Mains · GS Paper IV · 10 questions

Attitude

Every question UPSC has set on this line of the GS Paper IV syllabus, newest first — with an approach for each.

Asked in 4 of 11 years

UPSC syllabus (verbatim): “Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.” Sub-topics in the detailed syllabus →

2025

GS Paper IV 2025 · Q3 (Section A)

3 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each X-Ray · Core #25

Given below are three quotations of great thinkers. What do each of these quotations convey to you in the present context?

Q3(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

“Those who in trouble untroubled are, Will trouble trouble itself.” – Thiruvalluvar

Approach · directive: “what does it convey (in the present context)”

What it asks · Explain Thiruvalluvar's point that one who stays calm in trouble defeats trouble itself, and show what it conveys today for the individual, public service and the nation.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Explain what Thiruvalluvar's couplet means
Bring out what it conveys in the present context, with an example

Open with · Thiruvalluvar's Tirukkural: one who stays untroubled in trouble turns trouble back on itself; panic multiplies a crisis, while equanimity keeps judgement clear.

Cover

A flowchart traces the couplet's logic: trouble strikes, a calm mind, clear judgement, right action, trouble overcome.
The individual: exam failure, job loss or an online smear; resilience and emotional intelligence as learnable public-service competencies.
Public service: Gujarat's comprehensive preparedness on IMD's advance warnings before Cyclone Biparjoy (June 2023).
The nation: the Silkyara tunnel collapse (November 2023), where the trapped workers' perseverance gave the rescuers strength and all 41 came out after 17 days.
Caution: composure is not indifference but the steadiness that lets compassion act.

Close with · The Gita's sthitaprajna, one whose mind is not shaken by adversity: the steady wisdom that every crisis manager needs.

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Bhagavad Gita 2.56: the sage of steady wisdom (sthitaprajna) is one whose mind is not shaken by adversity.Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, Ch. II, verse 56, tr. Swami Swarupananda — sacred-texts.com ↗“56. He whose mind is not shaken by adversity, who does not hanker after happiness, who has become free from affection, fear, and wrath, is indeed the Muni of steady wisdom.”
Very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy crossed the Kutch coast near Jakhau on 15 June 2023; acting on IMD's advance warnings, Gujarat made comprehensive preparedness with national agencies.Ministry of Home Affairs, Annual Report 2023-24 (disaster management chapter) ↗“A very severe cyclonic storm "BIPARJOY" crossed Saurashtra & Kutch 179 between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) on 15.06.2023 with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 145 kmph. Based on the advance warnings given by IMD, comprehensive preparedness was made by the State Government of Gujarat, along with National agencies to deal with the situation.”
New India Samachar (16–31 December 2023): the 41 workers stuck for 17 days in Uttarkashi's Silkyara tunnel showed courage, and their perseverance gave strength to all the rescuing agencies; part of the tunnel had caved in on 12 November.New India Samachar, 16–31 December 2023 (Government of India fortnightly) — newindiasamachar.pib.gov.in ↗“The 41 workers who spent 17 days stuck in Uttarkashi's Silkyara Tunnel embodied, passion, vigour, and courage beyond words. It was the perseverance of the workers trapped in the tunnel that was giving strength to all the agencies in the country.”
New India Samachar (16–31 December 2023): after 17 days of a very difficult rescue operation, all 41 workers were successfully rescued.New India Samachar, 16–31 December 2023 (Government of India fortnightly) — newindiasamachar.pib.gov.in ↗“In a very difficult rescue operation, after 17 days of tireless hard work 41 workers were successfully rescued by overcoming unprecedented challenges.”

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· 185words · Minimalist IAS

In the Tirukkural, Thiruvalluvar holds that one who stays untroubled in trouble turns trouble back on itself. Panic multiplies a crisis; equanimity keeps judgement clear, so the difficulty, not the person, gives way.

The individual: an exam failure, a lost job or an online smear tests this capacity; resilience and emotional intelligence can be learnt, and both are core public-service competencies.

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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.

Q3(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” – William James

Approach · directive: “what does it convey (in the present context)”

What it asks · Explain James's claim that changing one's attitudes changes one's life, and show what it conveys today for the individual, public service and society.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Explain what William James's statement means
Bring out what it conveys in the present context, with an example

Open with · James's attitude: a settled way of thinking and feeling that steers what we choose and do; being learnt, attitudes can be changed, and a changed attitude remakes habits, character and life.

Cover

A flowchart shows the chain: new attitude, new choices, new habits, new character, an altered life.
The individual: failure read as feedback, not a verdict; a growth mindset turning setbacks into skill.
Public service: Kiran Bedi's Tihar (1993), where work, study, yoga and inmates' panchayats imbued prisoners with positive attitudes.
Society: Swachh Bharat Mission and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao employed behavioural insights (Economic Survey 2018-19); attitude cannot replace structural change.

Close with · Epictetus: men are disturbed not by things but by the views they take of things; James gave that ancient insight the backing of modern psychology.

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Economic Survey 2018-19, Ch. 2 (Leveraging the Behavioural Economics of Nudge): Swachh Bharat Mission and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao have successfully employed behavioural insights.Economic Survey 2018-19, Vol. 1, Ch. 2 (Leveraging the Behavioural Economics of Nudge) — indiabudget.gov.in (archived) ↗“This chapter illustrates how the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) have successfully employed behavioural insights.”
William James (Principles of Psychology, chapter on Habit): we should make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy by forming as many good habits as we can, as early in life as we can.William James — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“We should strive to make our “nervous system our ally instead of our enemy” by forming as many good habits as we can, as early in life as we can.”
Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (Kiran Bedi, 1994 Award for Government Service): as inspector general of prisons from 1993 she transformed Tihar, India's largest prison complex, through work, study, yoga and inmates' panchayats, imbuing inmates with positive attitudes.Kiran Bedi, 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service — Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation ↗“In 1993 BEDI became inspector general of prisons (Delhi) and took charge of Tihar, India’s largest prison complex.”
Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation: in Tihar, Bedi's charges were being imbued with positive attitudes and practical skills for life beyond the walls.Kiran Bedi, 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service — Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation ↗“Tihar is a different world today. In it BEDI’s charges are being imbued with positive attitudes and practical skills for life beyond the walls.”
Epictetus, Enchiridion V: men are disturbed not by things but by the views they take of them; when hindered or disturbed, we should impute it to our own views.Epictetus, The Enchiridion, V — Project Gutenberg ↗“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.”

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· 210words · Minimalist IAS

For William James, an attitude, our settled way of thinking and feeling about people and events, steers what we choose and do. Because attitudes are learnt, they can be changed, and a changed attitude remakes habits, character and finally life.

He urged us to make our 'nervous system our ally instead of our enemy' by forming good habits as early as we can.

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Q3(c) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

“The strength of a society is not in its laws, but in the morality of its people.” – Swami Vivekananda

Approach · directive: “what does it convey (in the present context)”

What it asks · Explain Vivekananda's view that a society's strength lies in its people's morality rather than its laws, and show what it conveys today for society, civic life and public service.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Explain what Vivekananda's statement means
Bring out what it conveys in the present context, with an example

Open with · Vivekananda: laws set only a minimum and work when most people obey them willingly; a society's real strength is its people's character, with unselfishness the foundation of morality.

Cover

A flowchart links value education, inner morality and willing compliance to a strong society.
Society and civic life: dowry and child marriage persist despite laws; road safety, waste segregation and tax compliance rest on voluntary conduct.
Public service: an officer's integrity governs where no rule reaches.
Example: Ralegan Siddhi (Ahmadnagar), where a youth group worked against dowry, caste discrimination and untouchability, and no case has since been referred to the police (NCERT).
Balance: law as the floor that can lead reform, as in the Constitution's ban on untouchability.

