NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
General Studies – 1
Topic: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Difficulty level: Easy
Reference: Insights on India
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of General studies paper – 1 and mentioned as part of Mission-2023 Secure timetable.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about differences and similarities between Sufi and Bhakti and factors behind rise of bhakti.
Directive word:
Compare and contrast – provide for a detailed comparison of the two types, their features that are similar as well as different. One must provide for detailed assessment of the two.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving defining Bhakti and the Sufi movements.
Body:
First, write about the various differences between Sufi and Bhakti movement.
Next, write about certain similarities between the Sufi and Bhakti movement.
Next, write about the factors that played a part in the emergence of Bhakti – role of alvars and Nayanars, the acharyas, priestly hegemony, use of vernacular literature etc.
Conclusion:
Conclude by mentioning significance of Sufi and Bhakti to Indian society.
Introduction
The Bhakti and Sufi movements had brought the whole of the Indian Subcontinent under their sway. The Bhakti and Sufi saints lived and worked in the midst of the common people. They needed to reach out to common people in order to spread their socio-religious and philosophical messages. They did everything to establish brotherhood, love and friendship between the Hindus and Muslims.
Body
Bhakti and Sufi movements – similarities:
- Bhakti movement was a socio-religious movement that opposed religious bigotry and social rigidities.
- Both emphasised good character and pure thinking.
- The importance of the Bhakti and Sufi saints lies in the new atmosphere created by them, which continued to affect the social, religious and political life of India even in later centuries.
- The Bhakti and Sufi saints made valuable contributions to medieval Indian society in terms of laying a liberal foundation and promoting a tremendous growth of regional literature and local languages.
- Bhakti and Sufi traditions gave respectability to many low castes, posing a challenge to the upper caste hegemony; this tradition had an inclusive approach towards Muslims as well.
- The Bhakti and Sufi traditions opposed the rituals, hegemony of the elite of society. They adopted the languages more popular with the masses. Also, they talked of one God.
- They treated Hindus and Muslims alike. Amir Khusrau said “Though the Hindu is not like me in religion, he believes in the same things that I do”.
- Sufis bridged the communal divide as is evidenced by the reverence the Subcontinent’s non-Muslim population exhibited for Sufi saints. Bhakti tradition preached the principle of coexistence.
- The importance of the Bhakti and Sufi saints lies in the new atmosphere created by them, which continued to affect the social, religious and political life of India even in later centuries. Akbar’s liberal ideas were a product of this atmosphere in which he was born and brought up.
- Both rebelled against all forms of religious formalism, orthodoxy, falsehood and hypocrisy and endeavoured to create a new world order in which spiritual bliss was the only and the ultimate goal.
Differences between Bhakti and Sufi Movements
- While the origin of Bhakti Movement was in India in 9th Century AD, the Sufi movement traces its origin to Arabian Peninsula in 7th
- Bhakti movement used songs, bhajans to encourage religious devotion while Sufis used Qawwalis.
- The Bhakti Movement had a direct emotional and intellectual relationship with the divine. Wheras, Sufism emphasized simplicity and austerity, and it gained many followers as a result of the worldliness of medieval empires and kingdoms.
- From its origins in South India, the Bhakti movement spread throughout East and North India beginning in the 15th century. Sufism reached across many continents and cultures.
Factors that led to the Bhakti movement:
Political:
- It has been pointed out that as the popular bhakti movement could not take root in Northern India before the Turkish conquest because the socio-religious milieu was dominated by the Rajput-Brahman alliance which was hostile to any heterodox movement.
- The Turkish conquests brought the supremacy of this alliance to an end.
- The advent of Islam with the Turkish conquest also caused a setback to the power and prestige commanded by the Brahmans.
- Thus, the way was paved for the growth of non-conformist movements, with anti-caste and anti-Brahminical ideology.
- The loss of power and influence by the Brahmans and the new political situation ultimately created conditions for the rise of the popular monotheistic movements and other bhakti movements in Northern India.
