GS Paper IV 2025 · Q5 (Section A)
2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each Foundational values for civil service X-Ray · Core #1Q5(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own
“One who is devoted to one’s duty attains highest perfection in life.” Analyse this statement with reference to sense of responsibility and personal fulfilment as a civil servant.
Approach · directive: “analyse (with reference to responsibility and fulfilment)”
What it asks · Analyse how devotion to duty shapes a civil servant's sense of responsibility and personal fulfilment, and where such devotion needs limits.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Analyse devotion to duty with reference to a civil servant's sense of responsibility
- Analyse it with reference to personal fulfilment
Open with · The Bhagavad Gita (18.45): devoted each to his own duty, man attains the highest perfection; for a civil servant, that duty is the role the Constitution and citizens entrust, building responsibility and fulfilment.
Cover
- A flowchart shows the virtuous cycle: devotion, ownership of outcomes, public value, inner fulfilment and deeper devotion.
- Responsibility: the AIS (Conduct) Rules' demand of absolute integrity and devotion to duty; ownership of outcomes, owed to citizens rather than superiors.
- Fulfilment: Armstrong Pame's 100-km people's road; work done without craving reward frees the mind and sharpens judgement.
- Limits: Arendt traced Eichmann's crimes to his devotion to Hitler and his thoughtlessness, so devotion must serve lawful ends; and devotion is not burnout.
Close with · The Gita's counsel, thy right is to work only, never to the fruits: duty so done is the citizen's due and the officer's deepest reward.
Add value (verified)
- All India Services (Conduct) Rules, Rule 3(1): every member shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty.All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, Rule 3(1) — Tripura High Court (thc.nic.in) ↗“Every member of the Service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the Service.”
- Armstrong Pame, an IAS officer posted as SDO of Tousem sub-division, mobilised local communities and resources to build a 100-km rural road.People's Road: Connecting Rural Populations — Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University (2018) ↗“a young and dynamic native-born IAS officer named Armstrong Pame took up road connectivity as an immediate requirement in the area. While posted as Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Tousem sub-division, he and his elder brother mobilized resources and local communities. They created a Facebook page seeking donations to construct a 100-km rural road.”
- Bhagavad Gita 18.45: devoted each to his own duty, man attains the highest perfection.Bhagavad Gita, tr. Swami Swarupananda (1909) — sacred-texts.com, ch. 18 ↗“45. Devoted each to his own duty, man attains the highest perfection. How engaged in his own duty, he attains perfection, that hear.”
- Bhagavad Gita 2.47: one's right is to work only, never to its fruits; nor should one be attached to inaction.Bhagavad Gita, tr. Swami Swarupananda (1909) — sacred-texts.com, ch. 2 ↗“47. Thy right is to work only; but never to the fruits thereof. Be thou not the producer of the fruits of (thy) actions; neither let thy attachment be towards inaction.”
- Hannah Arendt (Eichmann in Jerusalem) attributed Eichmann's monstrous deeds not to fanatical hatred but to his devotion to Hitler and his 'thoughtlessness', an inability to see from another's point of view.Hannah Arendt — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“Arendt attributed his monstrous deeds not to a fanatical hatred of Jews (EJ, 146), but to his devotion to Hitler (EJ, 149) and his “thoughtlessness” (LM, 4), by which she understood his “inability ever to look at anything from the other’s point of view” (EJ, 48).”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2025, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 220words · Minimalist IAS
The statement echoes the Bhagavad Gita (18.45): 'Devoted each to his own duty, man attains the highest perfection.' For a civil servant, that duty is the role the Constitution and citizens entrust; devotion to it builds responsibility and, through it, fulfilment.
- Devotion to duty
- Ownership of outcomes
- Public value created
- Inner fulfilment
- Deeper devotion
Devotion and the sense of responsibility
- A rule as well as a value: the AIS (Conduct) Rules require every member to 'maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty' at all times.
- Ownership: devotion turns a post into a vocation; the officer answers for outcomes, not files, and to citizens, not to superiors or self.
Devotion and personal fulfilment
- Meaning from results: as SDO of a remote sub-division, Armstrong Pame mobilised local communities and resources to build a 100-km road; his fulfilment lay in a public outcome.
- Freedom from reward: work done without craving for postings or perks frees the mind from anxiety and sharpens judgement.
- Limits: Hannah Arendt traced Eichmann's crimes to his devotion to Hitler and his 'thoughtlessness'; devotion must serve lawful ends with conscience awake. Nor is it burnout: health and family are duties too.
The Gita completes the thought: 'Thy right is to work only; but never to the fruits thereof.' Duty so done is the citizen's due and the officer's deepest reward.
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
To achieve holistic development goal, a civil servant acts as an enabler and active facilitator of growth rather than a regulator. What specific measures will you suggest to achieve this goal?
