General Studies Mains - 2019: Test-1 (Explanation)

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GENERAL STUDIES MAINS - 2019

Test-1 [Explanation]
Q.1. An excessive focus on deaddiction centres to treat people suffering from substance
abuse in India does not serve the purpose. Examine 10
Substance abuse refers to the harmful or hazardous use of psychoactive substances,
including alcohol and illicit drugs.
According to National Survey on Extent and Pattern for Substance Use in India 2018,
after Alcohol (14.6% of the population between 10 and 75 year of age), Cannabis and
Opioids are the next commonly used substances in India. About 2.8% of the population
(3.1 crore individuals) reports having used any cannabis product within the previous year.
Considering that more than five percent of Indians suffer from alcohol use disorders and
an additional substantial proportion are affected by other drug use disorders, this is
clearly a major public health concern for India.
Limited approach through deaddiction centres
Deaddiction centres are dedicated facilities with in-patient care for the individuals affected
by substance abuse.
The range and extent of the problem demands an equally deeper approach. In contrary,
substance abuse and its treatment are mostly seen through the lens of deaddiction
centres in India. Considering that an addiction treatment programme which is focused
heavily upon inpatient treatment / hospitalisation is unlikely to cater to the huge demand
for treatment.
In terms of types of treatment services, focusing only on the hospitalisation (or
‘deaddiction centres’) is neither feasible nor desirable. A large proportion of people with
substance use disorders can be provided help in the outpatient settings by the trained
personnel.
Most drug-control programmes focus on restricting the supply of illicit drugs. This is not
enough. The focus has to shift to demand reduction by preventing addiction and providing
more treatment facilities for addicts
Q.2. The caste system in India is a source of social capital. Comment 10

The networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society,
enabling that society to function effectively is known as social capital.
'Caste is a closed class' i.e. class refers to people based on property, business, occupation
i.e. one can't change his own caste system by can change the class system & can be a
member of many classes at the same time. You belong to a caste by birth & can't change
it later & one has is follow the set rules & regulations & gets punishment on their
violation & one can even be thrown out of his caste. i.e. If one dares to go out of his caste
he can never return. In class one may change it with effort like in a illiterate class one can
became literate & therefore go over to the literate class i.e. caste is hereditary in nature &
once born in a caste one can't change it.
Caste now seems to be emerging as social capital, as a vehicle for economic development.
Social capital is the product of relations — as distinct from contracts — that creates
kinship among people. Caste constitutes natural kinship. The idea of social capital
entered the global economic development discourse in the early 1990s, with respect to
relation-based socio-economy.
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Caste is a very strong bond. While individuals are related by families, castes link the
families. Castes transcended the local limits and networked the people across. This has
prevented the disturbance that industrialism caused to neighbourhood societies in the
West, resulting in unbridled individualism and acute atomization.
In India, caste is closely linked with reservation and politics. The clamour for more
reservations in government jobs and educational institutions is growing. Even forward
castes want reservations.
some castes have done much better because of their ‘Vaishyavisation’ or enterpreneur
skills rather than from reservations.
In Tamil Nadu, some castes want to be delisted from being scheduled caste communities
because they face social discrimination on that account.
Caste networks can be used as a means to reduce transaction costs and promote
economic development.
Q.3. “As the basic building block of the country’s growth, education in India has been
constantly evolving its teaching methods”. In this context discuss about the
reforms suggested by Draft National Educational Policy, 2019. 10
The draft educational policy aims to bring out a paradigm shift in the field of education by
empowering children, teachers and educational institutions.mCommittee was led by Dr K.
Kasturirangan .The Draft Policy is built on foundational pillars of Access, Equity,
Quality, Affordability & Accountability.
Key Recommendations
• he policy covers school education, higher education and professional
education which in turn include agricultural education, legal education, medical
education and technical education.
• It also looks at the verticals of vocational education by including teacher education
and the research and innovation.
• The early child care and education have been sought to be integrated within the
Ministry of Education (a changed name has been suggested for the Ministry of Human
Resource and Development - MHRD).
• The policy also tries to focus on certain foundational skills that children should have
in the proposed new structure of 5+3+3+4.
o The first stage of five years (for children of 3-8 years of age) i.e. foundational
stage looks at discovery learning and learning by play. The foundational literacy
and numeracy skills is a mission mode approach under it that includes National
Tutors’ Program, remedial instructional aid programmes etc. It considers
nutrition as very critical for strengthening the levels of 3-8 years of children.
o The next stage is Preparatory Stage for the children in the age group of 8 to 11
years (grades 3 to 5) followed by the Middle Stage (grades 6 to 8) for the students
in the age group of 11-14 years and the Secondary Stage (Grades 9-12) for
students in the age group of 14-18 years.
• For school education, governance level changes have also been suggested. A State
regulatory authority has been suggested for regulating education in the country. The
body will decide the accreditation of different schools. The government will continue to
fund and operate education in the country.
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• Main takeaways for higher education:

