UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 4 Q2b: model answer
It is believed that adherence to ethics in human actions would ensure in smooth functioning of an organization/system. If so, what does ethics seek to promote in human life? How do ethical values assist in the resolution of conflicts faced by him in his day-to-day functioning?
What the question wants
Explain what ethics seeks to promote in human life and how ethical values help a person resolve conflicts in day-to-day work.
How to structure it
Two parts.
- What ethics promotes
- How values resolve conflicts, with examples
How to think it through
Promotes: trust, justice, dignity, harmony, well-being, responsibility. Conflict resolution: clarity (priority of values), integrity resists pressure, empathy understands others, fairness ensures acceptability, courage, transparency. Examples: officer pressured to favour relative's contractor; honesty vs loyalty at office; time conflict between family and duty during floods.
Model answer
An organisation runs smoothly when people do the right thing even without being watched. Ethics is what makes that possible.
What ethics seeks to promote
- Trust between colleagues and with the public.
- Justice: fair treatment for all.
- Dignity of every person.
- Responsibility for one's actions.
- Harmony in families, workplaces and society.
How ethical values help resolve daily conflicts
- Clarity of priorities: when a relative asks for a favour in a tender, integrity tells me public interest comes first.
- Fairness makes decisions acceptable to all sides, so disputes end sooner.
- Empathy helps me understand a colleague's view before I judge.
- Courage helps me say no to pressure from seniors on an illegal order, in writing if needed.
- Transparency: open reasons reduce suspicion.
- Compassion balances rules with human needs, such as giving a sick employee flexible hours within the rules.
- Duty: during a flood, my duty to the district outweighs a family function; I explain and make it up later.
Result
Ethical values turn conflicts from personal battles into reasoned choices.
Rules tell us what is allowed; values tell us what is right when rules run out.
Draw: A flowchart: conflict → identify values at stake → rank them → act → explain.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
trust, justice, dignity, responsibility, integrity, fairness, empathy, courage, transparency, compassion, duty, conflict resolution.
Where most answers lose marks
- Answering only the first part, which is the same as 2014; the conflict-resolution part is new.
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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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