GS Paper 4 (Ethics)Ethics and corruption
"Corruption is the manifestation of the failure of core values in the society." In your opinion, what measures can be adopted to uplift the core values in the society?
Based on 39 evaluated answers to this question on CollectorBabu: here is what aspirants most often missed, the mistakes that cost marks, and a model answer.
What most aspirants missed
- Institutional measures such as the Lokpal, whistleblower protection and citizen charters, which give accountability values a structural base
- Role of civil society and media as watchdogs and as value-building agents, with specific roles such as RTI activism and social audits
- Family and moral education under NEP 2020 as value-inculcating institutions, with a concrete curriculum reform
- Technology-based transparency such as e-governance, DBT and GeM, explained by how they reduce discretion
- Ethical leadership and role models, with a named example such as Gandhi or Mission Karmayogi
- Workplace and corporate ethics such as integrity pacts and CSR, which answers the demand beyond individual psychology
Common mistakes
- Answer dominated by individual psychology and philosophy, with no institutional, family or societal measures
- Labels such as 'failure of core values' listed without explaining how corruption shows that failure
- Measures stated as bare names or slogans (e.g. Vedanta, Gandhi's sins, 'sensitivity training') without a one-line explanation of mechanism
- Examples that are factually wrong or irrelevant, and an incomplete answer that ends abruptly
What the better answers did
- Each measure is tied to a concrete mechanism, example or law, such as the Lokpal Act, RTI or DBT
- Covers multiple dimensions: family, school, institutions, technology, civil society, media and leadership
- Names the core values being eroded (integrity, accountability, empathy) and links them to the measures
- Ends with a clear synthesis that links systems and social norms, rather than a restatement
Introduction
Open by stating that corruption reflects erosion of integrity, accountability and empathy, then signal that you will cover family, schools, institutions, technology and civil society.
Conclusion
Close by arguing that values are uplifted when systems make honesty easier and society rewards it, so that integrity becomes a shared social norm.
Model answer
Corruption flourishes where integrity, accountability and empathy have weakened, so reform must rebuild values through families, schools, institutions, civil society and the media together, not through laws alone.
Value formation in homes and schools
- Families are the first school of integrity, and parents must model honesty.
- Value-based education under NEP 2020 with ethics modules in curricula; Japan's school cleaning duties build responsibility and shared ownership of public spaces.
- Community ethics workshops for adults, not only for students.
Institutional reinforcement of accountability
- Effective functioning of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, with fast-track courts for graft cases.
- Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014 to encourage social vigilance; citizen charters with time-bound service delivery.
- E-governance through GeM and DBT reduces official discretion and touchpoints where bribes arise.
Citizen and civil society action
- RTI activism and social audits make public spending visible to the community.
- Participatory budgeting and citizen oversight committees give people a voice in local governance.
- Media celebrating integrity; campaigns like Satyamev Jayate shift attitudes at mass scale.
Ethical leadership and workplace ethics
- Leaders demonstrating integrity publicly; Mission Karmayogi builds an ethical civil service.
- Corporate ethics codes, integrity pacts and CSR linked to community values.
- Gandhi's social sins such as commerce without morality and politics without principle offer a diagnosis of the present.
Singapore's CPIB and Hong Kong's ICAC show that sustained institutions and public trust change behaviour. Values are uplifted when systems make honesty the easier choice and society rewards it, turning integrity into a shared social norm.
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Evaluate my answerMore GS Paper 4 (Ethics) questions
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