o Restructuring of the higher education system into Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3.
o Tier 1 includes research universities focusing equally on research and
teaching, Tier 2 includes teaching universitiesfocusing primarily on teaching;
and Tier 3 includes colleges focusing only on teaching at undergraduate
levels. All such institutions will gradually move towards full autonomy -
academic, administrative, and financial. The idea is to spread ‘research
culture’ at the undergraduate level.
o The policy also talks about National Scholarship Fund to financially support
students for higher education.
• Promotion of classical and regional languages have been emphasised upon.
• The policy also proposes to increase the class of compulsory education up to grade
12 (age-18).
o The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to
Education Act - RTE, 2009 (represents Article 21-A of the Indian
Constitution) made education, a fundamental right of every child between the
ages of 6 and 14.
• The policy aims to achieve a fully literate society where all adults are literates by
2030 or so.
• Issues in the Draft Policy
• There is less consensus on the integration of foundational learning with
schooling. In Europe, compulsory education only begins at the age of 6. In certain
countries like Denmark, Germany and Finland, compulsory education begins at the
age of 7.
• There needs to be a discussion on whether literacy and numeracy skills should be
developed during the time of foundational learning.
• In the draft policy, there is no mention of how the State regulatory body will
regulate the government institutions.
• A constitutional amendment is required to change the limits for compulsory
schooling in the country. Also, increasing the limit on higher side i.e. up to the age of
18 is not consistent with the limits across the world. Also, it is a very expensive
proposition.
• There is not enough capacity in the country to provide for teachers’
education. Also, M.Ed has been given less importance under the policy. The focus has
been more on B.Ed.
The quality of education provided in the country shall be such that it not only delivers
basic literacy and numeracy but also creates an analytical environment in the country.
Draft educational policy is a right step in the direction with certain amendment’s.
Q.4. “Community acts as a connecting link between market and state.” The
marginalization of community in this aspect has led to the growing dissent against
capitalism. Comment 10
Our world can be seen through the prism of the triad of markets, state and community,
constituting the three pillars of society as it were. The first two have surged ahead, often
in collusion, leaving the third behind. Interestingly, the first two emerged out of the
community itself but now dominate it. Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union the
forward movement gathered steam through globalisation, which unleashed market forces
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across countries hitherto protected by national boundaries. The community has not
merely been devalued by this process, its economy has been devastated.
Around the world, there is widespread economic anxiety, domestic political tension,strife
between countries, and now talk of a cold war reemerging between the United States and
China. every time there’s a big technological revolution, it upsets the balance in society
between three pillars: the political structure—that is, government or the state; the
economic structure—that is, markets and firms; and the sociological, human structure—
that is, communities. When that balance is upset, we see anxiety and conflict, a signal
that we’re striving for a new balance.
Globalisation and technological innovation rewarded metropolitan agglomerations of
highly educated people. But these processes also devastated industrial cities and towns.
Again, the success of the educated and their relatively stable marriages have rendered
class advantage more inheritable, as in the days of aristocracy.
Even if opportunity seems open to all (and unfortunately it is not), people don’t enter on
the same footing. We ought to give people the capabilities they need to participate in
markets. And for that, we need strong communities—to focus on good schools, a safe
environment, an informal safety net over the formal safety net, and so on. communities
can work well in distributing political and economic power, creating the competition that
democracy and capitalism both need. That is, to some extent, the new liberalism must be
discovered.
Q.5. In what way the new criteria of ‘economically weaker sections’ differs from the
existing reserved categories in higher education and employment? 10
Reservation is one of the tools against social oppression and injustice against certain
classes. Otherwise known as affirmative action, reservation helps in uplifting backward
classes.
Reservation in educational and employment opportunities is constitutionally guaranteed
through Article 15(4) of the Indian Constitution for SCs and STs and later extended to
other backward castes through Mandal Commission (1979). Such a policy of reservation is
termed as ‘affirmative action’ and also as positive discrimination.
At present, reservations in India account for a total of 49.5%.
Of late, there is a growing need to confer constitutional protection to a growing class of
people who suffer inequality on the grounds of economic deprivation. As a result,
The recently enacted 103rd Constitution Amendment changed two fundamental rights,
Article 15 and 16. The amendments provide for the advancement of the “economically
weaker sections” of the society. The amendment aims to fulfil the commitments of the
directive principles of state policy under Article 46, to promote the educational and
economic interests of the weaker sections of the society.
The main differences between earlier reservation and ‘economically weaker section’
category:
What was granted by the constitution as the reservation for socially and educationally
backward classes, the policy has metamorphosed into socially and educationally
backward classes
Earlier, the reservation can be inherited by being born into a particular caste or
community. With the introduction of EWS, it open doors of opportunity to anyone who is
economically deprived.
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EWS is universalistic and inclusionary whereas earlier reservation is exclusionary in its

