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: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues;
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Reference: A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum Publishers.
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of the General studies paper – 1.
Key Demand of the question:
To analyze the nature of Rise of nationalism in India. Was it a reaction against the policies of British? Or was it born on its own?
Directive:
Critically analyze – When asked to analyze, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment?
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start the answer by describing the genesis of Indian nationalism in the late nineteenth century.
Body:
In the first part of the body, analyze how Indian nationalism was a reaction against policies of the British. Mention about the Despotic nature of the rule, the racial discrimination, the lack of proper administration, lack of Indians in administration, alien rule, the loot and the plunder, indiscriminate taxation, ruining of Industries etc.
In the next part, analyze how Indian nationalism was a product of its own maturity. Introduction of modern education, the influx of ideas of liberalism and constitutionalism, the rise of an educated middle class, the impact of the press, the impact of socio-religious reform movements etc.
Conclusion:
Pass a balanced judgement as to how Indian Nationalism took birth.
Introduction
Indian Nationalist Movement was a grand and prolonged struggle launched against British imperialism. Nationalism was the main ideology and the instrument with whose help this struggle was launched.
In the context of the Indian Nationalist Movement, Indian nationalism represented two major ideas: anti-imperialism and national unity. In other words, any person, movement or organisation that practised and upheld these two ideas, could be considered a nationalist.
Body
The rise and growth of Indian nationalism was the response generated by the British government through the creation of a new institution, new opportunities and new style allocation of resources as well as a worldwide upsurge of the concepts of nationalism initiated by the French Revolution.
Factors responsible for the growth of Modern Nationalism during British rule
- Political and administrative divide:Partition of Bengal in 1905, carried out by the British viceroy, Lord Curzon.
- Political Unity: For the first time, most of the regions in India were united politically and administratively under a single power (the British rule). It introduced a uniform system of law and government.
- Development of Communication and Transport: The introduction of railways, telegraphs and postal services and the construction of roads and canals facilitated communication among the people. All these brought Indians nearer to each other and provided the facility to organise the national movement on an all-India basis.
- English Language and Western Education: The English language played an important role in the growth of nationalism in the country. The English educated Indians, who led the national movement, developed Indian nationalism and organised it. Western education facilitated the spread of the concepts of liberty, equality, freedom and nationalism and sowed the seeds of nationalism.
- The Role of the Press: The Indian Press, both English and vernacular, had also aroused the national consciousness.
- Social and Religious Movements of the Nineteenth Century: The leaders of various organisations like the Brahmo Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Arya Samaj, and Theosophical Society generated a feeling of regard for and pride in the motherland.
- Economic Exploitation by the British: A good deal of anti-British feeling was created by the economic policy pursued by the British government in India. The English systematically ruined the Indian trade and native industries. Therefore, economic exploitation by the British was one of the most important causes for the rise of Indian nationalism.
- Revolt of 1857: The Revolt of 1857 created a kind of permanent bitterness and suspicion between the British and the Indians. The English feeling of racial superiority grew. India as a nation and Indians as individuals were subjected to insults, humiliation and contemptuous treatment.
- Administration of Lytton: Lord Lytton arranged the Delhi Durbar at a time when the larger part of India was in the grip of famine. He passed the Vernacular Press Act which curbed the liberty of the Indian Press. His Arms Act was a means to prevent the Indians from keeping arms. All these measures created widespread discontent among the Indians.
- The Ilbert Bill controversy: The Ilbert Bill was presented in the Central Legislature during the Viceroyalty of Lord Ripon. The Bill tried to remove racial inequality between Indian and European judges in courts. This Bill was opposed by the British residents in India. Ultimately the Bill was modified.
- Role of Western Thought and Education:The modern education played an important role in awakening of Indian political thinking because it assimilates the modern western ideas. The British introduces modern education to educate a small section of upper and middle classes to create a class “Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste” who would act as interpreters between the Government and the masses.
