UPSC Mains 2025 GS4 Q8 — Civil service ethics
"For any kind of social re-engineering by successfully implementing welfare schemes, a civil servant must use reason and critical thinking in an ethical framework." Justify this statement with suitable examples. (Answer in 150 words)
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- Justify
- Scope keywords
- social re-engineeringsuccessfully implementing welfare schemesreason and critical thinkingethical framework
- Implicit sub-parts
- What is the interplay between logical reasoning and 'social re-engineering' in a bureaucracy?
- How does an ethical framework prevent 'reason' from becoming cold, technocratic, or exclusionary?
- How can critical thinking identify systemic biases in existing welfare delivery?
- Specific instances where a purely rule-based approach fails without ethical reasoning.
- Common pitfalls
- Defining 'social re-engineering' as simple civil engineering or infrastructure development instead of behavioral/social change.
- Discussing ethics and logic as separate silos rather than showing how they must integrate for a successful outcome.
- Providing generic examples of 'honesty' instead of specific 'implementation' challenges like direct benefit transfers or digital literacy.
- Failing to address the 're-engineering' aspect, which implies changing deep-seated social norms (e.g., caste, gender, sanitation habits).
- Dimensions required
- Technocratic/AdministrativeMoral/Ethical PhilosophySocio-cultural impactApplied Governance (Case Studies)
- Marks allocation hint
Allocate 30 words to defining the synergy between logic and ethics in social change. Spend 80 words on the core argument: using critical thinking to solve implementation bottlenecks (like exclusion errors) while remaining ethically grounded. Use the remaining 40 words for 2 high-impact examples like the Swachh Bharat Mission or Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.
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