Socio-economic:
- It has been argued that the bhakti movements of medieval India represented sentiments of the common people against feudal oppression.
- The Vaishnava bhakti saints broke away from orthodox Brahminical order only to the extent that they believed in bhakti and religious equality.
- Normally, they continued to subscribe to many basic principles of orthodox Brahmanism.
Religious:
- Evils in the Hindu Society: Hindu society was full of many social anomalies like rigidity of caste system, irrelevant rituals and religious practices, blind faiths and social dogmas. Common men in general had developed an adverse attitude towards these social evils and were in need of a liberal form of religion where they could identify themselves with simple religious practices.
- Complexity of religion: The high philosophy of the Vedas and Upanishads were very complicated for the common people. They wanted a simple way of worship, simple religious practices and simple social customs. Alternative was Bhakti marga—a simple way of devotion to get salvation from worldly life.
- Role of Religious Reformers: The chief exponents of the movement were Shankara, Ramanuja, Kabir, Nanak, Shri Chaitanya, Mirabai, Ramananda, Namdev, Nimbarka, Madhava, Eknath, Surdas, Tulsidas, Tukaram, Vallabhacharya and Chandidas. They were the propounders of Bhakti movement and gave a call to the people to worship in the simplest possible way of devotion and love.
- Challenge from Rival Religion: the impact of the Muslim rule and Islam put dread in the heart of Hindu masses. The Hindus had suffered a lot under some of the fanatic rulers. They wanted some solace to heal their despairing hearts.
- Influence of Sufism: The Sufi saints of the Muslim community also inspired the movement. Some similar chords in the two evoked resonance.
Conclusion
The essence of the Sufi and Bhakti tradition are reminders that the spiritual-moral part of religion has been undermined in current times. The inclusive, humane-nature of these traditions needs to be upheld and the divisive-exclusionary versions of religions have to be ignored for humanity to progress.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Issues relating to poverty and hunger.
Difficulty level: Tough
Reference: Live Mint , Insights on India
Why the question:
The all-India poverty ratio in 2020-21 is 17.9%, compared to 21.9% in 2011-12, with lower poverty in urban India compared to rural India.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the measurement of poverty, reasons for poverty despite poverty alleviation measures and ways to SDG-1.
Directive word:
Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin the answer by giving context regarding the reduction in poverty by citing a statistic.
Body:
First, write about the various ways to measure poverty – National Sample Survey (NSS) based per capita consumption, Income based poverty line, consumption-based poverty line, Poverty line basket, Various committees and international standards etc.
Next, write about the reasons as to why despite poverty alleviation measures poverty is at a higher rate in India.
Next, write about ways to achieve SDG-1.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to achieve SDG-1.
Introduction
Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of living. Poverty means that the income level from employment is so low that basic human needs can’t be met. In India, 21.9% of the population lives below the national poverty line in 2011.
The all-India poverty ratio in 2020-21 is 17.9%, compared to 21.9% in 2011-12, with lower poverty in urban India compared to rural India. Poverty ratios have declined over this period, though by not as much as they might have.
Body
Various ways to measure poverty
- Planning Commission Expert Group (1962), working group constituted by the Planning Commission formulated the separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas (₹20 and ₹25 per capita per year respectively).
- VM Dandekar and N Rath (1971), made the first systematic assessment of poverty in India, based on National Sample Survey (NSS) data.
- Unlike previous scholars who had considered subsistence living or basic minimum needs criteria as the measure of poverty line, VM Dandekar and N Rath were of the view that poverty line must be derived from the expenditure that was adequate to provide 2250 calories per day in both rural and urban areas.
- Expenditure based Poverty line estimation, generated a debate on minimum calorie consumption norms.
- Alagh Committee (1979): Task force constituted by the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of YK Alagh, constructed a poverty line for rural and urban areas on the basis of nutritional requirements and related consumption expenditure.
