The dangerous illusion of technology is that it can create stronger, top down accountability of service providers in implementation-intensive services within existing public sector organisations. One notion is that electronic management information systems (EMIS) keep better track of inputs and those aspects of personnel that are ‘EMIS visible’ can lead to better services. A recent study examined attempts to increase attendance of Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANMs) at clinics in Rajasthan, which involved high-tech time clocks to monitor attendance. The study’s title says it all: Band-Aids on a Corpse . . . e-governance can be just as bad as any other governance when the real issue is people and their motivation.
For services to improve, the people providing the services have to want to do a better job with the skills they have. A study of medical care in Delhi found that even though providers, in the public sector had much better skills than private sector providers their provision of care in actual practice was much worse.
In implementation-intensive services the key to success is face-to-face interactions between a teacher, a nurse, a policeman, an extension agent and a citizen. This relationship is about power. Amartya Sen’s . . . report on education in West Bengal had a supremely telling anecdote in which the villagers forced the teacher to attend school, but then, when the parents went off to work, the teacher did not teach, but forced the children to massage his feet. . . . As long as the system empowers providers over citizens, technology is irrelevant.
The answer to successfully providing basic services is to create systems that provide both autonomy and accountability. In basic education for instance, the answer to poor teaching is not controlling teachers more . . . The key . . . is to hire teachers who want to teach and let them teach, expressing their professionalism and vocation as a teacher through autonomy in the classroom. This autonomy has to be matched with accountability for results—not just narrowly measured through test scores, but broadly for the quality of the education they provide.
A recent study in Uttar Pradesh showed that if, somehow, all civil service teachers could be replaced with contract teachers, the state could save a billion dollars a year in revenue and double student learning. Just the additional autonomy and accountability of contracts through local groups—even without complementary system changes in information and empowerment— led to that much improvement. The first step to being part of the solution is to create performance information accessible to those outside of the government. . . .
The main purpose of the passage is to:
- argue that some types of services can be improved by providing independence and requiring accountability.
- find a solution to the problem of poor service delivery in education by examining different strategies.
- analyse the shortcomings of government-appointed nurses and their management through technology.
- critique the government’s involvement in educational activities and other implementation-intensive services.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer is (A):
The author seems to be focusing on service improvement by empowerment. Option 1 captures the main idea aptly. Firstly, it speaks of service improvement of some type of services, secondly it speaks of how that service can be improved: by providing independence and requiring accountability. Thus option 1 is the best choice.
Option 2 goes out because the author has not examined different strategies in the passage; Moreover, education sector is just an example through which the author seems to be communicating his key idea of empowerment and accountability.
Option 3 goes out because it misses the focus of the passage. The focus is not the shortcomings of nurses, but how service delivery can be improved.
Option 4, though close, misses the main idea. The author is not critiquing the government’s involvement. Rather, his focus is on what can be done to improve the services.
In the context of the passage, we can infer that the title “Band Aids on a Corpse” (in paragraph 2) suggests that:
- the nurses who attended the clinics were too poorly trained to provide appropriate medical care.
- the electronic monitoring system was a superficial solution to a serious problem.
- the clinics were better funded, but performance monitoring did not result in any improvement.
- the nurses attended the clinics, but the clinics were ill-equipped.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
These types of questions have become quite common in CAT RC. The question wants the answer ‘in the context of the passage’. Though the phrase has been used as a title of a book, in the context of the passage it suggests that it was a superficial solution to a more serious problem. The other choices are focusing too much on the nurses and the clinics, but that is not the main idea of the passage. In the context of the passage, the example of nurses is just a small suggestion of a superficial solution to a bigger problem. We should not forget that the question asks us to answer in the context of the passage.
The author questions the use of monitoring systems in services that involve face-to-face interaction between service providers and clients because such systems:
- are ineffective because they are managed by the government.
- are not as effective in the public sector as they are in the private sector.
- do not improve services that need committed service providers.
- improve the skills but do not increase the motivation of service providers.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The author in the second last para says that the solution to services that need face-to-face interaction is to hire people who want to teach. In other words, he suggests that we should hire people who are motivated to carry out the job.
So, the correct answer is (C): do not improve services that need committed service providers.
According to the author, service delivery in Indian education can be improved in all of the following ways EXCEPT through:
- use of technology.
- access to information on the quality of teaching.
- recruitment of motivated teachers.
- elimination of government involvement.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer is (D):
this is a slightly confusing question. To answer such questions correctly, we must read them carefully. The question says that service delivery can be improved in all of the following ways except, so we have to pick a choice in which service delivery cannot be improved. Both options 2 and 3 are evident in the passage and are likely to improve service delivery. Now we have two choices: use of technology and elimination of government involvement. We can see that the author has said in the first para that technology can certainly facilitate service delivery in a variety of ways. So the author suggests that technology is helpful but up to some extent.
Elimination of government involvement has not been implied or stated anywhere in the passage. Thus 4 is the best choice.
Which of the following, IF TRUE, would undermine the passage’s main argument?
- Empowerment of service providers leads to increased complacency and rigged performance results.
- If absolute instead of moderate technological surveillance is exercised over the performance of service providers.
- If it were proven that service providers in the private sector have better skills than those in the public sector.