Close with · Confucius: people led by laws and punishments try to avoid the punishment but have no sense of shame; led by virtue, they become good.

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Swami Vivekananda, quoted by the 2nd ARC (Ethics in Governance, Box 2.7): as knowledge grows, morality evolves; unselfishness is the foundation of morality.2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, 4th Report: Ethics in Governance (2007), Box 2.7 — DARPG (archived) ↗“as knowledge comes, person grows, morality is evolved, and idea of non- separateness begins. Whether men understand it or not, they are impelled by that power behind to become unselfish. That is the foundation of morality. It is the quintessence of all ethics, preached in any language, or any religion, or by any prophet in the world”
Confucius, Analects II.3 (tr. James Legge): people led by laws and punishments try to avoid the punishment but have no sense of shame; led by virtue and propriety, they have the sense of shame and become good.The Analects of Confucius, Book II, Chap. III (tr. James Legge) — Project Gutenberg ↗“If the people be led by laws, and uniformity sought to be given them by punishments, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame. 2. 'If they be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be given them by the rules of propriety, they will have the sense of shame, and moreover will become good.”

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· 196words · Minimalist IAS

For Swami Vivekananda, morality rests on unselfishness, 'the foundation of morality'. Laws set only a minimum and work when most people obey them willingly; a society's real strength is the character of its people, and morality works where no law can watch.

Society: laws against dowry and child marriage have long existed, yet both practices persist wherever social approval outweighs fear of the law.

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2022

GS Paper IV 2022 · Q2 (Section A)

2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each X-Ray · Core #3

Q2(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

The Rules and Regulations provided to all the civil servants are same, yet there is difference in the performance. Positive minded officers are able to interpret the Rules and Regulations in favour of the case and achieve success, whereas negative minded officers are unable to achieve goals by interpreting the same Rules and Regulations against the case. Discuss with illustrations.

Approach · directive: “discuss with illustrations”

What it asks · Discuss why the same rules bring success under positive-minded officers and failure under negative-minded ones, with illustrations, the roots of the difference and its limit.

It asks 3 things — answer each

Explain how attitude shapes the reading of the same rules
Illustrate positive and negative interpretation with examples
Bring out the roots of the gap and the limit of interpreting 'in favour of the case'

Open with · Ambedkar's warning that however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad if those called to work it happen to be a bad lot: rules too depend on the mind that reads them.

Cover

A table shows one rule read two ways: prescribed documents, the power to relax in hardship, and a decision by the competent authority.
Purpose over loophole: D.S. Nakara (1982), where a pension scheme's discernible purpose must guide its interpretation, calling for a liberal construction.
Same mandate, new result: T. N. Seshan, finding 150 specific electoral abuses, read the Election Commission's constitutional mandate as broadly as possible.
Roots of the gap: self-belief and ownership against fear of audit and file-pushing.
The limit: the citizen's lawful need, with reasons recorded; stretching a rule for a contractor is corruption.

Close with · Kautilya's test that whatever pleases the subjects, not the ruler, counts as good: read for that end, within the law, the same rulebook becomes an instrument of service.

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Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly (25 November 1949): however good a Constitution may be, it turns out bad if those called to work it are a bad lot; however bad, it may turn out good if they are a good lot.Constituent Assembly Debates, 25 November 1949 (constitutionofindia.net) ↗“Because I feel, however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot. However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those who are called to work it, happen to be a good lot.”
D.S. Nakara v Union of India (1982): the Supreme Court held that the purpose of a pension scheme must guide its interpretation, that it deserves a liberal construction, and that pension is a right, not a bounty.D.S. Nakara & Others v Union of India, Supreme Court of India, 17 December 1982 — Indian Kanoon ↗“The discernible purpose underlying the pension scheme must inform the interpretative process and it should receive a liberal construction. [185 G-H] (i) Pension is a right; not a bounty or gratuitous payment.”
T. N. Seshan, as Chief Election Commissioner, found 150 specific abuses in the electoral system; when politicians would not legislate reforms, he interpreted the Election Commission's constitutional mandate as broadly as possible to clean up elections (Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, 1996 awardee).Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, T. N. Seshan (1996 awardee, Government Service) ↗“SESHAN’s initial analysis of his country’s electoral system revealed 150 specific abuses. When India’s politicians proved reluctant to legislate reforms, he launched a crusade of his own. Interpreting the constitutional mandate of the Election Commission as broadly as possible and stretching its legal powers to their maximum possible limits, SESHAN set about cleansing the Augean stables of Indian democracy—one election after another.”
Kautilya: the ruler's happiness lies in the happiness and welfare of his subjects; what pleases the subjects, not himself, is to be counted as good.Kautilya, Arthashastra, Book I (tr. R. Shamasastry), excerpt — Hanover College, Department of History ↗“In the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness; in their welfare his welfare; whatever pleases himself he shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2022, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 222words · Minimalist IAS

Ambedkar warned that however good a Constitution may be, "it is sure to turn out bad" if those called to work it "happen to be a bad lot". Rules too depend on the mind that reads them.

Same rule	Positive reading	Negative reading
Prescribed documents	Accept affidavit, field check	Return the file

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Q2(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

It is believed that adherence to ethics in human actions would ensure in smooth functioning of an organization/system. If so, what does ethics seek to promote in human life? How do ethical values assist in the resolution of conflicts faced by him in his day-to-day functioning?

Approach · directive: “what; how (explain)”

What it asks · State what ethics seeks to promote in human life, and explain how ethical values help a person resolve the conflicts of day-to-day functioning, which keeps an organisation running smoothly.

It asks 2 things — answer each

State what ethics seeks to promote in human life
Explain how ethical values help resolve the conflicts faced in day-to-day functioning

Open with · Ethics as the reasoned pursuit of right conduct and the good life: laws and manuals govern only part of what people do, ethics guides the rest, so an organisation that lives by it runs smoothly.

Cover

What ethics promotes: dignity and justice (the Preamble's dignity of the individual), Amartya Sen's freedom to achieve well-being, and trust and harmony.
A table maps three everyday conflicts to the value that guides each and its resolution: private gain against public duty, a superior's order against the law, colleague against colleague.
Many-sidedness: Mahavira's anekantavada, truth has many aspects, so hearing every side turns a quarrel into a settlement.
Priority in advance: values rank competing claims before the crisis, making choices quick, consistent and defensible.

Close with · The welfare of all, not of the few: the end that the common prayer sarve bhavantu sukhinah, 'May all creatures be happy', expresses.

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The capability approach, pioneered by Amartya Sen, holds that the freedom to achieve well-being is of primary moral importance, and that well-being is understood in terms of people's capabilities and functionings (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 'The Capability Approach' ↗“The capability approach is a theoretical framework that entails two normative claims: first, the claim that the freedom to achieve well-being is of primary moral importance and, second, that well-being should be understood in terms of people’s capabilities and functionings.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2022, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 215words · Minimalist IAS

Ethics is the reasoned pursuit of right conduct and the good life. Laws and manuals govern only part of what people do; ethics guides the rest, which is why an organisation that lives by it runs smoothly.

What ethics seeks to promote in human life

Dignity and justice: the Preamble assures "the dignity of the individual"; ethics carries that promise into every encounter, with fairness to the weakest.
Freedom to flourish: for Amartya Sen, the freedom to achieve well-being is of primary moral importance.
Trust and harmony: honesty and reliability let people cooperate without constant checks, and spare each person the strain of a double life.