- Poverty estimates for subsequent years were to be calculated by adjusting the price level for inflation.
- Lakdawala Committee (1993): Task Force chaired by DT Lakdawala, based on the assumption that the basket of goods and services used to calculate Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) and Consumer Price Index- Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL) reflect the consumption patterns of the poor, made the following suggestions:
- Consumption expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as earlier.
- State specific poverty lines should be constructed and these should be updated using the CPI-IW in urban areas and CPI-AL in rural areas.
- Discontinuation of scaling of poverty estimates based on National Accounts Statistics.
- Tendulkar Committee (2009): Expert group constituted by the Planning Commission and, chaired by Suresh Tendulkar, was constituted to review methodology for poverty estimation and to address the following shortcomings of the previous methods:
- Obsolete Consumption Pattern: Consumption patterns were linked to the 1973-74 poverty line baskets (PLBs) of goods and services, whereas there were significant changes in the consumption patterns of the poor since that time, which were not reflected in the poverty estimates.
- Inflation Adjustment: There were issues with the adjustment of prices for inflation, both spatially (across regions) and temporally (across time).
- Health and Education Expenditure: Earlier poverty lines assumed that health and education would be provided by the state and formulated poverty lines accordingly.
- The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for price changes since 2011-12, to arrive at corresponding poverty lines for 2020-21.
- PLFS 2020-21 household monthly consumption data: using this the percentage of population living below that poverty line has been estimated.
Means to achieve SDG1:
- Immediate support package will need to quickly reach both the existing and new poor.
- While existing safety net programs can be mobilized to get cash into the pockets of some of the existing poor relatively quickly, this is not the case for the new poor.
- In fact, the new poor are likely to look different from the existing poor, particularly in their location (mostly urban) and employment (mostly informal services, construction, and manufacturing).
- the identification of poor and vulnerable groups is need of the hour.
- India should consider fixing a universal basic income in the post-Covid period through a combination of cash transfers, expansion of MGNREGA, and introduction of an urban employment guarantee scheme
- Employment generation for the masses:
- A large fiscal stimulus along with intermediate informal employment insurgency through MGNREGA and other employment generation programmes are urgent to rein the adverse impact of covid-19 on the welfare of the masses.
- Multilateral global institutions must support the developing nations:
- Oxfam is calling on world leaders to agree on an Emergency Rescue Package of 2.5 trillion USD paid for through the immediate cancellation or postponement of 1 trillion in debt repayments, a 1 trillion increase in IMF Special Drawing Rights (international financial reserves), and an additional 500 billion in aid.
- An effective response in support of poor and vulnerable households will require significant additional fiscal resources.
- Providing all the existing and new extreme poor with a cash transfer of $1/day (about half the value of the international extreme poverty line) for a month would amount to $20 billion —or $665 million per day over 30 days.
- Given that impacts are likely to be felt by many non-poor households as well and that many households are likely to need support for much longer than a month, the sum needed for effective protection could be far higher.
- Decision-makers need timely and policy-relevant information on impacts and the effectiveness of policy responses.
- This can be done using existing, publicly available data to monitor the unfolding economic and social impacts of the crisis, including prices, service delivery, and economic activity, as well as social sentiment and behaviours.
- In addition, governments can use mobile technology to safely gather information from a representative sample of households or individuals.
- Phone surveys can collect information on health and employment status, food security, coping strategies, access to basic services and safety nets and other outcomes closely related to the risk of falling (further) into poverty.
Conclusion
The World Health Organization has described poverty as the greatest cause of suffering on earth. Poverty eradication should not be the goal of the government but the goal of the government policies should be to create prosperity. Both monetary and non-monetary measures of poverty are needed to better inform the policies intended to address the needs and deprivations faced by poor populations
Value addition
Various poverty alleviation programs in India since Independence:
- Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)
- Jawahar Rozgar Yojana/Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojana
- Rural Housing – Indira Awaas Yojana
- National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS)
- Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
- Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005
- The Public Distribution System (PDS)
- The National Food Security Act (NFSA)
- National Rural Livelihood Mission: Ajeevika (2011)
- National Urban Livelihood Mission
- Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express , Insights on India
Why the question:
Recently, the Government of India’s Mission Karmayogi programme to build civil service capacity received a $47 million boost from the World Bank.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the role of Mission Karmayogi in achieving India’s developmental targets.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you must debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You must give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by giving aims and objectives of Mission Karmayogi.
