15. Statements - Course of Action

INTRODUCTION:
A course of action is a step or administrative decision to be taken for improvement, follow-up or further action in regard to the problem, policy etc. On the basis of the information given in the statement, decide which of the suggested course of action logically follow(s) for pursuing.

EXERCISE
Directions: In each question below is given a statement followed by two courses of action numbered I and II. You have to assume everything in the statement to be true and on the basis of the information given in the statement, decide which of the suggested courses of action logically follow(s) for pursuing.
Give answer
(a) if only I follows;
(b) if only II follows;
(c) if either I or II follows;
(d) if neither I nor II follows and
(e) if both I and II follow

1. Statement: The ground water in the locality has been found to contain high level of arsenic making it dangerous to drink.
   Course of action:
   I. The people living in the area should be shifted to another area to avoid a catastrophic situation.
   II. The government should make arrangements for supply of Safe drinking water.
   
2. Statement: A large of live ammunition has been found in the scrap – yard of a local steel factory.
   Course of action:
   I. The steel factory should be immediately be closed down till all these ammunitions are located and shifted to safe places.
   II. The government should immediately set up an enquiry to unearth the details and take corrective measures to avoid such incidence in future. 
   
3. Statement: As many as ten coaches of a passenger train have derailed and blocked both pairs of the railway tracks.
   Course of action:
   I. The railway authorities should immediately send men and equipment to the spot to clear the railway tracks.
   II. All the trains running in both the directions should be diverted to other routes.
   
4. Statement: There has been a significant drop in the water level of all the lakes supplying water to the city.
   Course of action:
   I. The water supply authority should impose a partial cut in supply to tackle the situation.
   II. The government should appeal to all the residents through mass media for minimal use of water.
   
5. Statement: India has been continuously experiencing military threats from its neighboring countries.
   Course of action:
   I. India should engage into an all out war to stop the nagging threats.
   II. India should get the neighbours into a serious dialogue to reduce the tension at its borders. 
   
6. Statement: There has been less than forty percent voter turnout in the recent assembly elections.
   Course of action:
   I. The election commission should cancel the entire election process as the votes cast are not adequate to represent people.
   II. The entire election commission should take away the voting rights of those who did not exercise their rights.
   
7. Statement: Many medical and engineering graduates are taking up jobs in administrative services and in banks.
   Course of action:
   I. All the professional should be advised to refrain from taking up such jobs.
   II. The government should appoint a committee to find out the reasons for these professionals taking up such jobs and to suggest remedial measures.
   
8. Statement: Due to substantial reduction in fares by different airline services, large numbers of passengers so far travelling by upper classes in train have switched over to airline services.
   Course of action:
   I. The railways should immediately reduce the fare structure of the upper classes substantially to retain its passengers.
   II. The railways should reduce the capacity of upper classes in all trains to avoid loss.
   
9. Statement: A large number of engineering graduates in the country are not in a position to have gainful employment at present and the number of engineers is likely to grow in the future.
   Course of action:
   I. The government should launch attractive employment generation schemes and encourage these graduates to opt for such schemes to use their expertise and knowledge effectively.
   II. The happened due to proliferation of engineering colleges in the country and thereby lowered the quality of the engineering graduates. Those colleges which are not equipped to impart quality education should be closed down.
   
10. Statement: There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of successful candidates in this year’s School Leaving Certificate Examination.
    Course of action:
    I. The government should make arrangements to increase number of seats of intermediate courses in existing colleges.
    II. The government should take active steps to open new colleges to accommodate all these successful candidates.
    
11. Statement: There has been unprecedented increase in prices of essential commodities during the past few days due to the strike call given by the transporter’s association.
    Course of action:
    I. The government should immediately deploy all the govt. vehicles for movement of essential commodities to tide over the crisis.
    II. The transporter’s association should be persuaded to withdraw their strike call to bring in normalcy in supply of essential commodities.
    
12. Statement: There have been many instances of dacoit and looting in many passenger trains this year. Courses of action: I. The railway authority should immediately deploy one policeman in each compartment in all the passenger trains.
    II. The passengers travelling by train should be given training on how to tackle with the dacoits and looters.
    
