There is a disaster-prone State having frequent landslides, forest fires, cloudbursts, flash floods and earthquakes, etc. Some of these are seasonal and often unpredictable. The magnitude of the disaster is always unanticipated. During one of the seasons, a cloudburst caused devastating floods and landslides leading to high casualties. There was major damage to infrastructure like roads, bridges and power generating units. This led to more than 100000 pilgrims, tourists and other locals trapped across different routes and locations. The people trapped in your area of responsibility included senior citizens, patients in hospitals, women and children, hikers, tourists, ruling party's regional president along with his family, additional chief secretary of the neighbouring State and prisoners in jail. As a civil services officer of the State, what would be the order in which you would rescue these people and why? Give justifications.

Model answer

Paper viewText view

2 pages3 pagesDetailedPDF

Exam length · 300wShort · 175wFull · 551w

Ghissu Editorial · Verified 4 Oct 2026 · 300 words

Q1.

There is a disaster-prone State having frequent landslides, forest fires, cloudbursts, flash floods and earthquakes, etc. Some of these are seasonal and often unpredictable. The magnitude of the disaster is always unanticipated. During one of the seasons, a cloudburst caused devastating floods and landslides leading to high casualties. There was major damage to infrastructure like roads, bridges and power generating units. This led to more than 100000 pilgrims, tourists and other locals trapped across different routes and locations. The people trapped in your area of responsibility included senior citizens, patients in hospitals, women and children, hikers, tourists, ruling party's regional president along with his family, additional chief secretary of the neighbouring State and prisoners in jail. As a civil services officer of the State, what would be the order in which you would rescue these people and why? Give justifications.20

Introduction

After a cloudburst, rescue capacity is the scarcest resource. The core dilemma is between Need-based Triage, saving first those who will die first, and Protocol Obligations, the expectation that dignitaries move first.

Order in Which I Would Rescue, and Why

•

Hospital patients first

Critically ill patients die within hours once power and supplies fail, so they are airlifted first after START triage.

•

Children, women, elderly

Children, pregnant women and senior citizens cannot walk out over broken roads; families move together.

•

Hikers, tourists, locals

Healthy adults can survive in camps and walk out with guides, so they are sequenced by the danger at their spot.

•

Party president and ACS by need

They are rescued in the category their condition places them in, not by office; the ACS can coordinate with his State.

•

Prisoners under escort

They are last unless the jail is threatened, then shifted under police escort.

Justifications for This Order

Need-based Triage vs Protocol Obligations. Venn diagram: Need-based Triage, Protocol Obligations; overlap: Needs-first rescue, VIPs help coordinate

•

Imminence of death

Parmanand Katara (1989) [case] made preserving life the paramount duty in an emergency.

•

Equality before rescue

Nolan's Objectivity [committee/report] and Article 14 rule out VIP-first Dual-Standard Practice driven by the Halo Effect.

•

Dignity for prisoners

Sunil Batra (1978) [case] held that prisoners keep their fundamental rights.

•

A set order saves lives

Odisha's evacuation of about 1.2 million people before Cyclone Fani in 2019 [current event] showed this.

Justification:

Rawls's Difference Principle: scarce rescue capacity must first serve the least advantaged, which is where this order begins.

Conclusion

By rescuing the dying and the dependent before the powerful, the administration shows that its duty to protect life is owed equally to every citizen, and earns public trust.

This model answer is indicative and the model can make mistakes; please verify key facts independently.

Question from the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination 2015 paper. Answer written by Ghissu's engine and checked against our editorial standards. Found an error? Tell us and we correct it within 48 hours.