- If it were proven that increase in autonomy of service providers leads to an exponential increase in their work ethic and sense of responsibility.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer is (A):
This is an easy question. The author right across the passage talks of autonomy and empowerment, but if it turned that empowerment leads to increased complacency and rigged performance results, then the author’s position would be considerably weakened. Thus 1 is the best choice.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
Passage: Toru Dutt is considered the earliest Indian female writer in English. She travelled extensively in Europe from a young age with her family. She and her sister Aru became fascinated with Paris and French literature. In London, they came in contact with such august personages such as Sir Bartle Frere, the Gover- nor of Bombay from 1862 to 1867, and Sir Edward Ryan, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Calcutta, from 1837 to 1843. Toru Dutt was greatly influenced in her writings by French Romantic poets like Victor Hugo and English writers like Elizabeth Browning, John Keats, Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen. She was also intrigued by the legends and myths of India, and even learned Sanskrit. Her writings were marked by romantic melancholia and an obsession and preoccupation with death. This was partly due to her suffering and pain following the early tragic deaths of her siblings, especially her older sister Aru, with whom she was quite close. Her chosen subjects often portrayed separation, loneliness, captivity, dejec- tion, declining seasons and untimely death. She led an ”Ivory Tower existence” and her own death came quite early, at the age of 21, in the full bloom of her talent and on the eve of the awakening of her genius. Toru Dutt’s most famous work is A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields, an anthology of poems translated from French to English. It also contained a few original poems that showcase her vast insight into French literature. She used to publish poems in the Bengal Magazine, under the pseudonym ”TD”. But most of her powerful work was published posthumously, in- cluding the French novel Le Journal de Mademoiselle D’Arvers and the unfinished English novel Bianca, or, the Young Spanish Maiden. Her work Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan depicts a shrewd knowledge of Hindu mythology and an instinctive empathy with the conditions of life they represent. An assimilation of the Occident and the Orient nourished Toru’s poetic skills; in her, we find a tripartite influence of a French education, lectures at Cambridge and the study of Sanskrit literature.
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“Why do they pull down and do away with crooked streets, I wonder, which are my delight, and hurt no man living? Every day the wealthier nations are pulling down one or another in their capitals and their great towns: they do not know why they do it; neither do I. It ought to be enough, surely, to drive the great broad ways which commerce needs and which are the life-channels of a modern city, without destroying all history and all the humanity in between: the islands of the past.”
(From Hilaire Belloc’s “The Crooked Streets”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?- GATE PH - 2025
- General Aptitude
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“Why do they pull down and do away with crooked streets, I wonder, which are my delight, and hurt no man living? Every day the wealthier nations are pulling down one or another in their capitals and their great towns: they do not know why they do it; neither do I. It ought to be enough, surely, to drive the great broad ways which commerce needs and which are the life-channels of a modern city, without destroying all history and all the humanity in between: the islands of the past.” (From Hilaire Belloc’s “The Crooked Streets”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?
- GATE CE - 2025
- General Aptitude
- Reading Comprehension
- “His life was divided between the books, his friends, and long walks. A solitary man, he worked at all hours without much method, and probably courted his fatal illness in this way. To his own name there is not much to show; but such was his liberality that he was continually helping others, and fruits of his erudition are widely scattered, and have gone to increase many a comparative stranger’s reputation.”
(From E.V. Lucas’s “A Funeral”)
Based only on the information provided in the above passage, which one of the following statements is true?- GATE CE - 2025
- General Aptitude
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- Read the excerpt from a Handicrafts Manual: ‘Advanced Knitting Techniques’ and answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate answer.
THE FAIR ISLE METHOD: Fair Isle knitting is a traditional technique that involves using two or more colours of yarn in a single row to create intricate patterns and designs. This method requires careful tension management to ensure even stitches and prevent puckering. To begin, select your colours and cast on the desired number of stitches. As you knit, alternate between colours every few stitches, carrying the unused yarn along the back of the work. Mastering the Fair Isle technique allows you to create stunning visual effects in garments, accessories, and home textiles.
THE CONTINENTAL STYLE: The Continental knitting style, often referred to as “picking,” involves holding the yarn in the left hand while the right hand manipulates the needles. This method allows for greater speed and efficiency, particularly when working with complex patterns or multiple colours. To practice this style, start by casting on your stitches and using your left hand to tension the yarn. With each stitch, simply “pick” the yarn with your right needle, forming a quick and fluid motion. As you become comfortable with this technique, you may find that your overall knitting speed and comfort improve significantly.
THE SHORT-ROW TECHNIQUE: Short-row knitting is an advanced technique that allows for the creation of shaped garments, such as sleeves and shoulders, without the need for complex shaping. To make a sleeve using this technique, begin by casting on the required number of stitches. Work a portion of the row, then turn your work and return without completing the full row to create the “short rows” that shape the curves of the sleeve. To prevent holes at the turn, wrap the stitch before you turn your work. Repeat this process as needed to achieve the desired shaping and dimension of the sleeve. Once you have shaped the sleeve, you can then sew the side seams to connect the pieces of your garment and finally, complete the edges to ensure a clean finish. This method not only helps shape curves but also adds dimension to your piece, allowing you to enhance fit and style.- AILET BALLB (Hons.) - 2025
- English
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