13. Statement: Many villages in the district are washed away by the flood water rendering all the villagers without food and shelter.
    Course of action:
    I. The district administration should immediately send relief team with food and other supplies to the affected areas.
    II. The people living in the neighboring villages should be evacuated to safer places.
    
14. Statement: A large number of students have been caught using unfair means during the final year degree examinations.
    Course of action:
    I. All these students should permanently be debarred from appearing for any examination conducted by the authority.
    II. The guardians of these students should be called by the authority to inform them at any such behavior in future will not tolerated.
    
15. Statement: The Indian electronic component industry venturing into the West European markets faces tough competition from the Japanese.
    Course of action:
    I. India should search for other international markets for its Products.
    II. India should improve the quality of the electronics components to compete with the Japanese in capturing these markets.
    
16. Statement: A speeding truck has seriously injured many persons sleeping on roadside early in the morning.
    Course of action:
    I. The local administration should immediately put a complete ban on people sleeping on the roadsides.
    II. The driver of the speeding truck should be nabbed and tried for the crime he committed.
    
17. Statement: There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of students applying for admission of first std. in a local school making it difficult for the school authority to convince the parents of rejected applicants.
    Courses of action:
    I. The school authority should immediately put in place objective criteria for admitting students to select the required number.
    II. The school authority should open another school in the area to accommodate the remaining students. 
    
18. Statement: The apex court has directed that there is a need to bring in mechanism in the Government function to make it transparent.
    Course of action:
    I. The government should immediately appoint a task force to work out the modalities.
    II. The government should appeal to the apex court to reconsider its directive.
    
19. Statement: Many people in the coastal town are suffering from respiratory diseases during past few months.
    Courses of action:
    I. The Government should immediately send a team of health professionals to provide medical care to the affected people.
    II. The people suffering from such diseases should be kept in a special ward and put through proper medication.
    
20. Statement: There has been a substantial drop in number of people opting for new telephone connecting from the public sector telephone company in the recent months.
    Courses of action:
    I. The public sector telephone company should immediately set up a committee to identify the reasons for the drop.
    II. The public sector telephone company should offer new schemes with value added services to woo the new clients.
    
21. Statement: Every year large number of devotees die due to severe cold on their way to the shrine located at the top of the mountain range.
    Course of action:
    I. The devotees should be discouraged to visit the shrine without having proper warm clothes and other amenities.
    II. The government should provide warm clothes and shelter to all the devotees visiting the shrine.
    
22. Statement: It is reported that though Vitamin E present in fresh fruits and vegetables is beneficial for human body, capsule Vitamin E does not have the same effect on human body.
    Course of action:
    I. The sale of capsule Vitamin E should be banned.
    II. People should be encouraged to take fresh fruits and vegetables to meet the body's requirement of Vitamin E.
    
23. Statement: A large number of people visiting India from country X have been tested positive for carrying viruses of a killer disease.
    Course of action:
    I. The government of India should immediately put a complete ban on people coming to India country X including those Indians who are settled in country X.
    II. The government of India should immediately set up detection centers at all its airports and seaports to identify and quarantine those who are tested positive.
    
24. Statement: Mr. X, an active member of the Union, often insults his superiors in the office with his rude behavior.
    Course of action:
    I. He should be transferred to some other department
    II. The matter should be referred to the Union.
    
25. Statement: As stated in the recent census report the female to male ratio is alarmingly low.
    Course of action:
    I. The government should conduct another census to verify the results.
    II. The government should immediately issue orders to all the departments to encourage in improving the ratio.
    
26. Statement: India’s performance in the recent Olympic Games was very poor. Not even a single medal could be bagged by the players. Government has spent Rs.5 crores in training and deputing a team of players to participate in the Olympic Games.
    Course of action:
    I. India should stop sending players to the future Olympic Games.
    II. Government should immediately set up and enquiry commission to find out the reason for India's dismal performance.
    
27. Statement: Researchers are feeling agitated as libraries are not equipped to provide the right information to the right users at the right time in the required format. Even the users are not aware about various services available for them.
    Course of action:
    I. All the information available to the libraries should be computerized to provide faster services to the users.
    II. Library staff should be trained in computer operations.
    
