UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 4 Q1a: model answer
Wisdom lies in knowing what to reckon with and what to overlook. An officer being engrossed with the periphery, ignoring the core issues before him, is no rare in the bureaucracy. Do you agree that such preoccupation of an administrator leads to travesty of justice to the cause of effective service delivery and good governance? Critically evaluate.
What the question wants
Critically evaluate whether an administrator's preoccupation with peripheral matters, ignoring core issues, damages justice, service delivery and good governance.
How to structure it
Agree, with examples, then the other side.
- Core vs periphery
- How it harms
- Why it happens
- Counterview
- Fix
How to think it through
Wisdom = prioritisation. Periphery: formats, inspections for show, ceremonies, VIP visits, statistics; core: outcomes, grievances, last mile. Harm: delays —'justice delayed', file pushing, poor outcomes despite paperwork; e.g., schools with registers complete but learning poor (ASER 2024: about 23% of Class 3 children can read Class 2 text?). Check ASER 2024: Class 3 reading Class 2 text 23.4%. Why: rule-orientation, fear of audit, metrics, risk aversion. Counter: procedure protects fairness; some 'periphery' (records) needed for accountability. Fix: outcome budgeting, Eisenhower matrix, PRAGATI, data dashboards.
Model answer
A district may have every register up to date, every review meeting minuted, and still have children who cannot read. The ASER 2024 survey found that only about 23% of Class 3 children in rural government schools could read a Class 2 text.
Core and periphery
- Core: outcomes that matter to citizens, such as learning, health, timely justice and grievance redress.
- Periphery: formats, ceremonies, VIP visits, and statistics produced for meetings.
How preoccupation with the periphery harms
- Delayed justice: land and pension cases wait while officers attend functions.
- Paper outcomes: targets are 'achieved' on paper but not on the ground.
- Goal displacement: the procedure becomes the purpose.
- Lost trust: citizens see activity but no results.
Why it happens
- Fear of audit, so officers protect files rather than outcomes.
- Superiors review what is easy to count.
The other side
- Not all periphery is waste. Records and procedures protect fairness and accountability.
- The problem is imbalance, not procedure itself.
Fixes
- Outcome budgeting and dashboards that track results.
- Simple prioritising tools like the urgent– important matrix.
- Reviews like PRAGATI that chase stalled projects, not reports.
Wisdom in office is knowing which file can wait and which person cannot.
Draw: An Eisenhower 2×2 matrix, urgent/important, with 'grievances' in the top-left and 'ceremonies' in the bottom-right.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
wisdom, prioritisation, core vs periphery, goal displacement, ASER 2024 (23.4%, rural govt schools), paper outcomes, outcome budgeting, Eisenhower matrix, PRAGATI, procedure as safeguard.
Where most answers lose marks
- Agreeing fully without the 'critically evaluate' counterpoint that some procedure is necessary.
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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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