coverage.
There is no doubt that unequals should not be treated equally. EWS category is a positive
affirmation for the upliftment of most deserving class of Indian society irrespective of their
religion, caste or birth.
Q.6. “Secularism promotes freedom within religions and promotes equality between, as
well as within religions”. Evaluate. 10
As Secularism is opposed to all forms of institutionalized religious domination, it
challenges not merely inter-religious domination but intra-religious dominations.
Secularisation, is a process of social change through which the influence of religion
declines in public affairs
To promote these ends the state must be separated from the organised religion and its
institutions for the sake of some of these values. There is no defined pattern or form to
suggest this separation.
Further, we will consider two models:-
1. Western model, best represented by America
2. Indian model of Secularism
The western model of Secularism
All secular states have one thing in common, they are neither theocratic nor do they
establish a religion.
Features of Western concept of secularism:-
● State and religion has a separate sphere of its own, with independent jurisdiction i.e.
Mutual exclusion of state and religion, principled distance of state from religion and no
illegitimate intrusion of religion in the state.
● The state cannot aid any religious institutions.
● State cannot hinder the activities of religious communities as long as they are within
the broad limits setup by the law of the land.
Indian model of Secularism
Indian secularism is fundamentally different from western secularism. It does not focus
only on Church- State separation and the idea of inter-religious equality is crucial to the
Indian conception. Indian secularism took on a distinct from as a result of an interaction
between what already existed in a society that had religious diversity and the ideas that
came from the west. It resulted in equal focus on intra-religious and inter-religious
domination.
Constitution reinforces and reinvents forms of liberal individualism through Article- 26,
28, 19, etc. Constitution upholds the principle of social justice without compromising on
individual liberties. The constitutional commitment to caste based affirmative action
program, shows how much ahead India was compared to the other nations (as in US it
began after 1964 civil rights movements)
Sometimes, Indian secularism is also criticized for being Anti-religious, but that is
actually not true, as it is against institutionalised religious domination. It is also said that
it promotes Minoritism, but it only advocates minority rights as long as those rights
protect their fundamental interests. It is also criticized for being Interventionist, which
means that secularism is coercive and it interferes excessively with the religious freedom
of communities.
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Q.7. How can the challenges of poverty and climate change be balanced together?
Discuss. 10
Poverty has been a challenge to human development since time immemorial. Muddling the
waters, climate change aggravates the factors hampering the inclusive and sustainable
development of all along with the age-old problem of poverty.
The balance that needs to be achieved is one of longstanding domestic priorities: between
poverty alleviation, food security and sustainable development.
According to the recently released report of World Bank, 'South Asia's Hotspots: The
Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards', it projects a 2.8
per cent erosion for the country's GDP by 2050 and a fall in the living standards for nearly
half of Indians due to change in temperature and precipitation pattern.
The decline in living standards of the population as forecast by the World Bank report can
be attributed to a fall in agricultural yield and the health impact effected by such a
change.
As quoted by Albert Einstein, "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity,” the same is true
for the present conundrum of poverty and climate change.
Development is indeed the best adaptation strategy, since it is associated with improved
infrastructure, market-oriented reforms, enhanced human capabilities, and a stronger
institutional capacity to respond to the increasing threat of climate change and natural
disasters.”
Integration of climate change mitigation plans and measures in developmental policies
and plans such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Clean India Campaign’, ‘MGNREGA’ and ‘NAPCC’ can
make to deal with the twin problem with a single stone.
Q.8. While India has shown improvement in several parameters related to women's
empowerment, the preference for a son has not diminished. Discuss 10
● Son Meta-Preference is the phenomena where parents continue to produce children
until the desired number of sons are born. According to Economic Survey-2017-18,
there are over 21 million. ‘unwanted girls’ in India, by analysing the sex ratio of last
child (SRLC).
● Due to strict implementation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
(PCPNDT) Act in India, the sex-selective abortion of female foetus have become difficult.
However, couples have adopted a different strategy where they’ll continue to produce
children until desired number of sons are born. Economic Survey 2017-18
has used the term ‘Son Meta-Preference’ to describe this phenomenon. According to
this survey, there are over 21 million ‘unwanted girls’ in India who were when the
couples wanted a male-child.
REASONS
● patrilocality (women having to move to husbands’ houses after marriage),
● patrilineality (property passing on to sons rather than daughters),
● dowry (which leads to extra costs of having girls),
● old age support from sons and rituals performed by sons.
REFORMS NEEDED
● Ensuring property rights for women
● Ending gender stereotyping in Indian popular culture can also help.
● Giving push to women for economic empowerment so that social empowerment would
follow.
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● Quality education should be provided with inclusive schemes like Dhanalaxmi, Save
daughter educate daughter etc implemented effectively.
● The Economic Survey 2018 recommended that the nation must confront the societal
preference for male offspring. Noting that schemes such as Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao,
Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, enhanced maternity leave and mandatory creches in
workplaces are steps in the right direction, the Survey called for a stronger
commitment on the gender front similar to the government’s push for Ease of Doing
Business.
Q.9. The tribal population in India lags behind other social groups on various social
parameter. Explain 10
The tribal population in India lags behind other social groups on various social
parameters, such as child mortality, infant mortality, number of anaemic women, says the
latest annual report of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
While educational achievements on the whole has improved, gross enrolment ratio among
tribal students in the primary school level has declined .Besides, the dropout rate among
tribal students has been at an alarming level. While the overall poverty rates among the
tribal population have fallen, they remain relatively poorer when weighed against other
social groups. Health infrastructure has also been found wanting in tribal areas.
REASONS FOR BACKWARDNESS
Despite the expansion of educational institutions, tribal literacy is still poor because of
1. Linguistic poverty
2. Economic compulsion
3. Cultural handicap
4. Dislinkage between modern education and tribal world view
Displacement caused by mining plants and captive power projects set up in the past
several years in Angul, Koraput, Raigadh and Kalahandi districts in the State, tribal land
acquisition caused backwardness and marginalization of many tribal groups
Solution
• Integration attempts should be made to bring them into mainstream society without
destroying their distinctive identity.
• Rights of tribal communities to say 'no' to acquisition of their land and to access and
manage forests should be recognized. No tribal land should be alienated without the
consent of the tribal gram sabha.
• Tribal education must be reached in par with the mainstream society in terms of gross
enrolment ratio and literacy levels.
• Health parameters need to be improved giving sufficient importance in infrastructure
and research of tribal genetic health. Female litracy rates plays an important role in
tribal health.
• Both development and cultural preservation needs to go together to uplift the tribal
groups in India. honest attempts at inclusion — politically, administratively and
socially — should be behind all such endeavours is needed for inclusive development
of the country
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Q.10. India’s progress towards achieving universal health coverage (UHC), though fraught
with several constraints, can be quicker with a comprehensive primary-
care approach. In this context discuss the role played by Health and Wellness
Centers envisaged under Ayushman Bharat in strengthening primary health care in
India. 10
Comprehensive primary-care approach ,provides healthcare to all irrespective of caste,
income and religion, with higher coverage and at lower cost. Historically, India’s health
systems bear the brunt of low public spending, causing the health systems to function
sub-optimally and forcing millions of people to spend from their pocket at the point of
care. However, Ayushman Bharat—a component of which intends to provide insurance
coverage of `5 lakh to 500 million people—is envisaged to alleviate household out-of-
pocket expenditure to a large extent. This, along with wellness centres will provide ample
impetus to achieve universal healthcare. This can contribute to realising India’s SDG
commitments that aim to provide appropriate and high-quality healthcare to all with
adequate financial protection.
The experiences of several countries show that investing in primary healthcare leads to
allocative efficiency by bringing a range of preventive, curative, promotive and
rehabilitative services closer to the people. In India, despite several policy statements to
improve primary care, this has never been a priority until recently, when the Union
government announced the introduction health and wellness centre under its Ayushman
Bharat programme, which will be the foundation for public health system in the country.
These centres are intended to provide outpatient care, immunisation, maternal and child
health services, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other services. These centres will
be linked to secondary and tertiary care and will be supplied with adequate drugs and
diagnostic services. Once developed, these centres will help ameliorating basic health
problems including early diagnosis and treatment of NCDs, avoiding complications in the
latter stage and thereby, lessening costs of treatments. This would translate into
reduction of costs at the secondary- and tertiary-care levels.
Sharper focus in resource-starved states should be on improving efficiency in spending
without compromising equity, and this can be attained by designing programmes that
would cover a large number of people and a wide range of diseases.
The role of public health professionals, those who can help design outreach and
preventive programmes and implement the continuing health programme effectively,
assumes paramount importance. The shortage is severe in many parts of the country,
especially poorer states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The focus
should be to train a pool of social workers, psychiatrists, counsellors with public health
orientation who could then transform the primary healthcare delivery system in the
