Statement & course of action

The questions from the topic ‘Statement & Course of action’ are asked to test the ability of the aspirant to judge a problem correctly as well as to determine the root cause of the problem and then to prescribe a suitable course of action.

What is the Course of Action?

A course of action is a step or administrative decision to be taken up for improvement or follow-up for further action in regard to the problem, policy etc. on the basis of the information given in the statement.

Broadly, we can classify these questions in the following two types:

1. Problem and Solution based: When the given situation talks of a problem, then the suggested ‘course of action’ should talk about the solution keeping in mind the following points-

• It solves/reduces or minimizes the problem.
• The solution or course of action is practically Possible.

Note:

1. A suggested course of action may indeed solve a problem but in practical life, it may not be advisable or possible. If it is so, then the course of action is rejected.

2. When the statement is an established fact. i.e., It is acknowledged universally as a fact.

For e.g. –

Statement: A large number of people in ward X of the city are diagnosed to be suffering from a fatal malaria type.

Courses of Action: I. The city municipal authority should take immediate steps to carry out extensive fumigation in ward X.

1. The people in the area should be advised to take steps to avoid mosquito bites.

(1). Only I follows

(2). Only II follows

(3). Either I or II follows

(4). Neither I nor II follows

(5). Both I and II follow

The answer is (5) – Clearly, prevention from mosquitoes and elimination of mosquitoes are two ways to prevent malaria. The action will reduce the problem. So, both the courses of action follow.

2. Fact and Improvement based: When the presented situations talk about a simple fact (not a problem, just a situation) then the suggested courses of action should suggest ways of improvement.

The format of the Problem: These types of questions contain two or more statements and these statements are followed by a number of Courses of Action. You are required to find which Course of Action will logically follow from the given statement.

 For e.g.-

Statement: Exporters in the capital are alleging that commercial banks are violating a Reserve Bank of India directive to operate a post-shipment export credit denominated in foreign currency at international rates from January this year.

Courses of Action: I. The officers concerned in the commercial banks are to be suspended.

II. The RBI should be asked to stop giving such directives to commercial banks.

(1) Only I follows

(2) Only II follows

(3) Either I or II follows

(4) Neither I nor II follows

(5) Both I and II follow

Answers (4) – The statement mentions that the commercial banks violate a directive issued by the RBI. The remedy is only to make the banks implement the Act. So, none of the courses follows.

Steps to Solve Statement and Course of Action Questions

Following are the approaches to solve the questions of this topic :

1. Don’t make your individual perception.

2. Act according to the rules of any organization.

3. Go for impartial and not personal thinking.

4. Existing practices are not effective Course of Action.

5. Whenever a problem arises, it is always a sensible course of action to find out the cause.

Important Points to proceed step by step to reach final courses of action:

1. Extreme or strict action is not a valid course of action.

2. The actions should be a positive step towards the solution of the problem, rather harsh and undemocratic.

3. Analyses course of action whether it will solve the problem or lessen it. For proper analysis check with

(i) Universal truth

(ii) Experience

(iii) Logic

4. Go for a practical course of action. A simple problem must have a simple course of action, not a complex one which might create more problem than to solve or reduce.

5. In most of the cases, a situation has more than one course of action. But they are never exclusive to each other. So, our answer should be always “both follow” and not “either of them follows”.

6. If the course of action and problems are properly balanced and if the course of action is also feasible than that action can be followed.

Sample Questions

1. Statement: Youngsters are often found staring at obscene posters.

Courses of Action :

I) Children should be punished and penalized if they are found doing so.

II) Any display of such materials should be banned.

(1) Only I follows

(2) Only II follows

(3) Either I or II follows

(4)  Neither I nor II follows

(5) Both I and II follow

Ans (2) only II follows.

Explanation: Bad things attract more and punishment after the act has been committed is no remedy. The act should be prevented so only II follows.

2. Statement: Footpaths of a busy road are crowded with vendors selling cheap items.

Courses of Action :

I) The help of police should be sought to drive them away.

II) Some space should be provided to them where they can earn their bread without blocking footpaths.