The full answer goes on to cover

How ethical values resolve day-to-day conflicts

With 1 table you can reproduce in the exam.

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2021

GS Paper IV 2021 · Q4 (Section A)

2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each X-Ray · Core #42

Q4(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

Attitude is an important component that goes as input in the development of human being. How to build a suitable attitude needed for a public servant?

Approach · directive: “how (suggest ways to build)”

What it asks · Explain attitude as a learned input to human development, the attitude a public servant needs, and practical ways to build it.

It asks 3 things — answer each

Explain attitude as an input in the development of a human being
Identify the attitude a public servant needs
Suggest how to build it

Open with · In social psychology an attitude is a cognition, with some attraction or aversion, that reflects how we classify and evaluate objects and events; being learned, it is an input that can be deliberately built.

Cover

A table sets suitable against unsuitable attitudes on the cognitive, affective and behavioural components.
Modelling: Bandura's Bobo doll study shows behaviour is learned by observing others, so mentors must model courtesy and integrity.
Exposure and dissonance: field stays confront stereotypes; Festinger's cognitive dissonance, guided by reflection, tips beliefs towards change.
Practice, reinforcement and self-work: case studies, appraisals that reward empathy, citizen feedback, and a guard against cynicism.

Close with · Training should finally cultivate what Article 51A(h) asks of every citizen: the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.

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Britannica: in social psychology an attitude is a cognition, often with some aversion or attraction (emotional valence), reflecting the classification and evaluation of objects and events; it shows in conscious experience, verbal reports, overt behaviour and physiological indicators.Attitude (psychology) — Encyclopaedia Britannica ↗“attitude , in social psychology , a cognition , often with some degree of aversion or attraction (emotional valence), that reflects the classification and evaluation of objects and events. While attitudes logically are hypothetical constructs (i.e., they are inferred but not objectively observable), they are manifested in conscious experience, verbal reports, overt behaviour, and physiological indicators.”
Albert Bandura, originator of social cognitive theory, is best known for the 'Bobo doll' modelling study, which showed that children learn behaviours by observing adults.Albert Bandura — Encyclopaedia Britannica ↗“was a Canadian-born American psychologist and originator of social cognitive theory who is probably best known for his modeling study on aggression , referred to as the “Bobo doll” experiment , which demonstrated that children can learn behaviours through the observation of adults.”
Cognitive dissonance, developed by Leon Festinger in the 1950s, is the mental conflict when beliefs are contradicted by new information; people relieve it by rejecting or explaining away the information, or by reconciling the differences.Cognitive dissonance — Encyclopaedia Britannica ↗“cognitive dissonance , the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs or assumptions are contradicted by new information. The unease or tension that the conflict arouses in people is relieved by one of several defensive maneuvers: they reject, explain away, or avoid the new information; persuade themselves that no conflict really exists; reconcile the differences;”

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· 205words · Minimalist IAS

In social psychology, an attitude is a cognition, with some attraction or aversion, that reflects how we classify and evaluate objects and events; it shows in what we say and do. Being learned, it is an input that shapes character and can be deliberately built.

Component	Suitable attitude	Unsuitable attitude
Cognitive (belief)	The citizen is the principal	The public is a nuisance

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Q4(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

In case of crisis of conscience does emotional intelligence help to overcome the same without compromising the ethical or moral stand that you are likely to follow? Critically examine.

Approach · directive: “critically examine”

What it asks · Judge whether emotional intelligence helps resolve a crisis of conscience without giving up one's moral stand: how it helps, where it falls short, and a verdict.

It asks 3 things — answer each

Examine how emotional intelligence helps overcome a crisis of conscience
Examine its limits: where it cannot replace the moral stand itself
Give a reasoned verdict

Open with · A crisis of conscience arises when what one believes right collides with an order, a loyalty or self-interest; Goleman's emotional intelligence combines self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy and social skills.

Cover

A table shows how each component of emotional intelligence helps (naming fear, seeing those harmed, dissent on file) and how it can mislead.
Exemplar: at Champaran in 1917 Gandhi disobeyed the order in obedience to the voice of conscience, firm yet courteous; the case was withdrawn.
Limits: emotional intelligence is a competence, not a compass; manipulators can score high and tact can disguise compliance.
Verdict: values, law and a reasoned conscience supply the stand; emotional intelligence helps hold it calmly.

Close with · Tagore prayed for the strength never to disown the poor or bend one's knees before insolent might: the end emotional intelligence must serve.

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Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence (1995) described five components: self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy and social skills.Emotional intelligence — Encyclopaedia Britannica ↗“In Emotional Intelligence (1995), a work that served to popularize the notion in the 1990s, the American psychologist Daniel Goleman described emotional intelligence as comprising five broadly understood components: self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy, and social skills.”
At his trial in Champaran, Gandhi said he had disregarded the order served upon him not for want of respect for lawful authority but in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience.M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part V, ch. 15 'Case Withdrawn' (tr. Mahadev Desai) — text hosted by Prof. Frances W. Pritchett (Columbia University) ↗“I venture to make this statement not in any way in extenuation of the penalty to be awarded against me, but to show that I have disregarded the order served upon me, not for want of respect for lawful authority, but in obedience to the higher law of our being, the voice of conscience.”
Before sentence, the Lieutenant Governor ordered the case against Gandhi withdrawn, and the Collector wrote that he was at liberty to conduct his inquiry with officials' help.M.K. Gandhi, An Autobiography, Part V, ch. 15 'Case Withdrawn' — text hosted by Prof. Frances W. Pritchett (Columbia University) ↗“Before I could appear before the Court to receive the sentence, the Magistrate sent a written message that the Lieutenant Governor had ordered the case against me to be withdrawn”
Tagore, Gitanjali 36: 'Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.'Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali (Song Offerings), poem 36 — Project Gutenberg (public-domain text) ↗“Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.”

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· 212words · Minimalist IAS

A crisis of conscience arises when what one believes right collides with an order, a loyalty or self-interest. Emotional intelligence (EI), in Daniel Goleman's account, combines self-awareness, self-control, self-motivation, empathy and social skills; the question is whether it steadies the moral stand or softens it.

EI component	How it helps	How it can mislead
Self-awareness, self-control	Names the fear, prevents panic	Calms conscience into silence

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2020

GS Paper IV 2020 · Q2 (Section A)

2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each X-Ray · Core #42

Q2(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

‘Hatred is destructive of a person’s wisdom and conscience that can poison a nation’s spirit.’ Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer.

Approach · directive: “do you agree; justify”

What it asks · Take a stand on whether hatred destroys a person's wisdom and conscience and can poison a nation's spirit, and justify it with reasons and examples.

It asks 3 things — answer each

State whether you agree that hatred destroys a person's wisdom and conscience
Justify how hatred can poison a nation's spirit, with examples
Qualify the view and show how hatred is overcome

Open with · Hatred as settled hostility towards a person or group, deeper and more lasting than anger; agreement with the view, since hatred corrupts first the hater's judgement and conscience, then a nation's spirit.

Cover

A flowchart traces the slide: prejudice, hatred, clouded judgement, silenced conscience, collective violence.
Wisdom destroyed: Tagore on peoples taught to foster hatred through half-truths and untruths in history.
Conscience silenced and a nation poisoned: Tagore's warning against moral callousness; the killings of Partition; Tehseen Poonawalla (2018) on mobocracy.
The qualification: anger at injustice is not hatred; Gandhi's precept 'Hate the sin and not the sinner', rarely practised, which is why the poison of hatred spreads.
Remedies: action against hate speech and mob violence, education for empathy, dialogue and leaders who model restraint.

Close with · The Dhammapada's law that hatred is never appeased by hatred, only by non-hatred.

