(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. 

Future and Ongoing Courses by Siva Prasad -

 https://upscwithsiva.blogspot.com/2020/10/future-and-ongoing-courses-by-siva.html

Use code - "akmsiva", to get 10% discount on Unacademy Plus Subscription

(PYQ Mock Answer: Polity governance/Public administration) Overburdened District collector

Q. “Reducing the size of the district will provide relief to the overburdened & overworked Collector”. Comment. (2013) 

Answer:

Since the introduction of the office of the District Collector by Warren Hastings, the district collector has played a central role in district administration and till date remains the kingpin of the administration at District level. The notion of reducing the size of the district would provide some relief to the over worked and over burdened district collector, as smaller district size means less people and less area under the district collectors jurisdiction. But however, this solution might not provide a great relief as the collector is overburdened because of the plethora of functions he/she is expected to perform. 

The functions of District collector involves (to name a few): Law and administration, smooth conduct of elections right from parliamentary to local self government elections, enumeration of census, taking care of the needs of the visiting VIPs as the protocol officers, monitoring implementation of welfare and development schemes of the centre and the state, ensuring coordination between various departments of the district administration etc. 

Solution/Way forward:

Solely reducing the size of the district will seldom reduce the workload of the collector. To reduce the work load, the functions performed by the district collector must be reduced. One way is to divest the office of the district collector into two offices, one office can take care of the regulatory functions performed by the collector while the other office can take care of the development related functions of the district collector.

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. 

Future and Ongoing Courses by Siva Prasad -

 https://upscwithsiva.blogspot.com/2020/10/future-and-ongoing-courses-by-siva.html

Use code - "akmsiva", to get 10% discount on Unacademy Plus Subscription