28. Statement: The vegetable traders feel that prices of onion will again go up shortly in the State 'P'.
    Course of action:
    I. The 'P' State Government should purchase and store sufficient quantity of onion in advance to control process.
    II. The ‘P' State Government should make available network of fair price shops for the sale of onion during the period of shortage.
    
29. Statement: The State Government has decided to declare 'Kala Azar' as a modifiable disease under the Epidemics Act. Family members or neighbours of the patient are liable to be punished in case they did not inform the State authorities.
    Course of action:
    I. Efforts should be made to effectively implement the Act.
    II. The cases of punishment should be propagated through mass media so that more people become aware of the stern actions.
    
30. Statement: Financial stringency prevented the State Government from paying salaries to its employees since April this year.
    Course of action:
    I. The State Government should immediately curtail the staff strength at least by 30%.
    II. The State Government should reduce wasteful expenditure and arrange to pay the salaries of its employees.
    
31. Statement: There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of requests for berths in most of the long distance trains during the current holiday season.
    Course of action:
    I. The railway authority should immediately increase the capacity in each of these trains by attaching additional coaches.
    II. The people seeking accommodation should be advised to make their travel plan after the holiday.
    
32. Statement: The killer enteric fever has so far claimed 100 lives in some tribal villages in M.P. during the past three weeks.
    Course of action:
    I. The residents of these villages should immediately be shifted to a non-infected area.
    II. The Government should immediately send a medical squad to this area to restrict spread of the killer disease,
    
33. Statement: Most of those studies in premier engineering colleges in India migrate to developed nations for better prospects in their professional pursuits.
    Course of action:
    I. All the students joining these colleges should be asked to sign a bond at the time of admission to the effect that they will remain in India at least for ten years after they complete education.
    II. All those students who desire to settle in the developed nations should be asked to pay entire cost of their education which the government subsidies.
    
34. Statement: The air and rail services have been severely disrupted due to thick fog in the northern part of the country.
    Course of action:
    I. The rail and air services should be temporarily suspended in the region.
    II. People should be advised to make their travel plan keeping in mind the probable disruption resulting in delay or cancellation of services. I
    II. The government should immediately install modern machines which will enable it to guide the rail and air services even if the thick fog develops.
    (a) Only II follows
    (b) Only III follows
    (c) Only II and III follow
    (d) All follow
    (e) None of these
    
35. Statement: It is estimated that about twenty lakh people will visit the city during the ensuing festival.
    Course of action:
    I. The civic authority should monitor the crowd and restrict entry of the people beyond a manageable number.
    II. The local police authority should be put on high alert to maintain law and order during the festival.
    III. All the hospitals in the city should be put on high alert in case of any eventuality.
    (a) Only I and II follow
    (b) Only II and III follow
    (c) Only I and III follow
    (d) All follow
    (e) None of these. 
    
36. Statement: The management of school ‘M’ has decided to give free breakfast from next academic year to all the students in its primary section through its canteen even though they will not get any government grant.
    Course of action:
    I. The school will have to admit many poor students who will seek admission for the next academic year.
    II. The canteen facilities and utensils have to be checked and new purchases to be made to equip it properly.
    III. Funds will have to raised to support the scheme for years to come.
    (a) Only I follow
    (b) Only either I or II follows
    (c) Only II and III follow
    (d) All follow
    (e) None of these
    
37. Statement: A large number of students studying in municipal schools could not pass the Xth Std. Board examination causing frustration among the students and their parents.
    Course of action:
    I. The municipal authority should immediately review the position and initiate measures to improve the situation.
    II. The Municipal authority should immediately fill up the Teacher’s vacancies in the municipal schools.
    III. The Municipal authority should close down some of their schools and concentrate their attention on remaining schools to improve the conditions.
    (a) Only I and II follow
    (b) Only II and III follow
    (c) Only I and III follow
    (d) All follow
    (e) None of these
    
38. Statement: The condition of all the major roads in the city has deteriorated due to incessant rain during the last two months.
    Course of action:
    I. The city civic authority should deploy additional traffic staff to regulate the vehicular movement.
    II. The city civic authority should immediately make arrangement for repairs of the damaged roads.
    III. Motorists should be alerted at various places by putting up sign boards about the bad patches of the roads to enable them to plan their journey accordingly.
    (a) Only I and II follow
    (b) Only II and III follow
    (c) Only I and III follow
    (d) All follow
    (e) None of these
    