- Racial Antagonism: The Englishmen considered themselves as superior in all respects than the Indians. They never wanted to offer the Indians higher jobs even though they were qualified and intelligent. The age limit for Indian Civil Service Examination was kept at twenty-one and the examination was held at England.
Indian Nationalism succeeded and is unique because of its various peculiarities
- A Cosmic Vision:The framework of Indian culture places human beings in the centre of the universe, as a divine creation-which celebrates Individuality and differences of opinion in the society.
- Sense of Harmony:Indian philosophy and culture tries to achieve an innate harmony and order in the society.
- Tolerance:In India, tolerance and liberalism is found for all religions, castes, communities, etc. Indian society accepted and respected Shaka, Huna, Scythians, Muslim, Christian, Jews and Zoroastrians. Rulers like Ashoka, Akbar have patronized various religions and ensured that there is peaceful co-existence of religions.
- Continuity and Stability: The light of ancient Indian culture life is yet glowing. Many invasions occurred, many rulers changed, many laws were passed but even today, the traditional institutions, religion, epics, literature, philosophy, traditions, etc. are alive.
- Adaptability:Adaptability is the process of changing according to time, place and period. Indian society has shown fluidity and has adjusted itself with changing times.
- Caste System and Hierarchy:Indian Society has evolved systems of social stratification, which in the past helped in accommodating outsiders, but concomitantly it has also been the reason for discrimination and prejudice.
- Unity in diversity:Despite inherent difference Indian society celebrates unity in diversity which reflects in modern India’s founding principles and constitutional ideals.
Conclusion
British rule was largely responsible for a new awakening among the Indians. The collective impact of British rule and enlightenment of Indians led to increased nationalist feeling.
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Reference: A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum Publishers.
Why the question:
The question is part of the static syllabus of the General studies paper – 1.
Key Demand of the question: To explain in detail the features of moderate phase pf INC and their style of functioning and to analyze the impact of their trust in the efficacy of British rule.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by writing about the moderate phase of INC, its nature and its leaders.
Body:
Explain in the detail the nature of the moderate phase of INC. Their Aims and Objectives, Constitutional nature, Belief in the British, Inspiration, mode of operation, core composition, and important outcomes.
Mention the belief of moderates in sense of justice of the British rule. They knew the exploitative nature of British rule but wanted its reforms and not expulsion.
Mention at its nascent stage they could not all out ask for expulsion for the fear of a crackdown on the entire organization. They had to tread carefully between nationalistic interests and protecting the nascent congress.
Conclusion:
Pass a balanced judgement and highlight the major contributions of moderates.
Introduction
The moderates contributed significantly in Indian freedom struggle. The main objective of the Moderates was to achieve self-government within the British Empire. They followed a middle path and not an extreme path against British Empire.
Body
Nature of the Moderate Phase
Political demands of the moderates were moderate:
- From 1885 to 1892, their main demand continued to be expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils, the membership of the Councils for elected representatives of the people and also an increase in the powers of these Councils.
- Holding the ICS exam in India along with England to allow more Indians the opportunity to take part in the administration.
- the separation of the Judiciary from the executive
- Freedom of speech and expression.
- Freedom to form associations.
- Repealing the Arms Act of 1878.
- Increasing spending on education of Indians.
However, Economic demands of moderates were radical:
- The most notable part of Moderates political work was their systematic and factual criticism of the economic policy of British rule through press and publication.
- The focal point of the nationalist critique of colonialism was the drain theory. For instance, Dadabhai Naoroji put forward the idea that Britain was draining and ‘bleeding’ India.
- Other nationalist leaders, journalists and propagandists followed in the foot-steps of Dadabhai Naoroji. R.C. Dutt, for example, made the drain the major theme of his Economic History of India.
- They demanded Indian control over the public purse and raised the slogan that had earlier been raised by the Americans during their War of Independence, ‘No taxation without representation’.
- Moderates strictly demanded to reduce the military expenditure and increase the allocation of money for activities such as health and education.
- They demanded the reduction of land revenue and abolition of the salt tax and supported the imposition of income tax and import duties on products which the rich and the middle classes consumed.
