(PYQ Mock Answer: Public administration) Classical and Human Relation theories

 Q. "What is distinctive about the Classical and Human Relations schools of administration is their complementarily to each other." Analyse. (10 Marks)

Answer: 

Post industrial revolution, organisations were facing problems of economy and efficiency. An organisation is made up structures and people 

Organisation = Structure + People

The classical theories like Scientific management theory, Administrative management theory etc. emphasised on the structural aspects and ignored the human element in the organisation, that is the reason even though these theories were successful, their success was limited. As Hawthorne experiments by Elton Mayo clearly established the importance of the human element in the organisation, Classical theories alone were not enough for enhancing the efficiency of the organisation. 

The human relations theory laid an emphasis on the social and psychological factors in enhancing the efficiency of the organisation but downplayed the importance of structures.  

So from the above it is obvious that Classical theory or human relations theory alone don’t form the complete picture, for enhancing the economy and efficiency of an organisation, both the theories are required together, hence their complementarity can be established. 

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()(PYQ Mock Answer: Public administration) Theories of Leadership

Q.  "Leaders do the right things; managers do them rightly" — (Warren Bennis). Is this distinction by him valid? Explain. (10 Marks)

Answer: 

The concept can be understood through a simple story. There once was a king, he wanted the people to not feel the burden of taxation, hence for the taxes that people paid to the king, people were given wheat. The people never appreciated the king and blamed him for taxing them. The king falls ill and asks his Son (the Prince)to make people appreciate the kings efforts to reduce their burden of taxation. The Prince immediately announces that in lieu of the taxation, instead of wheat only husk would be given, the people suddenly started to appreciate the king. 

The moral of the story is that even though the prince wanted to do the right thing, he did not do it rightly. In the government, the political leaders determine what is right for the people , but the bureaucrats oversee the implementation in the right manner. Hence this distinction drawn between leaders and managers is right. 

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(PYQ GS paper III Mock Answer: Science & Tech) - Bose Einstein Statistics

Q. Discuss the work of ‘Bose-Einstein Statistics’ done by Prof. Satyendra Nath Bose and show how it revolutionized the field of Physics. (10 Marks)

Answer:

There are two classes of elementary particles - Fermions and Bosons. The Fermions make up matter while the Bosons make up force. The Bose Einstein statistics gives the basic framework to understand the characteristics and the behaviour of the Bosons. The particles bosons are named after Indian Physicist Prof. Satyendra Nath Bose.

There are four fundamental forces in nature, namely Gravitational force, Electromagnetic force, Weak Nuclear force and strong nuclear force. Each of these forces have an associated force particle or Bosons. It is believed that during Big Bang all these forces existed as one but eventually split up into the 4 different forces. The Bose-Einstein Statistics help us understand the interaction of these Bosons (forces) and hence would enhance our understanding of the origin of the universe. 

One of the mysteries physicists have been trying to solve was how particles acquire mass, and this has resulted in theoretical emergence of the concept of Higgs Bosons (God particles). Recently Peter Higgs was awarded Nobel prize for the discovery of Higgs Bosons, the Higgs bosons belong to the class of particles called as Bosons, that obey the Bose Einstein Statistics.

The Bose Einstein Statistics was a pioneering work in the 5th state of matter, namely the Bose-Einstein Condensates. Hence, from the above we can establish that work of ‘Bose-Einstein Statistics’ done by Prof. Satyendra Nath Bose has revolutionized the field of Physics.

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(PYQ Mock Answer: Public administration) Civil Society Organisation

Q. Civil Society supplements and complements the State. However, its capacity and role depend upon the will of the State. Comment. (15 Marks )

Answer:

Voluntary organisations of the people that is not a part of the state or the market, but exist to promote the interest of the citizens in general or specific section of citizens can be called as civil society organisations. The capacity and role of the civil society is dependent on the will of the state. 

In policy formulation, if the government chooses Group model of public policy making then there is greater scope for the participation of various pressure groups and interest groups in shaping the policies of the government. But if the government prefers the elite mass model of public policy making, then the role of civil society in this aspect is severely curtailed. 

Similarly in Public policy implementation, if the government adopts a bureaucracy centric implementation model then the civil society has no role in the process of public policy implementation. However if the government adopts citizen centric public policy implementation model like Coalition of actors model, then there is a lot of scope for participation of the civil society in the public policy implementation. For example, Swachch Bharat Mission, Mid day meal scheme etc. allowed scope for participation of civil society in the implementation process. 

Similarly in evaluation process, if the government provides no scope for social audit, then Civil society is deprived of the opportunity to evaluate government programs/schemes as well.

Hence the role of civil society is dependent upon the nature of model chosen for public policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. The model chosen by the state rests upon the will of the state, hence we can conclude that the capacity and role of the civil society depend upon the will of the State.

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(PYQ GS paper II Mock Answer: Polity governance) - Citizens Charter

Q. The Citizen’s Charter is an ideal instrument of organisational transparency and accountability, but it has its own limitations. Identify the limitations and suggest measures for greater effectiveness of the Citizen’s Charters. (15 Marks)

Answer:

A Citizens’ Charter is basically a set of commitments made by an organization regarding the standards of service which it delivers. The Citizens’ Charter is an instrument which seeks to make an organization transparent, accountable and citizen friendly.

