GS Paper IV 2021 · Q5 (Section A)
2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each Ethics in public administration X-Ray · Core #10Q5(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own
“Refugees should not be turned back to the country where they would face persecution or human right violation.” Examine the statement with reference to ethical dimension being violated by the nation claiming to be democratic with open society.
Approach · directive: “examine (with reference to the ethical dimensions violated)”
What it asks · Examine the rule that refugees must not be returned to persecution, and the ethical values a self-proclaimed democratic, open society violates when it turns them back.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Examine the statement that refugees should not be returned to persecution or human rights violations
- Bring out the ethical dimensions violated when a nation claiming to be a democratic, open society turns them back
Open with · Non-refoulement, in Article 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, forbids returning a refugee to where his life or freedom would be threatened; Popper's open society is tested at its border.
Cover
- A table contrasts what a democracy professes (rights of every person, rule of law, compassion) with what push-back practises.
- Life and dignity: UDHR Article 14 recognises the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution.
- Universality of rights: though India is not party to the 1951 Convention, NHRC v. State of Arunachal Pradesh (1996) extended Article 21 to Chakma refugees.
- Integrity and justice: the gap between creed and conduct; India itself sheltered about 80 lakh refugees from East Pakistan in 1971.
- Legitimate concerns of security and resources justify screening, registration and burden-sharing, not return to danger.
Close with · An open democracy honours the UDHR's first article, all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, above all when the human being at its border is not its citizen.
Add value (verified)
- The 1951 Refugee Convention's Article 33 is the source of the non-refoulement rule: no State may expel or return a refugee to territories where life or freedom would be threatened.Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951), Article 33: Prohibition of expulsion or return ("refoulement"), OHCHR ↗“No Contracting State shall expel or return (" refouler ") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened”
- Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) and The Poverty of Historicism are powerful defences of democratic liberalism and critiques of the presuppositions underpinning all forms of totalitarianism.Karl Popper — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“The Poverty of Historicism (1944; 1957) and The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945), Popper’s most impassioned and influential social works, are powerful defences of democratic liberalism, and strident critiques of philosophical presuppositions underpinning all forms of totalitarianism.”
- Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.Universal Declaration of Human Rights — United Nations ↗“Article 14 Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes”
- Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.Universal Declaration of Human Rights — United Nations ↗“Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 224words · Minimalist IAS
Non-refoulement, in Article 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, forbids returning a refugee to where his life or freedom would be threatened. Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) defended democratic liberalism against totalitarianism; a democracy claiming openness is tested at its border.
| Democracy professes | Push-back practises |
|---|---|
| Rights of every person | Rights for citizens only |
| Rule of law | Breach of non-refoulement |
|---|---|
| Compassion | Indifference to persecution |
- Life and dignity: return makes the state a link in foreseeable harm; Article 14 of the UDHR recognises the right 'to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution'.
- Universality of rights: India is not a party to the 1951 Convention, yet in NHRC v. State of Arunachal Pradesh (1996) the Supreme Court held that Article 21 protects the Chakma refugees.
- Integrity: professing openness while pushing people back is a gap between creed and conduct; in 1971 India itself bore the burden of about 80 lakh refugees from East Pakistan.
- Justice: choosing whom to shelter by religion or usefulness turns protection into patronage.
- Legitimate concerns: security and resource pressure are real, but they justify screening, registration and burden-sharing, not return to danger.
An open democracy honours the UDHR's first article, 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights', above all when the human being at its border is not its citizen.
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.
Q5(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own
Should impartial and being non-partisan be considered as indispensable qualities to make a successful civil servant? Discuss with illustrations.
Approach · directive: “discuss (with illustrations)”
What it asks · Discuss, with illustrations, whether impartiality and non-partisanship are indispensable qualities of a successful civil servant.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Discuss whether impartiality and non-partisanship are indispensable qualities of a successful civil servant
- Illustrate the discussion with examples
Open with · The UK Civil Service Code defines impartiality as acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well governments of different political persuasions; both qualities are indispensable, since success is measured in public trust.
Cover
- A table sets the presence of each quality (merit, loyal service to any government, trust) against its absence (patronage, politicisation, cynicism).
- Illustration: T.N. Seshan, CEC from 1990, enforced precise campaign rules, voter IDs and spending vigilance; elections became fairer, transparent and fearless.
- Illustration: the Shah Commission found the Emergency administration and police vulnerable to political pressures.
- Why indispensable: governments change, the permanent service serves each faithfully, and no citizen is asked his vote.
- Not neutrality on values: impartial between parties, yet committed to justice, social, economic and political.
Close with · Thiruvalluvar set the standard: the wise are like the weighing beam, straight in itself, that weighs justly and inclines neither to this side nor to that.
Add value (verified)
- The UK Civil Service Code lists integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality as core values, and defines impartiality as acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well governments of different political persuasions.The Civil Service Code — GOV.UK (Cabinet Office) ↗“‘impartiality’ is acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well governments of different political persuasions”
- Thiruvalluvar, Kural 118 (ch. 12, impartiality): the weighing beam is straight in itself and weighs justly; the glory of the wise is to be like it and incline neither to this side nor to that.Thiruvalluvar, The Kural, ch. XII 'Uprightness of Heart', tr. V. V. S. Aiyar — Standard Ebooks (public-domain edition) ↗“Behold the weighing beam, for it is straight in itself and weigheth justly: the glory of the wise is to be like unto it and to incline neither to this side nor to that.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 217words · Minimalist IAS
The UK Civil Service Code defines impartiality as 'acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well governments of different political persuasions'. Non-partisanship is its political face. Both are indispensable, because a civil servant's success is measured in public trust, not output alone.
| Quality | When present | When absent |
|---|---|---|
| Impartiality | Merit, equal treatment | Patronage, discrimination |
| Non-partisanship | Loyal service to any elected government | Politicised administration |
|---|---|---|
| Combined result | Trust of citizens and ministers | Cynicism and instability |
- Illustration, impartiality: as Chief Election Commissioner from 1990, T.N. Seshan enforced precise campaign rules, voter IDs and strict vigilance on candidates' spending; he is remembered as the officer who made elections 'fairer, transparent and fearless'.
- Illustration, partisanship: during the Emergency, the Shah Commission found that 'the administration and the police became vulnerable to political pressures'.
- Why indispensable: governments change; the permanent service must serve the next as faithfully as this one, and no citizen should be asked whom he voted for.
- Not neutrality on values: impartial between parties, a civil servant still serves the constitutional goal of a social order of 'justice, social, economic and political', which includes lawful special care for the weak.
Thiruvalluvar set the standard: the wise are like the weighing beam, 'straight in itself', that weighs justly and inclines 'neither to this side nor to that'.
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.
