Paper 1

1.

1. “Public Administration is constantly being reinvented because it is contextual.” Elaborate. 10
2. “Bureau pathology denigrates competence in organization.” Explain.  10
3. “If there is ever to be a science of Public Administration it must derive from an understanding of man’s behavior”. Explain.  10
4. “Chester Barnard in ‘The Function of the Executive’ injected ‘the social’ in the study of organization. Explain in this context how the executive is expected to play a much greater role than a manager.” 10
5. “Delegated legislation has become a strategic tool in the hands of the executive despite its utility.” Comment.  10

2.

1. “Governance is neither a paradigm nor a panacea for all the ills of government. It may be a more useful approach when other methods fail in providing public service.” Critically evaluate.  20
2. With the entry of the concept of ‘good governance’ the discipline of Public Administration has shed its statist character. Explain.  15
3. Has New Public Management failed in promoting a democratic polity? Analyze in the contexts of individuals as a citizen and individuals as a costumer.  15

3.

1. “Globalization has constructed the administrative state to save and serve corporate power structure.” Discuss how transnational corporation impact government and public administration in the contemporary era.  20
2. “Red light and Green light theories provide contrasting approaches to the role of administrative law.” Which of the two theories will be effective in achieving the objectives of administration law? Justify your choice. 15
3. “The advent of the regulatory regimes indicates the demise of the arbitrator state.” Comment. 15

4.

1. Contingency theory of organization is founded on the interplay of ‘external fit’ and ‘internal fit’. Discuss.  20
2. Mary Parker Follett traced the foundational value of business and enterprise on her way to understand the organism of governmental machinery. Comment.  15
3. “Media the Fourth estate is in chains.” Examine the statement in the context of governmental accountability.  15

5.

1. Contractualism has became a favorite policy of the neoliberal forces, but now without its share of controversy. Argue.  10
2. The failure to discard its elitist character and west-centric orientation has led to the decline of Comparative Public Administration. Explain.  10
3. “Maximum social gain” in public policy making is an attractive goal which is rarely found in practices. Discuss.  10
4. A narrow view of information comes in the way of successful implementation of MIS in organization. Analyze.  10
5. Has e-governance led to debureaucratization and decentralization ? Assess its impact on bureaucratic inertia.   10

6.

1. “Development dynamics is marked by a dilemma : the concept of development has a built-in participatory orientation but the practice of development has been inherently exclusionary.” Discuss.   20
2. A more effective system of performance appraisal should acknowledge the subjective elements in it and be less obsessed with the objective criteria. Elucidate. 15
3. Is William Niskanen’s “Budget Maximising Model” relevant today? Argue. 15

7.

1. Performance measurement remains an emerging issues but it is relegated to exclusively monitor and assess the use of funds. In light of the statement discuss various non-financial parameters of performance measurement to evaluate public sector organization.   20
2. The imperatives of administrative ethics are necessarily an antidote to “I was only obeying the orders” argument by public official. Explain. 15
3. Discuss the major areas of change in the Tax-Reforms of the post liberalization era. How do you justify the importance of the direct Tax reforms in this context?     15

8.

1. In a society marked by social inequity and gender inequality women self-help groups are bound to play a marginal role. Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer.  20
2. In the era of increasing stress on productivity work study provides the road ahead for the administration. Identify the positive attributes of work study in the light of the statement.  15
3. In the absence of a merit-based, fair and objective civil service a more partisan and corrupt government will emerge. Is the statement justified? Give reason.  15

Paper 2

1..

1. In the text of Arthashastra, ‘the state is neither a police State nor merely a tax gathering State’. Comment.  10
2. The economic reforms have significantly infringed the basic values and spirits of the Indian Constitution. Examine.  10
3. Macaulay’s ideas on Indian Civil Service Corresponded to the elite theory of bureaucracy, which continue to persist. Do you agree? Justify.   10
4. There has been an opinion that the ethos of Indian Judicial System continue to be colonial. Suggest measures for raising the level of judicial excellence for achieving speedy justices.  10
5. Various commissions have reiterated the crucial role of the Governor in Indian system of governance, but the successive governments have not heeded to make Governor’s office apolitical. Examine with example.  10

2.