country.
Approximately, 51% of total government expenditure on health is spent on primary care;
this needs to be stepped up to at least two-third of the government expenditure as
suggested in the health policy document of India. Reorienting resources towards
population-based preventive programmes will help set the allocation of scare resources for
larger social benefits right.
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Q.11. Examine the factors why tribal sub-plan was more successful out of all the tribal
development programmes. 15
Tribal communities in India comprise more than 8 percent of Indian population, they are
spread in three areas in nine central Indian states having more than 80 percent, in seven
north eastern states roughly 12 percent and in south India covering only 5 percent tribal
population, there are around 705 types of tribes in India according to Virginious Xaxa,
chairman of the specially empowered committee on tribes which gave its report in 2015.
There have been numerous tribal development programmes from 1952 onwards but tribal
sub-plan started in 1972 was the most successful programme till date.
The basic objective of Tribal Sub-Plan is to channelise the flow of outlays and benefits
from the general sectors in the Central Ministries/Departments for the development of
Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes at least in proportion to their population, both in
physical and financial terms.
• Tribal sub plan was initiated in areas having 75 percent tribal population but later on
the percentage was reduced, one important feature was, it was totally manned by
tribal officials and employees, this was a programme of accountability to the
development programme, in case of anomalies officials were held responsible.
• This programme was a single window programme, every department was located in
one office and the tribes did not have to move from one office to the other.
• This was a rolling programme in the sense no fixed period was assigned and no March
deadline was there.
While the other schemes for tribal development such as scholarships, fellowships, hostel
facilities and the recently launched Eklavya model residential schools, tribal sub plan is a
scheme of integration and coordination.
It is a state-led programme giving enough leeway for the states to modify as per the
ground realities. Such a bottom up approach is a sure recipe to succeed for Indian
settings.
Q.12. “Language and culture are intertwined and inseparable”. In this context, critically
analyse the link between democracy and linguistic rights 15
Language is closely related to culture and therefore to the customs of people. Besides, the
massive spread of education and growth of mass literacy can only occur through the
medium of the mother tongue. Democracy can become real to the common people only
when politics and administration are conducted through the language they can
understand. Compulsory imposition of language results in linguistic regionalism based on
language.
Hence language plays an important role in the social and economic development of the
region
The language policy gives full freedom to the states to choose any language or languages
spoken in regions as their regional languages and to have one or more of them as official
languages by different states. any disequilibrium between language and democracy may
lead to regionlistic feelings. example - In the South, especially in Tamil Nadu, there
was agitation on the imposition of Hindi via three language formula’ from the draft
policy.
The constitution of India provides right to preserve ones language and culture as a
fundamental right. However, for the Union, the Constitution prescribes Hindi in
Devanagari script for official purposes along with English as an associate official
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language. The Language Policy of India relating to the use of languages in administration,
education, judiciary, legislature, mass communication, etc., is pluralistic in its scope.
It is both language-development oriented and language-survival oriented. The policy is
intended to encourage the citizens to use their mother tongue in certain delineated levels
and domains through some gradual processes, but the stated goal of the policy is to help
all languages to develop.
Determining what should be called a language or a dialect has taken a political angle and
initiated a sense of regionalism attached to it.
Q.13. The ongoing demographic transition and fast paced changes in intergenerational
values creates unique challenges for the welfare of senior citizens in India.
Comment. 15
According to the law, a "senior citizen" means any person being a citizen of India, who has
attained the age of sixty years or above.
According to Population Census 2011 there are nearly 104 million elderly persons (aged
60 years or above) in India; 53 million females and 51 million males. A report released by
the United Nations Population Fund and HelpAge India suggests that the number of
elderly persons is expected to grow to 173 million by 2026.
The demographic transition is a dividend for the economic sector but instead a challenge
for the social sectors and old age care, in particular.
The process of economic liberalization led to the emergence of capitalism, division of
labour and availability of lucrative opportunities. The market relationships are
emphasized with greater importance than emotional ones. Simultaneously, the mobility of
the people has increased to meet the growing areas of production and services sectors.
Therefore, the traditional joint family system is fragmenting, resulting in the formation of
nuclear families. On the other hand, double-income-no-kid (DINK) couples are
increasingly observed in Indian societies.
Consequent to the above developments, the older people are experiencing remarkable
changes in their physical and socio-economic circumstances. In smaller families, they are
gradually marginalized in the decision-making process.
Some unique challenges
A boom in population and increasing life expectancy will add salt to the burns of old age
care in India.
It is an irony that the care for elderly is not only on money matters but fragmentation of
family values.
With the productive age extending beyond 60 years, elderly people are a force to reckon
with. Their experience and skill, albeit low physical endurance, is a matter to reckon with.
This creates a challenge of balancing employment opportunities for the young and
inexperienced and old and experienced individuals.
Compounding this, gender inequality permeates even during the elderly years. Compared
to males, elderly women are worst affected in the absence of family protection and old age
security benefit.
The social welfare measures must be inclusive and takes into the account the interests of
elderly citizens too. The policy should extend beyond the mere opening of old age homes
but creating reformative awareness on young Indian minds to care for their parents and
taking a leaf out of their vast experience.
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Q.14. In India, the experience of growth was uneven, unequal and exclusionary, forcing
large claims and expectations from the interventionist Indian state. In this context
examine the stark inequality existing in India. 15
• Oxfam International released its annual inequality report, 2019 report titled “Public
good or Private Wealth?” highlighted the stark Income inequality existing in India.
• Inequality
• The United Nations describes inequality as “the state of not being equal, especially in
status, rights and opportunities”.
• Inequality can be broadly classified in to:
o Economic inequality: Economic inequality is the unequal distribution of income
and opportunity between individuals or different groups in society.
o Social inequality: It occurs when resources in a given society are distributed
unevenly based on norms of a society that creates specific patterns along lines of
socially defined categories e.g. religion, kinship, prestige, race, caste, ethnicity,
gender etc. have different access to resources of power, prestige and wealth
depending on the norms of a society.
• Both these categories are deeply intertwined and inequality of one type affects the
inequality in another e.g. Social Inequality due to gender have large impact on income of
women. In patriarchal societies large gender wage gap tends to exist.
Dimensions of Inequality in India
Gender
• The Global Gender Gap Report, 2018, ranks India at 142 among 149 countries.
• Four parameters for measuring gender inequality are economic participation and
opportunity, health and survival, educational attainment and political empowerment.
• Gender wage gap is highest in India according International Labor Organization
women are paid 34% less than men.
• Women comprise over 42 per cent of the agricultural labour force in the country, yet
they own less than 2 percent of its farm land according to the India Human
Development Survey (IHDS).
Caste
• India’s upper caste households earned nearly 47% more than the national average
annual household income, the top 10% within these castes owned 60% of the wealth
within the group in 2012, as per the World Inequality Database.
Religion
• Religious identities can cause prejudices which may lead to economic exclusion and
other forms of discrimination which can impact jobs and livelihood opportunities.
• While minorities such as Christians, Parsis and Jains have a larger share of
income/consumption than their population share, Muslim and Buddhist populations
have significantly lower access to economic resources.
Ethnicity
• Tribal communities in India have been identified as ethnic group on the basis of their
unique culture, language, dialect, geographical location, customs etc.
• The National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) showed that 45.9% of ST
population were in the lowest wealth bracket as compared to 26.6% of SC population,
18.3% of OBCs, 9.7% of other castes.
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Economic Inequality
• The 2019 report by Oxfam, titled "Public good or Private Wealth?" showed that India’s
top 10% holds 77.4% of the total national wealth, while the top 1% holds 51.53% of
the wealth.
• The bottom 60% population holds only 4.8% of the national wealth.
• 13.6 crore Indians, who make up the poorest 10% of the country, have continued to
remain in debt for the past 15 years.
• The Gini coefficient of wealth in India in 2017 is at 0.83, which puts India among the
countries with highest inequality countries.
Consequences of Inequalities
• Inequalities tend to produce social conflict among the social groups e.g. caste groups
like Jaats, Maratha, Patels are demanding reservations.
• Inequalities among ethnic groups have led to various ethnic movements demanding
separate states or autonomous regions or even outright secession from India. North
East has been rocked by numerous such ethnic movement e.g. by Nagas for greater
Nagalim etc.
• Religious inequality tends to generate feeling of exclusion among religious minority
groups. This reduces their participation in mainstream, in India religious minorities
have large population their economic exclusion compromises the GDP growth of nation
as whole.
• Poor development indicators like IMR, MMR, low per capita income, lower education
and learning outcomes at schools, high rate of population growth can be traced to
existing socio-economic inequalities.
• High economic inequality is detrimental to public healthcare and education. Upper
and Middle classes do not have vested interest in well functioning public healthcare
and education as they have means to access private healthcare and education.
Q.15. The urbanisation trend in India is an indication of continuing inequality. Do you

