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Approach – Answer: General Studies Mains Mock Test 1243 (2019)

1. Reservation of seats in legislature is needed to ensure meaningful political participation of women and
to make the democratic process truly inclusive. Discuss the statement in the light of 108th Constitution
Amendment Bill. (150 words) 10
Approach:
• Give an overview of the representation of women in politics in India and factors for low female
participation.
• Mention why participation of women is important for inclusive democratic process in the country.
• Discuss how the 108th Constitution Amendment Bill can reverse the trend of lower female
participation in politics.
• Conclude by mentioning few concerns associated with the reservation.
Answer:
Women in India are grossly under-represented in politics. The newly elected Lok Sabha has 78 women
MPs i.e. 14% of the house. In the state Legislative Assemblies and Councils, women constitute around
9% and 5% of the total membership of the house.
In this regard, reservation in legislatures is generally proposed as a strategy for increasing participation
of women in politics. This is important because:
• It would help in recognizing the significance of the role that women can play in decision-making
processes and also aid in building a progressive society.
• Research suggests that higher number of women legislators often leads to a shift towards policies,
which prioritize not only the specific concerns of women but also that of children, as well as ethnic
and racial minorities.
• Also, according to some studies, greater participation of women checks corrupt practices in politics.
For instance, male legislators are about three times as likely as female legislators to have criminal
charges pending against them when they stand for election.
Women’s active participation in electoral competitions is a valid indicator of the efficacious growth of
democracy in any country.
The 108th CA Bill 2008 in the very same pursuit, seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the
Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. This will ensure parity in representation of women from
all classes and will make Indian democracy more inclusive.
The bill proposes that the reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies. The bill
also provides a 15 year period for such a provision, after which it shall cease to exist.
However, since legislation alone has not always brought the desired social and political change in the
society, there also exist certain concerns in this regard:
• The 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts have increased the representation of women at local level.
However, it has not translated into their empowerment. In fact, it has given rise to the phenomena
of Sarpanch Pati i.e. husband of women panchayat representative becoming de facto leader.
• Restricts choice: It restricts choices of voters to women candidates. Therefore, some experts suggest
alternate methods such as reservation in political parties and dual member constituencies.

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 • Perpetuates prejudice: It is argued that reservation would perpetuate the unequal status of women
since they would not be perceived to be competing on merit.
• Lack of incentive to work: Rotation of reserved constituencies as proposed in the 108th CA Bill may
reduce the incentive for the MP/MLA to work for his constituency.
However, these concerns should not be the excuse to stall the bill in the lower house. Discussions should
take place in the parliament to address the above identified concerns.

2. Discuss the issue of reservation in promotions for SCs and STs in public employment in the light of
various judicial pronouncements and constitutional amendments. (150 words) 10
Approach:
• Introduce by briefly touching upon reservation as a policy for upgrading the depressed classes in
India.
• Highlight the introduction of reservation in promotions in India in the aftermath of the Indira
Sawhney judgement.
• Discuss the progress on the matter of promotions in public employment by highlighting the
subsequent legislations and judicial interventions around the same.
• Conclude with a brief remark on the latest judicial explanation on the matter.
Answer:
Reservation in India is part of the world’s largest affirmative action programme for the depressed
classes. However, it has always remained a contentious issue especially in the matter of promotions in
public employment.
In the Indira Sawhney & Others vs Union of India, 1992 case, the Supreme Court held that the
reservation in appointments, under Article 16(4) of the Constitution, do not apply to promotions.
However, subsequent to this judgement, a series of constitutional amendments and judicial
pronouncements were made, which negated this judgement:
• The 77th Constitution Amendment Act, 1995 inserted Article 16(4A), which enabled the state to
make any law regarding reservation in promotions for the SCs and STs. Also, Article 16(4B) provided
that reserved promotion posts for SCs and STs that remain unfilled can be carried forward to the
subsequent year.
• In the M Nagaraj case, the Supreme Court also upheld the validity of the Parliament’s decision to
extend reservations in promotions. However, it introduced three conditions, essentially
necessitating the state to:
o Provide proof for the backwardness of the class benefitting from the reservation,
o Provide proof for its inadequate representation in the position/service; and
o Show how reservations in promotions would further the administrative efficiency as mandated
by Article 335.
However, the first condition was rejected in Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta case.
• The Nagaraj judgement was further used in BK Pavitra vs Union of India-I case to strike down the
legislation passed subsequent to the 85th Constitution Amendment Act, 2001 by the Karnataka
assembly in 2002 that provided for consequential seniority.
o The court held that the government had not collected quantifiable data on the three parameters
– inadequacy of representation, backwardness and the impact on overall administrative
efficiency – before extending reservations in promotions.
• However, in the recent Supreme Court judgement in BK Pavitra vs Union of India-II, it upheld the
validity of the Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority to Government Servants Promoted on
the Basis of Reservation Act, 2018. The Act gives a one-time promotion to SC/ST employees, and is
referred to as a “catch-up” clause.
o The court held that Article 16 (4A) enables the state to provide for reservation in matters of
promotion to SC/ST. Further, the opinion regarding the adequacy of representation of the SCs
and STs in the state public services is a matter which forms a part of the subjective satisfaction
of the state.
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 The latest 2018 judgement has also examined various associated issues related to reservation in
promotion debate such as -
• Issue of merit and efficiency: The court held that the efficiency of administration must be defined in
an inclusive sense, where a ‘meritorious’ candidate is not merely one who is ‘talented’ or
‘successful’ but also one whose appointment fulfills the constitutional goals of uplifting members of
the SCs and STs and ensuring a diverse and representative administration.
• Notion of substantive equality: It also held that Indian Constitution envisages not just a formal
equality of opportunity but the achievement of substantive equality.
• Issue of creamy layer: It held that progression in a cadre based on promotion cannot be treated as
the acquisition of creamy layer status.
Overall, the judgment asserts that the policy of reservations is a tool to achieve substantive equality and
due representation in public services.

3. Highlight the reasons behind underperformance of the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs). How can
their performance be improved? (150 words) 10
Approach:
• Introduce by giving a brief account on Autonomous District Councils (ADCs).
• Highlight the reasons behind the underperformance of the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs).
• Give measure to improve the performance of councils.
• Conclude on the basis of the above points by giving a way forward.
Answer:
The Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution provides an innovative tool of self-government by creation of
Autonomous District Councils for the tribals residing in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and
Mizoram.
Though the ADCs are provided with sufficient autonomy to function as an independent body in
legislative, financial, judicial and executive spheres but there are some inherent constraints which have
led to their underperformance.
Reasons for underperformance
• Lack of financial independence: The Councils are dependent on their respective state governments
for funds. At times, there is a shortfall between the approved budget and funds received by ADCs.
• Misuse of funds: Some ADCs misuse government funds since there is no dedicated official inspecting
and auditing the initiatives undertaken by ADCs.
• Not completely representative: Generally, councils are not able to fully represent the numerous
major and minor tribes within their jurisdiction in 30 members of the council. Further, there is very
less participation of women in these councils.
• Overlapping functional responsibilities: Despite the fact that Sixth Schedule has declared that
certain matters stand fully transferred to District and Regional Councils, some matters are not fully
transferred to the Councils. Also, there is lack of coordination at different levels as there is no
provision for coordination of the activities among the District Council, the Regional Council and the
State Government.
• Lack of proper planning: Since these Councils do not have access to planning professional, as a
result development projects are undertaken without proper technical and financial considerations.
Steps to improve performance of council
• Village level bodies should be revived and empowered to formulate plans so as to make the Sixth
Schedule even more democratic.
• Recommendations of State Finance Commission should be considered for channelizing funds to the
Councils.
• Clear delineation of roles at state and local level to remove overlaps in functional responsibilities
between the State and District Council.
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 • Inducting professionals in the planning mechanism of the Councils to improve planning and project
formulation policy.
• Ensuring accountability through independent as well as social audit mechanisms in order to prevent
embezzlement of funds.
• Clear-cut identification powers under the Sixth Schedule that Governors may exercise at their
discretion without having to act on the ‘aid and advice’ of the Council.
• Periodic review of the administration of the Councils should be done by an independent commission
working under Union Government.
In spite of criticism, these Autonomous District Councils have provided a fair degree of autonomy for the
tribal people. The need of the hour is to introduce these reforms so that the mandate of Sixth Schedule
gets implemented in true letter and spirit.

