GS Paper IV 2017 · Q7 (Section A)
2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each Ethics & human interface X-Ray · Core #3Q7(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own
The crisis of ethical values in modern times is traced to a narrow perception of the good life. Discuss.
Approach · directive: “discuss”
What it asks · Discuss how equating the good life with wealth, comfort and status erodes ethical values, whether that is the whole explanation, and what a wider idea of the good life offers.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Discuss how a narrow perception of the good life breeds the crisis of ethical values
- Weigh other causes of the crisis
- Discuss the wider idea of the good life as the remedy
Open with · Gandhi's Hind Swaraj (1909): modern civilisation makes bodily welfare the object of life, and a good life so narrowed makes ethical values look like obstacles.
Cover
- A table contrasts the narrow and the wider good life by aim, measure and result.
- Endless wants: Gandhi's mind as a restless bird; honesty looks costly, so bribery, adulteration and fraud look rational.
- People and nature as tools: relationships valued for their use and nature as raw material, leaving pollution and loneliness.
- Not the only cause: weak institutions and impunity also corrode values; the fault lies in making wealth life's goal.
- The wider good life: the purusharthas keep artha and kama within dharma; Amartya Sen's capability approach.
Close with · Mission LiFE's call for 'mindful and deliberate utilisation, instead of mindless and destructive consumption': a good life measured by what we are, not by what we consume.
Add value (verified)
- Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, ch. on civilisation: the true test of modern civilisation lies in the fact that people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life.M.K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule (mkgandhi.org e-book) ↗“Let us first consider what state of things is described by the word "civilization". Its true test lies in the fact that people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life.”
- Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, 'What is True Civilization?': the mind is a restless bird that wants more the more it gets; the more we indulge our passions, the more unbridled they become, so our ancestors set a limit to indulgences.M.K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule (mkgandhi.org e-book) ↗“We notice that the mind is a restless bird; the more it gets the more it wants, and still remains unsatisfied. The more we indulge our passions, the more unbridled they become. Our ancestors, therefore, set a limit to our indulgences.”
- Amartya Sen pioneered the capability approach: freedom to achieve well-being is a matter of what people are able to do and to be.The Capability Approach — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“it is economist-philosopher Amartya Sen who pioneered the approach and philosopher Martha Nussbaum and a growing number of other scholars across the humanities and the social sciences who have significantly developed it. The capability approach purports that freedom to achieve well-being is a matter of what people are able to do and to be”
- Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment): at COP26 the Prime Minister called for 'mindful and deliberate utilisation, instead of mindless and destructive consumption' (PIB blog, 22 May 2026).IDY 2026: Nudging the World Towards Mindful Consumption, by Prataprao Jadhav — PIB blog, 22 May 2026 ↗“has provided a compelling direction through Mission LiFE — Lifestyle for Environment. At COP26, the Prime Minister articulated a principle that resonates deeply with the philosophy of Yoga: “What is needed today is mindful and deliberate utilisation, instead of mindless and destructive consumption.””
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 217words · Minimalist IAS
In Hind Swaraj (1909), Gandhi held that modern civilisation's 'true test lies in the fact that people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life'. A good life so narrowed makes ethical values look like obstacles.
| Aspect | Narrow good life | Wider good life |
|---|---|---|
| Aim | Wealth, status, pleasure | Flourishing, duty, service |
| Measure | What one owns | What one can do and be |
| Result | Greed, shortcuts, loneliness | Trust, restraint, community |
How the narrow view breeds the crisis
- Endless wants: 'the mind is a restless bird; the more it gets the more it wants', Gandhi observed; honesty then looks costly, and bribery, adulteration and fraud look rational.
- People and nature as tools: relationships are valued for their use and nature as raw material, leaving pollution and a loneliness that plenty has not cured.
- Not the only cause: weak institutions and impunity also corrode values, and prosperity has freed millions from want; the fault lies in making wealth life's goal.
The wider good life
- Balanced aims: the purusharthas keep material well-being (artha) and desire (kama) within righteousness (dharma); Amartya Sen judges well-being by what people are able to do and to be.