Approach · directive: “suggest (specific measures)”
What it asks · Suggest specific measures by which a civil servant can enable and actively facilitate holistic development instead of acting mainly as a regulator.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Explain the shift from regulator to enabler and facilitator for holistic development
- Suggest specific measures to achieve it
Open with · Holistic development in the Viksit Bharat@2047 vision: economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability and good governance, needing officers who remove hurdles and connect citizens to opportunity.
Cover
- A table contrasts the regulator and enabler mindsets: permission-giver against problem-solver, prior approvals against self-certification, rules against roles.
- Capacity and trust: Mission Karmayogi's rules-to-roles shift; the Economic Survey 2024-25 on getting out of the way; Jan Vishwas (2023) decriminalising 183 provisions.
- Convergence and handholding: district plans with gram sabhas and urban local bodies; credit, markets and skills for FPOs, SHGs, MSMEs and start-ups.
- Responsive services and guardrails: time-bound online delivery and dashboards; transparent criteria and conflict-of-interest disclosure against capture.
Close with · The Prime Minister's 2020 counsel to officer trainees: every bureaucrat's role is to ensure Minimum Government and Maximum Governance, with less interference and the common man empowered.
Add value (verified)
- Mission Karmayogi: a core guiding principle is supporting the transition from 'rules based' to 'roles based' HR management.Cabinet approves Mission Karmayogi (NPCSCB) — PIB, 2 September 2020 ↗“The core guiding principles of the Programme will be: Supporting Transition from 'Rules based' to 'Roles based* HR Management.”
- Economic Survey 2024-25: 'getting out of the way' and letting businesses focus on their core mission is a significant contribution governments can make.Economic Survey 2024-25 — indiabudget.gov.in ↗““Getting out of the way” and allowing businesses to focus on their core mission is a significant contribution that governments around the country can make to foster innovation and enhance competitiveness.”
- Viksit Bharat@2047 is the vision to make India a developed nation by 2047, the 100th year of independence, spanning economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability and good governance (PIB, December 2023).PM to launch 'Viksit Bharat @2047: Voice of Youth' on 11th December — PIB, 10 December 2023 ↗“Viksit Bharat@2047 is the vision to make India a developed nation by 2047, the 100th year of its independence. The vision encompasses various aspects of development, including economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance, among others.”
- Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, passed by the Lok Sabha (27 June 2023) and the Rajya Sabha (2 August 2023): 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts administered by 19 ministries or departments decriminalised, so that minor, technical or procedural defaults do not bring imprisonment.Rajya Sabha passes Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023 in Parliament — PIB, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2 August 2023 ↗“Through The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2023, a total of 183 provisions are being proposed to be decriminalized in 42 Central Acts administered by 19 Ministries/Departments.”
- The Prime Minister, interacting with civil service officer trainees (31 October 2020), said the role of all bureaucrats is to ensure Minimum Government and Maximum Governance, reducing interference in citizens' lives and empowering the common man.Prime Minister interacts with Officer Trainees of Indian Civil Services ('Aarambh') — PIB, 31 October 2020 ↗“He said the role of all bureaucrats in the present mode of working in the country is to ensure Minimum Government and Maximum Governance. He urged the civil servants to ensure that the interference in the lives of citizens is reduced and the common man is empowered.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2025, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 217words · Minimalist IAS
Holistic development, in the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, spans economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability and good governance. It needs officers who remove hurdles and connect citizens to opportunity, not ones who merely grant or refuse permission.
| Regulator mindset | Enabler mindset |
|---|---|
| Permission-giver | Problem-solver |
| Prior approvals | Self-certification, deemed approval |
|---|---|
| Rules followed | Roles and outcomes owned |
- Build capacity: Mission Karmayogi supports a shift from 'rules based' to 'roles based' HR management; competence-based training must reach every field office.
- Trust-based compliance: the Economic Survey 2024-25 calls 'getting out of the way' a significant contribution governments can make; in 2023 Parliament passed the Jan Vishwas Bill to decriminalise 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts. Self-certification and time-bound single windows should follow.
- Convergence: one district plan pools schemes, funds and departments around outcomes, prepared with gram sabhas and urban local bodies.
- Handholding: FPOs, SHGs, MSMEs and start-ups get credit, market linkages and skilling matched to local demand.
- Responsive services: online delivery with time limits, grievance redress with escalation, and public outcome dashboards.
- Guardrails: facilitation is not capture; keep transparent criteria, conflict-of-interest disclosure, and regulation where safety, environment or rights are at stake.
In 2020 the Prime Minister told officer trainees that every bureaucrat's role is 'to ensure Minimum Government and Maximum Governance': less interference in citizens' lives, and the common man empowered.
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.