4. Highlighting the rationale behind continuance of the Official Secrets Act, critically discuss whether the
Right to Information should be given precedence over it. (150 words) 10
Approach:
• Introduce by briefly tracing the evolution of the Official Secrets Act (OSA).
• Highlight the rationale behind continuance of the Official Secrets Act.
• Evaluate whether the Right to Information should be given precedence over OSA.
• Conclude by giving a way forward.
Answer:
During Lord Curzon’s times, the Indian Official Secrets Act (1904) was enacted mainly to restrict the
freedom of the press. This act was replaced with the Official Secrets Act, 1923 to govern all matters of
secrecy and confidentiality with the objective of muzzling and throttling the free voice of nationalist
publications.
The rationale behind continuance of the Official Secrets Act (OSA):
• To deal with the potential threats: The law (Section 3 of the Act) provides the framework for dealing
with espionage, sedition, and other potential threats to the integrity of the nation. Section 5 of the
Act deals with the disclosure of other secret information of the government.
• To have a deterrent effect: The law also makes spying, sharing ‘secret’ information, with-holding
information, interference with the armed forces in prohibited/restricted areas, among others, as
punishable offences.
However, in this era of transparency, at times it comes in conflict with RTI Act, 2005 since OSA promotes
confidentiality and opacity.
Arguments for giving Right to Information precedence over Official Secrets Act:
• Colonial hangover: Official Secrets Act, a colonial-era law, has often been cited by authorities for
refusing to divulge information. In modern times, where information has gained power, it provides
huge discretionary power to the government which can be easily misused.
• Section 22 of the RTI Act: It provides that its provisions will have an upper hand in case of any
inconsistency with OSA. The whole rationale is to provide transparency an overriding effect over
secrecy, notwithstanding anything inconsistent with the provisions of OSA.
• Against the Constitutional norms: The Constitutional freedom to use and publicize information is in
contravention to the provision of Official Secrets Act, 1923.
• Transparency and Openness in government functioning: OSA is often allegedly resorted to by the
Government in a bid to clamp down on all such attempts that could expose official impropriety. The
2nd ARC Report has criticized OSA for creating a culture of secrecy.
Arguments for giving OSA precedence over RTI
• Importance for national security: Even Sections 8 and 9 of the RTI Act, protects certain kinds of
information which may have bearing to national security and integrity, law and order, etc. Thus,

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 Official Secrets Act is required to prevent any such actions that could help in any way the enemy
states and non-state actors.
• Fault lines: The Indian society is not homogenous and certain information needs to be withheld at
times to preserve the social order, peace and harmony in the society as even a small piece of critical
information may lead to division of society on various fronts.
• Fighting new emerging threats: The Official Secrets Act is required for ensuring secrecy,
confidentiality as well as the security from the increasing rate of cyber-crime threats.
Going forward, there is a need to amend OSA and make it more transparent and in line with the RTI Act.
There has to be strong and cogent justification to withhold information under the arguably narrower
exception clauses of the RTI Act. Alternatively, as recommended by the 2nd ARC Report, the OSA can be
repealed and replaced with a chapter in the National Security Act containing provisions relating to the
official secrets.

5. Write a short note on India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA) framework. Highlighting its main
principles, examine how its full fledged implementation can improve the existing governance
landscape of India. (150 words) 10
Approach:
• Introduce the concept of IndEA.
• Enlist its main features and principles.
• Discuss how its implementation will improve the governance framework.
Answer:
India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA) is a framework for developing a holistic architecture treating the
Government as a single enterprise or an Enterprise of Enterprises, which are functionally inter-related.
Its vision is to offer ONE Government experience to the citizens and businesses. It is aimed at
streamlining, standardizing, and optimizing the e-Governance efforts across the country so as to address
the much-needed interoperability and integration.
To put it simply, it is a concept that promises a single window digitization solution for its citizens. With
IndEA, there will be one personalised account for each individual and he or she can avail all government
services from that account. This shall eliminate the need to visit separate sites and have separate logins
on them to access government services.
Main principles of IndEA
The following set of principles inform and guide IndEA framework:
• SDG Linkage: Performance Measurement Systems are aligned to Sustainable Development Goals
prioritized by the Government.
• Integrated Services that cut across agency-silos are identified, designed and delivered to realize the
vision of ONE Government.
• Sharing & Reusability, i.e., all commonly required applications are abstracted to be built once and
deployed across the Whole-of-Government through reuse and sharing.
• Technology Independence: Application Design is open standards-based and technology-
independent.
• Data-sharing across the Government, subject to rights and privileges, so as to prevent development
and use of duplicative sets of data by different agencies.
• Mobile channels are mandatory for delivery of all services, among all delivery channels.
Improvements in the governance landscape through full-fledged implementation of IndEA:
• Minimum Government, Maximum Governance: It enhances efficiency by enabling the government
to work as one entity and not multiple departments running in silos.
• Reduce duplication of efforts: Adoption of IndEA could lead to the evolution of centralised
applications, addressing the problems of duplicity & inter-operability, which can be used for
personalized solution to different issues at various levels.
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 • Enhance the productivity of employees and agencies through quicker access to up-to-date
information and single-sign-on features.
• Cost effectiveness through use of shared infrastructure and services.
• Better service delivery by improving the implementation of the developmental and welfare
schemes, enhancing citizen’s participation and laying the foundation for integration of emerging
technologies like artificial intelligence.
With IndEA, India would be inching closer towards digital governance and establish itself as a knowledge
economy as envisaged in the Digital India initiative.

6. What is the rationale behind having a mandatory 'cooling-off' period for retired civil servants? In light
of numerous instances of violation of this provision, do you think there is a need to have a relook at
Civil Services Conduct Rules? (150 words) 10
Approach:
• In introduction, briefly explain the term ‘cooling-off’ period and the rules related to it.
• Mention the rationale behind the mandatory cooling-off period for retired civil servants.
• Giving examples of violations of this provision, highlight the lacunae in Civil Services Rules.
• In conclusion, suggest reforms in line with the mentioned lacunae.
Answer:
Civil Servants, after retirement, serve a cooling-off period for a specified amount of time before they can
accept any commercial employment. As per Central Civil Services Rules, 1964 and All India Services
Rules, 1968, if, a pensioner who, immediately before his retirement was a Group ‘A’ officer, wishes to
accept any commercial employment before the expiry of one year from the date of his retirement,
he/she shall obtain the previous sanction of the Government by submitting an application in the
prescribed form. The period was reduced from the earlier two years in 2015.
Rationale behind the ‘cooling-off’ period:
• It is a way to prevent the misuse of office by the senior civil servants by way of granting favors for
the benefit of re-employment in private firms after their retirement.
• It is required for ensuring independence of bureaucracy and eliminating the scope of corruption in
administration.
• It gives time to the government to verify that the civil servants have not been privy to sensitive or
strategic information in the last three years of service, which is directly related to the areas of
interest or work of the organisation that they propose to join.
• At the same time, it also ensures the right of civil servants to take up any employment of their
choice in the future.
Recently, an ex-foreign secretary joined a private firm before the completion of one year, with previous
sanction of the Central Government. A former finance secretary was also granted a waiver to join as
head of another private company.
Lacunae in Civil Services Rules:
• Discretion of Central Government: Individual civil servants can apply for a waiver from the
government to join private firms before the one-year period. However, such discretions made on
case to case basis undermine the well-laid procedure in place to grant permission to officers who
retire as joint secretary and above.
• Utilising official position to further interest in securing commercial employment: As per the
provisions of these rules, civil servants are required to obtain prior permission of the Government
before they negotiate for, or undertake any other employment. However, there have been
numerous instances where such members enter into negotiations with private firms to secure
commercial employment even while they are in service under Government. This inevitably leads to a
situation of conflict of interest.