Limitations of Citizens Charter: 

• The term Citizen’s Charter has become a misnomer because in every govt dept it is prepared by bureaucracy without involving stakeholders. 
• Since it’s a voluntary commitment to implement Citizen’s Charter, these are never taken seriously.
  
• Absence of awareness among citizens esp. in rural areas about Citizen’s Charter.
  
• Citizen’s Charter doesn’t define services & standards in an objective & quantifiable term so that performance can be evaluated. As described by 2nd ARC, Citizen’s Charter are nothing but “pious Statements with noble intentions having no practical significance”.
  
• Performance of bureaucracy in implementation of Citizen’s Charter has no impact on their career advancement. There is no motivation for bureaucracy to implement it.
  
• Most of the Citizen’s Charters are in English language which becomes difficult for people from rural areas to understand it.
  
• Recommendations of Social Audit Committees which help in preparing Citizen’s Charters are only advisory in nature & not taken seriously.
  
• High levels of corruption in implementation as there is no accountability & improper grievance redressal mechanism.
  
• Colonial attitude of bureaucracy due to which it has failed to understand the importance of Citizen’s Charter in empowering of citizens.
  

Measures needed to improve effectiveness of citizens charter:

• Making consultation with citizens mandatory while framing citizens charter. 
• Real time updation of info on the govt websites especially regarding allocation of finances.
  
• Citizen’s Charter can be formulated in vernacular languages.
  
• Citizen’s Charter should clearly specify outlays, time & output.
  
• Quality of services should be defined in objective terms. These should be defined on the basis of global standards. 
• Civil Services Code be amended to include effective implementation of Citizen’s Charter as one of the parameters upon which their career advancement would depend.
  
• Proper accountability & Grievance Redressal Mechanism.
  
• Citizen’s Charter should come under purview of Lokpal.
  
• Proper implementation of Whistleblowers (Protection) Act.
  
• Citizen’s Charter should be further expanded into People’s Charter or Precariat Charter.
  

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(PYQ Mock Answer Polity Governance/Public Administration) Role of Media

Q. When the media is controlled by vested interests, how can it control the vested interests in the government ? How can the media become more responsible & impartial ? (2017)

Answer:

In a democracy the media plays a very important role in bridging the gap between the Citizens and the State. The recent issues of Politicisation of media, Paid news, Yellow journalism, Sensationalisation and scandal obsessed media has raised serious questions on the credibility of the media. A media controlled by vested interests has transformed the media from a watchdog into a lapdog of the powerful sections of the society. To make the media responsible and impartial, following measure can be undertaken:

1. Self regulation: A government regulator will be a hindrance for the independence of media and raises threat of censorship, hence a powerful and responsible self regulatory body of media is the need of the hour.
2. The press council of India, can be strengthened with more powers to punish the violators.
3. There must be restriction on the aggregate holdings and cross holdings of politicians and businessmen in Media houses.
4. A code of conduct and code of ethics can be prescribed for the members of the media and strict action can be taken by the self regulator in case of violations.
5. Crowdfunding for Media houses to reduce undue influence of any particular section of the society and to enforce the media loyalty to the public at large.

The above measures can go a long way in establishing a vibrant media that can promote accountability and transparency in the administration and further the empowerment of Citizens. 

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(PYQ Mock Answer Polity Governance/Public Administration) 73rd Ammendment

Q. The 73rd amendment may accentuate fiscal indiscipline by establishing between states & local government a system of transfers, similar to the one in place between central & state govt. (World Bank) Comment. (2013)

Answer:

Given the asymmetry in powers in collection of taxes between the centre and the states, the constitution establishes the Finance Commission (A.280) to ensure devolution of financial resources to the states. This transfer of revenues from the centre to the state has resulted in fiscal profligacy among the state governments, the following points substantiate the same:

1. Aid curse: This “free” transfer of resources from the centre to the states, made the states perennially dependant on the centre for aid and financial resources, this attitude has resulted in the states turning a blind eye to strengthening their own sources of revenue and increasing their tax efforts. 
2. Election freebies and unnecessary subsidies: This revenue stream from the centre to the states has enabled the states to be more extravagant in their expenditure, this tendency can be seen in the distribution election freebies (like TVs, Laptops), unnecessary subsidies and farm loan waivers. 
3. Decreased tax efforts: The states are happy with the steady flow of revenue from the centre to the state through the FC recommendations, hence they are not improving their tax efforts to increase revenue collection. The citizens are not burned by taxation hence they tend to be happy with the government in power. Yet, another populistic measure. 

The 73rd amendment has replicated this system of devolution to the states and local self governments as well by setting up the State Finance Commission (SFC). The SFC is given the responsibility of giving recommendations regarding transfer of resources from the state to the local self governments. This stream of revenue is being misused the same way the states have misused the money devolved from the centre. In simple words, the problem of Aid curse, Election freebies and decreased tax efforts is being witnessed in utilisation of funds among the local self governments as well.

Note: There has been a trend of previous year Public administration questions related to Indian Administration appearing in the GS paper II of mains exam. The question can be asked in polity governance paper as well. 

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