(a) Effective utilization of public funds is crucial to meet development goals. Critically examine the reasons for under-utilization and mis-utilization of public funds and their implications. (10 marks, 150 words) (b) “Non-performance of duty by a public servant is a form of corruption”. Do you agree with this view? Justify your answer. (10 marks, 150 words)

(a) Under-utilisation and mis-utilisation of public funds

Public money carries a fiduciary duty; failing to spend it well is itself an ethical lapse.

• Under-utilisation: weak planning and absorptive capacity, delayed fund flow and utilisation certificates, lapsing of budgets, and risk aversion — officers fear later vigilance or CAG scrutiny, so they under-spend defensively.
• Mis-utilisation: diversion to non-priority heads, leakage and ghost beneficiaries, cost inflation and corruption in procurement.

Implications: unmet development goals, denial of entitlements to the poor, erosion of public trust and fiscal waste — Rajiv Gandhi's estimate that only a fraction of each rupee reached beneficiaries captures the harm. Remedies include DBT/JAM, outcome budgeting, PFMS-based fund tracking and social audit.

(b) Non-performance of duty as a form of corruption

I largely agree. Corruption is not only bribery; it is any abuse of entrusted authority against public interest. A public servant is a trustee, and wilful inaction — delaying files, denying services, ignoring grievances — diverts public resources of time and office for private ease, harming citizens as surely as active graft.

The Santhanam Committee and 2nd ARC read corruption broadly, and dereliction violates the Nolan principles of accountability and duty. A caveat: an honest bonafide failure differs from wilful shirking. But sustained, deliberate non-performance is a betrayal of public trust and, in substance, corruption.