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 • Contesting elections after retirement: No provision in these rules debars a civil servant from joining
a political party and contest polls. This dilutes the very idea of a neutral bureaucracy.
• Independent functioning of judicial and quasi-judicial bodies: The post retirement assignment can
impinge upon the independent functioning of judicial and quasi-judicial bodies as there is no cooling
off period for bureaucrats before taking up post-retirement positions in Tribunals/Commissions.
• Consultancy or non-executive work undertaken by retired officials does not come under the
purview of the cooling-off period.
Further, there is no provision for initiation of disciplinary action on civil servants for violation of Civil
Service Rules. Thus, reforms need to be carried out for weeding out inefficiencies in the existing system.
Steps such as mandatory one-year cooling-off period without exception, specifying the parameters for
post-retirement appointments of bureaucrats etc. should be undertaken on priority basis.

7. Highlighting the key features of POSHAN Abhiyan, explain how it is an improvement over previous
interventions in achieving the goal of malnutrition free India. (150 words) 10
Approach:
• Start by introducing the POSHAN Abhiyaan.
• Mention the targets it aims to achieve.
• While highlighting the key features of the Abhiyaan, mention how these elements introduced in the
scheme are an improvement over previous interventions.
Answer:
With initiation of POSHAN Abhiyaan as a part of National Nutrition Strategy, government envisages
elimination of malnutrition by 2022. The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia
(among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2%
per annum respectively. The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age
group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
In the past, various government initiatives - ICDS, NHM, the Janani Suraksha Yojana, the Matritva Sahyog
Yojana, the MDM Scheme, and the National Food Security Mission etc. - were launched, which sought to
improve the nutrition status in the country. But concerns regarding malnutrition persisted over the
years.
The POSHAN Abhiyaan with its following features has made improvement from the past schemes by
incorporating various new elements in the scheme:
• Synergized approach: Different Ministries/Departments at the Centre and States/UTs used to deal
with malnutrition in a stand-alone manner. POSHAN will provide the required convergence through
National Council for Nutrition and the Executive Committee for POSHAN Abhiyaan at the central
level, Convergence Action Plan at State, District & Block level and through Very High-Speed
Network at village level.
• Use of technology: The Abhiyaan empowers the frontline functionaries i.e. Anganwadi workers and
Lady Supervisors by providing them with smartphones eliminating the registers currently used by
them. The ICDS-Common application Software especially developed for this purpose enables data
capture, ensures assigned service delivery and prompts for interventions wherever required. This
enables real time-monitoring at all levels.
• Incentivization at various levels: It involves team-based incentives also for Anganwadi workers,
ASHA and ANM for achieving targets together along with incentives for the front-line workers like
Anganwadi workers for better service delivery, and for early achiever states and UTs.
• Better People participation: It aims at making elimination of malnutrition a Jan Aandolan by
inducing behavioral change across masses, through promotion of understanding of the inter-
generational and multi-dimensional nature of the problem of malnutrition. It also involves social
audit mechanism to track the health progress of children.

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 • Research and evidence-based interventions: The Abhiyaan ensures nutrition interventions are
guided and informed by latest research and evidence through institutional support by the National
Nutrition Resource Centre (NNRC) and the Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC).
• Targeted approach: It has set itself a steep target of reducing stunting by 2 per cent, anaemia by 3
per cent and low birth weight by 2 per cent every year.
These improvements over the previous approaches would enable India to achieve its target of achieving
malnutrition free India.

8. Highlighting the need of generic medicines in India, give an account of the reasons behind their lower
availability and adoption. Also, mention some steps taken by the government in this regard.
(150 words) 10
Approach:
• Introduce by giving the definition of generic medicine and briefly discussing its need.
Enumerate the reasons behind their lower availability and adoption.
• Suggest some measures taken by the government for boosting the availability and adoption of
generic medicines in India.
• Conclude on the basis of the above points.
Answer:
A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that is equivalent to a brand-name version of the drug in terms
of dosage, strength, route of administration, quality, performance, and intended use. It may also refer to
any drug which is marketed under its chemical name without advertising.
As per the latest National Sample Survey Office survey on healthcare, in 2014, medicines emerged as a
principal component of total health expenses—72% in rural areas and 68% in urban areas. For a country
like India, having one of the highest per capita out-of-pocket expenditures on health, even a modest
drop in drug prices will free hundreds of households from the widespread phenomenon of a medical
poverty trap.
In this scenario, generic medicines are expected to bring down drug prices (as they are 30% to 70%
cheaper than branded medicines) and expand access to affordable health solutions to achieve "universal
healthcare”. Further, by promoting generic drug consumption, the government also safeguards the
health of its generic drug manufacturing industry—one of the largest suppliers of low-cost medicines in
the world.
Generic medicines also face the problem of lower availability and adoption by the people because of the
following reasons:
Low availability:
• Supply side challenge: Indian pharmacy faces problem of poor supply chain management which
hampers large scale domestic generic drug production.
• Strict IPR regime: Indian generic manufacturers operate under a markedly restrictive Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) regime. Moreover, generic medicines can be manufactured only when the
patents and exclusivities protecting the brand-name version terminate.
• Low visibility of generic drugs: Pharmacies get commission on selling branded medicines as a result
the pharmacies do not display the availability of generic drugs.
• Profit-driven market: There is cut-throat competition and aggressive marketing among private
pharma companies and profits are maximized through high margin branded drugs rather than
generic drugs which offer very low margins.
Low adoption
• Quality of drugs and sub-par manufacturing practices: Currently, there is no established system to
test the quality of every batch of generic medicines and as a result their quality cannot be affirmed
with certainty.

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 • Non-prescription of Generic Medicines: Generic medicines are generally not recommended by the
doctors and healthcare professionals who are recipients of certain amount of commission from
pharma companies for prescribing branded version of drugs.
• Low awareness: Majority of people are aware of the brand names of the drugs rather than their
chemical or generic names. Also, there is a perception among people that since generic drugs are
comparatively cheaper, they may be of inferior quality.
To address the above issues and promote generic medicines in India following steps have been taken by
the government:
• Jan Aushadhi Scheme was launched to make available quality generic medicines at affordable prices
to all, especially the poor, throughout the country through special outlets known as Jan Aushadhi
Store (JAS).
• Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana aimed to make available quality generic medicines
at affordable prices to all through Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras (PMBJP) with a
target to open at least one PMBJP Kendra in every district of the country.
• Medical Council of India (MCI) has recommended that every physician should prescribe drugs with
generic names legibly.
• There are efforts by the government to ensure that generic medicines are available at affordable
prices by utilizing the capacity of pharmaceutical companies existing in the public sector.
• States like Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan have successfully procured generic medicines at extremely
competitive prices year after year by streamlining drug procurement procedure.
The need of the hour is to improve the supply chain mechanism of the generic drugs, ensuring that
generic drugs are the exact bioequivalent to the brand name drugs, aggressive marketing and awareness
campaigns, encouraging pharmacies to display availability of these medicines and strengthening the
existing drug regulatory and quality control structure. Also, Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI)
should bring about effective collaboration and cooperation in manufacture of generic drugs.

