Question

[5]. Read the following passage carefully:

Passage: "On a rocky island off the western coast stood an old lighthouse. Its keeper, Ratan, had lived there for thirty years. Every evening he climbed the narrow stairs, polished the great lens, and lit the lamp before sunset. Fishermen far out at sea steered by that light, and on stormy nights it was the only sign that land was near. Ratan lived alone, yet he never called himself lonely. He kept a logbook in which he recorded the wind, the tide, and every ship that passed. When a young assistant once asked why he checked the lens twice, Ratan replied that a small smudge could dim the light for a ship that needed it most. In winter, when storms cut off supply boats for weeks, Ratan rationed his food and kept the lamp burning all the same. He believed that duty is not measured by praise but by steadiness. When he finally retired, the fishermen gathered at the shore, not to honour a famous man, but to thank a steady light that had never failed them." In the context of the passage, what does the word steadiness mean?