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Tehseen S. Poonawalla v Union of India (Supreme Court, 17 July 2018), on mob lynching: mobocracy cannot be allowed to override the law or become the new normal.Tehseen S. Poonawalla vs Union of India, Supreme Court, 17 July 2018 — Indian Kanoon ↗“The horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be permitted to inundate the law of the land. Earnest action and concrete steps have to be taken to protect the citizens from the recurrent pattern of violence which cannot be allowed to become “the new normal”.”
Gandhi, An Autobiography (Part IV, Ch. 9): 'Hate the sin and not the sinner' is a precept easy enough to understand but rarely practised, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.M. K. Gandhi, An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part IV, Ch. 9 (A Tussle with Power) — mkgandhi.org (PDF, p. 310) ↗“understand, is rarely practised, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world. This ahimsa is the basis of the search for truth.”
Dhammapada, verse 5: hatred is never appeased by hatred, only by non-hatred.Dhammapada, Yamakavagga: Pairs (verses 1-20), tr. Acharya Buddharakkhita — Access to Insight ↗“Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 217words · Minimalist IAS

Hatred is settled hostility towards a person or group, deeper and more lasting than anger. I agree with the view: hatred first corrupts the hater's judgement and conscience and, once shared by many, the spirit of a nation.

Wisdom destroyed: hatred filters every fact through prejudice, so the hater cannot weigh evidence. Tagore warned that peoples taught 'to foster hatred' are fed 'half-truths and untruths in history'.

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Q2(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

What are the main components of emotional intelligence (EI)? Can they be learned? Discuss.

Approach · directive: “what; discuss”

What it asks · Set out the main components of emotional intelligence, then discuss whether, how and how far they can be learned.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Identify the main components of emotional intelligence
Discuss whether they can be learned, how, and the limits

Open with · Emotional intelligence defined, after Salovey and Mayer, as the ability to perceive, use, understand and manage emotions, one's own and others'; Goleman's five components.

Cover

A hub lays out Goleman's five components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill.
Managing oneself (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation) and managing relationships (empathy, social skill), such as reading the fear behind a crowd's anger.
Learnable: Goleman grants a genetic component but finds that research and practice show emotional intelligence can be learned and rises with maturity.
How: the limbic system learns through motivation, extended practice and feedback, so reflection, mindfulness, role-play and mentoring beat lectures; temperament sets the starting point.

Close with · Delhi's Happiness Curriculum (2018), which teaches self-awareness, empathy and coping with stress from Nursery to Grade 8, to create confident, mindful, responsible and happy individuals and a harmonious society.

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Goleman: there is a genetic component to emotional intelligence and nurture plays a role too, but research and practice clearly show that it can be learned; it also increases with age.Daniel Goleman, 'What Makes a Leader?' (Harvard Business Review, reprinted 2004) — republished by the American Association for Physician Leadership ↗“Scientific inquiry strongly suggests that there is a genetic component to emotional intelligence. Psychological and developmental research indicates that nurture plays a role as well. How much of each perhaps will never be known, but research and practice clearly demonstrate that emotional intelligence can be learned. One thing is certain: Emotional intelligence increases with age.”
Goleman: emotional intelligence arises largely in the brain's limbic system, which learns best through motivation, extended practice and feedback, unlike the analytical learning that most training targets.Daniel Goleman, 'What Makes a Leader?' (Harvard Business Review, reprinted 2004) — republished by the American Association for Physician Leadership ↗“Emotional intelligence is born largely in the neurotransmitters of the brain’s limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses, and drives. Research indicates that the limbic system learns best through motivation, extended practice, and feedback.”
SCERT Delhi: the Happiness Curriculum, for Nursery to Grade 8 in Delhi government schools, was introduced in 2018; it holds that education should create confident, mindful, responsible and happy individuals who build a harmonious society.Happiness Curriculum — State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Government of NCT of Delhi ↗“Happiness Class is a program developed by the Government of NCT, Delhi for students from Nursery to Grade 8. The curriculum was introduced in 2018 by His Holiness Dalai Lama. The Curriculum is a path-breaking initiative that questions and challenges the traditional pedagogy and practice. The curriculum believes that the purpose of education is to create confident, mindful, responsible, and happy individuals who collectively build a happy and harmonious society.”
SCERT Delhi: the curriculum's objectives include self-awareness and mindfulness, empathy and healthy relationships, and life skills to deal with stressful and conflicting situations.Happiness Curriculum — State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Government of NCT of Delhi ↗“To develop self-awareness and mindfulness amongst learners. To inculcate skill of critical thinking & inquiry in the learners. To enable learners to communicate effectively and express themselves freely and creatively To enable learners to understand their expectations in relationships, develop empathy, and ensure healthy relationships with family, peers & teachers To enable learners to apply life skills to deal with stressful & conflicting situations around them”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 217words · Minimalist IAS

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive, use, understand and manage emotions, one's own and others', as Salovey and Mayer described it. Daniel Goleman groups it into five components.

The main components of emotional intelligence

Managing oneself: self-awareness is knowing one's moods, strengths and triggers; self-regulation is the pause between impulse and action; motivation is drive that does not depend on reward.
Managing relationships: empathy reads the feeling behind words, such as the fear behind a crowd's anger; social skill turns that reading into trust, persuasion and teamwork.

The full answer goes on to cover

Can they be learned?

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GS Paper IV 2020 · Q4 (Section A)

2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each X-Ray · Core #42

Q4(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

Distinguish between laws and rules. Discuss the role of ethics in formulating them.

Approach · directive: “distinguish; discuss”

What it asks · Distinguish laws from rules by source, content, change and hierarchy, then discuss how ethics should shape the making of both.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Distinguish between laws and rules
Discuss the role of ethics in formulating laws and rules

Open with · A law as a general norm enacted by a legislature and a rule as subordinate legislation framed by the executive under power a law delegates; both bind, so both face the same ethical test.

Cover

A table contrasts laws and rules: who makes them, what they contain and how they change.
Hierarchy: the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, made under the All India Services Act, 1951, must stay within it or fall as ultra vires; Article 13(3)(a) tests rules against fundamental rights.
Purpose: Bentham's greatest-happiness measure, bounded by Martin Luther King Jr.'s just law that squares with the moral law.
Process: the 2014 pre-legislative consultation policy, draft bills in the public domain for 30 days.
Effect: care for the vulnerable, review of unfair results, conscience where a rule is silent or unjust.

Close with · The Preamble's promise of justice, social, economic and political, which every law and rule must finally answer to.

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Article 13(3)(a) of the Constitution: for the purpose of fundamental rights, 'law' includes any ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation or notification, so rules made by the executive are tested against Part III like statutes.The Constitution of India — Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice (2024 text) ↗“(3) In this article, unless the context otherwise requires,— (a) “law” includes any Ordinance, order, bye-law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usage having in the territory of India the force of law”
The All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 were made by the Central Government, after consulting the States, under section 3(1) of the All India Services Act, 1951: a clear instance of a rule framed under a parent law.The All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 — compilation of Central Government rules, High Court of Tripura (thc.nic.in) ↗“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the All India Services Act, 1951 (61 of 1951), the Central Government after consultation with the Governments of the State concerned, hereby makes the following rules, namely:— 1. Short title and commencement. — 1(1) These rules may be called the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.”
Bentham's fundamental axiom (A Fragment on Government, 1776): the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the measure of right and wrong.Jeremy Bentham — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“In the Fragment Bentham stated the “fundamental axiom” that “it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong”, and “the obligation to minister to general happiness, was an obligation paramount to and inclusive of every other””
Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963): a just law squares with the moral law; an unjust law is out of harmony with it.Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.], 16 April 1963 — African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania ↗“A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.”
PRS Legislative Research: the 2014 pre-legislative consultation policy asks ministries to place a draft bill in the public domain for 30 days for comments, with its justification, financial implications and estimated impact.The Faults in India's Law-Making Process — PRS Legislative Research ↗“In 2014, the central government formulated a pre-legislative consultation policy that ministries were expected to follow before submitting a legislative proposal to the union cabinet for approval. The policy specifies that a draft bill be placed in the public domain for 30 days for comments.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 225words · Minimalist IAS

A law is a general norm enacted by a legislature; a rule is subordinate legislation framed by the executive under power a law delegates. Both bind, so both face the same ethical test.

