UPSC Mains 2016 GS Paper 2 Q12: model answer
In the integrity index of Transparency International, India stands very low. Discuss briefly the legal, political, economic, social and cultural factors that have caused the decline of public morality in India.
What the question wants
Discuss briefly the legal, political, economic, social and cultural causes of falling public morality behind India's poor ranking on corruption.
How to structure it
Five factors, briefly: one block each, then a brief way forward.
- The index
- Legal
- Political
- Economic
- Social
- Cultural
- Way forward
How to think it through
The question lists five heads; use them as sub-headings. Examiners tick them off. Keep each point concrete. Mention the Corruption Perceptions Index and India's score in the high 30s out of 100.
Model answer
On Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, India has stayed in the high 30s out of 100 for years, ranking well below Bhutan. The cause lies in a mix of law, politics and habits.
Legal
- Slow trials: corruption cases take years, so conviction rates are low and deterrence weak.
- Prior sanction for prosecuting officials (Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 2018) slows cases.
- Complex rules create discretion and 'speed money'.
Political
- Expensive elections funded by undisclosed money; obligations repaid through contracts.
- Criminalisation of politics: many MPs face criminal cases.
- Patronage in transfers and postings.
Economic
- The licence-permit raj created rent-seeking; even after 1991, land, mining and spectrum allotments (the 2G and coal cases) showed discretionary rents.
- A large informal, cash economy.
- Low salaries in lower bureaucracy.
Social
- Kinship loyalty: helping one's own seen as duty, not nepotism.
- Tolerance of corruption if the corrupt 'deliver'.
- Weak civic education, and a belief that rules are for the powerless.
Cultural
- Gift-giving traditions blur into bribery.
- Consumerism and status competition.
- Hero-worship of the powerful, so that wealth is admired without asking how it was made.
Way forward
- Fast-track corruption courts and Lokpal action.
- Transparent political funding.
- E-governance to cut discretion.
- Ethics education and leaders who model integrity, as Lal Bahadur Shastri did by resigning after a rail accident in 1956.
Public morality is rebuilt by institutions that punish and leaders who inspire.
Draw: A five-spoke wheel: legal, political, economic, social, cultural, with 'public morality' at the hub.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
CPI (Transparency International), PC Act 1988 and 2018 amendment, Section 17A, criminalisation, 2G and coal cases, rent-seeking, 2nd ARC 4th Report, Santhanam Committee 1964.
Where most answers lose marks
- Writing only about corruption law. The question asks for five kinds of factors.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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