UPSC Mains Paper 2009 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ~ JOBS-ADDA

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Paper-I

Time Allowed : Three Hours

Maximum Marks : 300

INSTRUCTIONS

Each question is printed both in Hindi and in English.
Answers must be written in the medium specified in the Admission Certificate issued to you, which must be stated clearly on the cover of the answer-book in the space provided for the purpose. No marks will be given for the answers written in a medium other than that specified in the Admission Certificate.

Candidates should attempt Question Nos. 1 and 5 which are compulsory, and any three of the remaining questions selecting at least one question from each Section.

The number of marks carried by each question is indicated at the end of the question.

SECTION-A

Comment on any THREE of the following statements in not more than 200 words each:

20 × 3 = 60
1. ''The field of Public Administration is a field of business.'' (Woodrow Wilson)
2. ''New Public Administration is .... a revolution or radicalism in words, and (at best) status-quo in skills or technologies.''
3. ''Taylor's contribution was not a set of general principles for organising work efficiency, but a set of operating procedures that could be employed in each concrete situation to secure their application.''
4. ''The Barnard-Simon Theory of Organisation is essentially a theory of motivation.''
Answer the following in about 300 words each:

30 × 2 = 60
1. Consider the statements below:
1. ''Technically, the bureaucracy represents the purest type of legal-rational authority.''
2. ''Bureaucracy does not represent the only type of legal authority.''
Identify the theoretical context and analyse the above statements.
Which of the model(s) in development administration is/are characterised by 'Selectivism', 'Attainment' and 'Poly-functionalism'? Describe the corresponding theoretical roots and attributes.
It is said that ''the perspective public administration, developed over a century, with a tradition of management of public institutions and services has received a jolt from the novelty of New Public Management''.
Bring out the core values, approaches and assumptions of traditional public administration and show how the New Public Management has attempted to change or retain them, and to what extent.

60
From Woodrow Wilson to Herbert Simon most writers on administration have taken the achievement of efficiency as the central objective. Justify the statement with references to the work of major writers.

60

SECTION-B
Answer any THREE of the following questions in not more than 200 words each:

20 × 3 = 60
1. ''There is no doubt that departmentalisation is fraught with complexities. These are in part technical, in part political.'' Discuss.
2. ''Techniques like PERT and CPM help in effective office management.'' Elaborate.
3. ''... non-western states often, if not always, have unbalanced politics, but these may not necessarily be bureaucratic politics.'' Discuss. ''Yehezkel Dror's normative models of policy making tend to be academic in perspective with poor operational utility.'' Comment.
Consider the statements below:
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) enable women to realise their full potential in some spheres of life.
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are providing avenues of political mobilisation.
Examine the implications of these two statements and assess the potential of SHGs for development.

60
It is said that 'position classification', as originally conceived is sound in terms of its operational characteristics, but complicated and unresponsive in practice. Why is it still considered better than other models of civil service classification?

60
''... even if policies are well organized, efficiently operated, widely utilized, adequately financed and supported, we may still ask, so what? Do they work? .... What about their costs, outputs and impact?'' Discuss.

60

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Paper II

Time Allowed : Three Hours

Maximum Marks : 300
INSTRUCTIONS
Each question is printed both in Hindi and in English.
Answers must be written in the medium specified in the Admission Certificate issued to you, which must be stated clearly on the cover of the answer-book in the space provided for the purpose. No marks will be given for the answers written in a medium other than that specified in the Admission Certificate.
Candidates should attempt Questions 1 and 5 which are compulsory, and any three of the remaining questions selecting at least one question from each Section.
The number of marks carried by each question is indicated at the end of the question.

SECTION-A
1. Attempt any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
  3 × 20 = 60
  1. ''Bureaucracy developed by the British stifled the village self-rule.'' Comment.
  2. Comment on the view that despite different contexts, administrative maxims of Kautilya's Arthashastra bear considerable similarity with features of Weber's ideal bureaucratic model.
  3. ''The weakest aspect of Indian administration is the grievance redressal machinery''. Discuss.
  4. ''There is no basic contradiction between Civil Service neutrality and Civil Service activism.'' Comment.
2. 1. ''Law and order problems of the twenty-first century cannot be tackled through legislations and structures of the nineteenth century.'' Give suggestions for transforming the law and order machinery at the State level.
    30
  2. ''The recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission on reforming the Civil Service are radical yet implementable.'' Do you agree?
  30
3. 1. Briefly discuss the main recommendations of any two of the following:
    
    30
    1. Paul Appleby (1953 and 1956)
    2. Santhanam Committee
    3. Hota Committee
    4. Sixth Pay Commission
  2. Examine the role of the Finance Ministry of the Union Government in designing and implementing monetary and fiscal policies.
  30
4. 1. Discuss the relationship between governance and development in any one Indian State, giving illustrations.
    30
  2. Do State Services suffer in comparison with the All-India and Central Services? Suggest measures for enhancing the role, competence and impact of State Services.
  30
  
  SECTION-B
5. Comment on any three of the following statements in not more than 200 words each:
  
  3 × 20 = 60
  1. ''India has failed to devise a long-term strategy for drought management.''
  2. ''A fixed tenure in Civil Service postings can increase productivity, accountability, and probity in Government.''
  3. ''Sound municipal governance requires a cadre of specialized municipal services executives equal in status to State Services.''
  4. ''Administrative talent of a Minister determines his success.''
6. 1. ''The respective roles of the Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India and of the Chief Secretary of a State are similar in certain respects, and dissimilar in others.'' Explain.
    30
  2. Do you agree with the view that Citizens' Charters in India have not succeeded in their objective of making the administrative system citizen-centric? Analyze and give your suggestions in this regard.
  30
7. 1. ''The National Human Rights Commission has done as commendable job in developing a sense of responsibility among organizations towards the protection of human rights.'' Comment on this assessment.
    30
  2. In your view, which have been the five most important administrative reforms implemented after Independence? What has been their impact?
8. 1. ''Values of Indian administration must be rooted in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.'' Discuss.
    30
  2. ''Many of the programmes of development being implemented at the State and the Local level have been initiated or financed by the Union Government. This has transformed the nature of Indian federalism''. Critically examine this assessment.
  30