Mission LiFE (2021) asks for 'mindful and deliberate utilisation, instead of mindless and destructive consumption': a good life measured by what we are, not by what we consume.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
Q7(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own
Increased national wealth did not result in equitable distribution of its benefits. It has created only some “enclaves of modernity and prosperity for a small minority at the cost of the majority.” Justify.
Approach · directive: “justify”
What it asks · Argue, with evidence, that rising national wealth concentrated its gains in enclaves of a prosperous minority while the majority bore the costs, and note what has changed since.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Justify, with evidence, that growth created enclaves of prosperity for a minority
- Show the costs borne by the majority
- Note the progress since and the way forward
Open with · Ambedkar's 1949 warning that India was entering 'a life of contradictions', equality in politics and inequality in social and economic life; rising national wealth has often walled that contradiction into enclaves.
Cover
- Poverty amid growth: the NCEUS found about 836 million people, 77 per cent of the population, below Rs 20 a day at the end of 2004-05.
- Jobless growth: about 89 per cent of workers were still informal in 2019-20, without formal social security.
- Gains to a few, costs to many: an urban, skilled and propertied minority gained while dams and industries displaced people; a flowchart traces capital-intensive growth to enclaves amid deprivation.
- Article 39(c) unmet; progress since: multidimensional poverty fell from 29.17 to 11.28 per cent (2013-14 to 2022-23), but jobs-rich growth and universal health and schooling must follow.
Close with · SDG target 10.1, raising the incomes of the bottom 40 per cent faster than the national average, as the test: growth is just only when it reaches the majority.
Add value (verified)
- B.R. Ambedkar, Constituent Assembly (25 November 1949): some have immense wealth while many live in abject poverty; from 26 January 1950 India enters a life of contradictions, with equality in politics and inequality in social and economic life.Constituent Assembly Debates, 25 November 1949 (B.R. Ambedkar) — constitutionofindia.net ↗“On the economic plane, we have a society in which there are some who have immense wealth as against many who live in abject poverty. On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.”
- NCEUS, Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector (2007): at the end of 2004-05 about 836 million people, 77 per cent of the population, lived below Rs 20 a day.NCEUS, Report on Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihoods in the Unorganised Sector, August 2007 (copy hosted by DC-MSME, Government of India) ↗“At the end of 2004-05, about 836 million or 77 per cent of the population were living below Rs.20 per day and constituted most of India's informal economy.”
- NITI Aayog estimate (PIB backgrounder, 19 January 2024): multidimensional poverty declined from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23, with about 24.82 crore people escaping poverty.9 years, 9 schemes: 24.82 crore uplifted from poverty — PIB backgrounder, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, 19 January 2024 ↗“During the past 9 years, the multidimensional poverty in India has declined from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23 with about 24.82 crore people escaping poverty.”
- SDG target 10.1: by 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average.Goal 10: Targets and Indicators — UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development ↗“Target 10.1 By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 214words · Minimalist IAS
Ambedkar warned in 1949 that India was entering 'a life of contradictions': equality in politics, inequality in social and economic life. Rising national wealth has not dissolved that contradiction; it has often walled it into enclaves.
- Poverty amid growth: the NCEUS found that at the end of 2004-05 about 836 million people, 77 per cent of the population, lived below Rs 20 a day.
- Jobless growth: output rose without matching jobs; in 2019-20 about 89 per cent of workers were still in the informal sector, without formal social security.
- Gains to a few, costs to many: benefits went mostly to an urban, skilled and propertied minority, while big dams and industries displaced people from homes and livelihoods.
- Capital-intensive growth
- Few formal jobs
- Informal, insecure work
- Enclaves amid deprivation
- A directive unmet: Article 39(c) directs the State to ensure that the economic system does not concentrate wealth to the common detriment.
- Progress, unfinished: multidimensional poverty fell from 29.17 per cent (2013-14) to 11.28 per cent (2022-23), about 24.82 crore people escaping it (NITI Aayog); jobs-rich growth and universal health and schooling must carry it further.
SDG target 10.1, raising the incomes of the bottom 40 per cent faster than the national average, is the right test: growth is just only when it reaches the majority.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 3 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
