Mr. X, a senior officer, was overseeing a critical vaccination programme during a pandemic. He found that a private service provider responsible for vaccine distribution was compromising on quality to make profits. Despite immense pressure to manage the issue due to vested interests, he raised his voice based on the principles of public administration which he learnt during various training programmes attended across his career. He reported the issue to the appropriate vigilance authority and halted the contract to ensure citizen welfare.
Which one among the following principles of public administration was most strongly demonstrated by Mr. X's actions ?
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Answer: C. Mr. X held the service provider to account, reported wrongdoing to the vigilance body and acted for citizens despite pressure. This is accountability: officials answer for public resources and outcomes and ensure others do too.
Watch for: 'Equity' sounds like citizen welfare, but the action was about answerability for misconduct.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Wrong because esprit de corps is team spirit, which is not the main point here.
- B. Wrong because equity is about fair treatment of all, not about exposing wrongdoing.
- D. Wrong because delegation is passing authority to subordinates, which he did not do.
Source to check: 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, 4th Report 'Ethics in Governance' (2007); Henri Fayol's principles of management
Answer from the provisional UPSC key; it may change when the final key is out. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.