(1) Only I follow

(2) Only II follows

(3) Either I or II follows

(4)  Neither I nor II follows

(5) Both I and II follow

Ans (5) Both I and II follow

Explanation: The best solution for the problem is to give an alternative to it. II suggests an alternative and hence follows. But how can we be sure that the vendors would leave the footpaths if they are given alternative means of livelihood? For that, we have to use force and hence I also follow.

3. Statement: Rapid growth of the urban population has led to a severe shortage of living space resulting in a drop in living conditions.

Courses of Action:

I) The Government should draw plans for urban re planning and development.

II) All village to town migrations should be stopped.

II) The Government should demolish the five-star hotels and build peoples cottages there.

(1) Only I follow

(2) Only III follows

(3) I & III follow

(4) I & II follow

(5) All follow

Ans (1) Only I follow

Explanation: ‘I’ is a positive step towards the solution of the problem. III is rather harsh and undemocratic. II too is an extreme action. Both II & III would violate the Fundamental Rights of the Indian Constitution.

4. Statement: Although the advancement of medical science has raised life expectancy, the rate of child mortality remains high in India.

Courses of Action :

I) Efforts should be made to lower life expectancy.

II) Medical scientists should be asked to give up their jobs.

III) Efforts should be made to decrease the rate of child mortality.

(1) I & II follow

(2) II & III follow

(3) I & III follow

(4) Only I follow

(5) Only III follows

Ans (5) Only III follows.

Explanation: Option ‘I’ is an absurd suggestion. Option ‘II’ is an extreme action not required in the present circumstances. Option ‘III’ is undeniably a proper course of action.

A course of action is ‘a step or administrative decision to be taken for improvement, follow-up or further in regard to the problem, policy etc. on, the basis of information given in the statement. This type of questions, involve finding appropriate course of action, assuming the problem or policy being talked about in the statement:

Direction (1 to 2) : In the question below there is a statement followed by two course of action I and II Assume everything in the statement to be true, and then decide which of the two suggested course of action logically follows. Mark your answer as:

(a) if only I follow                            (b) if only II follows

(c) if neither I nor II follows          (d) if both J and II follows.

Ex.1. Statement:  Many cases of cholera were reported from a nearby village.

Course of Action:

I. The question should be raised in Legislative Assembly. :

II. A team of doctors should be rushed to the village.

Sol. Clearly, the disease has to be eradicated. For this purpose, proper and immediate medication and preventive measures by doctors is necessary. So, only II follows:

Ans. is (b).

Ex.2. Statement: A devastating earthquake has ravaged the city killing hundreds of people and rendering many more homeless.

Course of Action:

I. The entry of outsiders into the city should be stopped immediately.

II. The civic administration should immediately make alternate temporary housing arrangement for the victims.

III. The affected people should immediately be shifted to a safer place.

(a) only I follows              (b) only Ill follows            (c) only II follows              (d) Either Il or I follows.

Sol. I. Earthquake has already occurred so I is irrelevant.

II. Relevant as per need of the statement.

III. Alternative to above step.

Therefore ans. is (d), either II or III follows

PRACTICE TEST-I

Directions (Q. 1-4): In each question, there is a statement followed by two course of action I and II. Assume everything in the statement to be true, and then decide which of the two suggested course of action logically follows Marks your answer as:

(a) if only I follow                            (b) if only IT follows

(c) if neither I nor II follows          (d) if both I and Ill follows.

1. Statement: Every year. at the beginning or at the end of the monsoon, we have some cases of conjunctivitis, but this year it seems to be major epidemic witnessed after nearly four years.

Course of Actions:

I. Precautionary measures should be taken after every four years to check this epidemic.

II. People should be adviced to drink boiled water during rainy season. .

2. Statement: Exporters in the capital area alleging that commercial banks are violating a Reserve Bank of India directives to operate a post shipment export credit denominated in foreign currency at international interest rates from January this year.

Course of Action:

I. The officers concerned in the commercial banks are to be suspended.

II. The RBI should be asked to stop giving such directives to commercial banks.

3. Statement: Courts take too long in deciding important disputes of various departments.

Course of Action:

I. Court should be ordered to Speed up matters.

II. Special powers should be granted to officers to settle disputes concerning their departments.

4. Statement: The chairman stressed the need for making education system more flexible and regretted that the curriculum has not been revised in keeping with the pace of changes taking place.

