(a) “Corruption causes misuse of government treasury, administrative inefficiency and obstruction in the path of national development.” Discuss Kautilya’s views. (b) How could social influence and persuasion contribute to the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan ?
Approach · directive: “discuss / how could”
What it asks · (a) Present Kautilya's view of corruption among officials and how the Arthashastra proposed to control it; (b) show how social influence and persuasion can change sanitation behaviour.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- (a) Discuss Kautilya's views on corruption: its harm to the treasury, administration and development, and his remedies
- (b) Explain how social influence and persuasion could contribute to the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Open with · (a) Kautilya treated the treasury as the State's lifeline and officials' embezzlement as a threat to it; (b) Swachh Bharat needs behaviour change, which is a matter of influence and persuasion.
Cover
- (a) Kautilya's view: the treasury is the root of State power, and embezzlement by officials weakens the State, reduces public works and defeats welfare and development.
- (a) Realism about officials: the Arthashastra compares handling the king's money to tasting honey or poison on the tip of the tongue, and lists forty ways in which officials may embezzle.
- (a) Remedies: careful selection and testing of officials, adequate pay, supervision through accounts and audit, spies and inspection, transfers, and swift, proportionate punishment along with rewards for honesty.
- (a) Leadership: the king must be an example, and rule by law and justice, since a corrupt ruler makes the whole administration corrupt.
- (b) Social influence: leaders and celebrities as role models, peer and community norms that treat open defecation and littering as shameful, and children as change agents at home.
- (b) Persuasion: credible messengers, clear appeals to dignity, health and women's safety, local language campaigns, pledges and public commitments, and recognition through rankings and awards.
- (b) Making it stick: combine messages with toilets, water and waste services, so that changed attitudes lead to lasting practice, and reinforce with local monitoring.
Close with · Kautilya's lesson is that vigilance and incentives protect public funds, and Swachh Bharat shows that persuasion and social norms are as important as infrastructure.
Add value (verified)
- Kautilya: like fish moving under water, government servants cannot be found out while taking money for themselves. Kautilya's Arthashastra, tr. R. Shamasastry (full text, Internet Archive) ↗“Just as fish moving under water cannot possibly be found out either as drinking or not drinking water, so government servants employed in the government work cannot be found out (while) taking money (for themselves).”
- Kautilya tested ministers through secret allurements; those who refused were deemed pure. Kautilya's Arthashastra, tr. R. Shamasastry (full text, Internet Archive) ↗“each minister being asked "this attempt is to the liking of all of us; what dost thou think?" 22 Kautilya's Arthashastra If they refuse to agree, they are to be considered pure. This is what is termed monetary allurement.”
- The Economic Survey 2018-19 cites the power of social norms: people are more likely to stop open defecation if their neighbours stop. Economic Survey 2018-19, Vol. 1, Ch. 2: Policy for Homo Sapiens, Not Homo Economicus (Ministry of Finance, archived copy) ↗“People are more likely to stop defecating in the open if their neighbours stop or are more likely to value their girl children if that is touted as the social norm.”
- The Economic Survey 2018-19: Swachh Bharat Mission was the first sanitation programme to emphasise behaviour change as much as toilet construction. Economic Survey 2018-19, Vol. 1, Ch. 2: Policy for Homo Sapiens, Not Homo Economicus (Ministry of Finance, archived copy) ↗“It is not the first programme to address sanitation concerns. However, there were no dramatic shifts in the access rates until SBM as is shown in Figure 3. SBM is the first one to emphasize behaviour change as much as, if not more than, construction of toilets.”
- SBM (Grameen) was launched on 2 October 2014; rural sanitation coverage rose from 39% in 2014 to 100% in 2019 (PIB, Ministry of Jal Shakti, 24 March 2025). Objectives achieved under Swachh Bharat Mission — PIB, Ministry of Jal Shakti, 24 March 2025 ↗“Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM(G)] was launched on 2nd October, 2014 with the aim to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status in rural areas by 2nd October, 2019 by providing access to toilets to all rural households. Under SBM(G), sanitation coverage was increased from 39% in 2014 to 100% in 2019”
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 · 381 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Kautilya made the treasury the lifeline of the State and treated the dishonest official as its quiet enemy. Swachh Bharat shows the other half of governance: changing what people do, not only what the State builds.
(a) Kautilya's views on corruption, the treasury and development
- Treasury first: for Kautilya the treasury is the root of State power; embezzlement weakens the army, stalls public works and defeats welfare, exactly the chain the statement describes.
- Realism about officials: public money is like honey or poison on the tongue, sure to be tasted; and like fish in water, officials cannot be seen "taking money", so detection needs design.
- Forty ways: he listed about forty ways in which officials embezzle, so he relied on accounts and audit rather than trust.
- Inefficiency: a dishonest official delays work and harasses subjects, so revenue falls and resentment rises; corruption is a political danger, not only a fiscal loss.
- Remedies: test ministers through secret allurements and keep only those who refuse; spies, inspection, accounts and audit; adequate pay; swift, proportionate punishment; rewards for honesty.
- Leadership: the king must set the example and rule by law, since a corrupt ruler corrupts the whole administration.
(b) How social influence and persuasion can make Swachh Bharat succeed
- Behaviour first: the Economic Survey 2018-19 notes that the mission was the first to emphasise behaviour change as much as toilet construction.
- Social norms: people stop defecating in the open when their neighbours stop; village-wide ODF declarations turn this into peer pressure without humiliation.
- Role models: leaders, celebrities, sarpanches and teachers who use and clean toilets break the old link between sanitation work and low status.
- Messengers: schoolchildren carry the message home; trained local volunteers persuade household by household in the local language.
- Framing: credible appeals to dignity, health and women's safety, public pledges, and recognition for clean villages turn attitude into commitment.
- Result: official figures later showed rural sanitation coverage rising from 39% in 2014 to 100% in 2019; persuasion lasts only if water, maintenance and waste services follow.
Kautilya's lesson is that public money survives only under vigilance and fair incentives; Swachh Bharat's is that norms, not budgets alone, change conduct. Joining the two, transparent spending and nudges, can now sustain sanitation gains.
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.