Body:
First, write about the scale up needed up bureaucratic levels to achieve developmental targets. Mention the changes that are needed.
Next, write about Missions Karmayogi , its features and how it will play a part in the above by competency driven capacity building approach that focuses on imparting competencies critical to discharge its roles.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
Introduction
The ‘National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building – Mission Karmayogi’ was launched to affect a transformational shift from rule-based training to role-based capacity development of all civil services in the country so as to enhance citizen experience for government services and improve availability of competent workforce.
Body
Issues in the present bureaucratic system
- There is a tendency in the Bureaucracy to resist the change which challenges their status quo.
- The bureaucracy too must understand the need of domain knowledge and the importance of moving away from generalist to specialist approach.
- In today’s world the governance is getting technical with each passing day and hence it’s important that the person in authority too should have the requisite skill and experience in that particular area.
- Thus, there should be a behavioural change in the bureaucracy too and they must embrace the change as a need of the hour and not an attack on their status quo.
- Moreover, these online courses must not become another opportunity for the officers to go for the sabbatical leaves.
- It must be ensured that they are actually attending the courses and participating in it so that the purpose doesn’t get defeated.
Objectives of Karmayogi mission
- It is aimed at building a future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skills and knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
- It aims to prepare Indian civil servants for the future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative, proactive, innovative, progressive, professional, energetic, transparent, and technology-enabled.
- Comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at the individual, institutional and process levels for efficient public service delivery.
- To cover around 46 lakh central employees, a sum of Rs 510.86 crore will be spent over a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
- The expenditure is partly funded by multilateral assistance to the tune of $50 million.
Need for introducing Mission
- As the Indian economy grows, it will get more complex to govern; the governance capacities will have to be enhanced proportionately which this reform undertakes.
- There is a need to develop domain knowledge besides administrative capacity in the bureaucracy.
- There is a need to formalize the recruitment process and match the public service to a bureaucrat’s competence, so as to find the right person for the right job.
- The plan is to begin right at the recruitment level and then invest in building more capacity through the rest of their career.
- The reforms in the Indian bureaucracy are the need of the hour and it is a major reform undertaken in recent years to transform it.
Conclusion
The ultimate aim of Mission Karmayogi is to ensure “Ease of Living” for the common man, “Ease of Doing Business” and Citizen-Centricity that is reducing the gap between the government and the citizens. Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare the Indian Civil Servant for the future by making him more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled. This can only be achieved by regular and constructive involvement by the government and civil servants.
Value addition
About igot platform
- The Karmyogi Programme will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training (iGOT) Karmayogi Platform.
- iGOT-Karmayogi is a continuous online training platform, which would allow all government servants from assistant secretary to secretary level to undergo continuous training, depending on their domain areas.
- Courses from international universities will be made available on the platform for officers to take any time
- The platform is expected to evolve into a vibrant and world-class market place for content where carefully curated and vetted digital e-learning material will be made available.
- Besides capacity building, service matters like confirmation after probation period, deployment, work assignment and notification of vacancies etc. would eventually be integrated with the proposed competency framework.
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
Foreign portfolio investors have pulled out Rs 42,000 crore this month amid rising inflation and monetary policy tightening in the US.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about FPI, its importance and impact of its withdrawal.
Directive word:
Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining FPI. Cite statistic related to the extent of FPI in India.
Body:
In the first part, write about importance of FPI as mode of investment and its importance to the Indian economy.
