At 9 pm on Saturday evening, Rashika, a Joint Secretary, was still engrossed in her work in her office. Her husband, Vikram, is an executive in an MNC and frequently out of town in connection with his work. Their two children aged 5 and 3 are looked after by their domestic helper. At 9:30 pm her superior, Mr. Suresh calls her and asks her to prepare a detailed note on an important matter to be discussed in a meeting in the Ministry. She realises that she will have to work on Sunday to finish the additional task given by her superior.
She reflects on how she had looked forward to this posting and had worked long hours for months to achieve it. She had kept the welfare of people uppermost in discharging her duties. She feels that she has not done enough justice to her family and she has not fulfilled her duties in discharging essential social obligations. Even as recently as last month she had to leave her sick child in the nanny’s care as she had to work in the office. Now, she feels that she must draw a line, beyond which her personal life should take precedence over her professional responsibilities. She thinks that there should be reasonable limits to the work ethics such as punctuality, hard work, dedication to duty and selfless service.
(a) Discuss the ethical issues involved in this case. (b) Briefly describe at least four laws that have been enacted by the Government with respect to providing a healthy, safe and equitable working environment for women. (c) Imagine you are in a similar situation. What suggestions would you make to mitigate such working conditions?
Approach · directive: “discuss / describe / suggest”
What it asks · (a) Weigh duty to public service against family obligations and the limits of a work ethic; (b) describe four laws for women's safe and equitable workplaces; (c) suggest practical fixes.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- (a) Discuss the ethical issues in the case
- (b) Briefly describe at least four laws for a healthy, safe and equitable working environment for women
- (c) Suggest, as if in her situation, how to mitigate such working conditions
Open with · The value conflict: duty to the public versus duty to family, with Aristotle's virtue as a mean between two vices, so Rashika must find where dedication tips into excess; then the stakeholders.
Cover
- Stakeholders: Rashika, her children, Vikram, Mr Suresh and the ministry, the public, and women officers who follow.
- (a) Issues: public v. family duty, fair leadership v. convenience, care v. gendered burden (care ethics), work ethic v. well-being.
- (b) Four laws: POSH Act 2013 (Vishaka), Maternity Benefit Act as amended in 2017, Equal Remuneration Act 1976, Factories Act 1948.
- Since then: from 21 November 2025 the Labour Codes subsumed the last three Acts and allow women's night work with consent and safety.
- (c) At once, I would clarify the real deadline and draft from home with help; at home, share care; long-term, office reforms.
- Long-term office measures: a threshold for out-of-hours demands, remote work in emergencies, a creche, child care leave, gender-sensitised supervisors.
Close with · A civil service that wants more women at its top must make dedication sustainable: predictable hours, shared care and fair leaders let officers serve without failing their families.
Add value (verified)
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book II: virtue is a state of character lying in a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of defect.Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book II (tr. W.D. Ross) — The Internet Classics Archive, MIT ↗“Virtue, then, is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean, i.e. the mean relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle, and by that principle by which the man of practical wisdom would determine it. Now it is a mean between two vices, that which depends on excess and that which depends on defect”
- Care ethics emerged as a distinct moral theory with Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings in the mid-1980s, asserting the 'voice of care' as an alternative to the 'justice perspective'.Care Ethics — Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (University of Tennessee at Martin) ↗“the emergence of care ethics as a distinct moral theory is most often attributed to the works of psychologist Carol Gilligan and philosopher Nel Noddings in the mid-1980s. Both charged traditional moral approaches with male bias, and asserted the “voice of care” as a legitimate alternative to the “justice perspective” of liberal human rights theory.”
- Under the new labour codes (PIB, November 2025), women may work at night (before 6 a.m. and after 7 p.m.) with their consent, and the employer must arrange their safety, facilities and transport.New Labour Codes Empower Women with Greater Safety, Equality, and Workplace Flexibility — PIB factsheet, 27 November 2025 ↗“They may also work at night, i.e. before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m, with their consent, and the employer is required to make adequate arrangements for their safety, facilities, and transportation.”
- The four Labour Codes, including the Code on Social Security, 2020, were made effective from 21 November 2025, rationalising 29 existing labour laws (PIB).PIB, Ministry of Labour and Employment: Government makes the four Labour Codes effective ↗“the four Labour Codes - the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 are being made effective from 21st November 2025 , rationalising 29 existing labour laws”
- The Code on Social Security, 2020 incorporates nine earlier Acts, among them the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923 and the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (PIB).PIB backgrounder: India's Labour Reforms: Simplification, Security, and Sustainable Growth ↗“The Code on Social Security incorporates existing nine Social Security Acts viz; The Employee's Compensation Act, 1923; The Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948; The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959; The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961”
- The Code on Wages, 2019 consolidates four earlier laws, among them the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (PIB).PIB backgrounder: India's Labour Reforms: Simplification, Security, and Sustainable Growth ↗“The Code on Wages, 2019 seeks to simplify, consolidate, and rationalize the provisions of four existing laws- The Payment of Wages Act, 1936; The Minimum Wages Act, 1948; The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.”
- The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 amalgamates 13 Central Labour Acts, the first of them the Factories Act, 1948 (PIB).PIB backgrounder: India's Labour Reforms: Simplification, Security, and Sustainable Growth ↗“The Code has been drafted after amalgamation, simplification and rationalization of the relevant provisions of the 13 Central Labour Acts- The Factories Act, 1948; The Plantations Labour Act, 1951; The Mines Act, 1952”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 372words · Minimalist IAS
Duty to the public versus duty to family: dedication is a virtue, but Aristotle placed virtue in "a mean between two vices", and Rashika must find where dedication tips into excess.
Stakeholders: Rashika (health, career); her children (care); Vikram (shared parenting); Mr Suresh and the ministry (timely work); the public (good policy); and women officers who follow (a sustainable model).
(a) Ethical issues involved
- Public duty v. family duty: both are real; leaving a sick child with the nanny shows the cost of making one absolute.
- Fair leadership v. convenience: a 9:30 pm Saturday call for a Sunday task tests whether the urgency is genuine or poor planning passed down.
- Care v. gendered burden: with Vikram often away, care falls on her; care ethics (Carol Gilligan, Nel Noddings) treats this "voice of care" as a moral claim, not a weakness.
- Work ethic v. well-being: punctuality and dedication are virtues, not unlimited claims; burnout harms the service itself, so self-care is also a duty.
(b) Four laws for a healthy, safe and equitable workplace for women
- POSH Act, 2013: Internal Complaints Committees and time-bound redress against sexual harassment, built on the Vishaka guidelines (1997).
- Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (amended 2017): 26 weeks of paid leave for the first two children, and creches in establishments with 50 or more employees.
- Equal Remuneration Act, 1976: equal pay for equal work and no bias in recruitment.
- Factories Act, 1948: limits on women's hours and night work, safety provisions and creches.
- Since then: from 21 November 2025 the Labour Codes subsumed the last three Acts, and women may work night shifts with their consent and employer-arranged safety.
(c) My suggestions to mitigate such working conditions
- At once: I would call Mr Suresh, explain my constraint, ask what is truly needed by Monday, and draft a crisp note from home with a junior's help.
- At home: share care with Vikram, plan ahead and build a support network.
- Long-term, in the office: a threshold for out-of-hours demands, remote work in emergencies, an office creche, child care leave and gender-sensitisation for supervisors.
A civil service that wants more women at its top must make dedication sustainable: predictable hours, shared care and fair leaders let officers serve without failing their families.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 1 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