9. Give an account of the challenges that the multilateral rule-based trading system is facing. With
special focus on WTO, discuss how these challenges can be addressed effectively. (150 words) 10
Approach:
• Introduce by giving a brief account of the multilateral rule-based trading system.
• Enumerate the challenges that the multilateral rule-based trading system is facing.
• Discuss how these challenges can be addressed effectively.
Answer:
Multilateral rule-based trading system refers to mechanisms that seek to provide transparency, stability
and predictability in international trade and establish a non-discriminatory, open and inclusive system.
However, in recent times unilateral measure by countries such as U.S. and China through tariff
escalation and failure to negotiate on issues of contention have pushed trade multilateralism in a state
of crisis. The challenges for multilateral rule-based trading system include:
• Rising trade protectionism: unilateral policy decision of the U.S. of putting a tariff on Europe, China
and India has increased global trade uncertainty.
• Governance issues: Multilateral negotiations are stalled and the dispute settlement system is
broken. For e.g. Negotiations for the Doha Round have reached an impasse, even after 17 years of
negotiations.
• Growing regionalism: Emergence of bilateral and regional trade blocks like RCEP and African
continental free trade area have brought in competition with set trade rules and has diluted the
focus from ongoing issues in multilateral forums.
• Increasing digitalization is transforming the modes of trading; however the existing trade system
does not cover it. It has led to disagreement between countries for e.g. differences between India
and the U.S. over India’s policy on data localization and e-Commerce.

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 • Changing scenario: Rules in significant areas like trade in services are not keeping pace with the
changes in the global economy. Further, protectionism in services trade has also increased with
greater restriction on visa regimes and tighter immigration laws.
• Implementation of non-tariff barriers like IPR, Phyto-sanitary measures is also a bone of contention
between India-U.S. and India-Europe.
• Agricultural subsidies by developed countries: Resistance of developed countries, including the US,
to reduce agricultural subsidies limits market access to developing countries.
• Increasing government support of indigenous industrial sectors: For e.g. India’s support to the
domestic solar industry is challenged by the U.S. in the WTO.
• Market distortions caused by trade barriers such as a higher tariff on agro-food products that
restricts access to developed countries market.
Since establishment in 1996, the WTO has served well for setting the trade rules and minimizing
unpredictability. These rules have made a valuable contribution in terms of increase in global trade,
poverty elimination and GDP growth. However, in view of the above challenges following steps are
required:
• Time bound negotiations: Revisit the decision-making architecture of the WTO to ensure timely
completion of negotiations. For instance, in the absence of unanimity, consensus may well serve the
purpose.
• Also, there is a need for clear guidelines in plurilateral negotiations so that talks may not be held up
for too long on a given issue.
• Similarly provision of independent panels may be provided which could play the role of arbiter and
evaluate the competing claims for a rule based world trade order.
• Penal powers to WTO: WTO should be conferred with sufficient penal powers to curb instances of
willful non-compliance with its directions.
• Proactive disclosure of subsidies: WTO members should proactively disclose their level of subsidies
to develop further trust and transparency among member countries.
• Dispute settlement mechanism appointment process should be independent of political control.
• Bilateral and multilateral talks to resolve the disputes outside the WTO dispute settlement
mechanism must be promoted.
• Bring more areas like digitalization, e-commerce etc. under negotiations and upgrade trade rules
keeping pace changing trade realities.
A rule-based trading order benefits all, the need is for countries like India to step up and work with other
beneficiaries to save the multilateral trading system from the current crisis caused by the intransigence
of a few powerful countries. The WTO mini ministerial in May 2019 at New Delhi was a step in the right
direction in this context.

10. Highlight the major impediments affecting India-US trade relations. What possible consequences can
the recent withdrawal of Generalized System of Preference (GSP) have on India-US trade relations?
(150 words) 10
Approach:
• Briefly state the current status of India–US trade relations.
• Mention the major barriers in the trade relations.
• Explaining the concept of GSP, discuss consequences of its withdrawal on India-US trade relations.
Answer:
US has emerged as top goods trading partner for India and largest exports market. In 2014 both
countries had set a target of increasing their bilateral trade to 500 billion US$. However, trade relations
between the US and India are facing certain impediments:
• Protectionism: US under Trump administration, in an effort to bring trade parity, has resorted to
hiking tariffs (for example- on steel and aluminium). India in turn has also announced counter tariffs

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 on selected American goods. US also alleges India is not offering an ‘equitable and reasonable access
to American products', evident in a trade surplus of almost $20 billion in 2017 in India’s favour.
• Differences on IPR and other issues: The USTR’s Special 301 report has consistently put India in its
priority watch list, and India and the USA have resorted to the WTO dispute settlement body on the
Solar Panel incentives.
• H1B Visa: US has made stringent norms for H1B visa hurting Indian workers and Indian companies in
US.
• Regulatory measures by India on US e-commerce giants like Amazon and Flipkart (now owned by
Walmart), capping of prices of certain medical devices such as cardiac stent, knee implants etc. are
perceived as impediments in market access by the US companies.
• Data localisation issues: India’s pursuit of hard data localisation rules is reportedly creating
problems for companies such as MasterCard, Visa etc. US wants unfettered access of India’s data
wealth for its data-intensive businesses.
• Positions taken by the US and its strategic implications: For example, US ban on the Chinese
technology giant Huawei from doing business with its allies, would make it difficult for India to invite
Huawei to expand here, threat of US sanctions on countries importing oil from Iran, issue of
purchasing of Russian S-400 missile by India etc.
Most recently, US has withdrawn the Indian trade privileges under the Generalised System of
Preferences (GSP), as part of its efforts to bring trade parity. The Generalized System of Preference
(GSP) is the trade preference programme, that allows duty-free entry of products from designated
beneficiary countries. As India was the largest beneficiary of this programme, following can be the
impacts of termination of this designation:
• According to the Ministry of Commerce, $190 million worth of exports will be affected. However,
some experts believe that it is likely to adversely affect about $5 billion of India’s annual exports to
the US amounting to 10% of India’s total exports to that country.
• With higher duties, Indian exports will become more expensive and will lose their competitiveness
vis-à-vis other developing countries’ exports to the US.
• Most of the products which India exported under the GSP comes from Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises (MSME) sector. Thus, it will have a negative impact on employment in the sector.
Given the global geopolitics, both the countries need each other. Resolving any contentions in the India-
US trade relations will need building trust and consensus. The recent visit of US Secretary of State
George Pompeo witnessed a dialogue on these issues. India and US have multiple dialogue mechanisms
such as the Two Plus Two forum where such issues could be addressed urgently and amicably.

11. In a democratic setup, it is imperative that independence be balanced with accountability. Discuss in
the context of judiciary in India. (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Introduce the answer by talking about importance of judicial independence and need for making
judiciary accountable in brief.
• Mention how current mechanisms to make judiciary accountable are seen as inadequate and
ramifications of such a situation.
• Give a balanced conclusion.
Answer:
An independent judiciary is a sine qua non for a vibrant democratic system. It is important to
safeguard judicial independence because the judiciary is not only the final interpreter of the
constitution, but also preserves and enforces fundamental and legal rights against any arbitrary
violations. The Constitution of India contains many provisions to maintain the independence of
judiciary. Judicial independence is founded on public trust and to maintain it, judges must uphold the
highest standards of integrity and be held accountable.

