IAS Mains Previous Years Paper : Public Administration (1995)

PAPER - I
SECTION A
1. Comment on any three of the following in about 200 words each:
(a) A theory of public administration means in our time a theory of politics also.
(b) Rigg’s key concepts have alerted the researcher that Weberian bureaucracy might not be entirely predictive of behaviour in most Third World countries.
(c) “Authority has been defined in part as a “character of a communication in a formal organization.
(d) New Public Administrations are likely to be forthright advocates for social equity and would doubtless seek a supporting clientele.

2. “Be it an occupation or a profession, Public Personnel has certainly developed a series of sub specialists and techniques that, over the years, have combined to produce an organizational subsystem that must be staffed by experts if it is to meet the standards set by Public Personnel Administration.” Explain.

3. (a) “Much of what the recruit learns in an organization is communicated after the fashion of Bentham’s ‘dog law’.” Discuss.
(b) “The interest or power group base provides a member of an organization with negotiable goods that can be cashed in for recognition, status and rewards.” Examine.

4. “The study of decision-making is proceeding in so many directions that we can lose sight of the basic administrative processes that Barnard and Simon were trying to describe and that, so many men have been trying to improve.” Elucidate.”

SECTION B
5. Comment on any three of the following in not more than 200 words each: -
(a) Program budgeting is often considered interchangeable with performance budgeting, but there is a significant difference, at least in theory.
(b) Hierarchic control, whereby instructions are passed down the line is not the only dimension of control.
(c) The field of administrative law, after a century of litigation and adjudication, remains alive with simmering issues.
(d) A major problem with comparative public administration is that it has been behavioural.

6. Explain how factors such as communications, resources, self interests and bureaucratic structures affect implementation of public policies.

7. (a) Bring out the reasons for the growth and the dangers of delegated legislation.
(b) Outline the features of development administration and explain the reasons for its marginal performance.

8. Describe the methods by which the Public Accounts Committee and the Estimates Committee control administration.

PAPER - II
SECTION A
1. Comment upon any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) “The purpose of Clive’s famous ‘double government’ was to mask Company’s sovereignty.”
(b) “The Indian Constitution is a bag to borrowed materials.”
(c) “While discussing the President’s position in the Constitution, the model of the British monarch being impracticable and the model of the French Presidency having been ruled out, the compromise model had to fall back upon some such device as the German one.”
(d) “The departmental public undertakings have necessarily been placed under the full control of the government and Parliament.”

2. “The purists have criticized the Indian Constitution as not conforming to the conception of a federation and so being unduly rigid.” Examine the statement.

3. (a) “The Secretariat system of work has lent balance, consistency and continuity to the administration and serves as a nucleus for the total machinery of a ministry.” Explain.
(b) “The Satish Chandra Committee made a valiant attempt to correct the imbalances unnecessarily introduced in the selection process for civil servants during the late 1970s.” Comment.

4. ‘Conceptually1 district planning introduces a spatial dimension to the planning proc’ ss at the state level.” Examine, in this context, the role of district planning in practice in different states.

SECTION-B
5. Comment upon any three of the following in not more than 200 words each:
(a) “The Estimates Committee merely gives a big list of advices.”
(b) “The most important feature of the second generation panchayats is their change from local developmental organization to local political institutions.”
(c) “Special development programmes seek to solve special problems but their successful implementation depends on complex inter-institutional linkages.”
(d) “In rural development, people are the starting point centre and end goal of all development programmes.”

6. Critically review the evolving relationship between the district magistrate and the superintendent of police in the field of law and order management in a district.”

7. (a) “Development administration ultimately boils down to effective project implementation, and it is implementation that has been badly neglated hi Indian planning. Critically examine the statement.”
(b) “The emphasis in women’s development programmes has in recent years shifted from a purely welfare and consumption, oriented one to a realistic one which recognizes women as contributors to the country’s economy.” Elaborate.

8. “Between social background and administrative culture, it is the latter that has a dominating influence on integrity in administration in the Indian situation.” Review the statement in the light of research findings’ in this area.