Case Study You serve as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a startup business that is gaining recognition in the industry. Mr. Anuj, a well-known performer, is in charge of the marketing department. He has contributed to the company's revenues by more than doubling in just one year, and you are considering giving him a promotion because of this. However, you have heard rumours regarding his behaviour with his female coworkers, specifically his propensity for making crude remarks about women, from a variety of sources. Additionally, he frequently sends lewd SMS messages to the entire team, including his female coworkers. One day, Mrs. Akshita, a member of Mr. Anuj's team, comes to you in the late evening, clearly upset. She complains about Mr. Anuj's ongoing inappropriate behaviour because he has been making unwanted overtures toward her and even attempting to touch her inappropriately in his cabin. She steps down from her position and departs your workplace. (20 marks | 250 words) (a) What are the options available to you? (b) Evaluate each of these options and choose the option you would adopt, giving reasons.

Case Study As the District Collector of a Suratwada district, you are overseeing a government-funded rural development project aimed at improving infrastructure. However, you soon discover that several contractors awarded the contracts for building roads, sanitation systems, and affordable housing have strong political ties to local and state-level politicians. These contractors, despite a history of substandard work and financial mismanagement in previous projects, continue to be awarded lucrative tenders due to their political leverage. Upon reviewing the project, you uncover that funds are being misused, with inflated costs and substandard materials being used in construction. Corrupt local officials are found to be complicit in manipulating the approval process. Despite knowing this, you face immense pressure from both your political superiors and influential local figures to allow the project to continue without intervention. Exposing the corruption could stall the project, affecting the district’s development and potentially harming your career, as the political backlash could lead to your transfer or disciplinary action. You are caught in a dilemma: Should you expose the corruption and risk your career and the completion of the project, or turn a blind eye, knowing that doing so would compromise your ethical duty to the public? The decision is further complicated by the knowledge that your actions could affect both the future of the project and your ability to carry out governance in the district. Questions: 1. What options are available to you to ensure that the corruption in the project is thoroughly investigated, while minimizing disruption to public services? 2. What course of action would you take to maintain your integrity and balance the investigation with the need for continued public service delivery? 3. What long-term reforms would you consider implementing in your district to prevent similar situations of corruption in future government projects, and how would you ensure that such reforms gain traction in the face of political and administrative resistance?

Case Study Mr. Aditya Sharma is serving as the District Magistrate of a rapidly growing district where the state government has recently introduced an AI-based system to identify beneficiaries for welfare schemes such as housing subsidies, scholarships, and pension benefits. The system uses multiple datasets—income records, property ownership, electricity consumption, and bank transactions—to automatically generate a list of eligible beneficiaries. The government promotes the system as a major reform to improve efficiency, reduce corruption, and ensure objective targeting of welfare benefits. Initially, the new system significantly reduces manual processing and speeds up the delivery of benefits. However, during public grievance hearings, Mr. Sharma begins receiving numerous complaints from genuinely poor families who have been excluded from the beneficiary list. Upon investigation, he discovers that the algorithm relies heavily on digital and financial data. As a result, many informal-sector workers, migrant families, and people without regular digital footprints are being wrongly classified as “ineligible.” At the same time, some relatively well-off households with incomplete or outdated records have been included in the beneficiary list. Civil society organisations accuse the administration of creating “digital exclusion”, arguing that excessive reliance on automated decision-making ignores ground realities. When Mr. Sharma raises these concerns with higher authorities, he is advised to continue using the system because it is a flagship governance reform that demonstrates the government's commitment to transparency and technology-driven administration. Officials argue that questioning the system may undermine public confidence in digital governance. Meanwhile, media reports and social activists are increasingly highlighting cases of exclusion, portraying the administration as insensitive to the needs of vulnerable populations. Mr. Sharma must decide how to address these concerns while balancing technological efficiency, fairness, and accountability in welfare delivery. Questions 1. Identify the ethical issues involved in the above case. 2. What options are available to Mr. Sharma? Evaluate the merits and demerits of each option. 3. What course of action should Mr. Sharma adopt to ensure both administrative efficiency and ethical governance? Justify your answer.

You are an IPS officer posted in an area where communal tensions are very much prevalent. One day, a religious procession is being carried out by one community. As they reach the area dominated by another community, sudden firing starts, resulting in several people in the procession getting injured and taken hostage. When you send the police force to control the situation, the force also gets pushed back by the aggressors. Among the hostages, there are individuals who are severely injured and require urgent medical treatment. A. What are the ethical dilemmas that you face in this situation? B. What are the possible courses of action that you can take to resolve the crisis? C. How will you justify your chosen course of action in terms of ethical principles and values?

Case Study A new and ambitious District Magistrate (DM) was recently appointed in a district plagued by severe water scarcity and recurring farmer suicides. During his initial field visits, he observed widespread illegal extraction of groundwater by industries, which exacerbated the crisis in rural areas. Despite a Supreme Court directive banning unregulated groundwater extraction, the industries continued to exploit resources, often bribing local officials to evade scrutiny. One day, during a surprise inspection, the DM sealed a major industrial plant violating water extraction laws. Soon after, he began receiving veiled threats from influential industrialists and even faced indirect pressure from senior bureaucrats to revoke his action. The DM also discovered that the illegal activities were intertwined with the livelihoods of many low-income workers employed by these industries, creating a social and ethical conflict. As public protests against the plant's closure gained momentum, the DM was faced with a challenging decision: to uphold the law and protect long-term water security or to consider the immediate economic impact on local workers and their families. (a) Identify the ethical dilemmas faced by the DM. (b) What options are available to the DM in this situation? (c) Suggest the most appropriate course of action with justifications.