UPSC IAS Mains Public Administration Solved Exam Paper - 2012 (Paper -II)
UPSC IAS Mains Public Administration Solved Exam Paper - 2012
Paper - I
SECTION- A
Q.1: Attempt each of the following in about 150 words each :- (12×5=60)
a. “The Mughal Administrative System was military rule by nature and a form of centralised despotism.” Analyse. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
b. ‘Judges should not govern the country. They can lay down a law, not interfere with governance.’ Discuss.(for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
c. Critically examine the variables in the composition and functioning of Cabinet Committees. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
d. “‘Memorandum of Understanding’ scheme between the Government and Public enterprises has forced public undertakings to improve their overall performance.” Do you agree with this statement? (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
e. To what extent has the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act created a ‘federation within a federation’ in India ? (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
Q,2
a. “The success and prestige enjoyed by a Chief Secretary depend, to a large extent, upon his equations with the varied sets of people and institutions that form the work environment.” Critically evaluate the statement and its relevance to the role of the Chief Secretary in the discharge of his functions. 30 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
b. In the exercise of his/her functions, the President of India is a mere ‘Convenient working hypothesis’. Do you agree with this view ? Justify your reasoning with illustrations. 30 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
Q.3
a. ‘Parliamentary Departmental Committees have played their role effectively in analysing the demands for grants.’ Evaluate. 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
b. (i) Explain the emerging ambiguity in respect of the developmental role of the District Collector in the wake of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. 10 (ii) Justify ‘indicative’ planning in the context of LPG 10 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
c. ‘Parliament is an independent institution, not to be seen as an extension of government or of a party.’ Elaborate. 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
Q.4.
Answer:
a. ‘The authority of the Governor in the discretionary field is not unrestrained. If it is misused … the President can check him/her and if necessary, he may even remove the Governor.’ Examine this statement critically in the context of the Office of the Governor. 25
While the President of India is "elected", the governor is "selected" by the incumbent central government. That is why there have been many instances when governors appointed by a previous government are removed by an incoming government. The Governor can use these discretionary powers:
- If no party gets an absolute majority, the governor can use his discretion in the selection of the chief minister.
- During an emergency he can override the advice of the council of ministers. At such times, he acts as an agent of the president and becomes the real ruler of the state.
- He uses his discretion in submitting a report to the president regarding the affairs of the state.
- He can withhold his assent to a bill and send it to the president for his approval.
Likewise, in the Sixth Schedule which applies to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram as specified in para 20 of that Schedule, discretionary powers are given to Governor in matters relating to sharing of royalties between district council and state government.
Sixth Schedule vests additional discretionary powers in Governors of Mizoram and Tripura in almost all their functions (except approving regulations for levy of taxes and money lending by non-tribal by district councils) since December 1998.
In Sikkim, Governor has been given special responsibility for peace and social and economic advancement of different sections of population.
All Governors while discharging such constitutional functions as appointment of Chief Minister of a State or sending a report to President about failure of constitutional machinery in a State or in respect of matters relating to assent to a Bill passed by legislature, exercise their own judgement.
The term of governor's office is normally five years but it can be terminated earlier by dismissal by the president on the advice of the prime minister of the country, at whose pleasure the governor holds office. The reasons are more political. The supreme court has ruled that governors should be given security of term but this is generally not adhered to.
b. Discuss the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission in respect of the National Development Council for improving Centre-State planning relations. 20
The Sarkaria Commission had recommended that the NDC should be made more effective and also recommended that NDC should be renamed and reconstituted as ‘National Economic and Development Council’ (NEDC) under provisions of Article 263 of the constitution to become a body to evolve a national agenda for holistic growth with emphasis on economic development of the nation.
The Sarkaria Commission went on to recommend the creation of a Standing Committee of the NEDC (by invoking Article 263 of the Constitution), consisting of the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and six Chief Ministers, one from each zone, selected by rotation and consensus. The association of chief ministers will be selective but from all zones and the Governor of Reserve Bank will be available for expert advise. The current conflicts will get minimized and the domination of Planning Commission members or Union ministers will reasonably cut to size.
The criticism that the NDC too is unwieldy in size and is not in continuous session can be mitigated if the Sarkaria Commission proposal for the NEDC is accepted with reasonable modifica¬tions. The constitutional status will add prestige to NDC and the extra constitutional status of the Planning Commission will also get streamlined.
c. ‘The Arthashastra is a book of political realism.’ Elaborate. 15
The Arthashastra, state scholars, was influential in Asian history. Its ideas helped create one of the first largest empires recorded, larger than the Mughal Empire or the British Empire some 1800 years later, stretching from the borders of Persia to Bengal across the Indian subcontinent, with its capital Pataliputra twice as large as Rome under Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
The title "Arthashastra" is often translated to "the science of politics",but the book Arthashastra has a broader scope. It includes books on the nature of government, law, civil and criminal court systems, ethics, economics, markets and trade, the methods for screening ministers, diplomacy, theories on war, nature of peace, and the duties and obligations of a king.
Arthashastra is a serious manual on statecraft, on how to run a state, informed by a higher purpose, clear and precise in its prescriptions, the result of practical experience of running a state. It is not just a normative text but a realist description of the art of running a state.
The text is useful, according to Menon, because in many ways "the world we face today is similar to the world that Kautilya operated in". He recommended reading of the book for broadening the vision on strategic issues.
SECTION-B
Q.5. Attempt each of the following in about 150 words each :- (12×5=60)
a. ‘Bureaucrats should not play politics, but understand how politics works.’ Comment. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
b. ‘Good governance is closely aligned with effective democratic governance.’ Elaborate. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
c. ‘Corruption is more of an environmental than an administrative problem.’ Discuss. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
d. ‘Questions represent a powerful technique of parliamentary control over expenditure.’ Explain. (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
e. ‘Panchayati Raj Institutions are still affected by State control and domination by bureaucracy.’ Do you agree ? (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
Q.6
a. Local self-government in India is the interplay of several factors – historical, ideological, and adminis- trative. Critically examine these factors. 30 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
b. ‘Efforts made towards administrative reforms so far have been lacking in congruence between strategy, structure and substance.’ Discuss with illustrations. 30 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
Q.7
a. Indian administration is yet to fully appreciate and adopt the benefits of Information Technology. Elucidate. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
b. What is an output-based performance budgeting system ? Analyse this system in the context of India. 15 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
c. NGOs demand greater autonomy from the State and are now ‘new actors’ in development. How effective are they as instruments of decentralisation and debureaucratisation ? Critically evaluate. 30 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
Q.8
a. Compare and contrast the Padmanabhaiah, Ribeiro and Mallinath Committee Reports. 25 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
b. “Even though law and order administration is a State subject in the Indian Constitution, it is paradoxical that the para-military and other kinds of security forces under the Union Government have grown in recent years.” Critically analyse the statement. 20 (for Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)
c. How does New Localism impact Centre-State- Local relations in the era of
LPG ? 15
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Answer Join Public Administration Online Coaching)