UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 4 Q3b: model answer
"If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel that there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are father, mother and teacher." —A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
What the question wants
Explain what Kalam's view on father, mother and teacher as the makers of a corruption-free nation means to you.
How to structure it
A different angle from 2017: today's challenges for each.
- Meaning
- What each must do now
- Present challenges
- Me
How to think it through
Same quote as 2017; now focus on modern roles: screen time, competition pressure, coaching culture (Kota student suicides), paper leaks; teachers' absenteeism; parents' shortcuts (fake certificates, donations). Positive: Kalam's own teacher Sivasubramania Iyer and father Jainulabdeen. Modern supports: NEP 2020, parent-teacher meetings; SMC (school management committees under RTE 2009). Me: future parent and officer.
Model answer
Kalam often said his own values came from three people: his father Jainulabdeen, a boat owner known for honesty in Rameswaram; his mother; and his teacher Sivasubramania Iyer, who first made him dream of flight. He lived the idea he later preached.
What it means
- Honesty is learnt before it is tested: by the time a person holds power, the habits of childhood decide how it is used.
What each must do today
- Mother and father: model honesty in small acts, refuse shortcuts such as fake certificates or 'donations' for admission, and value effort over marks.
- Teacher: be fair in grading, admit mistakes, and teach reasoning, not memorised morals.
Present challenges
- Coaching culture and competition push children to win at any cost; paper leak rackets show the result.
- Screen time means children learn more values from strangers online than from parents.
Supports
- School Management Committees under the RTE Act, 2009 bring parents into schools.
- NEP 2020 asks for ethical reasoning in the curriculum.
What it means to me
- As a future officer and parent, my conduct at home is part of my public duty.
A child copies the shortcut before he learns the speech.
Draw: A school building and a home joined by a bridge labelled 'consistent values'.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Kalam, Jainulabdeen, Sivasubramania Iyer, value formation, modelling honesty, capitation fees, coaching culture, paper leaks, screen time, School Management Committees RTE 2009, NEP 2020.
Where most answers lose marks
- Repeating the 2017 answer word for word; add today's challenges and your own role.
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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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