Course of Action:

I. Curriculum should be reviewed and revised periodically.

II. System of education should be made more flexible.

Directions (5 to 14): Every statement is followed by three course of actions numbered I, II and Hl. You have to assume everything in the statement to be true. Decide which course(s) of action logically follow(s) for pursuing from the given options marked (a), (b), (c), and (d).

5. Statement: In one of the worst accidents in railway level crossing fifty people died when a bus carrying them, collided on to running train.

Course of Action:

I. The train driver should immediately be suspended.

II. The driver of bus should be tried in court for negligence on his part.

III. The railway authority should be asked to mark all its level crossings.

(a) None follows                              (b) only I and II follows

(c) Only III follows                           (d) only II and III follows.

6. Statement: A mass mortality of shrimps in ponds on the entire Andhra coast has recently been reported due to the presence of a virus.

Course of Action:

I. The water of the ponds affected should immediately be treated for identifying the nature of virus.

Il. The catching of Shrimps from the ponds should temporarily be stopped.

III. The fishermen should be asked to watch for the onset of such phenomenon in nature.

(a) Only I follows                             (b) only I and II follows

(c) All follows                                   (d) only II and III follows.

7. Statement: The world will have to feed more than 10 billion people in the next century of whom half will be in Asia and will eat rice as their staple.

Course of action:

I. More funds should immediately be allocated. for rice research to help ensure adequate supplics.

Il. The people in Asia should be encouraged to change their food habit.

III. Rice should be grown in countries outside Asia to meet the demand.

(a) Only I and II follows                 (b) only Il and III follows

(c) All follows                                   (d) None follows.

8. Statement: If the faculty members also join the strike, there is going to be serious problem.

Course of action:

I. The faculty members should be persuaded not to be on strike. –

II. Those faculty members who join the strike should be suspended.

III. The management should not worry about such small things.

(a) None follows                              (b) only I follow

(c) Only I and II follows                  (d) only II and III follows.

9. Statement: There was a spurt in criminal activities in the city during the recent festival season.

Course of action:

I. The police should immediately investigate into the causes of this increase.

II. In future the police should take adequate measures to avoid recurrence of such a situation during festivals.

III. The known criminals should be arrested before any such season.

(a) None of these follows                            (b) only II and III follows

(c) Only I and II follows                                 (d) All follows.

10. Statement: The weather bureau has through a recent bulletin forecast heavy rain during the next week, which may cause water logging in several part of the city.

Cause of action:

I. The bulletin should be given wide publicity through the mass media.

II. The civic authority should keep in readiness the pumping system for removal of water from these parts.

III. The people should be advised to stay indoors during the period of rain.

(a) None follows                              (b) only II follows

(c) Only I and II follows                  (d) only I and Ill follows.

11. Statement: Drinking water supply to New Bombay has been supplied till further orders from Maharashtra pollution control Board following pollution of Patalaganga river, caused by discharge of effluents from some chemical industries.

Course of action:

I. The industries responsible for discharging effluents into the river should be asked to close down immediately:

II. The river water should immediately be treated chemically before resuming supply.

Ill. The pollution board should check the nature of effluents being discharged into the river by industries in regular intervals.

(a) All follows                                   (b) only I and III follow

(c) Only I follow                               (d) only III follows.

12. Statement: The lynching of a police officer DSP Ayub Pandith outside the Jama Masid in downtown Srinagar on Friday triggered widespread condemnation.  Srinagar’s Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Ayub Pandith was lynched by an irate mob after he allegedly opened fire at a group of people who caught him clicking pictures near a mosque in downtown.

 Which of the course of action should be followed?

(I) The police and security guards should run away after they found the mob too large to be handled.

(II) Authorities should restrict the movement of people in particular areas of the city as a precautionary measure.

(III) It should be announced to maintain law and order and some kind of action plan should be prepared to stop all these miss-happenings.

(a) Only II            (b) Only III and I               (c) Only II and III              (d) Only I and II

(e) None of the above

13. Statement: The vehicular traffic has increased so much in the recent past that it takes atleast two hours to travel between the city and the airport during peak hours.

