Vijay was Deputy Commissioner of remote district of Hilly Northern State of the country for the last two years. In the month of August heavy rains lashed the complete state followed by cloud burst in the upper reaches of the said district. The damage was very heavy in the complete state especially in the affected district. The complete road network and telecommunication were disrupted and the buildings were damaged extensively. People’s houses have been destroyed and they were forced to stay in open. More than 200 people have been killed and about 5000 were badly injured. The Civil Administration under Vijay got activated and started conducting rescue and relief operations. Temporary shelter camps and hospitals were established to provide shelter and medical facilities to the homeless and injured people. Helicopter services were pressed in, for evacuating sick and old people from remote areas. Vijay got a message from his hometown in Kerala that his mother was seriously sick. After two days Vijay received the unfortunate message that his mother has expired. Vijay has no close relative except one elder sister who was US citizen and staying there for last several years. In the meantime, the situation in the affected district deteriorated further due to resumption of heavy rains after a gap of five days. At the same time, continuous messages were coming on his mobile from his hometown to reach at the earliest for performing last rites of his mother.
(a) What are the options available with Vijay? (b) What are the ethical dilemma being faced by Vijay? (c) Critically evaluate and examine each of these options identified by Vijay. (d) Which of the options, do you think, would be most appropriate for Vijay to adopt and why?
Approach · directive: “what / critically evaluate and examine / which”
What it asks · Identify Vijay’s options, name the clash between public duty in a worsening disaster and filial duty, weigh each option, and recommend a course.
The question has 4 parts — answer each
- (a) What options are available to Vijay
- (b) What ethical dilemmas Vijay faces
- (c) Critically evaluate and examine each option: its merits and its costs
- (d) Which option is most appropriate for Vijay to adopt, and why
Open with · Vijay faces a clash of two genuine (prima facie) duties: to thousands of disaster-hit citizens and to his mother's last rites; no option is free of cost.
Cover
- Stakeholders: affected people and rescue teams; the State government; Vijay, his sister abroad and relatives; the hometown community.
- Dilemmas: public duty vs filial and cultural duty; continuity of leadership vs personal grief; emotional well-being vs responsibility.
- Option 1 — leave at once: fulfils filial duty, but leaves the district leaderless as rains resume; risk to lives and to morale.
- Option 2 — stay and forgo the rites: best for the response, but grief, guilt and social criticism; his sister cannot easily step in.
- Option 3 — ask relatives or community elders to perform the rites, join by video, hold rituals later; practical but emotionally hard.
- Recommended: inform the Chief Secretary, seek a stand-in and brief the ADM fully; after handing over charge, travel for the rites and return quickly.
- Why: disaster response is institutional — district plan, SDRF/NDRF, SOPs; if no stand-in is possible, stay and let relatives begin the rites.
Close with · Duty and compassion can be reconciled through an orderly handover; disaster response that does not hinge on one person is the lasting lesson.
Add value (verified)
- Disaster Management Act, 2005, Section 25(2)(a): the Collector, District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner is ex officio Chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority. Disaster Management Act, 2005, Section 25 — Meghalaya Police (megpolice.gov.in) ↗“(a) the Collector or District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner, as the case may be, of the district who shall be Chairperson, ex officio;”
- Disaster Management Act, 2005, Section 25(4): an officer of at least Additional Collector / ADM / Additional DC rank is the Chief Executive Officer of the District Authority. Disaster Management Act, 2005, Section 25(4) — megpolice.gov.in ↗“(4) The State Government shall appoint an officer not below the rank of Additional Collector or Additional District Magistrate or Additional Deputy Commissioner, as the case may be, of the district to be the Chief Executive Officer of the District Authority”
- W.D. Ross characterised our basic moral duties as prima facie rather than absolute or exceptionless. William David Ross — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“Ross’s major innovation involves characterising these as prima facie duties rather than absolute or exceptionless duties.”
- Ross held the duty not to harm ('do evil to no one') more pressing than the duty to do good, unless the good substantially outweighs the evil. William David Ross — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“He writes: ‘We think the principle ‘do evil to no one’ more pressing than the principle ‘do good to every one’, except when the evil is very substantially outweighed by the good’”
- All India Services (Conduct) Rules, Rule 3(1): absolute integrity and devotion to duty at all times. 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.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2025, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 378 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Vijay faces a clash of two genuine duties: to thousands of disaster-hit citizens and to his mother's last rites. W.D. Ross called such duties prima facie, binding but not absolute; judgement in the situation decides which prevails.
Stakeholders
- Directly affected: disaster victims, rescue teams and subordinates; the State government; Vijay, his sister and relatives.
(a) Options available to Vijay
- Option 1: leave at once for Kerala, handing over informally.
- Option 2: stay; relatives perform the rites, Vijay joins by video and does later rituals himself.
- Option 3: hand over formally to a briefed stand-in, attend the rites briefly and return.
(b) Ethical dilemmas Vijay faces
- Public duty vs filial duty: a son's obligation to his mother's last rites against the lives at stake.
- Continuity vs grief: leadership as rains resume, against personal loss and exhaustion.
- Indispensability vs institution: is the Deputy Commissioner irreplaceable, or is that ego?
- Devotion vs self-care: the conduct rules demand "devotion to duty", yet a sleepless, grieving officer judges poorly.
(c) Critical evaluation of each option
| Option | Merit | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Leave at once | Honours filial duty | District headless; near dereliction |
| 2. Stay | Continuity of response | Grief, guilt; impaired judgement |
| 3. Formal handover | Meets both duties | Needs a stand-in and travel window |
(d) Most appropriate course and why
- Option 3, in sequence: inform the Chief Secretary; secure a stand-in; give a written status note on shelters, evacuation, supplies and forecasts; stay reachable; return at once.
- Legal basis: under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 the Deputy Commissioner chairs the District Authority, but an officer of at least ADM rank is its Chief Executive Officer; the institution, not one person, runs the response.
- Ethical basis: Ross held the duty not to harm more pressing than the duty to do good; leaving without a handover risks harm, while an orderly handover honours both duties.
- Fallback: if no stand-in can reach or travel is impossible, stay; relatives begin the rites.
Systemic fix
- Succession by design: leave and succession protocols in district disaster plans, a trained deputy as incident commander, and counselling for officers in long crises.
Duty and compassion meet in an orderly handover: the office must never be headless, but the officer is also a son. Preparedness that does not hinge on one person is the lasting lesson.
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.