1. Article 356 acts, “very much like the proverbial bolt from the blue…. without giving an opportunity or notices to the State Government to correct its alleged shortcoming”. This phenomenon not only undermines the autonomy of the State Government, but also demeans the statue of the President of India. Critically analyze.  20
2. Public Sector Undertaking were expected to take the Indian economy to the “commanding heights” instead the successive governments have been pushing for disinvestment. Critically examine how the scenario has changed over the years. 20
3. Emerging developmental aspirations of the society necessitate the constitutional amendment to change the present safeguards available to the civil servants. Evaluate the pros and cons of such amendment.  10

3.

1. “Strong PMO is anti-thesis to the feature of collective responsibility of Council of Ministers”. Examine the issues in relation to the position of PMO via-a-vis Council of Ministers in the light of this statement. 20
2. Capacity issues relating to employees have hampered the implementation of several government programmes. Trace the reasons in the context of the provisions of the National Training Policy, 2012.  20
3. The strategy to deal with the non-performing assets of banks may lead to overburdened taxpayers. Examine the role of government to protect the interests of both.  10

4.

1. Considerable attention has been paid to the restructuring of the administrative systems at the Central and local levels, but very few reforms have been undertaken at the State level. What steps would you suggest to rectify it? 20
2. It is observed that non-functioning of District Planning Committees is preventing the convergence of rural and urban planning needs. Do you agree? Justify.  20
3. The police-public interface is punctuated with distrust and fear. Suggest how the police can reform its image in the eyes of the public.  10 

5.

1. The evidences suggest that the dream of deliberative democracy could not be realized in practice at the grassroot level. Evaluate the impediments in the functioning of Gram Sabha.  10
2. “The RTI has started its journey, but is far from its destination.” In the view of the statement, examine the present’s status of the RTI movement.  10
3. The concept of new localism arrangement may defeat the very purpose of local self-governance. Do you agree? Justify.   10
4. Effective ‘Performance Management System’ needs to precede ‘taking deadwood out’ from bureaucracy. Comment.  10
5. All weather rural connectivity scheme to even unconnected rural habitations has the potential to transform the rural economy. Do you agree? Justify. 10

6.

1. The office of the District Collector has merely become a bureau for funneling government schemes, collecting statistics and an officer on attendance for unending VIP duties. Critically examine its role in the light of the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission.  20
2. Minimal accountability being the dominant norm in the political system, the Lokpal can only be an ideal institution with limited effectiveness. Explain.  20
3. ‘Sevottam Scheme’ had great potential to reform service delivery, but opportunity is frittered away. Comment.  10

7.

1. The National Policy on Disaster Management envisages a paradigm shift from hitherto reactive post-disaster relief centric regime to more pro-active and enabling environment. Examine the responses of State Governments in this regards. 20
2. Efforts to strengthen State Finance Commissions have faced apathy of State Governments over the years, which has also affected the successive Central Finance Commissions in recommending appropriate fiscal transfers to local bodies. Substantiate the answer with example.  20
3. Accountability of regulatory bodies would address the problem of over-regulators and help make them truly facilitators. Analyze the present status of regulators and suggest measures to induce accountability in the mechanism.       10

8.

1. ‘NITI Aayog’ has changed the way India strategized for economic development, but its effectiveness is yet to be seen, especially when its financial powers are far less than its predecessor. Analyze. 20
2. Even though the law and order administration is a State subject, it is paradoxical that the Central agencies- NIA or paramilitary forces under the Union Government-have restricted the powers of State Governments. Discuss.   20
3. Performance grants devolved by Finance Commission of India have increased the Financial accountability of the local bodies. Elaborate.  10