Next, give context regarding the withdrawal of FPI due to rising inflation and monetary policy tightening in the US. Write about the impact of the withdrawal on macroeconomic parameters.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to ensure that withdrawal of FPI does not affect the economy.
Introduction
Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) consists of securities and other financial assets held by investors in another country. It does not provide the investor with direct ownership of a company’s assets and is relatively liquid depending on the volatility of the market. Along with foreign direct investment (FDI), FPI is one of the common ways to invest in an overseas economy. FDI and FPI are both important sources of funding for most economies.
Foreign portfolio investors have pulled out Rs 42,000 crore this month amid rising inflation and monetary policy tightening in the US.
Body
FPI regime as a route for foreign investment in India
- FPIs are the largest non-promoter shareholders in the Indian market and their investment decisions have a huge bearing on the stock prices and overall direction of the market.
- Holding of FPIs, in value terms, in companies listed on NSE stood at Rs 51.99 lakh crore as on March 31, 2022
- FPIs hold sizeable stakes in private banks, tech companies and big caps like Reliance Industries.
- The US accounts for a major chunk of FPI investments at Rs 17.57 lakh crore as of May 2022, followed by Mauritius Rs 5.24 lakh crore, Singapore Rs 4.25 lakh crore and Luxembourg Rs 3.58 lakh crore, according to data available from the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL).
Impact of FPI withdrawal on Indian Economy
- The pullout is dampening sentiment in equity and forex markets.
- The benchmark Sensex has plunged by 16% from the October 2021 high of 62,245.43 to 52,266.72 on June 23.
- The impact of FPI selling on markets is visible, with increase in volatility and declining equity prices.
- The retail flow and DII inflow is weakening now, and the markets could weaken further if the FPI outflows continue.
- India’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen $46 billion in the last nine months to $596.45 billion as on June 10, 2022, mainly due to the dollar appreciation and FPI withdrawals.
- The rupee has plunged 7.3% to an all-time low of 78.30/32 against the dollar.
- Aa lower rupee against the dollar keeps import bills higher, pushing inflation even higher than it is now. Higher inflation is detrimental to the overall market.
- If the rupee does not strengthen, FPI outflows will continue, which is another negative.
- With the dip in the rupee, oil imports and other imported components will get costlier, which will further lead to higher inflation.
- Travellers and students studying abroad will have to shell out more rupees to buy dollars from banks.
- People are directly impacted by the rupee fall as fuel prices shoot up.
Conclusion
The heavy inflow of FPI can provide Indian economy a non-debt creating source of foreign investment. It also reduces the pressure of foreign exchange gap. The FPI has an added advantage of the flow of resources into the capital-scant countries like India. Significant reforms like wider taxation bracket, KYC norms, land arbitration, ease of doing business ,ease of governance will definitely attract FPI in coming years.
Topic: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System- objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
A key element of sustainable food production is healthy soil because nearly 95 per cent of global food production depends on soil. The current status of soil health is worrisome.
Key Demand of the question:
To write role of soil conservation in food security and interventions need to preserve soil health.
Directive word:
Analyse – When asked to analyse, you must examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving context and developing link between Soil Security and Food and Nutrition Security.
Body:
First, elaborate on the link between Soil Security and Food and Nutrition Security in detail. Cite statistics and examples to substantiate.
Next, write about the various causes of soil degradation and its impact.
Next, write about the various steps that are required to counter it.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward.
Introduction
Soil plays a central role for economic and social development. It ensures food, fodder and renewable energy supplies to sustain human, animal and plant life. About one-third of the earth’s soils is already degraded and alarmingly, about 90 per cent could be degraded by 2050 if no corrective action is taken. While soil degradation is believed to be occurring in 145 million hectares in India, it is estimated that 96.40 million hectares — about 30 per cent of the total geographical area — is affected by land degradation.
Body
Relation b/w Soil health and Food & Nutrition Security
- Nearly 95 per cent of global food production depends on soil.
