UPSC IAS exam preparation - Decision Making - Lecture 1

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Decision Making Session # 01

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1.0 Introduction

Introduced in the year 2011, questions on Decision Making are aimed at testing the candidate's ability to take decisions. This part of the test does not carry any negative marking. According to the official answer key released by the Commission, there would be two correct answers to a question. Hence, instead of looking for the right answer, a student should focus on eliminating the worst choices. This would ensure that the candidate is automatically left with the correct answers.

2.0 Desirable and undesirable answers

Some qualities are considered to be desirable in a civil services officer and some, undesirable. The answer choice depends upon the qualities that the student has. However a general rule can be laid down as to which qualities are desirable and which are undesirable.

Desirable qualities: The following qualities are considered to be desirable in an officer selected by the UPSC.

1. Humane e.g. giving free water / electricity but only to BPL
2. Punctuality, meets the deadlines
3. Upright and honest person
4. At least trying to do take some "positive action" rather than continue with the status quo

Undesirable qualities: The following traits are considered to be undesirable.

• Pliability

1. bribe giver
2. bribe taker
3. chooses to look the other way while others are involved in wrongdoing
4. Easily gets scarred or intimidated

• Indiscipline

1. exhibiting arrogance
2. Insubordination i.e. lack of respect towards authority, goes on leave without telling boss etc.
3. Lying and  giving  excuses instead of doing his job.

• Implausible, impractical choice e.g. free water or electricity to everyone irrespective of his income status.
• "Take no action" person i.e. A person who prefers status quo, takes no action; a person who possesses a "Committee mindset"
• Biased officer, apathetic officer, evasive officer
• Short term oriented. A decision that will break office discipline in long term

Hence, a student should take care that the answers marked by him reflect the above desirable qualities.

The number of questions on decision making asked in the previous exams is as follows.

3.0 Sample questions

• You are handling a priority project and have been meeting all the deadlines and planning your leave during the project. Your immediate boss does not grant leave citing the urgency of the project. You would ..... .

1. proceed on leave without waiting for the sanction 
2. pretend to be sick and take leave
3. approach higher authority to reconsider the leave application
4. tell the boss that it is not justified

• A Secretary wants accomodation because his father is ill, but the HQ has refused to provide accomodation. You as his boss would

1. call him over to your room and personally explain why the allotment cannot be done.
2. allot the accomodation to him to win his loyalty. 
3. agree with the office note to show that you are not biased and that you do not indulge in favoritism.
4. keep the file with you and not pass any orders. 

• You are a passenger and the driver of the taxi you are in, gives bribe to transport officer. You would

1. go up to the counter and ask the clerk to give back the money which he has illegally taken.
2. do not interfere at all as this is a matter between the taxi driver and the tax authorities. 
3. take note of the incident and subsequently report the matter to the concerned authorities.
4. treat it as a normal affair and simply forget about it.

• In recent times, there has been a grave problem of casualties of personnel of paramilitary forces and that has had a demoralising and adverse impact on the anti-naxal operations, and one main reason is lack of suitable awareness about the local forest terrain. The solution to overcome this is

1. the forces should restrain from taking such actions in the dense forests due to the high risks involved
2. steps should be taken to reduce the density of forest cover so that taking actions can be better facilitated
3. Naxalites who have already surrendered and are much aware of the forest terrain should be involved in the anti-naxal operations
4. local recruits who are aware of local forest terrain should also be used and training to para-military forces personnel should be improved 

• A Collector and District Magistrate is on a rural visit and in some far flung area where mode of communication and transport are not effective, there is a sudden breakdown of diarrhoea but there is no immediate availability of a doctor. Which will be the best action on the part of the Collector and District Magistrate?

1. Send a communication to the State Government that such and such problem is there and adequate steps should be taken for opening the hospital there
2. To wait and watch as these problems are temporary in nature and there is no cause for such intense concern
3. To prescribe medicine and to send somebody to nearby town and to take prompt steps for administering them
4. Take steps for oral re-hydration therapy by mobilizing local social health activists and to arrange for doctors

• There is traffic movement on the road and all of a sudden you see that there is traffic jam, and over all traffic flow is affected. Which of the following steps do you think could be effective?

