(a) What do you understand by the terms ‘governance’, ‘good governance’ and ‘ethical governance’ ? (b) Discuss Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of seven sins.
Approach · directive: “what do you understand / discuss”
What it asks · (a) Define the three terms and show how each builds on the previous one; (b) explain Gandhi's list of seven social sins and their lesson for public life.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- (a) Define governance, good governance and ethical governance and show how each builds on the last
- (b) Discuss Gandhi's concept of seven sins and its lesson for public life
Open with · (a) Governance is how power is exercised, good governance adds quality and accountability, and ethical governance adds moral purpose; (b) Gandhi named seven sins that ruin society.
Cover
- (a) Governance: the process by which authority is exercised and decisions are made and implemented through institutions, rules and relationships.
- (a) Good governance: governance that is participatory, transparent, accountable, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law.
- (a) Ethical governance: governance guided by values such as integrity, honesty, fairness and compassion, so that legality is joined by moral rightness in public decisions.
- (b) Gandhi's seven social sins, printed in Young India on 22 October 1925 from a friend's list: wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; commerce without morality; science without humanity; worship without sacrifice; politics without principle.
- (b) Meaning: each sin shows a good thing that turns harmful when cut off from its moral base, so prosperity and power need ethics to be safe.
- (b) Relevance today: corruption and black money, consumerism, education without values, unethical business, misuse of technology and politics driven by power alone.
- (b) Lesson for administrators: wealth, knowledge and power are trusts, so public servants must use them with duty, conscience and service to the last person.
Close with · Good governance is the goal, ethical governance is its foundation, and Gandhi's seven sins are a checklist for avoiding the moral failures that undermine both.
Add value (verified)
- The UN's ESCAP lists eight characteristics of good governance, which give a ready framework for the answer. What is Good Governance? — UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ↗“Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.”
- The 2nd ARC's 4th Report calls governance the weak link in India's quest for prosperity and equity, and ending corruption both a moral imperative and an economic necessity. Second Administrative Reforms Commission, 4th Report: Ethics in Governance (DARPG, archived copy) ↗“Governance is admittedly the weak link in our quest for prosperity and equity. Elimination of corruption is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity for a nation aspiring to catch up with the rest of the world.”
- Of six governance quality measures, the 2nd ARC treats the rule of law and the absence of graft as most directly significant for ethical governance. Second Administrative Reforms Commission, 4th Report: Ethics in Governance (DARPG, archived copy) ↗“The six perceived governance quality measures, each an aggregate of a number of sub-measures, are: voice and accountability; absence of political instability and violence; government effectiveness; reasonableness of the regulatory burden; the rule of law; and the absence of graft. Of these, the last two are the most directly significant in the context of ethical governance.”
- The 2nd ARC's 4th Report reproduces Gandhi's Seven Social Sins from Young India, 1925 (Box 2.8). Second Administrative Reforms Commission, 4th Report: Ethics in Governance (DARPG, archived copy) ↗“Box 2.8: The Seven Social Sins The Seven Social Sins, as quoted by Mahatma Gandhi in “Young India,” 1925 1. Politics without principles 2. Wealth without work”
- Gandhi's talisman: recall the face of the poorest and most helpless person and ask whether the step you contemplate will be of use to him. The Gandhi Talisman — mkgandhi.org (Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal / Gandhi Research Foundation) ↗“Recall the face of the poorest and the most helpless man whom you may have seen and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 370 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
The 2nd ARC called governance "the weak link in our quest for prosperity and equity". The three terms show why: each sets a higher test than the one before.
(a) Governance, good governance and ethical governance
| Term | Core question | Markers |
|---|---|---|
| Governance | How is power exercised? | Institutions, rules, processes |
| Good governance | How well? | Accountable, transparent, rule of law |
| Ethical governance | For what values? | Integrity, fairness, compassion |
- Governance: the process by which authority is exercised and decisions are made and carried out, through institutions, rules and the ties among State, market and civil society. The term is neutral.
- Good governance: governance of quality. UN ESCAP lists eight marks: participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and following the rule of law.
- Ethical governance: legality and efficiency joined to moral purpose. Of six governance measures, the ARC rated rule of law and absence of graft "the most directly significant" for it.
- How they build: governance is the mechanism, good governance the standard, ethical governance the conscience. A lawful, efficient eviction that leaves families without livelihood passes the first two tests and fails the third.
(b) Mahatma Gandhi's concept of seven sins
- Source: Gandhi printed the list in Young India on 22 October 1925, as sent by a friend; the 2nd ARC reproduced it in its Ethics in Governance report.
- Logic: each sin is a good thing cut from its moral root, so wealth, knowledge and power turn harmful.
- Wealth without work, commerce without morality: black money, speculation, adulteration and crony deals.
- Pleasure without conscience: consumption that ignores its cost to others and to nature.
- Knowledge without character, science without humanity: the educated fraudster; technology turned to surveillance, weapons or unethical trials.
- Worship without sacrifice: ritual without service, piety that ignores the poor.
- Politics without principle: power sought for its own sake, through money, defection and divisive appeals.
- Lesson for public life: wealth, knowledge and power are trusts held for others, and means must be as clean as ends.
Gandhi also left a test for every file: "Recall the face of the poorest and the most helpless man" and ask whether the step will help him. Good governance is the goal; ethical governance, guided by that talisman, keeps it honest.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.