How laws and rules differ

Basis	Law	Rule
Made by	Parliament or state legislature	Executive, under an Act
Content	Rights, duties, offences, penalties	Procedure: forms, fees, timelines
Change	Legislative amendment	Government notification

Hierarchy: the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 were made under the All India Services Act, 1951 and must stay within it, or fall as ultra vires; under Article 13(3)(a), rules too are tested against fundamental rights.

The full answer goes on to cover

The role of ethics in formulating them

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Q4(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

A positive attitude is considered to be an essential characteristic of a civil servant who is often required to function under extreme stress. What contributes to a positive attitude in a person?

Approach · directive: “what (contributes)”

What it asks · Identify what builds a positive attitude in a person, with reference to a civil servant who must work under extreme stress.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Explain what a positive attitude is and why a civil servant under extreme stress needs it
Identify the personal, social and institutional factors that contribute to it

Open with · Attitude as a settled tendency to feel, think and act towards a person, object or issue; a positive attitude as a constructive, solution-focused stance, decisive for an officer facing a flood, a riot or a pandemic.

Cover

A hub shows six contributors: upbringing, a sense of purpose, self-awareness, healthy habits, preparedness and a supportive workplace.
Upbringing and role models: early security and encouragement; calm seniors.
Meaning and purpose: Frankl's finding in the concentration camps that inmates with meaning in their lives were more likely to survive.
Self-awareness and habits keep stress from hardening into cynicism; preparedness, as in the 'zero casualty' evacuation of about 1.1 million people for Cyclone Fani (2019).
Institutional support: fair workloads, recognition and Mission Karmayogi's aim of a creative, constructive, proactive civil servant.

Close with · Frankl's last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, as a civil servant's first duty under extreme stress.

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Britannica: in the concentration camps (Theresienstadt from 1942, Auschwitz from 1944), Frankl concluded that inmates who had some meaning in their lives were more likely to survive.Viktor Frankl — Encyclopaedia Britannica ↗“In 1944 the surviving Frankls were taken to Auschwitz, where his mother was exterminated; his wife died later in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. As Frankl observed the brutality and degradation around him, he theorized that those inmates who had some meaning in their lives were more likely to survive;”
Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning: prisoners who comforted others and gave away their last piece of bread proved that the last human freedom, to choose one's attitude in any circumstances, cannot be taken away.Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (excerpt) — course reading, University of Colorado Boulder (PHIL 150) ↗“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Business Standard (IANS), 4 May 2019, national newspaper report: the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction credited India's 'zero casualty' policy for cyclones and the IMD's pinpoint early warnings with reducing deaths from Cyclone Fani.India's 'zero casualty' policy, pinpoint warnings minimised Fani deaths — Business Standard (IANS), national newspaper report, 4 May 2019 ↗“The Indian government's "zero casualty" policy for cyclones and the pinpoint accuracy of the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) early warning system have helped reduce the possibility of deaths from cyclone Fani, according to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (ODRR).”
Business Standard (IANS), 4 May 2019: the UN disaster-risk office's spokesperson said the warnings allowed a well-targeted evacuation that moved about 1.1 million people to about 900 cyclone shelters.India's 'zero casualty' policy, pinpoint warnings minimised Fani deaths — Business Standard (IANS), national newspaper report, 4 May 2019 ↗“The almost pinpoint accuracy of the warnings, the early warnings from the IMD, allows them to conduct a very well targeted evacuation plan which resulted in 1.1 million people mainly moving to about 900 cyclone shelters.”
Mission Karmayogi (Cabinet approval, 2 September 2020) aims to make the civil servant more creative, constructive, proactive and energetic, an institutional push for a positive attitude.Cabinet approves 'Mission Karmayogi' — PIB, Cabinet, 2 September 2020 ↗“Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare the Indian Civil Servant for the future by making him more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 222words · Minimalist IAS

An attitude is a settled tendency to feel, think and act in a particular way towards a person, object or issue. A positive attitude is a constructive, solution-focused stance, decisive for an officer facing a flood, a riot or a pandemic.

Upbringing and role models: security and encouragement at home and school build the belief that problems can be solved; calm seniors teach calm.

Read the full model answer (222 words) →

GS Paper IV 2020 · Q5 (Section A)

2 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each

Q5(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

What are the main factors responsible for gender inequality in India? Discuss the contribution of Savitribai Phule in this regard.

Approach · directive: “what; discuss”

What it asks · Set out the main social, economic and institutional causes of gender inequality in India, then discuss how Savitribai Phule fought it.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Identify the main factors responsible for gender inequality in India
Discuss Savitribai Phule's contribution against gender inequality

Open with · India's 112th rank in the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2020, with economic opportunities for women extremely limited (35.4%); causes social before legal, which is why Savitribai Phule began with the classroom.

Cover

Patriarchy and son preference: sex-selective abortion and a child sex ratio of merely 919.
Economic and educational exclusion: unpaid care work, weak control over property, lower schooling and early marriage.
Weak voice and custom: under-representation, uneven enforcement of dowry and domestic-violence laws; Article 51A(e) on renouncing practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
Savitribai Phule: the girls' school in Pune (1848) despite abuse and mud thrown at her; schools for Dalit children, a shelter for widows, campaigns against child marriage; death in 1897 nursing plague patients.

Close with · SDG target 5.3 on eliminating child, early and forced marriage as the unfinished part of the work she began in 1848.

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WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2020: India ranks 112th with a score of 66.8%.Global Gender Gap Report 2020 — World Economic Forum ↗“India ranks 112th (66.8%) and Pakistan (56.4%) is antepenul- timate, only ahead of Iraq and Yemen.”
WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2020: economic opportunities for women are extremely limited in India (35.4%).Global Gender Gap Report 2020 — World Economic Forum ↗“At the other end of the spectrum, economic opportunities for women are extremely limited in India (35.4%), Pakistan (32.7%), Yemen (27.3%), Syria (24.9%) and Iraq (22.7%).”
SDG target 5.3: eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls — Targets and indicators, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (sdgs.un.org) ↗“Target 5.3 Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 222words · Minimalist IAS

India ranked 112th in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2020, which found economic opportunities for women 'extremely limited' (35.4%). The causes are social before they are legal, which is why Savitribai Phule began with the classroom.

The main factors responsible for gender inequality in India

Patriarchy and son preference: they decide who eats, studies and inherits; sex-selective abortion pushed the child sex ratio down to merely 919 girls per thousand boys.
Economic and educational exclusion: unpaid care work, weak control over land and property, lower schooling and early marriage keep women dependent across generations.
Weak voice and custom: under-representation in decision-making, uneven enforcement of dowry and domestic-violence laws, and stereotypes; Article 51A(e) asks citizens to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.

The full answer goes on to cover

Savitribai Phule's contribution

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Q5(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

‘The current internet expansion has instilled a different set of cultural values which are often in conflict with traditional values.’ Discuss.