agree with the statement and present your view? 15
Urban India is mimicking the social and cultural structures of inequality thereby also
creating fault lines for future conflicts.
The City can be said to be a leveler which offers conditions for the breakdown of rigid
social structures that tend to discriminate against the marginalised. Even Babasaheb
Ambedkarexhorted his fellow dalits to leave the “narrow-minded” villages for city life. A
number of recent studies argue that the ‘anonymity’ that is accorded by the city has
helped dalits, for example, in overcoming the social disadvantages and prejudices they
were born to — in their walk up the social and economic ladder.
On the contrary, accelerated urbanisation (particularly in medium and large cities),
globalisation, transformations in employment structures have not aided to a significant
degree in the dismantling of deep social and ethnic divides known to Indian society.
Indeed, spatial segregation by caste and socio-economic reasons are seen to be on the rise
in many Indian cities. A more recent study by Sidhwani (2015) found stronger trends of
spatial segregation in all major Indian cities.
Far from being ‘melting pots’ or harbingers of social mobility, Indian cities increasingly
resemble their rural counterparts. There is a growing trend of residential segregation by
caste, religion, and socio-economic characteristics. Residents belonging to the most
marginalised demographic of society overpopulate the poorest neighbourhoods. This trend
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of ‘socio-economic segregation’ seems to be prevalent even in comparatively well-planned