Course of action:

I. Non-airport bound vehicles should not be allowed to ply on the road connecting the city and the airport.

Il. The load of vehicular traffic should be diverted through various link roads during peak hours.

III. The departure and arrival of flights should be regulated so as to avoid congestion during peak hours.

(a) Only I follow                               (b) only I and II follows

(c) Only II follows                            (d) All follows

14. Statement: Due to cancellation of a huge export order for not adhering to the time-frame, the company is likely to get into incurring losses in the current financial year.

Course of Action:

I. The officer in charge of the production should be immediately suspended.

Ii. The goods manufactured for the export order should be sold to other party.

III. The company should change its machinery to maintain the time frame.

(a) None follows                              (b) Only I and II follows

(c) Only II follows                            (d) All follows.

Directions (15 to 16): In each of these questions, a statement is followed by two courses of action numbered l and II. Assume everything in the statement to be true. Decide which of the suggested course(s) of action logically follow(s) for pursuing. Mark answers as:

(a) if only Il follows                         (b) if only I follow

(c) if neither I nor II follows          (d) if both I and II follows.

15. Statement: The government has decided to provide financial support to voluntary organisations from the next five year plan and has communicated that all such organisations should raise funds to meet their financial needs.

Course of Action:

I. Voluntary organisations should collaborate with foreign agencies.

II. They should explore other sources of financial support. :

16. Statement: The day time temperature in this summer has been four to five degrees Celsius above the normal temperature across the country.

Course of Action:

I. The government machinery should be put on high alert and provided with necessary equipments to prevent any untoward incidents.

II. The government should make necessary arrangement to provide water in all the areas affected due to extreme heat waves.

Directions (17 to 18) : In each of these questions, there is given a statement followed by two course of Action, numbered I and II, You have to assume everything in the statement to be true to decide which of the two suggested courses of action logically follows for pursuing.

Mark your answers as:

(a) if only I follows                          (b) if only II follows         

(c) if either I or II follows               (d) if neither I nor Il follows

17. Statement: The Minister said that the teachers are still not familiar with the need. importance and meaning of population education in the higher education system. They are not even clearly aware about their role and responsibilities in the population education programme.

Course of action:

I. Population education programme should be included in the college curriculum.

II. Orientation programme should be conducted for teachers on population education.

18. 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 by at least 30%.

II. The state government should reduce wasteful expenditure and arrange to pay the salaries of its employees.

Directions: In the 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 course of action logically follow(s) for pursuing.

19. Statement: A terrible financial year has caused a company X to lose its revenue by 10%.

Courses of action:

I. The company should immediately lay off at least 20% of its employees to cut the expenditures.

II. The company should remove unnecessary expenditure to prevent further losses.

(a) Only I follow                               (b) Only II follows

(c) Either I or II follows                  (d) Neither I nor II follows            (e) Both I and II follow

Directions: In the question below are given a statement followed by two courses of action numbered I and I. 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 to be true,  then decide which of the suggested courses of action logically follow(s) for pursuing.

20. Statement: Jo owns a piece of farming land which ts located near the Krishna Cottage Cheese Manufacturers. She grows a lot of fruits like apples, pears and some vegetables like aubergines and okra. She then sells off her produce in the market. From the last few months, she has realized that a few of her crops have been destroyed and because of this, she was not able to deliver a large order of aubergines to a client. The crops are being eaten up by the cows owned by Krishna Cottage Cheese Manufacturers. Jo has a long-standing friendly relationship with the Krishna’s. She is in a dilemma about how to approach this situation.

Course of Actions:

I. Katy, Jo’s friend advises her not to approach the Krishna’s and discuss the situation as it could be a one-time issue and that it might jeopardize her relationship with them.

II. Jo’s mother shares her opinion of building an electrically barbed fence around her farming land so that the cows learn a nasty lesson.

(a) Only I follow                                              (b) Only II follows.

(c) Either I or II follows.                                (d) Neither I nor II follows.

(e) Both I and II follow.

ANSWERS

1. (b)     2 (c)       3.(d)      4 (d)      5. (c)      6. (c)      7. (a)      8. (b)     9. (c)       10. (d) 11. (b)   12. (c)   13. (c)   14. (c)   15. (a)   16. (d)   17. (b)   18. (b)   19. (b)   20. (d)