UPSC Ethics Simplified draws your attention to a topic of greed and desire in the form of a caselet. This caselet is an extension of the concept discussed on March 3 (Conscience and Ethical Decision Making: The Concept). It is advised to revisit the concept article before reading the caselet below.

Relevance: The topic is a part of UPSC CSE General Studies Paper-IV Ethics syllabus. Concepts are particularly relevant in the theory section. Aspirants will also find the article useful for their Essay paper and situation-based questions in personality tests. Moreover, the essence of the article will help aspirants in their professional lives or in life in general.

Nanditesh Nilay writes for UPSC Ethics Simplified fortnightly on Sundays. The first article will be a concept while the second article will be a caselet based on the concept.

He was surrounded by a mob that day, and even as a policeman, he had never dealt with such a violent situation. He was new to force. A large group of people were looking frenzy for a man from a different community. They were shouting violently and things were going out of control. The name of the police officer was Sahas Singh.

That day, sun’s rays were vertical  and he was profusely sweating. He was able to hold the person despite his sweating palm.

“Don’t worry. I am here to save you. Please don’t think anything negative,” Sahas said. But the man was trembling. “They will kill me, sir. My fault is that I am from a different community,” the man cried.

“See my face too. I am also not from your community. And this is not my duty hour. I am on leave. Still, I didn’t find any crisis of conscience within because I am always close to my conscience. It is guiding me to save your life. You are a human being for me. Nothing more, nothing less,” Sahas Singh shouted. Meanwhile, they were being pushed and abused by the mob.

Sahas was remembering the words of his teacher on the last day of school, “Sahas, lead your life with the voice of conscience. You have to act as a conscience keeper. Don’t let the environment arrest your purpose of living. Conscience is everything, Sahas, and in a world where mankind is hit badly by class, caste, religion, work pressure, greed, selfishness, arrogance, ego, and fear, you have to listen to that pure voice of duty and humanity. That can only be done if you are well prepared to face the blowing wind of a crisis that wants to blow your conscience.”

Sahas was standing tall. He replied, “I will never let you down, sir. Wherever I am, my actions and my conduct will be like those of a trustee of conscience. I am and I will be your conscience keeper, sir.”

At this moment, Sahas tightly held the boy’s hand and yelled, “You can not do any harm to him till the time I am here with him. For all of you, he is not a human but a lesser mortal, and that is because you all are also not above your community. Is your God different from my God or his God? Listen to your conscience.”

With this, Sahas began running with that person towards an incoming police van, and finally succeeded in saving the person’s life.

1. You have to act as a conscience keeper. What does this mean with reference to the caselet?

2. Evaluate the role of Sahas from ethical and professional perspectives.

3. What is the importance of the voice of conscience in your life? Had you been in the above situation, what values would have been on test along with the crisis of conscience? 

We have to act as a conscience keeper in the middle of a crisis, and we have to be a person of perseverance too. Perseverance is continued persistence in doing what one considers to be right despite difficulties or delays in achieving the desired results. It implies unwavering steadfastness in pursuing the right course of action, even in the face of odds/obstacles/pressures or failures. In dealing with public affairs such situations are not uncommon and therefore perseverance is a valuable attribute to be successful in the long run.

Edited by Manas Srivastava

(The writer is the author of ‘Being Good and Aaiye, Insaan Banaen’. He teaches courses on and offers training in ethics, values and behaviour. He has been the expert/consultant to UPSC, SAARC countries, Civil services Academy, National Centre for Good Governance, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Competition Commission of India (CCI), etc. He has PhD in two disciplines and has been a Doctoral Fellow in Gandhian Studies from ICSSR. His second PhD is from IIT Delhi on Ethical Decision Making among Indian Bureaucrats. He writes for the UPSC Ethics Simplified (Concepts and Caselets) fortnightly.)