cities.
There are also a variety of social and institutional barriers to the inclusion of migrants in
urban life. For instance, migrants face obstacles such as resentment from other residents
in their new city. Similarly, there is a growing phenomenon of ‘sons of soil’ or ‘outsider’
based abuse. Such politicisation of India’s urban spaces — often for so-called ‘vote-bank
populism’ — is not only creating exclusionary barriers for new migrants but is also
fuelling their gradual disenfranchisement. This could have dangerous consequences. The
citizenship and quality of life of thousands of urban migrants is at stake.
If Indian cities need to become smart, the secret lies in inclusive and enabling contexts
that it can offer. And governments have a significant role to realise this objective in the
city development plans and urban governance.
Q.16. Is social media polarising society? Examine. 15

As we approach the end of the second decade of this century, social media and the
Internet have drifted from their promise of closing distances and exposing us to the views
of those who existed beyond our personal networks. Instead, we find ourselves to be more
rigid versions of our former selves.
Information and communication technology has changed rapidly over the past 20 years
with a key development being the emergence of social media. Both information and
opinion need mediums and platforms.
How internet and social media platforms polarize society:-
• Legitimate vs fake information:- Challenge is how you permit what is considered
legitimate content and information, and at the same time disallow the plethora of fake
information as well as threats and abuse conveyed through these platforms. o
Rumours triggering lynchings and riots, data snooping etc.
• Economic loss :- Social media companies exploit the social environment. This is
particularly nefarious, because these companies influence how people think and
behave without them even being aware of it. This interferes with the functioning of
democracy and the integrity of elections
• Personal information collected:- level of data collection represents the concentration of
enormous power in the hands of a single corporation. The Cambridge Analytica
scandal has highlighted how this power can be used by a small group of people with
an agenda to foster polarisation, radicalisation and undermine democratic elections.
• Social media sites are more than willing to play abettors. Twitter, for example, will
routinely prompt you to follow people who hold a viewpoint that is similar to yours.
Social media creates and services needs, which could be the narcissistic impulses
encouraged by Instagram or the strengthening of deep-rooted biases on Twitter and
Facebook.
• Currently very difficult to control because:- The number of users using social media
platforms and internet are ever increasing and volume of traffic is huge.
• Individual users are increasingly viewed as legitimate targets for mining personal and
metadata. Such data can provide an intimate psychological profile including
ideological preferences that together help campaign managers target communications
and forecast voter behaviour. • Data theft and identity crisis:- Data of millions are
taken and used when only 270,000 people knowingly or unknowingly gave consent.
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• Individuals often share their data without being aware of it or understanding the
implications of privacy terms and conditions.
• Health:- Researchers have found that hyper-networking leads to negative health
behaviour leading to laziness, obesity, depression, drug abuse, isolation or in the worst
cases it may even lead to suicide. o Its heavy usage has ill effects on health issues and
there is cyber bullying, online harassment and trolling
• The trolling of women has brought to the fore the disturbing reality of online violence
and abuse women face in India.
Q.17. The socio-economic contexts are the important risk factors for domestic violence
against women in India. Argue 15
Domestic violence that is any act of physical, sexual, or psychological abuse, or the threat
of such abuse, inflicted against a woman by a person intimately connected to her through
marriage, family relation, or acquaintanceship is universal and has its root in the socio-
cultural set up of the society. The perpetrators of domestic violence have often been found
to be the males and the victims, their sexual partners.
The subordinate status of women combined with socio cultural norms that are inclined
towards patriarchy and masculinity can be considered as an important factor determining
the domestic violence.
Domestic violence is simply not a personal abnormality but rather it roots in the cultural
norms of the family and the society. Again, looking from another angle, it is found that
many of the victims of domestic violence has either refused to name the perpetrator of the
assault or attributed the injuries to other reasons
As it is found to be deep rooted in the socio cultural practices and both the perpetrator as
well as victim take it granted, there is need of major transformation in the socio cultural
milieu. In order to address the problem, social norms and values towards gender roles
should be transformed to facilitate the implementation of appropriate and meaningful
responses to domestic violence and ultimately to prevent it from happening altogether.
Gender inequality is seen as the primary cause of violence against women, driven by
social norms and practices that attach less value to a women and normalise, excuse and
tolerate domestic violence.
The possible determinants of women's rights and vulnerability in marriage: women's
education, women's participation in microcredit lending programs, women's contribution
to covering household expenses, dowry arrangements and marriage registration.
Social institutions such as the family, religious groups or caste systems; political and
legal structures; economic and educational institutions; and the mass media—all are
permeated with norms and values that discriminate against women and legitimize and
institutionalize social placements on the basis of gender.
Q.18. “Chronic” hunger is the elephant in the room in many Indian states. Examine 15
India suffers from twin-problem of under-nutrition and obesity. Malnutrition is more
common in India than in sub-Saharan African countries where per capita income is
much lower according to Global Nutrition Report 2018.
● North-South variations- District-level data highlighted in the report shows high and
very high levels of stunting mainly in central and northern India (more than 30%
and 40%, respectively), but less than 20% in almost the entire south.
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● Intra-State Variations:For instance, despite stunting levels in Odisha being 34.1%