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 However, current mechanisms to make the judiciary accountable are seen as inadequate by many, as
exemplified by the following:
• Removal of judges under Articles 124 (4), 217 (1) of the Constitution extracts judicial accountability
but it is a long-drawn-out and difficult process.
• Opacity in in-house investigating mechanism of the Judiciary: The judiciary, in order to maintain its
independence, has set up an ‘in-house investigating mechanism’ to deal with instances of
corruption, sexual harassment etc. However, it has been found to be wanting as seen in the recent
sexual harassment allegation case against the CJI.
• Judicial appointments: The collegium system is followed in India wherein the President consults
judges themselves to appoint members of higher judiciary. It has been criticised on the grounds of
opacity, nepotism, favoritism and bias. Moreover, the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act (NJAC),
which was introduced in the Parliament in this context, has been deemed ultra vires by the SC.
• Contempt of court: In some cases, it has been alleged that the judiciary has been silencing its
rightful critics by invoking the Contempt of Courts Act.
Compromising on judicial accountability not only undermines the rule of law, by promoting conduct that
might compromise judicial integrity and impartiality, but also public confidence in judges and judiciary.
This also has direct ramifications on judicial independence in the long-run.
Therefore, there is a need to increase both horizontal and vertical accountability of the judiciary and
make the judicial system more transparent. Such a mechanism should, however be designed keeping in
mind the challenge to simultaneously ensure the independence as well as accountability of the judiciary.

12. Despite various strengths, there are certain weaknesses in the existing structure of departments of the
government which render the system slow and cumbersome. Analyze. (250 words) 15
Approach:
• In the introduction, write about the existing structure of the departments of the government.
• Mention the associated strengths of the departments.
• Mention the weaknesses of such a departmental structure which render the system slow and
cumbersome.
• In conclusion, suggest reforms in line with the weaknesses mentioned earlier.
Answer:
Exercising powers vested under Article 77 of the Constitution, the President of India has made
‘Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules’. These Rules stipulate that the business of the
Government of India shall be transacted in the Ministries, Departments, Secretariats and Offices.
A typical government department is generally responsible for formulation, execution and review of
policies of the government in relation to business allocated to it. It is normally headed by a secretary to
the Government of India who acts as the administrative head and principal adviser of the Minister.
Strengths of the existing structure:
• Time Tested System: Adherence to rules and established norms has contributed to nation building
and the creation of an inclusive state. At the same time, innovative structures have been created in
form of commissions, statutory boards, autonomous societies etc. where required.
• Stability: The structure of Government staffed by the permanent civil servants has provided
continuity and stability during the transfer of power from one elected government to the other.
• Commitment to the Constitution: Largely, it has upheld the neutrality of the civil services and
prevented politicisation of government programmes and services.
• Link between policy making and its implementation: Government departments have promoted
the concept of cooperative federalism between the Government of India and the states by acting as
a crucial link between policy making and implementation.

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 • National outlook: Public servants working in government departments as well as its attached and
subordinate offices have developed a national outlook transcending parochial boundaries. This has
contributed to strengthening national integration.
Weaknesses of the existing structure:
• Undue emphasis on routine functions: Ministries are not able to pay their due attention on policy
analysis and policy making functions due to the large volume of day-to-day routine work.
• Concentration of power: Functions which can be best carried out by the State or Local Governments
or could easily be outsourced still continue to be retained with the Union Government.
• Proliferation of Departments: The creation of a large number of Ministries and Departments has led
to illogical division of work and lack of an integrated approach and coordination even on closely
related subjects.
• Multi-layered structure: Extended vertical structure leads to examination of issues at many levels
frequently causing delays in decision-making and a lack of accountability.
• Risk avoidance: There is a tendency towards reverse delegation, increasing emphasis on
consultations through movement of files and risk avoidance in decision making. This leads to
multiplication of work, delays and inefficiency.
• Fragmentation of functions: At the operational level, there has been a general trend to divide and
subdivide functions making delivery of services inefficient and time-consuming.
• Absence of team work: The present rigid hierarchal structure also discourages team work within and
between the government departments.
In order to overcome the above issues, various steps can be taken as per the Second Administrative
Reforms Commission recommendations such as following principle of subsidiarity, rationalising and
reorganising the Ministries and Departments, introduce a inter-disciplinary system of policy evaluation
etc.

13. In the light of criticism surrounding the composition and functioning of Rajya Sabha, do you think it
exists merely as a secondary house of the Parliament? (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Briefly introduce with the role and purpose of Rajya Sabha as envisaged by our constitution makers.
• Highlight the issues with Rajya Sabha on the basis of its composition and functioning.
• Give reasons as to why Rajya Sabha isn’t merely a secondary house of the Parliament.
Answer:
The makers of our Constitution envisaged the role of the Rajya Sabha as an institution where interests of
the states of the Indian Union could be projected and safeguarded at the central level. It provides
necessary checks and balance against the dominance of unicameral legislature. However, the
functioning and composition of Rajya Sabha over the years has been criticized, even raising the demands
of its abolition.
Issues related to its composition:
• Currently, the distribution of seats in the Rajya Sabha is unequal, favoring larger states over the
smaller states.
• The removal of the domicile requirement (Kuldip Nayar case) has watered down the federal role of
Rajya Sabha.
• The members of Rajya Sabha are criticized for furthering their party interests rather than the
interests of the states (lack of debate on misuse of Article 356 etc.)
• The house provides backdoor entry to candidates who have lost Lok Sabha elections, crony
capitalists and favoured journalists, thus undermining democractic credentials.
• The composition of Rajya Sabha more or less mirrors that of Lok Sabha having representation from
several regional parties. With Lok Sabha more than adequately representing a federal country, it is
argued that the presence of a second house is more of a burden on the exchequer.

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 Issues related to its functioning:
• The sessions of the Rajya Sabha are characterised by frequent disruptions and delays leading to
poor productivity.
• The low attendance of the members in the Rajya Sabha sessions is leading to poor quality of debates
and discussions. The nominated members often miss complete sessions altogether.
• It is also criticized for losing its connection with the ground. On one hand, some members are
swayed by the idealist and ivory tower ideas, others are often less informed and ill-equipped for
debates and discussions.
• The limited powers of Rajya Sabha with respect to money bills and no confidence motion further
compromise its functioning as it is bypassed on important matters.
• The platform provided by Rajya Sabha is also used for settling political scores and clogging the
wheels of progress. Bills are opposed or supported on the party lines and not on the merit of the
issue.
However, it still cannot be considered merely a secondary house of the Parliament as evident from the
following arguments:
• It acts as a hedge against short term populist policies and delays the passage of such legislations.
For instance, Rajya Sabha had an important role in stopping the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010,
which sought to dilute the existing legal protections against torture.
• Rajya Sabha has a special role to play as a revising chamber. In the recent past, Rajya Sabha, among
other bills, also amended, the Delimitation Bill 2002, the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget
Management Bill, 2002, the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2003 etc.
• Rajya Sabha, as a constituent part of Parliament has been securing executive accountability through
its various committees. For example, it formed a Select Committee on the GST bill and several of its
recommendations were incorporated into the Bill that was passed.
• Rajya Sabha being a permanent house provides continuity to the legislative functioning of the
Parliament.
• A lot of ministers in recent years have been from the Rajya Sabha, indicating the importance of the
upper house as an effective means for inducting skilled and eminent professionals into Parliament.
So, Rajya Sabha plays a vital role in India’s bicameral polity, which is a key feature of Indian Constitution.
Further, greater amount of political will is needed for introducing well intentioned measures such as
enhancing the powers of the Chairman, strengthening the Ethics Committee to take action against
disruptors etc., so that Rajya Sabha continues to function in accordance to the federal ethos of the
Constitution.