Approach · directive: “discuss”

What it asks · Discuss how the values spread by the internet's expansion conflict with traditional values, where they do not, and how the two can be reconciled.

It asks 3 things — answer each

Explain the cultural values the internet's expansion has instilled
Discuss where they conflict with traditional values, and where they do not
Suggest how the two can be reconciled

Open with · TRAI's count of internet subscribers, from 718.74 million to 795.18 million in 2020 alone, 308 million of them rural; new values now reach every home at once and often collide with inherited ones.

Cover

A table contrasts traditional and internet-age values in authority, expression and gender roles.
The conflict: choice, self-display and peer approval against duty, modesty and family consensus; a values gap between generations.
Gains and harms: voice for women, Dalits and small towns and questioning of dowry; against cyber-bullying, addiction, misinformation, organised hate and consumerism.
Not always a clash: yoga, classical music, regional languages and the diaspora thrive online.
Way forward: digital literacy, family dialogue and accountable platforms.

Close with · Article 51A's twin duties, to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture and to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.

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TRAI: India's internet subscribers rose from 718.74 million at the end of December 2019 to 795.18 million at the end of December 2020.Yearly Performance Indicators of Indian Telecom Sector 2020 — Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ↗“Total internet subscribers increased from 718.74 million in the end of Dec-2019 to 795.18 million at the end of Dec-2020.”
TRAI: of these, 487.01 million were urban and 308.17 million rural internet subscribers (2020).Yearly Performance Indicators of Indian Telecom Sector 2020 — Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ↗“Urban Internet Subscribers 487.01 Million Rural Internet Subscribers 308.17 Million”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 204words · Minimalist IAS

India's internet subscribers rose from 718.74 million to 795.18 million in 2020 alone, 308 million of them rural (TRAI). Values that once travelled slowly through books and cinema now reach every home at once, and often collide with inherited ones.

Domain	Traditional value	Internet-age value
Authority	Elders, community	Individual choice

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2019

GS Paper IV 2019 · Q6 (Section A)

3 parts · 10 marks and 150 words each X-Ray · Core #42

What do each of the following quotations mean to you ?

Q6(a) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

“An unexamined life is not worth living”. – Socrates

Approach · directive: “what does it mean (to you)”

What it asks · Explain Socrates's claim that the unexamined life is not worth living, and show what it means today for the individual, public service and the nation.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Explain what Socrates's quotation means
Bring out what it means to you today, with an example

Open with · In Plato's Apology, Socrates tells the jurors that daily talk of virtue, examining himself and others, is man's greatest good: a life run on habit and borrowed opinion is lived by accident; only beliefs tested by reason are truly one's own.

Cover

A table contrasts the unexamined and the examined life for the individual, public service and the nation.
The individual: self-examination as the defence against algorithmic outrage, manipulation and prejudice.
Public service: Hannah Arendt on Eichmann's thoughtlessness; officers test orders against law and conscience.
The nation: Article 51A(h), the duty to develop the scientific temper and the spirit of inquiry and reform; example: Asoka's repentance after Kalinga.

Close with · Tagore's prayer for a country where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit: the examined life, written large as a nation.

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Plato's Apology: Socrates tells his jurors that daily discussion of virtue, examining himself and others, is man's greatest good, and that the unexamined life is not worth living.Plato, Apology (Benjamin Jowett translation) — The Internet Classics Archive, MIT ↗“and if I say again that the greatest good of man is daily to converse about virtue, and all that concerning which you hear me examining myself and others, and that the life which is unexamined is not worth living”
Arendt attributed Eichmann's deeds not to fanatical hatred but to his devotion to Hitler and his 'thoughtlessness', an inability to look at anything from another's point of view (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).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).”
Tagore, Gitanjali 35: a prayer for a country where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali, poem 35 — Project Gutenberg ↗“Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action— Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 214words · Minimalist IAS

At his trial, in Plato's Apology, Socrates tells the jurors that daily talk of virtue, examining himself and others, is man's greatest good. To me it means that a life run on habit, borrowed opinion and unexamined desire is lived by accident; only beliefs tested by reason are truly one's own.

Setting	Unexamined life	Examined life
The individual	Borrowed opinions, outrage	Tested convictions

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Q6(b) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

“A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.” — M. K. Gandhi

Approach · directive: “what does it mean (to you)”

What it asks · Explain Gandhi's view that a person becomes what he thinks, and show what it means today for the individual, public service and society.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Explain what Gandhi's quotation means
Bring out what it means to you today, with an example

Open with · Gandhi holds that character is made from within: what we repeatedly think shapes what we desire and do, and so what we become; the first field of moral responsibility is one's own mind.

Cover

A flowchart: thought, desire and will, deed, habit, character.
The individual and public service: a mind fed on outrage grows bitter; an officer who sees citizens as the purpose of office turns patient and fair.
Society: prejudice nursed in thought becomes discrimination in deed; laws succeed only when minds change too.
Example: Kiran Bedi's Tihar from 1993, literacy and meditation to still anger, inmates imbued with positive attitudes.

Close with · The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: as is his desire, so is his will; and as is his will, so is his deed; guarding one's thoughts is the first act of integrity.

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In 1993 Kiran Bedi became Inspector General of Prisons (Delhi) and took charge of Tihar, India's largest prison complex, transforming it with a regimen of work, study and play; illiterate prisoners learnt to read and write.Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation — Kiran Bedi, 1994 Award for Government Service, citation ↗“In 1993 BEDI became inspector general of prisons (Delhi) and took charge of Tihar, India’s largest prison complex. In this brutally overcrowded purgatory dwelled more than 8,000 prisoners, 90 percent of whom were unconvicted and merely awaiting trial. BEDI rapidly transformed Tihar. Today its inmates follow a positive regimen of work, study, and play. Illiterate prisoners learn to read and write.”
At Tihar under Kiran Bedi, yoga classes taught meditation to still anger and improve concentration, and inmates were being imbued with positive attitudes and practical skills for life beyond the walls.Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation — Kiran Bedi, 1994 Award for Government Service, citation ↗“In yoga classes they learn meditation techniques to still anger and improve concentration. Complaints placed in the mobile petition box go directly to the top and are taken seriously. Tihar is a different world today. In it BEDI’s charges are being imbued with positive attitudes and practical skills for life beyond the walls.”
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5 (Max Müller): a person consists of desires; as is his desire, so is his will; as is his will, so is his deed; and whatever deed he does, that he will reap.The Upanishads, Part II (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 15), Brihadaranyaka Upanishad IV.4.5, tr. F. Max Müller — sacred-texts.com ↗“And here they say that a person consists of desires. And as is his desire, so is his will; and as is his will, so is his deed; and whatever deed he does, that he will reap.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 193words · Minimalist IAS

Gandhi holds that character is made from within: what we repeatedly think shapes what we desire and do, and so what we become. The first field of moral responsibility is therefore one's own mind.

The individual: a mind fed on envy, fear or online outrage grows bitter; one fed on purpose and gratitude grows resilient.

Read the full model answer (193 words) →

Q6(c) 10 marks · 150 words · answered on its own

“Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character, there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home, there is order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there is peace in the world.” — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Approach · directive: “what does it mean (to you)”

What it asks · Explain Kalam's chain from a righteous heart to world peace, and show what it means today for the individual, the home, public service, the nation and the world.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Explain what Kalam's quotation means
Bring out what it means to you today, with an example

Open with · Kalam traces peace from the inside out: righteousness in the heart builds a beautiful character, character brings harmony at home, harmonious homes make an orderly nation, and orderly nations a peaceful world.