(also known as 'high prevalence') certain districts such as Cuttack (15.3%) and Puri
(16.1%) are among the top 10 'low stunting level' districts in the country.
● Urban-Rural Variations:There is pervasive under-nutrition especially in rural areas
with PEM (protein and energy malnutrition). Overweight prevalence was higher in
urban areas than rural areas.
● Gender Variations:Women have a higher burden than men when it comes to certain
forms of malnutrition: one third of all women of reproductive age have anaemia and
women have a higher prevalence of obesity than men.
The causes for malnutrition are various and multi-dimensional. These include:
● Poverty and food insecurity: According to Multi Dimension Poverty Index (MPI) 2018
of UNDP, 364 million Indians continue to experience acute deprivations in various
social indicators. Over one in four multi-dimensionally poor in India are under ten
years of age.
● Poor access to health services: According to a The Lancet study (2016) India ranks
145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare, behind
its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
● Lack of education and information: As per Annual State of Education Report 2017,
India’s 125 million children between 14 and 18 years of age are ill-equipped to read,
write or even do basic arithmetic. It stated that the gender divide in cognition levels
worsens with rise in age, as girls are often compelled to drop school for a variety of
reasons.
● Poor sanitation and lack of availability of fresh drinking water: According to Niti
Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index 2018, 600 million people face high-to-
extreme water stress; 75 per cent of the households do not have drinking water; and
84 per cent do not have piped water access; and 70 per cent of our water is
contaminated. When water is available, it is likely to be contaminated, resulting in
nearly 2, 00, 000 deaths each year.
● Climate change and environmental degradation: According to Inter-governmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report-5 2014, in India, the estimated
countrywide agricultural loss in 2030 is over $7 billion due to climate change. It will
severely affect the income of 10 per cent of the population. Agriculture, the mainstay of
the Indian economy, will see dramatic changes in yields, affecting people’s right to food
security.
● Social ills like early child marriage and forced labour: According to the latest
figures of UNICEF India, 27% per cent marriages in India in 2016 were child
marriages. Child marriage affects society as a whole since child marriage reinforces a
cycle of poverty and perpetuates gender discrimination, illiteracy and malnutrition as
well as high infant and maternal mortality rates.
● Poor breastfeeding: According to a report (2017) by UNICEF and WHO in
collaboration with the Global Breastfeeding Collective, India is among the world’s five
largest emerging economies where investment in breastfeeding is significantly low
resulting in an annual loss of $14 billion due to child deaths and cognitive losses from
poor breastfeeding practices.
● Economic and financial disability of women: Despite economic and educational
growth, female participation in the labour force of India has fallen to 24% in 2011,
from 31% in 2004. India is 11th from the bottom in the world in women’s labour-force
participation rates
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● Increase in inequality: India ranked 147 out of 157 countries in terms of its
commitment to reducing inequality according to Commitment to Reducing Inequality
Index developed by Oxfam and Development Finance International.
Q.19. There is a growing popularity and acceptance of right-wing politics across the world.
What are the notable features of right-wing politics and trace the possible reasons
for the contemporary trend? 15
Over the past few years, right wing political parties seem to have gained prominence and
have made major gains in divisive elections throughout the West. BREXIT in the UK and
the Presidential election results in the USA demonstrate the rising popularity of right-wing
politics in various parts of the world. It is also gaining strength in countries like France,
Greece and Germany.
Right Wing Politics
Right wing politics is based on a brand of nationalism that is conservatism of true identity
and culture of a state. They are progressive in economic ideas. They also believe in
assertive foreign policy considering their own territorial, diplomatic and economic
interests as supreme. They often advocate majoritarianism in extreme cases.
Right, portion of the political spectrum associated with conservative political thought.
Reasons for its rise:
The rise and popularity of right-wing politics can be categorized into economic and
noneconomic factors. This is not the first time in history right-wing political groups were
rising in popularity all over the world. Germany’s Weimar Republic circa 1910–1930 in
hindsight was almost a mirror image to present day’s conflict between the right and the
left.
Non Economic factors
The sudden influx of refugees in the western world has caused tremendous disequilibrium
in western countries. This has led to the increased feeling of nationalism in their citizens.
Global terror attacks have also increased the feeling of xenophobia among the developed
world.
Immigration from developing countries is perceived as a threat to the culture and
economic opportunities by the developed world.
Anxiety about order traditionally pushes the public to embrace parties of the right, who
most credibly promise to restore order, such as fighting crime or preserving a familiar
culture. And anger at corruption and elite self-dealing quite naturally drive the public to
punish established leadership and give newcomers a try, and to seek out newcomers who
viscerally share their frustration.
Economic factors
Many Western countries have followed a policy of neo-liberalism for the last few decades.
A combination of privatization, deregulation including financial deregulation, free trade
and globalization characterize neo-liberalism. Benefits of these policies have not reached
to all the sections of the society. Thus, the gap between have and have-nots has
increased, especially after the financial crisis of 2008-09.
Automation and globalization have mostly benefited multinational companies. Higher
automation and hiring of people from other countries reduces the number of jobs for the
local citizens of the developed countries.
Page 16
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Companies in developed countries moved their production processes to low-wage

