Mr. X, a senior officer, was overseeing a critical vaccination programme during a pandemic. He found that a private service provider responsible for vaccine distribution was compromising on quality to make profits. Despite immense pressure to manage the issue due to vested interests, he raised his voice based on the principles of public administration which he learnt during various training programmes attended across his career. He reported the issue to the appropriate vigilance authority and halted the contract to ensure citizen welfare.
Which one among the following principles of public administration was most strongly demonstrated by Mr. X’s actions?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Accountability
Mr. X answered for the quality of a public programme he oversaw. He escalated the provider's lapse to the vigilance authority and stopped the contract despite pressure, which is accountability: officials being answerable to citizens and acting on failures in the services they run.
- ✓ (c) He took responsibility for the programme's outcome, held the private provider answerable by reporting it and halting the contract, and put citizens' interest above vested interests.
- ✗ (b) Equity concerns fair and impartial treatment of people or groups. The case is not about how vaccines were shared among citizens but about an officer answering for a failure.
- ✗ (d) Delegation means passing authority or tasks down to subordinates. Nothing in Mr. X's actions involves handing over authority.
Remember · Accountability: public officials answer to citizens for how public duties are carried out, and they act on lapses, including by contractors, rather than overlook them.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 10 Democratic Politics – II, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Indian Constitution at Work, Chapter 4 “There is an expectation that measures like the Right to Information may make the bureaucracy a little more responsive and accountable.”
- NCERT Class 10 · Democratic Politics – II, Chapter 5 “Therefore, the most basic outcome of democracy should be that it produces a government that is accountable to the citizens, and responsive to the needs and expectations of the citizens.”
Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·