14. Despite legislative changes with respect to funding of political parties in recent years, many challenges
still exist with regards to transparency in electoral funding. Discuss. Can state funding of elections help
in addressing these challenges? (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Briefly mention few legislative changes in recent years with regard to electoral funding in India.
• Highlight the challenges related to electoral funding in India.
• Explaining concept of state funding of elections give arguments for and against it.
• Conclude on the basis of above arguments.
Answer:
In India, a series of legislative changes have been made to reform electoral funding process and bring in
more transparency. Some of them include:
• Electoral Trusts were given legal sanctity in 2013 by bringing them under the Section 25 of the
Companies Act, 1956. By routing the political contributions through an electoral trust, companies
can escape from the dislikes of any political party to which it has not donated.

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 • Income Tax Act has been amended to lower the limit for anonymous cash donations from Rs 20,000
to Rs 2,000 to be received by political parties.
• Companies Act was amended which removed the cap where corporate entities could contribute
only 7.5 per cent of average net profit in the past three financial years.
o Besides, previous requirement to disclose the names of beneficiary political parties in
companies’ profit and loss statements was also done away with. These moves were aimed to
curb unaccounted money flowing into the political system.
• Finance Act 2017, allows anyone, including corporates, to donate to political parties via electoral
bonds. This measure was taken to “infuse democratic processes with white money” as it aimed at
cheque and digital payments ensuring the identity of donors.
Despite these changes, there are many challenges related to transparency in electoral funding.
According to Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), more than half of all the income of national
parties in India for 2017-18 is derived from unknown sources. Some of these challenges include:
• Some of the steps taken by the government are themselves said to be compromising on
transparency. For instance:
o Schemes like Electoral Bond further promote anonymity.
o Limit for anonymous cash donation is said to be ineffective without a cap on the amount of
money that can be collected anonymously through cash
• Political parties are outside the ambit of RTI despite CIC directive in 2013 to comply with the RTI
norms.
• While there is limit on electoral expenditure for each candidate, there is no such capping for party
expenditure.
To overcome these challenges, certain committees and commissions such as Inderjit Gupta Committee,
Law Commission, 2nd ARC have advocated state funding of elections. It can help promote transparency in
electoral funding in the following manner-
• It is argued that state funding of elections will establish a fair playing field for parties with less
money.
• It will also discourage political parties to source funds from illegitimate means, thus breaking the
nexus of business-criminals-politicians.
• It will encourage individuals with passion for public service but devoid of financial resources to
contest elections.
However, there are some concerns regarding state funding of election:
• State funding should not be implemented before functioning and finances of political parties are not
made transparent. This is because there is no guarantee that state funding of elections will stop the
use of undisclosed additional funds by political parties.
• There is a lack of clarity on distribution of funds. For e.g. if parties are given funds on the basis of
vote share in previous elections, then the winning party will always have an unfair advantage over
others.
• There is also an argument that there will be misuse of taxpayers’ money on frivolous candidates.
For making electoral funding truly transparent, reforms are needed not only at candidate level at
the time of elections but also in political parties, which need to engage in political activity al l
through the year, whether there is an election or not. For political parties a starting point could be
bringing political parties under RTI as recommended by Central Information Commission (CIC).

15. Successful and long-lasting urban transformation critically depends on reforming the way our cities are
governed. In this context, highlight the challenges plaguing urban governance in India and suggest
some strategies to overcome those challenges. (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Briefly account for the current status of urbanisation in India highlighting the importance of urban
governance.
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 • Mention the key challenges pertaining to urban governance in India.
• Mention the proposed strategies (For e.g. NITI Aayog) in this context.
• Conclude appropriately.
Answer:
City governance is a key enabler for urban transformation, and sustained economic growth and job
creation. According to UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018, about 34% of India’s population lives in
urban areas. By 2050, it will increase to 50% of the population. The increasing urban population puts
massive strain on infrastructure and services available in the cities. Such infrastructure and services can
only be ensured through modern urban governance.
However, the current urban governance in India is plagued by certain constraints, such as:
• Absence of a modern spatial planning framework, public utility design standards and land titling in
cities. This takes a huge toll on economic growth and productivity, environmental sustainability and
living conditions in cities.
• Lack of human resource capacities (in terms of staffs and their skills), especially in urban local bodies
(ULBs).
• Poor state of municipal finances because of narrow, inflexible and non-buoyant tax base, broken
financial accounting and audit systems, and the inability of municipalities to levy and recover taxes
and user charges.
• Multiple institutions like parastatals, development authorities, public works departments, and ULBs
with overlapping responsibilities. This leads to inefficient use of limited resources and diffusion of
accountability.
• The distribution of power between elected officials at the city level (mayors and councilors) and
central administrative service cadres at the city/district levels are highly tilted towards the latter.
This has meant that 74th Constitutional Amendment (CAA) to decentralise urban governance has
not translated into reality, affecting citizen participation in cities.
In this context, certain strategies as given by NITI Aayog can be adopted:
• Leveraging city economy: This includes setting up of City Economic Councils to improve Ease of
Doing Business and catalyse investments; capturing city-level investments, GDP and employment
growth for data-driven policy making.
• Decentralization and metropolitan governance: by having a two-tier governance structure in
metropolitan cities where all local functions are transferred to the ward committees and city-wide
services (like transportation, water supply, sewerage, etc.) are vested with the city council or
regional authorities.
• Spatial planning and land titling: by replacing the current guideline by a modern national
framework factoring in plan preparation, implementation and enforcement at metropolitan,
municipal and ward levels. Guaranteed land titling may also be evaluated to foster a transparent
land market.
• Strengthening finances of ULBs and civic agencies: This includes Fiscal decentralization, innovative
models to improve revenue collection, value capture methods, PPPs in urban infrastructure and
services and financial accountability through audited balance sheets
• Capacity building: Creating a separate skill council for municipal services.
• Citizen participation: Engaging with citizens through city watch groups, public hearings and city
consultations.
Urban governance in India is also intricately associated with governance of rural areas. This is because
India witnesses massive rural to urban migration. This migration trend needs to be reversed by making
inhabitation in rural areas attractive through strategies such as PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to
Rural areas). Also, there is need to implement projects like SMART city, which are aiming to transform
the urban landscape, more robustly and effectively.