countries leading to more unemployment in their own countries.
All these have increased inequity and inequality in the world. The beneficiaries of
globalization, outsourcing and automation have included the multi-national companies
and large corporations. This has led to the development of feeling of conservatism in the
world. Recently it was seen in the USA when the government put curbs on H1B visa.
Thus, disillusionment and resentment with neoliberalism, globalization and insufficient
social programs have contributed to rise of right wing politics.
Politics is a battle of ideas and it thrives on healthy debate. Every political party, be it
right, left or centre has something to offer. At present, right wing parties seem to have
gained the trust of their citizens in some parts of the world. However, it must be ensured
that this does not give rise to a feeling of extreme nationalism for which institutions like
United Nations must encourage discussions at global level.
Q.20. Sex determination in black and white leads to discrimination of people. “Evaluate
the forms of discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ community in India and suggest
solutions. 15
WHY IN NEWS-
LGBTQ+ movement
June 1, 2019, marks the first day of Pride Month, which celebrates the everyone in the
LGBTQ community. The month also honors the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots,
otherwise known as the Stonewall Uprising, which saw members of the LGBTQ
community fight back against harassment from the police in Greenwich Village in June
1969.
Constitution guarantees right to equality (article 14), prohibition of discrimination based
on sex ( article 15) and right to privacy (article 21).
PROBLEMS FACED-
• Poverty due to absence of legal protection
• Harassment in offices and lack of job opportunities
• Health issues like HIV as they do not have access to health facilities of the state
• Lack of documentation leading to exclusion from state run schemes like MNREGA
• LGBT marriage is not legally recognized due to section 377 which in turn
• No representation in political circle to enumerate their issues.
SOLUTIONS
• Increasing awareness – to ensure dignity as per A 21
• Transgender persons rights bill 2016 which ensures their identification and
recognition needs to be passed
• Exclusive Counseling and psychiatric centers for trans genders especially for those
who face sexual abuse
• Transgender welfare boards need to be set up in all states for grievance redressal.
• Granting reservations
• Skill training to increase their employment
Way Forward
• The SC chose to restrict its decision to the question of decriminalization without
commenting on other rights that would extend equal citizenship to the community may
have been the product of an intelligent litigation strategy.
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• It was widely accepted that the Court’s observations in the right to privacy judgment
would inevitably result in Section 377 being struck down.
• TN government initiative of smart cards to transgenders can be taken as example by
other states to empower the transgenders and bring in inclusive development in the
country.
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General Studies Mains - 2019: Test-1 (Explanation)

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GENERAL STUDIES MAINS - 2019

Q.2. The caste system in India is a source of social capital. Comment 10

• Main takeaways for higher education:

The Hindu ZoneOfficial

eSandesh (An Indian App)

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EWS is universalistic and inclusionary whereas earlier reservation is exclusionary in its

Q.15. The urbanisation trend in India is an indication of continuing inequality. Do you

of ‘socio-economic segregation’ seems to be prevalent even in comparatively well-planned

Q.16. Is social media polarising society? Examine. 15

● Intra-State Variations:For instance, despite stunting levels in Odisha being 34.1%

Companies in developed countries moved their production processes to low-wage

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