Cover

A flowchart of Kalam's chain from a righteous heart to world peace.
An ancient echo: Confucius's Great Learning, from cultivated persons to a kingdom tranquil and happy.
The individual, the home and public service: character formed in families and schools; upright officers give the nation order without coercion.
Example: Ram Chandra Reddy's gift of 80 acres at Pochampally during Vinoba Bhave's visit, which became Bhoodan; caveat: just institutions must protect virtue.

Close with · UNESCO's Constitution: since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.

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The Confucian Great Learning (Legge translation) traces the same chain: rectified hearts, cultivated persons, regulated families, rightly governed states and a tranquil kingdom.The Great Learning (James Legge translation) — David K. Jordan, University of California San Diego ↗“Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their families being regulated, their States were rightly governed. 12. Their States being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy.”
UNESCO Constitution (Preamble): since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.Constitution of UNESCO, Preamble — UNESCO ↗“That since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed;”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2019, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 3 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 209words · Minimalist IAS

Kalam traces peace from the inside out: righteousness in the heart builds a beautiful character, character brings harmony at home, harmonious homes make an orderly nation, and orderly nations a peaceful world. No shortcut to social order bypasses personal virtue.

An ancient echo: Confucius's Great Learning climbs the same ladder: persons cultivated, families regulated, states rightly governed and the whole kingdom 'tranquil and happy'.

Read the full model answer (209 words) →

2017

GS Paper IV 2017 · Q3 (Section A)

10 marks · 150 words

Young people with ethical conduct are not willing to come forward to join active politics. Suggest steps to motivate them to come forward.

Approach · directive: “suggest steps”

What it asks · Identify why ethical young people stay out of politics and suggest steps that make it easier and more rewarding for them to enter.

It asks 2 things — answer each

Identify why young people of ethical conduct stay away from active politics
Suggest steps to motivate them to come forward

Open with · Plato's warning that whoever refuses to rule is ruled by one who is worse; when ethical young Indians shun politics, that penalty falls on everyone.

Cover

Why they stay away: criminalisation (Vohra Committee) and closed parties, where money and family control leave an ordinary worker few ways to rise.
Cleaner contests: ADR (2002) made candidates disclose criminal cases and assets; Lily Thomas (2013) ended the shield for convicted legislators.
Open parties: a law on parties' internal affairs, with member registers, open elections to top posts and transparent ticket selection.
Lower cost of entry: state funding of elections, in cash or kind, so honesty needs no rich patron.
A first rung: youth parliaments, student unions and empowered panchayats let the young learn politics as public service.
Role models and safety: mentoring by honest representatives, and protection from harassment and online abuse.

Close with · Gandhi listed Politics without Principle first among the seven social sins (Young India, 1925); clean rules, open parties and a first rung can draw principled youth in to cure it.

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Plato, Republic, Book I (Jowett translation): the worst part of the punishment for refusing to rule is being ruled by someone worse; this fear induces the good to take office.Plato, The Republic, tr. Benjamin Jowett — Project Gutenberg ↗“Now the worst part of the punishment is that he who refuses to rule is liable to be ruled by one who is worse than himself. And the fear of this, as I conceive, induces the good to take office”
Para 6.2 of the Vohra Committee report (Ministry of Home Affairs), quoted in ADR (2002): criminal gangs and economic lobbies had developed an extensive network of contacts with government functionaries, politicians and media persons.Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, Supreme Court, 2 May 2002 — Indian Kanoon ↗“the DIB has also stated that there has been a rapid spread and growth of criminal gangs, armed seas, drug Mafias, smuggling gang, drug peddlers and economic lobbies in the country which have, over the years, developed an extensive network of contacts with the bureaucrats/Government functionaries at the local levels, politicians, media persons”
ADR (2002): the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission, under Article 324, to obtain affidavits from candidates on criminal antecedents, and reasoned that voters must be able to avoid electing law breakers as law makers.Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, Supreme Court, 2 May 2002 — Indian Kanoon ↗“The little man may think over before making his choice of electing law breakers as law makers.”
Lily Thomas v. Union of India (Supreme Court, 10 July 2013): Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 was declared ultra vires, so a convicted legislator's membership is no longer saved by filing an appeal.Lily Thomas v. Union of India, Supreme Court, 10 July 2013 — Indian Kanoon ↗“his membership of Parliament or the State Legislature, as the case may be, will not be saved by sub-section (4) of Section 8 of the Act which we have by this judgment declared as ultra vires the Constitution”
Gandhi's list of seven social sins, beginning with Politics without Principle (Young India, 22 October 1925).Seven Social Sins — mkgandhi.org (Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal / Gandhi Research Foundation) ↗“Seven Social Sins Politics without Principle Wealth Without Work Pleasure Without Conscience Knowledge without Character Commerce without Morality Science without Humanity Worship without Sacrifice - Young India, 22-10-1925”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 224words · Minimalist IAS

Plato warned that whoever refuses to rule is liable to be "ruled by one who is worse than himself". When ethical young Indians shun politics, that penalty falls on everyone.

Why ethical youth stay away

Criminalisation: the Vohra Committee reported criminal networks with contacts among officials and politicians; clean entrants fear being co-opted or crushed.
Closed parties: tickets go to those who can raise money, and where one family controls the top posts, an ordinary worker has few ways to rise.

The full answer goes on to cover

Steps to motivate them to come forward

Read the full model answer (224 words) →

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.

2016

GS Paper IV 2016 · Q6 (Section A)

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #42

Our attitudes towards life, work, other people and society are generally shaped unconsciously by the family and the social surroundings in which we grow up. Some of these unconsciously acquired attitudes and values are often undesirable in the citizens of a modern democratic and egalitarian society.

(a)Discuss such undesirable values prevalent in today’s educated Indians.
(b)How can such undesirable attitudes be changed and socio-ethical values considered necessary in public services be cultivated in the aspiring and serving civil servants ?

Approach · directive: “discuss / how can”

What it asks · (a) Identify undesirable values that educated Indians often carry; (b) explain how such attitudes can be changed and how public-service values can be built in aspiring and serving civil servants.

It asks 2 things — answer each

(a) Discuss the undesirable values prevalent in today's educated Indians
(b) Explain how such attitudes can be changed and how socio-ethical values needed in public services can be cultivated in aspiring and serving civil servants

Open with · Ambedkar's words that constitutional morality 'is not a natural sentiment' and 'has to be cultivated'; attitudes absorbed silently at home lag behind the Constitution, even among graduates.

Cover

(a) Caste and communal prejudice: social distance in marriage, housing and hiring survives degrees.
(a) Patriarchy: son preference and dowry as custom; sex ratio at birth only 929 girls per 1,000 boys (NFHS-5, 2019-21).
(a) Civic laxity and status: 'chalta hai' bribes, VIP exemption, double standards, contempt for manual work and apathy.
(b) A flowchart of the civil-service pipeline: early grooming, value-based selection, field-rich training, mentoring, integrity-linked appraisal.
(b) Society: contact across caste and faith, enforced laws, and schools that reward honesty.
(b) Civil servants: grooming young (2nd ARC's 10th Report), village stays, 'right attitudinal orientation' in training, Mission Karmayogi since 2020.

Close with · Ambedkar's 'top-dressing' warning; family, school, law and training must cultivate constitutional morality together, beginning with those who govern.