- Soil degradation on an unprecedented scale is a significant challenge to sustainable food production.
- Extensive use of fertilisers and pesticides led to the deterioration of soil health and contamination of water bodies and the food chain, which pose serious health risks to people and livestock.
Reasons for soil degradation
- Soil erosion
- It is the removal of soil by forces of nature, particularly wind & water, more rapidly than the soil forming process can replace it
- It affects agricultural productivity and economy of country as whole
- Water Erosion
- It is the detachment and removal of soil material by water
- It manifests in the form of rilling, gullying, sheetwash and rain peeling process
- The rate of erosion depends on soil properties, slope and vegetation cover
- Wind Erosion
- The blowing wind removes the top soil layer, and wind erosion is accentuated when soil is dry, weakly aggregated and devoid of vegetation cover
- The Human factors of soil erosion include:
- Deforestation, that leaves the soil devoid of binding material
- Overgrazingloosens the soil structure
- Faulty agricultural methods such as ploughing, lack of crop rotation and practice of shifting cultivation
- Excessive use of fertilizers over a period of time renders the soil infertile.
- The global annual production of industrial chemicals has doubled since the beginning of the 21st century, to approximately 2.3 billion tonnes, and is projected to increase by 85 per cent by the end of the decade.
- Desertification
- This is the spread of desert like conditions in arid/semi-arid regions due to man’s influence or climate change
- This process can be attributed to factors such as:
- Uncontrolled grazing
- Reckless felling of trees
- Population pressures
- It has the potential to result in excessive wind erosion, decreasing productivity and increasing frequency of droughts
- Waterlogging
- The flat and saucer like depressions make movement of surface water sluggish leading to accumulation of rain water, thereby resulting in waterlogging
- Also, seepage from unlined channels or canal systems leads to waterlogging in contiguous arable lands
- Around 12 million hectares of land suffers from waterlogging in India
- Salinity and Alkalinity
- These are the result of over irrigation in irrigated areas
- When farmers indulge in over irrigation, the ground water level rises resulting in salt deposition, due to capillary action
- Alkalinity implies dominance of sodium salts
- Wasteland and urban development
- Soil toxicity through chemicals is increasing with urbanisation.
- More municipal and industrial wastes are being dumped in the soil with heavy metals having carcinogenic effects
- Studies indicate the high concentration and accumulation of heavy metals in urban soils
- Industrialisation affecting Soil
- Industrialisation is progressively taking away considerable areas of land from agriculture, forestry, grassland and pasture, and unused lands with wild vegetation
- Example: Opencast miningis of particular focus because it disturbs the physical, chemical, and biological features of the soil and alters the socioeconomic features of a region.
- Also, Mineral production generates enormous quantities of waste/overburden and tailings/slimes and hence soil from a huge land area gets degraded
Measures needed
- Adopting innovative policies and agro-ecological practices that create healthy and sustainable food production systems
- There is an urgent need for action to reduce dependence on pesticides worldwide and to promote policies advocating healthy and sustainable food systems and agricultural production.
- Alternatives such as bio fertilisers and organic chemicals to be promoted.
- Human settlement must be encouraged in barren lands to save fertile land for agriculture
- Contour bunding, terrace farming, afforestation etc, must be practised which help in soil runoff
- More research labs and boost to the initiative of soil health card with awareness campaigns to educate people about soil health.
- Industrialization should be promoted on barren, unproductive land and away from agri land.
- Making compulsory waste treatment plant for industries
Conclusion
As soil is a fragile and finite resource, sustainable land management practices are essential to ensure healthy soil. They are critical not only to preventing degradation but also to ensuring food security. Every effort must also be made to prevent soil erosion as it not only affects fertility but also increases the risk of floods and landslides.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Down to Earth , Insights on India
Why the question:
A strange paradox emerged in the primary economic sector in India recently: A section of farmers, especially in Punjab, burnt the residue after harvesting their wheat even as fodder prices shot up.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about the issues related to stubble burning and discuss the role bio-decomposers can play in tackling it.