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16. Explain the role that SHGs play in poverty alleviation in India. Highlighting the shortcomings of the
SHG-Bank Linkage programme, give some suggestions to improve its performance. (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Briefly define SHGs and mention its role in poverty alleviation in India.
• Giving a brief background of SHG–Bank Linkage programme, mention its demerits.
• Conclude by suggesting measures to improve its performance.
Answer:
Self-Help Group (SHG) is a small voluntary association of poor people, preferably from the same socio-
economic background, who come together for the purpose of solving their common problems through
self-help and mutual help.
SHGs and poverty alleviation
• Access to credit: SHGs pool their savings through the group and re-lend that pooled fund to the
needy members on low interest rates. Thereby, preventing poor people from the clutches of
informal indebtedness owing to lack of institutional credit.
• Increase saving tendencies: SHGs use the pooled fund for both productive as well as consumptive
purposes. Thereby, reducing the burden of any exigencies which tend to shift people below the
poverty line.
• Promotion of enterprises: One of its objectives is to promote entrepreneurship among poor through
credit support and hand-holding in product development, marketing etc.
• Increase in incomes especially of women: SHG model has been real game changer for rural women
mobilising about 46 million of them. Studies have shown that the income of female workers raises
the standard of living of their households to a greater extent than their male counterparts.
• Capacity Building: SHGs has important role in enhancing human capital through training, workshop,
imparting skills etc. which further aids in reduction of poverty.
SHG-Bank linkage (SBL) programme was started by NABARD in 1992 to link SHGs to formal banking
system. Under this, banks provide loans to the SHGs and the quantum of loan could be several times the
deposits placed by such SHGs with the banks.
However, SBL programme has several limitations:
• Quantum of loans: Loans to SHGs linked to banks in India account for only 1.5 per cent of the total
credit outstanding of the scheduled commercial banks.
• Wide regional disparity: Of the cumulative bank loans disbursed under the programme, the
southern region accounted for 71.4 % of the total loans to SHGs, the share of North-Eastern Region
was just about 1.5%.
• Delays in sanctioning loans: Unnecessary delay on the part of the bank in sanctioning loans severely
impacts the morale of the members and functioning of the SHGs, ultimately disintegrating some of
them.
• Skill development training: Despite NABARD extending financial assistance for providing training to
the leaders and other members of the SHGs, many SHG lacked training to take up various economic
activities and comply with lengthy procedures of banks.
• Bureaucratic approach: SBL is largely a government pushed model and has suffered from various
infirmities of a typical bureaucratic program such as focus on completion of targets, instead of
achieving the desired output.
Suggestions for improving performance of SBL programme
• Encouraging SHGs in excluded regions such as North, Eastern and North Eastern Region by
improving banking network and involving more NGOs.
• Capacity building of government functionaries especially that of Suvida Dhata and training of local
NGOS/bank staff on SHG concept.
• Stronger checks should be applied before sanctioning the loan to avoid selection of wrong
beneficiaries, higher defaults, mis-utilisation of loans (like revolving loan for money lending etc.).

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 • Incentive package for honest and result-oriented NGOs as well as banks should be introduced. The
performance of the banks should include an indicator with reference to the credit disbursed under
the SBL programme in the lagging regions.
• Avoid ‘ever-greening’ of loans which is reportedly taking place among credit linked SHGs. NABARD
needs to reverse this unsettling trend.
Additionally, there is need to induce SHGs to graduate into matured levels of sustainable enterprise
while maintaining its participatory and self-help character. A strong SHG movement will ultimately aid in
financial inclusion, employment creation and rural development.

17. Despite initiatives taken by the government in recent years to address the challenges of the Indian
higher education system, many reforms are still required to improve its quality and enhance its
relevance. Analyse. (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Give a brief introduction highlighting various efforts by government of India to improve higher
education system in India. Also link it up with how the sector has shown improvement.
• Then discuss how reforms are still required on quality front and relevance front separately due to
issues still persisting on both fronts.
• Give a brief conclusion.
Answer:
By 2030, India will be among the youngest nations in the world with nearly 140 million people in the
college going age group and one in every four graduates in the world will be a product of the Indian
higher education system. The Government in recent years has taken up many initiatives to improve the
standard of higher education in the country:
• Through IMPRINT, the Government seeks to address major engineering challenges through the
collaborative efforts of the IITs and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
• Uchchtar Avishkar Yojana was launched to promote innovation in IITs, to spur innovative mindset;
to co-ordinate action between academia & industry and to strengthen labs & research facilities.
• Under the NIRF, educational institutions are ranked by an independent ranking agency on the basis
of objective criteria.
• GIAN scheme facilitates partnership between higher educational institutions of the country and
other countries in order to tap international talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs.
These initiatives, among others, have led to improvements in terms of improved access to higher
education due to establishment of more IITs, IIMs, contributing about 15-20% of faculty members in
universities worldwide by IITs and IISc, increased Gross Enrolment Ratio to 25.2% in 2016-17 etc. Still,
much more needs to be done for improving the quality of higher education and increasing its relevance.
Reforms aimed at improving quality of higher education:
• Linking grants to performance: Some proportion of grants to the universities should be linked to
their performance and quality of education. Moreover, a balanced allocation between central and
regional level universities needs to be ensured.
• Development of teacher resources: Reforms such as pre-service faculty training, quality check of
journals, outcome-based faculty evaluation, encouraging recruitment of distinguished practitioners
etc. needs to be taken to ensure quality teaching skills remain in abundance.
• Ensuring balance between excellence and inclusion: The issues of shortage of good-quality teaching
staff, inflated grades, absenteeism among students and teachers, shortage of lab infrastructure etc.
needs to be adequately dealt with.
• Reforming accreditation framework: Accreditation coverage is still inadequate in country. It needs
to be regularised with increased coverage through allowing credible accreditation agencies,
empanelled through a transparent, high quality process, to provide accreditation.

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 Reforms aimed at increasing relevance of higher education:
• Curriculum design: Curriculum should be designed in a way that integrates higher education with
skills/vocational training and industry interface.
• Meaningful opportunities for social engagement for all students in higher education institutions:
For promoting greater integration of higher education with issues of local community, initiatives
such as IMPRINT India also need to be expanded to direct research into areas of social relevance.
• Internationalisation of education: Indian higher education institutions must equip students with the
knowledge, skills, and competencies at par with international standards. This would help them in
cultivating a global outlook enhancing their relevance as global citizen.
• Proper gradation: In order to regain the lost credibility and enhance the relevance of university
qualifications, a National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF) with focus on learning
outcomes, employability skills and competencies, should be developed in a mission mode.
However, India needs to address the issues of equity and diversity in order to provide affordable, quality
higher education in a period of market led reforms. The New Education Policy should be designed to
take care of all these aspects.

18. Giving an account of the progress made under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, mention the
challenges that it faces in achieving its target. How can the implementation of the programme be fast-
tracked? (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Introduce by briefly discussing the objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
• Discuss the progress of its two components PMAY (U) & PMAY (R).
• List the challenges facing the implementation of the flagship housing initiative.
• Suggest measures to fast track the implementation of this scheme.
Answer:
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) aims to make ‘Housing for All’ a reality by 2022. The scheme
caters to the housing needs of the mid-income group, besides the economically weaker sections (EWS)
and low-income group (LIG). It has two components: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) for the urban
poor and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) for the rural poor.
Progress made:
PMAY (U):
As of 2018 year end, more than 68.5 Lakh houses have been approved for funding under PMAY(U). 35.67
lakh houses have been grounded for construction of which 12.45 lakh houses have been completed.
Approximately 3.5 lakh houses were completed each year between 2014 and 2017. To fast track the
construction of sanctioned houses, the Ministry has identified 24 new technologies for mass housing
construction. A National Urban Housing Fund has been set up for raising Extra Budgetary Resources in
phases for the rapid implementation of PMAY (U) and to ensure unhindered availability of resources.
PMAY (G):
Launched in November 2016, the target in first phase was to complete one crore houses by March 2019.
So far around 92.6 lakh homes have been completed under PMAY-G during 2017-19. A large number of
houses are nearing completion and the pace of completion has improved even in States like Bihar and
Assam significantly. Due to measures taken including IT/DBT, fair beneficiary selection, effective
transaction based MIS etc, misutilization of funds was substantially brought down leading to faster
completion of houses.
Challenges facing PMAY:
• Land scarcity in urban areas: High population density exerts significant pressure on land
resources. Moreover, under PMAY, sanction for homes in the case of landless have to wait till land is
provided by State Governments.
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 • Property Records: Land and property records in India are in a dismal state, which gives rise to the
problem of unclear land titles. It makes it difficult for the applicant to get government grants under
the Beneficiary-Led Construction (BLC) under PMAY.
• Location of projects: Many housing units are located in the peripheries and outskirts of cities which
are not notified as ‘urban’ by the government. As a result, they are not eligible for financial support
under the PMAY (U) scheme.
• Poor implementation of CLS component: Many beneficiaries were not informed about the interest
subsidy component under this scheme. Many got to know only after receiving the loan and as a
result, they could not avail the concession.
• Difficulties in procurement of land in rural areas: Since green or fodder areas cannot be allotted for
housing, so the government has to procure land which results in further delays.
• Moreover, lack of clear communication and coordination among various agencies, and delays in
allotment of land to identified beneficiaries has also been observed.
The implementation of the programme can be fast-tracked by adopting following measures:
• Upgrading land records: This will allow all citizens to fully embrace the subsidy features of PMAY
and access credit for affordable housing.
• Up-gradation of slums as a financially viable model: Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) must be
explored to incentivize developers to in-situ rehabilitate slums and upgrade them as viable financial
models.
• Strict monitoring implementation of projects: The timelines of the projects under PMAY need to be
strictly monitored and laggard states need to be held accountable for delays.
• Providing security of tenure: A provision of “no eviction guarantee" to individual households may
be explored so that such people may be interested in investing affordable housing even without
legal titles.
• Greater Synchronization between various ministries & departments: Complete convergence
through better coordination between state governments and central authorities is necessary to use
their resources and reach the goal of Housing for all by 2022.

