IAS Mains Previous Years Paper : Public Administration (1988)

PAPER - I
SECTION A
1. Comment on any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) “Hierarchy of authority and the system of rules ensure depersonalization and efficiency.” (Max Weber)
(b) “Managing means looking ahead, which makes the process of provenance a central business activity.” (Henry Fayol)
(c) “Many problems of Worker-Management co-operation were the results of the emotionally based attitudes of the workers rather than objective difficulties in the situation.” (Elton Mayo)
(d) “Adam nature of man seeks the avoidance of dissatisfaction and is basically concerned with the job environment: Abraham nature of man seeks satisfaction in job content.” (Frederick Hertzberg)

2. Do you think that contemporary Administrative Theory supports the ‘art’ of public administration and generally tends to place less emphasis on the ‘science’ of public administration?

3. How does a system Theory help to delineate functional and dysfunctional characteristics of a public bureaucracy?

4. (a) Discuss the Simonian concept of ‘satisfying’ as a bridge between rational and non-rational perspectives on organizations. 
(b) Elucidate the socio-psychological bases of individual and group behaviour in a complex organization.

SECTION B
5. Comment on any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) There is a need for intimate relation between Generalists, Specialists and the Management Information System (MIS).
(b) Time may be regarded as an alternative to reform, as by ‘efflux of time’ remarkable powers may be acquired to resolve conflict.
(c) Administrative tribunals and judicial review are not only instruments of interpretation of law but also safeguards against administrative weaknesses and administrative excesses.
(d) “The nature of Prismatic Society adversely tells upon the phenomenon of administrative development which intern hinders the working of development administration.”

6. “In so far as budgeting is successful or otherwise, if depends not only on its internal workings but upon the environment in which it operates.” Explain.

7. Examine the positive and negative roles of ideology and culture in administrative development.

8. (a) “Instrumentalism in administration is not, in principle, a slow moving tactic of conservatism, instead, it is a fast moving sequence of small changes that after the status que” Examine, in the light of this statement, the desire of development administration, for increment list policymaking.
(b) Outline the traditional and Cost-Benefit approaches to policy-evaluation.

PAPER - II
SECTION A
1. Comment on any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) “Iqta’, the lowest unit of administration during the Sultanate period was sub-divided ‘Shiqs’. The Shiqdar administered a number of ‘Paraganas’. A Chaudhari in every paragana and a Patwari in every Village Constituted the Local administration.”
(b) “Law and order are neither synonymous nor supplementary hence one perspective on police reforms in India can be a bifurcation of the existing Police administration into two independent entities—Judicial (or law) Police and Executive (or Order) Police.”
(c) “The development of the Joint Sector, the availability of organized trade unions and the entry of the Public Sector into low Social priority areas have rendered the administration of public enterprises politically unaccountable, managerially ineffective and financially non-viable.”
(d) “The institution of ‘Lokpal’ in India is likely to confront a different set of problems as compared to the set of problems experienced by the ‘Lokayuktas’ in the past.”

2. Trace the evolution of Secretariat system in India during the British period of administrative history with special reference to the structure of central administration and its field organizations.

3. (a) “The National Development Council (not the planning Commission) is the appropriate instrument to ensure linkages between the district, the State and the regional levels of national planning processes. Do you agree?
(b) “Higher Civil Service Training in India is too pedagogic to be result-oriented, too Casual to be promotion-linked and too generalistic to be professionally relevant.” Discuss.

4. Discuss the various facets of the All India Services and examine the emerging patterns of Conflict and Co-operation between the Union and the State in Indian Federalism.

SECTION B
5. Comment upon any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) “The formative stage of administration, preceding the Indian mutiny of 1857 witnessed a struggle between the ‘Cornwallis’ and ‘Munro’ schools of district administration.”
(b) “The rural development programs have helped only those who are on the fence of the poverty line. The ‘guest schemes’ have lots of organizational overlap and the lack of ‘orchestration of development effert’ have pushed the ‘real poor’ into a state of destitution, detribalization and detribalization,”
(c) “It is unrealistic to attempt to eliminate political parties from Panchyati Polls.... The issue is how to get these parties to provide good government at the local level?”
(d) “Unlike Finance Ministry, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India does not control public expenditure. He only offers an objective-oriented mechanism which is conductive to popular control of public expenditure.”

6. Examine the constitutional, political and operational dimensions of official and non-official relationship in Indian policy. What kind of institutional reforms are needed? for bringing about a satisfactory relationship between them?

7. (a) “Cabinet Secretariat the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in India have Common but dissimilar staff, functions.” Elucidate.
(b) “The judicial control over administration is no substitute for parliamentary control. Infect, they are supplementary but serve two different kinds of purposes.” Discuss.

8. Identify the major inadequacies in the administration of the welfare programmes of the weaker sections. Suggest effective strategies and alternative measures to ensure their proper implementation and to enhance beneficiary faction.