Directive word:
Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Explain what is stubble burning and the reasons why it is undertaken.
Body:
First, wite about the effects of the stubble burning on air quality in north India and it impact on health and ecosystem.
Next, write as to how the inability to use stubble as fodder is an economic loss.
Next, policy measures that have been takin this regard so far and examine the effectiveness in addressing the problem. explain bio-decomposers, their functioning and efficacy in addressing the issue of stubble burning.
Conclusion:
Conclude with a way forward to tackling stubble burning holistically.
Introduction
Stubble Burning is a common practice followed by farmers to prepare fields for sowing of wheat in November as there is little time left between the harvesting of paddy and sowing of wheat. With wheat harvesting over in Punjab, the State has witnessed a spike in incidents of stubble burning against the last two years as several farmers continue to defy the ban on burning the crop residue. The ban and action against the people burning the crop residue is regulated under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Body
Background
- A section of farmers, especially in Punjab, burnt the residue after harvesting their wheat even as fodder prices shot up.
- Several farmers told Down To Earththat they took to burning stubble as they were in a hurry — the state had set June 10 as the date to sow paddy.
Effects of Stubble Burning:
- Pollution: Open stubble burning emits large amounts of toxic pollutants in the atmosphere which contain harmful gases like methane (CH4), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Volatile organic compound (VOC) and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. They may eventually cause smog.
- Soil Fertility:Burning husk on ground destroys the nutrients in the soil, making it less fertile.
- Heat Penetration:Heat generated by stubble burning penetrates into the soil, leading to the loss of moisture and useful microbes.
Alternative solutions that can avoid Stubble Burning:
- Promote paddy straw-based power plants.It will also create employment opportunities.
- Incorporation of crop residues in the soil can improve soil moisture and help activate the growth of soil microorganisms for better plant growth.
- Convert the removed residues into enriched organic manure through composting.
- New opportunities for industrial use such as extraction of yeast protein can be explored through scientific research.
Supreme Court’s observations
- Incentivescould be provided to those who are not burning the stubble and disincentives for those who continue the practice.
- The existing Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme must be so interpreted as to enable the States concerned to wholly or partly deny the benefit of MSP to those who continue to burn the crop residue.
- Chhattisgarh Model:
- An innovative experiment has been undertaken by the Chhattisgarh government by setting up gauthans.
- A gauthanis a dedicated five-acre plot, held in common by each village, where all the unused stubble is collected through parali daan (people’s donations) and is converted into organic fertiliser by mixing with cow dung and few natural enzymes.
- The scheme also generates employment among rural youth.
- The government supports the transportation of parali from the farm to the nearest gauthan.
- The state has successfully developed 2,000 gauthans.
Government’s initiatives:
- Union Government: Under a 100% centrally-funded scheme, machines that help farmers in in-situ management—by tilling the stubble back into the soil—were to be provided to individual farmers at 50% subsidy and to custom hiring centres (CHCs) at 80% subsidy.
- While Haryana has set up 2,879 CHCs so far and has provided nearly 16,000 straw-management machines, it has to set up 1,500 more and has to cover nearly as many panchayats it has reached so far.
- Similarly, Punjab, which has provided 50,815 machines so far, will need to set up 5,000 more CHCs—against 7,378 set up already—and reach 41% of its panchayats by October 2020.
Way forward:
- Short term Solution:Giving farmers easy and affordable access to the machines which allow them to do smart straw management is the short term solution to the problem
- Dual Strategy: Both in-situ (in the field) and ex-situ (elsewhere) solutions need to be considered, apart from tackling the fundamental factors prompting the practice.
- Affordability of Government Measures:A key factor will be ensuring affordability of service for those hiring the machines; Haryana has reserved 70% of the machines at panchayats-run CHCs for small and marginal farmers, while Punjab has prioritised service to them.
