“The local self government system in India has not proved to be effective instrument of governance”. Critically examine the statement and give your views to improve the situation. (150 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question- Even after a quarter of a century of their enactment, the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) are yet to achieve their full potential. Do you agree? Discuss in light of various issues associated with PRIs inIndia and suggest measures.
ARC -Local Governance-Click Here
Critically examine the Supreme Court’s judgement on ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014’ with reference to appointment of judges of higher judiciary in India. (150 words)
‘Simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies will limit the amount of time and money spent in electioneering but it will reduce the government’s accountability to the people’. Discuss. (150 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question-Elections in India have become a continuous process and political parties with stakes in various states are constantly preparing for one election or the other. Discuss the problems associated with frequent elections and suggest a way forward..
How do pressure groups influence Indian political process? Do you agree with this view that informal pressure groups have emerged as powerful than formal pressure groups in recent years? (150 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question-What do you understand by pressure group? Discuss their role in a vibrant democracy?
Discuss the role of Public Accounts Committee in establishing accountability of the government to the people. (150 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question-This is an indirect question related to CAG and most students already know about it.
‘To ensure effective implementation of policies addressing water, sanitation and hygiene needs, the identification of beneficiary segments is to be synchronized with the anticipated outcomes’ Examine the statement in the context of the WASH scheme. (150 words)
Click Here(Poor water and sanitation costs India 5.2% of its GDP)
Does the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 ensure effective mechanism for empowerment and inclusion of the intended beneficiaries in the society? Discuss (150 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question – Discuss the importance of United Nations’ Incheon strategy. Show how convergence of India’s “Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan (Accessible India)” initiative and United Nation’s Incheon strategy can help realize each other’s goal.
Click Here(Right of Persons with disabilities)
Hunger and Poverty are the biggest challenges for good governance in India still today. Evaluate how far successive governments have progressed in dealing with these humongous problems. Suggest measures for improvement. (150 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question-Poverty reduction in 21st century has taken a different meaning altogether, it is not merely about the poverty line or feeding them, clothing them and housing them, it is about empowering them. Discuss.
https://upsctree.com/2017/10/02/economy-extreme-poverty-worldwide-economic-approaches/
https://upsctree.com/2017/06/05/economy-building-poverty-free-villages/
https://upsctree.com/2017/02/13/economy-watch-inclusive-development-quintile-income-poverty-line/
‘China is using its economic relations and positive trade surplus as tools to develop potential military power status in Asia’, In the light of this statement, discuss its impact on India as her neighbor. (150 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question-Discuss the role of India and China in the “Asian Century”. Do you think China is more of a rival than a partner or more of a partner than rival? Provide insightful and reasoned argument favouring your contention.
What are the main functions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)? Explain different functional commissions attached to it. (150 words)
Our Understanding-We started an initiative called Project Limelight this year and given that 2 question ( Pulse related question in GS1 and ECOSOC question in GS2 – it is only became more important now, although due to paucity of time, we could not complete it before exam, but poised to finish this void in preparation this year) – Click Here
Explain the salient features of the constitution(One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016. Do you think it is efficacious enough ‘to remove cascading effect of taxes and provide for common national market for goods and services’? (250 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question- “India has been a political union for many decades, now the time has come for India to become economic union”. Discuss it in light of the recent developments with respect to Goods and Services Tax.
Examine the scope of Fundamental Rights in the light of the latest judgement of the Supreme Court on Right to Privacy. (250 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question- Discuss the constitutional basis of right to privacy. Is right to privacy sacrosanct? Also asked an essay on this topic.(Click Here)
The Indian Constitution has provisions for holding joint session of the two houses of the Parliament. Enumerate the occasions when this would normally happen and also the occasions when it cannot, with reasons thereof. (250 words)
Our Understanding- Static Question, everyone who read polity books knows it.
To enhance the quality of democracy in India the Election Commission of India has proposed electoral reforms in 2016. What are the suggested reforms and how far are they significant to make democracy successful? (250 words)
Click Here (Electoral Reforms-Recommendations by Election Commission !!!)
Is the National Commission for Women able to strategize and tackle the problems that women face at both public and private spheres? Give reasons in support of your answer. (250 words)
‘The emergence of Self Help Groups(SHGs) in contemporary times points to the slow but steady withdrawal of the state from developmental activities’. Examine the role of the SHGs in developmental activities and the measures taken by the Government of India to promote the SHGs. (250 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question-Self Help Groups are said to have “Multiplier effects”, however in recent times they are contributing more towards non performing asset generation rather than empowering the generation. Discuss.
‘Poverty Alleviation Programmes in India remain mere show pieces until and unless they are backed by political will’. Discuss with reference to the performance of the major poverty alleviation programmes in India. (250 words)
Our Understanding- We also asked a daily debate on this topic- “Remove Poverty” – Is it reduced to just an election slogan ?
Also refer above links on poverty question as well. 2 questions on poverty this year – shows poverty of questions.
Initially Civil Services in India were designed to achieve the goals of neutrality and effectiveness, which seems to be lacking in the present context. Do you agree with the view that drastic reforms are required in Civil Services. Comment (250 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question :-
We gave 2 questions related to this-
The Weberian conception of bureaucracy tells us that – “Bureaucracy is neither good nor bad, it is just “is” . Elucidate. ( It essentially means bureaucracy was incapable of “care” because of its transactional nature and origin, India was no exception to this too) Read this to gain more insight on this.Click Here
Effectiveness means inclusion of emotional intelligence in decision making unlike efficiency.
What do you understand by “democratic accountability” and “bureaucratic accountability” and how are they enforced in India? What are the advantages of having an independent, permanent and impartial civil service?
The question of India’s Energy Security constitutes the most important part of India’s economic progress. Analyze India’s energy policy cooperation with West Asian Countries. (250 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question – Asked question in GS Tests and even gave an essay on this topic – Click Here
Indian Diaspora has an important role to play in South-East Asian countries’ economy and society. Appraise the role of Indian Diaspora in South- East Asia in this context (250 words)
UPSCTREE Test Series Question –
Discuss the importance of “island nations” of South-East Asia to India’s interest. Also highlight the role of ASEAN and how it can augment India’s geopolitical standing.
Discuss the importance of Indian Diaspora in a globalized world and the various issues faced by them.
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Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.