19. Island nations of the Indian Ocean hold immense strategic value in shaping the geopolitical contours
of the region and ensuring maritime security of India. Discuss. (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Briefly mention why island nations of Indian Ocean are strategically significant.
• Discuss their importance in shaping geopolitics and maintaining maritime security and order in the
region.
• Conclude by mentioning measures taken by India in this regard.
Answer:
The June 2019 visit of the Prime Minister to Maldives and Sri Lanka, both Indian Ocean island nations,
highlighted the significance India attaches to this region. These countries hold immense strategic value
due to the following reasons:
• Location: Given that India is essentially a maritime nation centrally situated in Indian Ocean region
with a long coastline of 7500 km and 1200 island territories, the island nations are our close
neighbours.
• Proximity to sea lines of communications (SLOCs) for patrolling in times of peace and conflict, given
that the region hosts 64 percent of the world’s oil trade and movement of half of the world’s carrier
ships. Also, 90% of India’s trade by volume and 90% of its oil imports are carried on the seas.
• Prevalence of transnational threats such as piracy along areas such as the Bab el Mandeb and the
Somali coast and the need for multilateral cooperation.

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 Role of Indian Ocean island nations in shaping India’s maritime security and geopolitics of the region:
• Sri Lanka and Maldives, being neighbours close to India hold special significance. In the past
Hambantota project funded by China and subsequently leased to it had raised strategic concerns.
Similarly, the endorsement of BRI and Chinese influence by Maldives had complicated matters.
However, India First policy of Maldives and trilateral maritime dialogue involving the three countries
helps India address these concerns.
• Tackling prevalent and inherent maritime threats, both traditional and non traditional, like
terrorism, piracy, and illegal smuggling, climate change and rising sea level, increasing natural
disasters and loss of livelihood requires India’s close collaboration with this region.
• By allowing major powers to establish naval base, island nations exercise much greater strategic
influence. For instance, China built its first Indian Ocean Naval Base in Djibouti in 2017. India has
signed agreements for the development of Agalega and Assumption island with Mauritius and
Seychelles respectively.
• In the west of India, islands of Socotra (Yemen), Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Seychelles have
gained strategic importance. For instance, Socotra is strategically located at the opening of Gulf of
Aden, which connects the Suez Canal with Indian Ocean. Similarly, Mauritius is close to most
important SLOCs and West Asian oil fields. The majority of FDI inflow to India comes from Mauritius.
Seychelles holds rights to a 1.3 million square km EEZ, thus making it extremely important for
commercial and strategic reasons.
• In South East Asia Andaman & Nicobar is positioned close to Malacca strait and helps India closely
observe military and economic activities in the area. Thus, Comprehensive Defence Cooperation
Agreement with Indonesia and possibility of developing the Sabang port provide significant influence
to India to play key role in the emerging conception of the Indo-Pacific.
The Prime Minister articulated India’s vision by highlighting the idea of Indo-Pacific and centrality of
Indian ocean to it. India is active in promoting cooperation through Indian Ocean Naval Symposium
(IONS) and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). These are in line with India’s vision “Security and
Growth for All in the Region” (SAGAR) and serve the quest for becoming the net security provider in
the India Ocean.

20. Development assistance, a key instrument in India's foreign policy, has seen a considerable expansion
in the past few years both in its scope and reach. Elucidate. (250 words) 15
Approach:
• Give a brief introduction regarding the development partnership assistance by India to other
countries.
• Show the expanding scope and reach of development assistance through various different examples.
• Conclude briefly.
Answer:
Development assistance, which has doubled in the last five years, is a key attribute of India’s soft power.
Despite limited resources, India has displayed willingness to share its resources and capabilities with
other developing countries based on their needs thus creating a basis for enduring cooperation and
engendering trust.
The main instruments of India’s development assistance include:
• Lines of Credit (LOC),
• Grant assistance,
• Small Development Projects (SDPs)
• Disaster Relief and Humanitarian aid
• Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC).

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 Expanding scope and reach of India’s Development Assistance:
Although, the focus of development cooperation has traditionally been the countries in India’s
neighbourhood and in Africa, India is also expanding its development cooperation with South East Asia,
East and Central Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, Pacific Island Countries, etc. The development
assistance has seen expansion both in scope and reach in the following ways:
• Lines of Credit: From 2005-06 to January 2019, 274 LOCs aggregating to US$ 26.79 billion have been
extended to 63 countries in various sectors. For e.g. nearly 8 billion US$ to Bangladesh.
• Training and Capacity Building Under the ITEC- During 2017-18, 10,918 civilian training slots were
offered under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme to 161 partner
countries in various areas such as Agriculture, Food and Fertilizers; Banking, Finance, Education etc.
For e.g. 150 bureaucrats from Ethiopia received training in India.
o Deputation of Indian Experts: As on November 2017, forty-nine experts in various fields were on
deputation to partner countries in areas of Information and Communication Technology (I&CT),
Coconut experts, English teachers and Ayurveda.
o Study tours: are undertaken at the specific request of ITEC partner countries.
• Providing equipment like Dornier aircraft to Seychelles, helicopter to Maldives.
• Humanitarian assistance, like food items to Lesotho, Namibia; medical supplies to Zambia, Syria;
building of houses in Nepal, Sri Lanka; NCERT books to Tanzania etc.
• Aid for Disaster Relief, like to Nepal after earthquake, even to Pakistan in 2010 when it faced floods.
• Small Development Projects: It is about low budget projects, which are demand driven and have
participation of local population of that country. The Government of India has committed to various
projects in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Suriname, Papua New
Guinea etc.
• African Outreach: where India has contributed in the following ways:
o 189 LOCs aggregating US$ 11.36 billion have been allocated for African countries form 200506 to
January2019
o Pan-African E-Network Project: In 2004, India announced an initiative to bridge the digital divide
and accelerate development on the African continent.
o TEAM-9 Initiative: The Techno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement (TEAM-9), is a
credit facility with a volume of 500m US$ launched in 2004 for eight African countries.
Through Schemes such as India Development and Economic Assistance Scheme (IDEAS) India has
sought to make its development assistance attractive and effective. The need is to constantly monitor
and improve the uptake and implementation of these instruments.

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