UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 4 Q10: model answer
You have done MBA from a reputed institution three years back but could not get campus placement due to COVID-19 generated recession. However, after a lot of persuasion and series of competitive tests including written and interview, you managed to get a job in a leading shoe company. You have aged parents who are dependent and staying with you. You also recently got married after getting this decent job. You were allotted the Inspection Section which is responsible for clearing the final product. In first one year, you learnt your job well and was appreciated for your performance by the management. The company is doing good business for last five years in domestic market and this year it is decided even to export to Europe and Gulf countries. However, one large consignment to Europe was rejected by their Inspecting Team due to certain poor quality and was sent back. The top management ordered that ibid consignment to be cleared for the domestic market. As a part of Inspecting Team, you observed the glaring poor quality and brought to the knowledge of the Team Commander. However, the top management advised all the members of the team to overlook these defects as the management cannot bear such a huge loss. Rest of the team members except you promptly signed and cleared the consignment for domestic market, overlooking glaring defects. You again brought to the knowledge of the Team Commander that such consignment, if cleared even for domestic market, will tarnish the image and reputation of the company and will be counter-productive in the long run. However, you were further advised by the top management that if you do not clear the consignment, the company will not hesitate to terminate your services citing certain innocuous reasons. (a) Under the given conditions, what are the options available to you as a member of the Inspecting Team? (b) Critically evaluate each of the options listed by you. (c) What option would you adopt and why? (d) What are the ethical dilemmas being faced by you? (e) What can be the consequences of overlooking the observations raised by the Inspecting Team?
What the question wants
As an inspection officer told to clear a rejected export consignment for the domestic market, list and evaluate options, choose one, name dilemmas and consequences of overlooking defects.
How to structure it
Five sub-parts.
(a) Options
(b) Evaluation
(c) Choice
(d) Dilemmas
(e) Consequences
How to think it through
Same theme as 2021-11. Options: sign; refuse silently; refuse in writing with reasons; escalate to board/independent directors/whistleblower mechanism (Companies Act vigil mechanism if listed); report to BIS/consumer authorities; resign. BIS quality control orders now cover footwear. Choose: refuse to sign, put dissent in writing, propose alternatives (rework, sell as seconds clearly labelled at discount), escalate via vigil mechanism; prepare for job loss (unfair termination remedies).
Model answer
Stakeholders
- Domestic consumers; the company and its brand; my family; fellow inspectors; top management; regulators.
Dilemmas
- Job and family security vs integrity; loyalty to management vs duty to consumers.
Options
- Sign; refuse silently; refuse in writing with alternatives; escalate; resign.
Every other member signed. My signature is the only thing standing between a defective consignment and an Indian customer who will never know it was rejected in Europe.
(a) Options
1. Sign like the others.
2. Refuse quietly.
3. Refuse in writing, with reasons and alternatives.
4. Escalate through the company's vigil mechanism or to the board.
5. Resign.
(b) Evaluation
- Sign: job saved; but I certify what I know is false, consumers are cheated, and the brand suffers later.
- Refuse quietly: clean conscience but no record; management can claim I agreed.
- Refuse in writing with alternatives: protects me, records facts, offers management a way out.
- Escalate: brings independent eyes, but may sour relations further.
- Resign: preserves integrity but abandons the fight and my family's security.
(c) My choice
- Combine 3 and 4: a written note with photographs of defects, and alternatives: rework the consignment, or sell it as clearly labelled 'seconds' at a discount.
- If management insists, use the vigil mechanism or write to the independent directors.
- Keep records; if terminated on 'innocuous reasons', seek legal remedy for wrongful dismissal.
(d) Dilemmas
- Livelihood vs honesty: aged parents and a new marriage depend on this job.
- Team loyalty vs truth: I stand alone against colleagues.
- Short-term loss vs long-term reputation for the company.
(e) Consequences of overlooking defects
- Consumers cheated and possibly harmed.
- Legal risk: BIS quality control orders now cover many footwear products, and consumer law punishes unfair trade
practices.
- Brand damage: domestic customers will remember.
- Culture of compromise: inspection becomes a rubber stamp, and the next defect will be bigger.
- Export credibility: buyers abroad lose faith when they learn that rejected goods were simply moved to another shelf.
My signature is the one thing the company cannot buy from me at any price.
Draw: A table: options in rows, effects on me, consumers and company in columns.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
quality inspection, rejected export consignment, written dissent, alternatives (rework, labelled seconds), vigil mechanism, independent directors, wrongful dismissal, BIS quality control orders, Consumer Protection Act 2019, unfair trade practice, brand reputation, rubber stamp.
Where most answers lose marks
- Signing 'under protest'; a signature still certifies the product.
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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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