IAS Mains Previous Year Paper Public Administration (2008)

1.write any three of the following.20*3=60.
a) calling woodrow wilson, the father of public administration is doing injustice to equally or even more eminent contributions made prior to him. comment.
b) leaders do the right things, manager do them rightly. (bennis). comment.
c) mary parker follett was far ahead of her times. discuss.
d) instruments of public accountability can be truly effective only if the people & their associations, backed by a responsible media, are assertively pro-active. comment.

2. in the last two decades, almost all countries of the world have experienced transformations in their administrative systems. explain this phenomenon with examples from the developed & the developing nations in the context of new public management movement. 60mks

3. examine the respective roles of facts & values in the decision-making process. is it possible to make value-free decisions in government system? how can government decisions be made more rational? 60mks

4. to claim that a company / a corporation form is always more effective than a departmental form of organisation is an outdated view. the real test of a sound structure is its capacity to balance decisional autonomy & operational flexibility with optimal accountability. critically examine this statement. 60mks

Section B

5. answer any 3 of following.
a) laxity in monitoring & evaluation can render even the best policies infructuous. discuss.
b) e-governance has the potentially to emerge as the most effective instrument of efficiency, transparency & accountability. comment.
c) truly comparitive administration studies are empirical, nomothetic & ecological. (riggs) in this perspective, examine the current status of comparitive public administration.
d) training has proved its incapacity to change the attitudes, behaviour & values of civil servants. do you agree with this statement?

6. to talk of administrative modernization & still continue with the conventional practice of personnel administration is a gross incongruity. offer suggestions to initiate radical reforms in human resource management of public administrative systems. 60mks

7. good economics & bad politics cannot coexist in a sound budgetary process. discuss this statement in the context of the developmental challenges in countries experiencing competitive politics. 60mks

8. in certain discources, there is a reflected basic distrust against bureaucracy as an instrument of development. do you think bureaucracy is more appropriate for regulatory administration than for development administration? in the changing profile of development administration in a liberalizing environment , what role of bureaucracy can be envisaged?

PAPER 2

SECTION A

1. answer any 3 of the following.
a) the shift from the nehruvian to the liberalisation model of development has necessitated reinventing government. commnet.
b) economic development & social justice are the hallmarks of the 1992 constitutional amemndment acts. elucidate.
c) district administration is like a small tortise carrying the load of an elephant. discuss.
d) some features of mugal administration, in essence, do wxist in indian administration. elaborate.

2. there is constant & continous collision between bureaucratic values & democratic values which adversly affects & development. in the light of this statement examine the role of bureaucracy in development. 60mks 3.
a) what are the tension areas in union-state relations in planning?
b) discuss the problems in the planning process at the state & sub-state levels.

4) the chief minister is the real executive of the state, whose effectiveness is largly related to his personality trait & equation with central leadership. explain & illustrate with relevant examples. 60mks.

Section B

5. answer any 3 of following.
a) in urban governance, uni-funtional agencies & development authoritiesz create a "functional jungle. explain.
b) in india, there appears to be more disaster of management than management of disaster. comment.
c) the bidget is more than the economic horoscope of the nation. comment.
d) right to information act has led to greater transparency & accountability of administration. comment.

6.a) training of civil servants for capacity building should be in consonance with the needs of the socio-economic & technological development of the country. explain.
b) what are the basic hurdles & pitfalls in the implementation of the national rural employment guarantee act?

7. describe the changing character & new orientations of public service in india since independence. 60mks.

8. new localism is identifies with the new local-state & local activism. examine how this has impacted city management in india.