(a) Which eminent personality has inspired you the most in the context of ethical conduct in life? Give the gist of his/her teachings. Giving specific examples, describe how you have been able to apply these teachings for your own ethical development. (b) There is a heavy ethical responsibility on the public servants because they occupy positions of power, handle huge amounts of public funds, and their decisions have wide-ranging impact on society and environment. What steps have you taken to improve your ethical competence to handle such responsibility?
Subtopic: Probity & Governance · role models and ethical competence
How to structure your answer
Detailed model answer
219 words · target 150 words · 20 min
(a) The personality who has inspired me
Mahatma Gandhi has influenced me most in matters of ethical conduct. The gist of his teachings: truth (satya) as the highest value, non-violence (ahimsa) as its means, means as sacred as ends, the trusteeship of privilege, and the talisman of judging every act by its effect on the weakest person. I have tried to apply these in small ways, choosing honesty when a convenient half-truth was easier, admitting my own mistakes in group projects rather than shifting blame, and volunteering to teach underprivileged children, which taught me empathy over pity.
(b) Building ethical competence for public responsibility
Because public servants wield power, public money and wide social impact, ethical competence must be cultivated, not assumed. The steps I have taken include: sharpening self-awareness through reflection on my biases; practising transparency by keeping honest records and disclosing conflicts of interest even when trivial; strengthening moral courage by speaking up in uncomfortable situations; studying codes of conduct, the Nolan principles and the Second ARC's ethics recommendations; and cultivating emotional intelligence so that empathy tempers authority. I also treat integrity as a habit built by consistent small choices rather than occasional grand gestures.
These teachings and practices aim to ensure that when power is entrusted to me, competence is guided by conscience and accountability to the citizen.
What an examiner expects to see
- (a) Choose one genuine role model and give a crisp gist of teachings, avoid a laundry list.
- Gandhi's core: truth, non-violence, purity of means, trusteeship, the 'talisman' (judge by effect on the weakest).
- Application must be personal and specific: honesty under temptation, owning mistakes, service to the disadvantaged.
- (b) Ethical competence is a cultivable capacity, not an innate trait; power + public funds + social impact raise the stakes.
- Concrete steps: self-awareness of bias, transparency and conflict-of-interest disclosure, moral courage, empathy.
- Anchor in codes: Nolan Committee's seven principles of public life, Second ARC's 'Ethics in Governance'.
- Integrity is built by consistent small choices, not occasional grand gestures.
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Gandhi's 'talisman' and the doctrine of trusteeship; purity of means over ends.
- Nolan Committee (UK, 1995), seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership.
- Second ARC 4th Report, 'Ethics in Governance' (2007).
- A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and E. Sreedharan as alternative role models of competence with integrity.