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B.R. Ambedkar, Constituent Assembly, 4 November 1948: constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment and has to be cultivated; democracy in India is only a top-dressing on undemocratic soil.Constituent Assembly Debates, 4 November 1948 — constitutionofindia.net ↗“Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realize that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a top-dressing on an Indian soil, which is essentially undemocratic.”
NFHS-5 (2019-21): sex ratio at birth for children born in the last five years was 929 females per 1,000 males (urban 924, rural 931; NFHS-4: 919).National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21), India Fact Sheet — MoHFW / IIPS (archived copy) ↗“4. Sex ratio at birth for children born in the last five years (females per 1,000 males) 924 931 929 919”
The 2nd ARC's 10th Report notes the view that grooming for public service should start young, as late entrants bring entrenched mindsets.Second Administrative Reforms Commission, 10th Report: Refurbishing of Personnel Administration (DARPG, archived copy) ↗“grooming for a future civil service career should start at a young age when the mind is open and receptive to values of public service whereas entrants into civil service at a late age bring with them a ‘baggage’ of entrenched mindsets.”
The training policy cited by the 2nd ARC's 10th Report lists 'right attitudinal orientation' among the objectives of training.Second Administrative Reforms Commission, 10th Report: Refurbishing of Personnel Administration (DARPG, archived copy) ↗“a. Keeping up-to-date and enhancing professional knowledge and skills needed for better performance of individuals and organisations; b. Promoting better understanding of professional requirements as well as sensitisation to professional, socio-economic and political environment in which work is done; and c. Bringing about right attitudinal orientation”
Mission Karmayogi (National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building, approved by the Cabinet in September 2020) aims at a transition from 'rules based' to 'roles based' HR management.Cabinet approves Mission Karmayogi — PIB, 2 September 2020 ↗“Integrated Government Online Training-iGOTKarmayogi Platform. The core guiding principles of the Programme will be: Supporting Transition from 'Rules based' to 'Roles based* HR Management.”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 222words · Minimalist IAS

"Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated," Ambedkar told the Constituent Assembly (1948). Attitudes absorbed silently at home often lag behind the Constitution, even among graduates.

(a) Undesirable values among today's educated Indians

Caste and communal prejudice: social distance in marriage, housing and hiring survives degrees.
Patriarchy: son preference and dowry as 'custom'; the sex ratio at birth was only 929 girls per 1,000 boys (NFHS-5, 2019-21).
'Chalta hai' laxity: petty bribes, queue-jumping and VIP exemption, alongside demands for an honest State.
Status over labour: contempt for manual work; apathy towards voting or reporting wrongdoing.

The full answer goes on to cover

(b) Changing attitudes and cultivating public-service values

With 1 flowchart you can reproduce in the exam.

Read the full model answer (222 words) →

GS Paper IV 2016 · Q7 (Section A)

10 marks · 150 words X-Ray · Core #42

Anger is a harmful negative emotion. It is injurious to both personal life and work life.

(a)Discuss how it leads to negative emotions and undesirable behaviours.
(b)How can it be managed and controlled ?

Approach · directive: “discuss / how can”

What it asks · (a) Show how anger breeds other negative emotions and harmful behaviour; (b) explain practical ways to manage and control it.

It asks 2 things — answer each

(a) Discuss how anger leads to negative emotions and undesirable behaviour
(b) Explain how anger can be managed and controlled

Open with · The Bhagavad Gita (2.63): anger leads to 'clouding of judgment' and, once the intellect is destroyed, ruin; natural against threat or injustice, unmanaged anger harms the person and everyone around.

Cover

(a) A flowchart traces the Gita's chain (2.62-63): attachment, desire, anger, clouded judgement, ruin.
(a) Emotional chain: anger held in becomes resentment and hatred, anger let out brings guilt and anxiety; retaliation restarts the cycle.
(a) Behaviour and health: shouting, abuse, bullying, road rage and domestic violence; stress and high blood pressure.
(a) Personal and work life: frightened families and isolation; humiliated staff, bad news suppressed, teams fractured, citizens treated as adversaries.
(b) Immediate control: self-awareness of triggers (emotional intelligence), a pause before any order or reply, empathetic reframing, calm assertion.
(b) Lasting habits: exercise, yoga, meditation, sleep, counselling for chronic anger, and workplaces that resolve conflict early.

Close with · Aristotle: anger must never undermine reason and should be felt 'in the right way at the right times'; mastered, anger at injustice becomes steady energy for fair action.

Add value (verified)

Bhagavad Gita 2.62: contemplating sense objects breeds attachment, attachment breeds desire, and desire breeds anger.Bhagavad Gita 2.62, tr. Swami Mukundananda — holy-bhagavad-gita.org ↗“While contemplating on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them. Attachment leads to desire, and from desire arises anger.”
Bhagavad Gita 2.63: anger clouds judgement, bewilders memory and destroys the intellect, and one is ruined.Bhagavad Gita 2.63, tr. Swami Mukundananda — holy-bhagavad-gita.org ↗“Anger leads to clouding of judgment, which results in bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.”
Aristotle: anger should never reach the point at which it undermines reason.Aristotle's Ethics — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“Aristotle is committed to saying that anger should never reach the point at which it undermines reason; and this means that our passion should always fall short of the extreme point at which we would lose control.”
Aristotle held that common passions such as anger are sometimes appropriate, and that people must learn to master them and feel them in the right way at the right times.Aristotle's Ethics — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“Aristotle assumes, on the contrary, not simply that these common passions are sometimes appropriate, but that it is essential that every human being learn how to master them and experience them in the right way at the right times.”
Kautilya: restraint of the senses requires abandoning six enemies: lust, anger, greed, vanity, haughtiness and overjoy (Arthashastra, Book I, Ch. VI).Kautilya's Arthashastra, tr. R. Shamasastry (full text, Internet Archive) ↗“RESTRAINT of the organs of sense, on which success in study and discipline depends can be enforced by abandoning lust, anger, greed, vanity (mdna), haughtiness (mada), and overjoy (harsha).”

Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2016, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·

Model answer· 220words · Minimalist IAS

"Anger leads to clouding of judgment," warns the Bhagavad Gita (2.63); once the intellect is destroyed, "one is ruined". Natural against threat or injustice, unmanaged anger harms the person and everyone around.

(a) How anger breeds negative emotions and undesirable behaviour

Emotional chain: anger held in hardens into resentment and hatred; anger let out brings guilt and anxiety; retaliation restarts the cycle.
Behaviour: shouting, abuse, bullying, road rage and domestic violence; stress and high blood pressure follow.
Personal life: outbursts frighten children and silence a spouse, leaving the angry person isolated.
Work life: an angry officer humiliates staff, so bad news stops reaching him; teams fracture and citizens become adversaries.

The full answer goes on to cover

(b) How anger can be managed and controlled

Read the full model answer (220 words) →

The Syllabus X-Ray of this syllabus line

1 of its 5 sub-topics is Core

1 Core · 0 High · 2 Steady · 2 Rare

Core #42Attitude: content, structure & function · 8 questions

The X-Ray ranks all 928 sub-topics of the UPSC syllabus by what UPSC has asked since 2016. The 78 Mains Core sub-topics are behind 66% of Mains questions.

See the whole X-Ray →

From the UPSC Blog

Attitude in Ethics: Content, Structure, Function, Change and Expectations — UPSC Ethics Notes13 Oct 2026

More of GS Paper IV

Quick answers

How many UPSC Mains questions have been asked on Attitude?

10 questions in GS Paper IV from 2016 to 2026, asked in 4 of 11 years, most recently in 2022. Each is above, newest first, with the demand, an approach and a model answer.

What does the UPSC syllabus say on Attitude?

The GS Paper IV syllabus line reads, in UPSC's words: “Attitude: content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behaviour; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion.”

Where are the GS Paper IV PYQs topic-wise as a free PDF?

The GS Paper IV syllabus-wise PDF — every question since 2016 under its syllabus line, with an approach — is a free download on the Vault's downloads page (one sign-up, no cost).

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