1. Making the two wheelers pass first so that the bigger vehicles could be prevented from further blocking the traffic
2. Giving some important tips to the people driving the vehicle which will be useful for them and that will improve the traffic discipline
3.  Identifying the main points of traffic jams and taking prompt steps for clearing them to facilitate traffic flow
4. Asking people driving the vehicles to move back so that road could be cleared of the traffic jam and it makes traffic smooth

• A Metropolitan Magistrate convicts a youth for drunk driving and orders a simple imprisonment of one month. The youth goes for appeal in the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge. This Court sets aside the imprisonment and releases the offender on probation. It also asks him to be involved in social and religious activities for a month and report back with suitable proof or certificate. Here the judgment of the Court

1. more relies on reformative theory than the retributive theory
2. more relies on retributive theory than the reformative theory
3. equally relies on reformative and retributive theory
4. relies neither on reformative theory nor on retributive theory

• In a Court of trial, a witness says that he saw accused committing the crime, the accused says that he can produce some 100 witnesses who did not see him committing the crime. Can the court still rely on the witness if the accused produces such other witnesses?

1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes if out of 100 some support the witnesses
4. No observation is possible to made here in the given matter

• A railway track moves through an area where there is movement of wild elephants because of a wildlife sanctuary being there and the railway track brings a risk to the life of such animals. Then the best way will be to overcome this problem will be

1. Reducing the speed of the trains in such areas so that through such slow movement there is a better check
2. Involving some elephant trainer to train the elephants on the related risk involved there
3. Stopping railway traffic movement and creating alternative in the form of the bus traffic
4. Deploying adequate police and paramilitary forces around the railway track so that such incidents could be checked

• An educational institution fixes the dates of examination in advance. Later an announcement of the election dates for the General Elections of the Lok Sabha is made by the Election Commission. Some of the examination dates fall on the same day as the election dates. The right course will be

1. to postpone all the examination papers so that when whole of the election is conducted then exam is taken.
2. to differ the election dates to facilitate the conduct of examination as the future of students is much important.
3. to advance the examination and conducted before the elections. 
4. to postpone the dates of those examination which clash with the voting day.

• Of late the workers of some private industries have been found to be indulging in violence, damaging property and even killing the senior management functionaries.. The solution to this problem would be

1. taking lenient view of them and giving them an opportunity so that they can be reformed
2. taking stern action as per law but also giving suitable opportunities for the grievance redress of the workers
3. closing down such industries where such incidents have taken place or else are likely to take place
4. fixing the responsibility on the management as to why the management allowed the situation to go out of hand

• The management of a private industry receives a certain order from the State Government and another opposite order from the concerned High Court. The course of action to be preferred by the management is

1. implementing the order of the State Government and keeping the order of the High Court pending
2. implementing the order of the High Court and keeping the order of the State Government pending
3. implementing the order of the State Government and keeping the High Court informed about the order of the State Government
4. implementing the order of the High Court but keeping the State Government informed about the order of the High Court

• A person visits the web site of a State Corporation (in the Government of India) whose Chief Executive Officer is suspended and the case is pending for removal. But the web site still names him as the CEO (Chief Executive Officer). The right course for the person to get it corrected will be

1. io bring it to the notice of the CEO against whom the action has been taken or is being taken and if the matter is not sorted out then to approach the Central Information Commission
2. io bring it to the notice of the concerned Public Information Officer and if the matter is not sorted out then to approach to the First Appellate Authority and then to the Central Information Commission
3. io bring it to the notice of the concerned Public Information Officer and if the matter is not sorted  out then to approach to the Central Information Commission, and then to the President of India
4. io write a letter to the Press Council of India and to present the matter for the suitable action to be taken

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