- Utilizing Crop Stubble: Insteadof burning of the stubble, it can be used in different ways like cattle feed, compost manure, roofing in rural areas, biomass energy, mushroom cultivation, packing materials, fuel, paper, bio-ethanol and industrial production, etc.
- The long-term solutionhas to be crop diversification, away from paddy
General Studies – 4
Topic: Case Study
a) Discuss the ethical issue involved in the case.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
In brief, mention the facts of the case
Body:
Give the major ethical issues involved along with the stakeholders.
Write the various alternatives which you can take as the course of action. Evaluate their pros and cons.
Select the best alternative which solves the issue and is ethically justified. Give solutions for any cons that arise from the possible solution.
Conclusion:
Stress on the importance of fortitude in such cases.
Introduction
The glaring issues in the college where blatant misuse of power is being done sets a bad examples to the students and to the society. This case highlights issue of injustice, immorality and abuse of power by the wealthy. An education institution that is expected to set a good example is violating the principles of ethics.
Body
Stakeholders
- Myself as an aspiring Principal
- Students who were caught and their future
- Other students protesting outside
- Management and senior lecture of degree-college
Ethical issues involved
- Integrity: The foremost ethical issue in this case is that of professional integrity. While the senior lecturer has compromised his professional integrity, the situation is also a test of my own integrity, as it creates a conflict between my values/duty and personal interest.
- Test of moral strength (morality): The present situation is also a test of my moral strength, as one hand it is the lucrative opportunity to become the principal of the college and on the other hand it is the duty to do the right thing.
- Impartiality: The present situation involves the issue of impartiality, as the examination procedure has to be fair for all, any leniency for a few students will make the process partial for other students.
- Professional ethics: The situation involves a test of my professional ethics. As it remains to be seen, if I can carry out my duty without any considerations of fear or favour.
Options available
- Option 1: To listen to the advice of the school management and try to resolve the issue, at any cost, without taking any actions against the students.
- Merits: This option will save the reputation of the college, in short term. The college will continue to gain, political and financial patronage from the politician and the It might make the possibility of my elevation as principal more certain.
- Demerits: It will compromise the sanctity of procedures. It will be impartial for the other students. It will tarnish the credibility of the college. It will set a bad precedent for the future. It will compromise my own professional ethics/morality and integrity. It will aggravate the student protests.
- Option 2: To let the flying squad/concerned authorities take strict action against the senior lecturer, and the two students, according to the procedure, in a fair way.
- Merits: It will enforce the sanctity of procedures. It will enhance the credibility of the college. It will set a right precedent for the future. It will ensure check against corruption/malpractices by teachers. It will calm the protests by other students.
- Demerits: It might jeopardise future of the two children It might have financial implications for the college. It might lead to a bad publicity for the college. It will/might tarnish the reputation of the families of the concerned students. My chances of elevation will be diminished.
- Option 3: To convince the flying squad not to take any action, and thereafter, punishing the boys and the lecturer after conducting an internal enquiry.
- Merits: It will save the reputation of the college in the short term and its patrons. It will save the career of the two students and the lecturer. It will show my capability for crisis management.
- Demerits: It will aggravate the protests. It might encourage more such incidents in the future. It will compromise the sanctity of fair procedures.
I will adopt the second option. Even though, it might bring a bad name to the college and may sabotage my promotion, it is the right course of action because:
- College is a place for students to learn righteous values. This option will teach the students importance of ethics and morality.
- Also, involvement of a senior lecturer in the incident, highlights that the situation requires strict action.
- As gaining promotion by unfair ways, will defy the sanctity of means, violating the principle of purity of means and ends.
- This option will be fair towards all the students who were honestly writing their exams.
- This option will aid in pacifying the protests by the students.
- This option will uphold the credibility of the college as a fair and impartial institution.
Conclusion
Even if one is ambitious, only right means leads to right destinations and not through obliging to unjust measures. Gandhiji said that if we sow the seeds of babool, one cannot expect or reap rose flowers.
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