UPSC Mains 2017 GS Paper 4 Q5b: model answer
"If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher." - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Analyse.
What the question wants
Analyse Kalam's view that parents and teachers are the key to a corruption-free nation of beautiful minds.
How to structure it
Meaning, role of each, analysis, limits.
- Meaning
- Father, mother, teacher
- Why they matter
- Limits
How to think it through
Kalam's line from his speeches (Wings of Fire? 'Ignited Minds'). Values form in early childhood; parents model honesty; teachers shape moral reasoning. Evidence: early childhood development; Kohlberg stages. Examples: parents refusing to pay bribes for admission; teachers. Limits: systemic corruption needs institutions; society, media, peers; parents themselves may model corruption (donations for admissions). NEP 2020 values education.
Model answer
A child who watches her father pay a bribe to skip a queue learns more about honesty that day than in ten moral science lessons. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam understood this when he named the father, the mother and the teacher as the three people who can make a nation corruption-free.
What it means
- Corruption is not only a problem of laws; it begins in values learnt in childhood.
The role of each
- Mother: often the first teacher of empathy, sharing and truthfulness.
- Father: models how to treat rules, money and authority.
- Teacher: turns habits into reasoning, and shows fairness in grading and discipline.
Why the view is strong
- Psychologists like Kohlberg show moral reasoning develops in stages through childhood and adolescence.
- Children copy what adults do, not what they say.
Limits
- Many parents themselves pay capitation fees or bribes, teaching the opposite.
- Peers, media and workplace culture shape adults too.
- Even honest people fall into corrupt systems; institutions such as Lokpal, e-governance and audits are still needed.
Kalam's three can plant honesty; institutions must make sure it is not uprooted later.
Draw: A seedling (child) watered by three cans: mother, father, teacher; a fence around labelled 'institutions'.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Kalam, father mother teacher, value formation, role modelling, Kohlberg stages, NEP 2020 values, capitation fees, peer influence, institutions, Lokpal, e-governance.
Where most answers lose marks
- Agreeing fully without the limits; 'analyse' needs both sides.
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Fresh examples from current affairs
Supreme Court: no prior approval under Section 17A needed to probe a bribe demand
In a judgment of 16 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria held that investigating a bribe demand by a public servant does not need prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Asking for a bribe, the court said, is not part of discharging official duties.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sections 7, 7A, 17A and 19 of the PC Act. · Mains GS-II/GS-IV: honest officers versus accountability.
19 Oct 2026Learn the concept
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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