39. Statement: Employees of all the Govt. organization and public sector undertakings in the country went on a day’s strike protesting against the process of privatization of Govt. run public sector undertakings which has resulted into loss to exchequer worth crores of rupees.
    Courses of action:
    I. All those employees who remained absent from work should be suspended.
    II. The Govt. should put on hold the process of privatization of Govt. run public sector undertaking.
    III. The Govt. should declare complete ban on striking work by employees in all organizations in the country.
    (a) Only I follows
    (b) Only III follows
    (c)Only II follows
    (d)Only II and III follow
    (e)None of these 
    
40. Statement: The major road connecting the two main parts of the city is inundated due to heavy rains during past two days.
    Course of action:
    I. The government should immediately send a relief team to the affected area.
    II. The municipal authority should make immediate effort to pump out water from the road.
    II. The municipal authority should advise the general public to stay indoors till the water is cleared.
    (a) Only I follows
    (b) Only I and II follow
    (c)Only I and III follow
    (d)Only II and III follow
    (e) none of these
    
41. Statement: Many people living in the slums of western part of the town are diagnosed to be suffering from malaria.
    Courses of action:
    I. The municipal corporation should immediately make necessary arrangements to spray mosquito repellent in the affected area.
    II. The municipal authority should immediately make necessary arrangements to provide quick medical help to the affected people.
    
42. Statement: Many students died in a collision of their bus and a truck near the school premise because the driver of truck lost his balance owing to high speed of the truck.
    Course of action:
    (A). The Government should immediately cancel the licenses of all the trucks operating in the city.
    (B). The Government should prohibit the movement of all the vehicles near the school premise.
    (C). The Government should set up a high level task force to suggest measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
    (a) Only A
    (b) Only B
    (c) Only C
    (d) Only A and C
    (e)None
    
43. Statement: India today is midstream in its demographic transaction. In the last 60 years there has been an almost continuous decline in mortality; while fertility has declined over the last 20 years. The consequence is that there has been a rapid growth in population over the last 50 years.
    Course of action:
    I. India should immediately revitalize its family planning programme.
    II. The Government should immediately launch a massive education programme through mass media highlighting the implication of population growth at the present rate.
    
44. Statement: Duty free technology parks where foreign firms can manufacture electronic hardware components are proposed to be established at various places in the country.
    Course of action:
    I. Government should immediately implement the proposal to augment the foreign currency reserve by exporting the products.
    II. Government should not implement the proposal as it will hinder indigenous production of hardware components.
    
45. Statement: The Asian Development Bank has approved a $285 million loan to finance a project to construct coal ports by Paradip and Madras Port Trusts.
    Course of action:
    I. India should use financial assistance from other international financial organizations to develop such ports in other places.
    II. India should not seek such financial assistance from the international financial agencies.
    
46. Statement: The alert villagers caught a group of dreaded dacoits armed with murderous weapons.
    Course of action:
    I. The villagers should be provided sophisticated weapons.
    II. The villagers should be rewarded for their courage and unity.
    
47. Statement: The Secretary lamented that the electronic media was losing its communications with the listeners and the viewers. He also emphasized the need for training to improve the functioning.
    Course of action:
    I. Efforts should be made to get organized feedback on the programme.
    II. The critical areas in which the staff requires training should be identified.
    
48. Statement: Orissa and Andhra Pradesh have agreed in principle to set up a joint control board for better control, management and productivity of several inter-state multipurpose projects.
    Course of action:
    I. Other neighbouring states should set up such control boards.
    II. The proposed control board should not be allowed to function as such joints boards are always ineffective.

ANSWER KEY
1	b	11	e	21	d	31	b	41	e
2	e	12	d	22	b	32	e	42	c
3	e	13	e	23	b	33	b	43	e
4	e	14	b	24	b	34	d	44	d
5	b	15	b	25	b	35	b	45	d
6	d	16	b	26	b	36	c	46	e
7	b	17	e	27	a	37	d	47	e
8	a	18	a	28	a	38	e	48	d
9	b	19	a	29	e	39	e
10	a	20	e	30	b	40	e

Prepared by,
IACE, Hyderabad.