2015 · GS Paper 4 · Q13 · 25 marks
You are the head of the district administration in a particular department. Your superior officer calls you from the State headquarters and tells you that a plot in village Rampur is to be developed for a school building. A schedule of visit is drawn up during which he would visit the site along with the Chief Engineer and Senior Architect. He wants you to check all the papers pertaining to the matter and ensure that the arrangements for the visit are properly made. You check the file, which is from before you assumed charge in the department. The plot was acquired from the local panchayat at a nominal cost and the papers show that out of the three officials who have to give certificate of suitability of the plot, two have given their approval certificates. No certificate of the architect is available in the file. You decide to visit Rampur to ensure that everything is in proper order as stated in the file. When you go to Rampur, you find that the plot in question is part of the Thakurgarh fort and that walls, ramparts, etc. are spread across it. The fort is far from the main village, so the school there would be a great inconvenience to the children, but the land near the village is likely to be converted into a large residential complex. Development charges for the existing plot in the fort would be much higher and no attention has been paid to the issue of a heritage site. However, at the time of acquisition of the plot, the Sarpanch was a close relative of your predecessor. The entire transaction appears to have been carried out with some vested interest. (a) List the possible vested interests of the concerned stakeholders. (b) Some options of action available to you are given below. Discuss the merits and demerits of each of the options: (i) You could await the visit of the senior officer and let him take the decision. (ii) You could seek his advice in writing or on phone. (iii) You could consult your predecessor/colleagues and then decide what to do. (iv) You could find out whether any alternative plot can be made available in lieu of this and then send a comprehensive written report. Can you suggest any other option with sound reasons?
In short
The officer should verify the fort's heritage status, identify land near the village, and send the superior a written fact report before the visit while seeking an impartial inquiry. The Sarpanch's kinship with the predecessor makes a Conflict of Interest the central vested interest.
Model answer
Ghissu Editorial · Verified 4 Oct 2026 · 277 words
Predecessor and Sarpanch
A relative heading the panchayat signals a Conflict of Interest, perhaps to keep village land free for housing.
Developers and contractors
They gain from the residential complex and from costlier construction inside the fort.
Certifying officials
Certificates issued despite visible ramparts suggest collusion or Motivated Blindness.
(i) EVADE [Procedural-Evasive]
Awaiting the visit respects hierarchy but launders conscience through it.
(ii) CAPITULATE [Strict-Legal]
Seeking advice is quick, yet the decision rests on half-facts.
(iii) COMPROMISE [Empathetic-Humanitarian]
Consulting the predecessor adds context but risks a tip-off.
(iv) COMPROMISE [Compromised-Hybrid]
An alternative plot helps children but ignores the vested deal.
(v) RECONCILE ✓ [Balanced]
Verify the fort's status with the State Archaeology Department, since the AMASR Act, 1958 bars building near protected monuments, and identify land near the village.
Report and inquire
Brief the superior in writing before the visit and seek a vigilance probe under Section 17A of the PC Act (2018) [current event], in the spirit of Ashok Khemka [officer], who cancelled a doubtful land mutation.
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This chapter in the exam
District and Local Administration Dilemmas7 questions
Asked in 6 of 14 sittings since 2013
- 2026Seema is a senior bureaucrat with a reputation of honesty and professional efficiency. She has recently been posted as the District Collector (DC) to Surinder Nagar, where a large industrial area is being established. The new industrial area had caused many farmers to submit applications for change of land use (CLU) to convert their farmlands into residential areas. There is an unusually large backlog of these applications awaiting processing. Seema noticed that some applications had been approved selectively with no visible chronological pattern. The case files showed a few complaints of some approvals being subject to receipt of large bribes from the applicants. On further fact-finding, Seema realized that a small group of touts was controlling this illegal activity through some subordinate officials in the Collectorate. This had created a fear in the other employees who were reluctant to process any application. The resultant backlog has been piling up thereby hindering local economic progress and causing public dissatisfaction. Seema was faced with a major moral and administrative challenge of dismantling this corruption network without hampering daily administrative operations. An aggressive internal investigation would result in institutional resistance and, possibly, a backlash from labour unions. Conversely, ignoring this situation would encourage the wrongdoers and unnecessarily continue this avoidable harassment to the populace. (a) What are the ethical issues involved in this case? (b) Discuss the options open to Seema. Identify the recommended option and justify it.
- 2025Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program, MGNREGA was earlier known as National Rural Employment Scheme, NREGA. It is an Indian Social Welfare Program that aimed at fulfilling the 'Right to Work' provisions made in the Constitution. MGNREGA was launched in 2006 under Rural Employment Sector by the Ministry of Rural Development. Main objective of the program is to give legal guarantee of wage employment to the adult members of rural households who are willing to do unskilled manual labour work subject to a maximum of 100 days per year for every household. Every rural household has the right to register under the scheme, job card is issued to the registered, Job Card holder can seek employment; State Government shall pay 25% of minimum wage for the first 30 days as compensatory daily unemployment allowance to the families and of wage for remaining period of the year. MGNREGA work was undertaken by various Gram Panchayats. You have been appointed as an Administrator Incharge of the District. You have been given the responsibility of monitoring MGNREGA work undertaken by various Gram Panchayats. You are also given the authority to give technical sanctions to all MGNREGA works. In one of the Panchayats in your jurisdiction, you notice that your predecessor has mismanaged the Program in terms of: (i) Money not disbursed to actual job-seekers. (ii) Muster Rolls of the Labourers not properly maintained. (iii) Mismatch between the work done and payments made. (iv) Payments made to fictitious persons. (v) Job Cards were given without looking into the need of person. (vi) Mismanagement of funds and to the extent of siphoning of funds. (vii) Approved works that never existed. (a) What is your reaction to the above situation and how do you restore the proper functioning of MGNREGA Program in this regard? (b) What actions would you initiate to solve the various issues listed above? (c) How would you deal with the above situation?
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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.