Sabha, Home Minister, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Apart from that the NHRC has a chairperson who must have been ....
Question : “Values, more than techniques are the eventual determinant of the actions of the administrators.
(2004)
Answer : To understand values in public services which can be equated with bureaucratic values, are must begin by a consideration of “bureaucratic culture” as values are rooted in culture. This, in tern necessitates a close examination of societal political, and administration cultures because of linkage between them and their contribution of value clusters.
Values basically represent behaviour, ethos among administrators.
There is need to develop both human and modern technology to improve efficiency. However, priority should be given ....
Question : “The National Human Right Commission is unable to play its role effectively due to various hindrances”. Comment.
(2004)
Answer : The basic premises of India’s freedom struggle were for human rights particularly of valuing and upholding Indian identity in term of a people wanting essential human rights for all.
The NHRC enjoys the powers of civil court while inquiring into the complaints under the Act. It enjoys investigative power and can utilize services of any governmental investigative agency. After completion of the inquiry, the commission may take any of the following steps. It may: Recommend prosecution ....
Question : “Culturally sanctioned values and symbols have acted as important influencing catalyst in administration”. Elaborate.
(2002)
Answer : Culture basically represents a pattern of values and behaviour where response pattern persists over a period of time and gets institutionalized. Administrative culture is conglomeration of values, beliefs and dispositions and its central concern in the perception of the administrative systems by the public at large.
One of the striking social characteristics of Indian society is domination of inegalitarian values. Dumount after his studies characterized the Indian model as hierarchical. The hierarchico-inegalitarian social ethic has been ....
Question : “Only a systematic-ecological approach to study of corruption in India can help us understand its causes and dimensions.” Comment.
(1999)
Answer : The problem of corruption is a complex one, having roots and ramification in society as a whole, in its widest connotation, corruption includes improper or selfish exercise of power and influence attached to a public office, or to the special position occupied in public life. In this sense, in India the problem has to be viewed in relation to the entire system of moral values and socio-economic structure of society.
In India, the economic reasons are ....
Question : “Corruption is more of an environmental than an administrative problem.” Comment.
(1998)
Answer : Corruption is in a sense a product of the way of life of an acquisitive society, where money talks, where that works is justified, and where people are judged by what they have rather than what they are actually. The Indian society is passing through transition where modern mixes with the old. Here the ties of family, caste, tribe, community, religion, language and region are still strong. Public servants, therefore, are unable to sacrifice their ....