- Dadabhai Naoroji in his famous economic critique ‘Poverty and un-British rule in India’ popularly put it, foreign capital represented the ‘despoilation’ and ‘exploitation’ of Indian resources.
- Similarly, the editor of the Hindustan Review and Kayastha Samachar described the use of foreign capital as ‘a system of international depradation’.
- They demanded for the development and protection of Indian Industries through increased tariffs on imports and government aid for these industries.
- After seeing the failure of the Government in this regard the nationalists popularised the idea of Swadeshi or use of Indian goods and boycott of British goods as a means of promoting Indian industries.
- An enquiry into India’s growing poverty and famines.
- They organized powerful intellectual agitations against nearly all the important official economic policies. They used these agitations to both understand and to explain to others the basis of these policies in the colonial structure.
Limitations of Moderate phase:
- However British rule, to most of them seemed to be an act of providence destined to bring in modernization.
- The moderate politicians could not or did not organize an agitation against British rule because of them still shred an intrinsic faith in the English democratic liberal political tradition.
- Their politics was very limited in terms of goals and methods. They were secular in their attitudes, though not always forthright enough to rise above their sectarian interests. They were conscious of the exploitative nature of British rule, but wanted its reforms and not expulsion.
- They equated liberty with class privilege and wanted gradual or piecemeal reforms.
- Early Congressman had an implicit faith in the efficacy of peaceful and constitutional agitation as opposed to popular mean of agitation.
- The movement was confined to the educated classes only. Did not try to employ the masses.
- Believed in Petition, Prayer and Protest. They did not go for mass mobilisation. The basic weakness of the early national movement lay in its narrow social base. It did not penetrate down to the masses. In fact, the leaders lacked faith in the masses.
- Their immediate demand was not for full self-government or democracy. They demanded democratic rights only for the educated members of the Indian society, who would substitute for the masses.
Conclusion
The nationalists were, thus, able to build a national movement while undermining the political and moral influence of imperialist rule. This helped in generating anti-imperialist sentiments among the public. But, at the same time, the nationalists failed to widen the democratic base of the movement by not including the masses, especially women, and not demanding the right to vote for all.
Value addition
Contributions of Moderate Nationalists:
- The moderates led by Dadabhai Naoroji, R.C. Dutt, Dinshaw Wacha and others, analysed the political economy of British rule in India, and put forward the “drain theory” to explain British exploitation of India.
- Moderates were able to create an all-India public opinion that British rule in India was the major cause of India’s poverty and economic backwardness. The moderates demanded reduction in land revenue, abolition of salt tax, improvement in working conditions of plantation labour, etc.
- They helped in expansion of council’s i.e. greater participation of Indians in councils and helped in reform of councils i.e. more powers to councils, especially greater control over finances.
- The early nationalists worked with the long-term objective of a democratic self-government.
- They campaigned for General Administrative Reforms. They demanded and put pressure on British Empire on Indianisation of government service on the economic grounds.
- They asked and contributed in Separation of judicial from executive functions.
- They criticised:
- Oppressive and tyrannical bureaucracy and an expensive and time-consuming judicial system.
- Aggressive foreign policy which resulted in annexation of Burma, attack on Afghanistan and suppression of tribals in the North-West.
- Increase in expenditure on welfare, education, especially elementary and technical, irrigation works and improvement of agriculture, agricultural banks for cultivators etc.
- They fought for civil rights including the right to speech, thought, association and a free press. Through campaigns, the nationalists were able to spread modern democratic ideas, and soon the defence of civil rights became an integral part of the freedom struggle.
Topic: changes in critical geographical features (including water bodies and polar ice caps) and, in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Indian Express
Why the question:
Floods have played a key role in Assam’s ecology. But increasing human footprint has affected the ability of flood plains to absorb water and transport sediment. Therefore, the need to make people and infrastructure resilient against recurring floods
Key Demand of the question:
Give reasons for erratic flooding pattern, give its benefits and suggest adaptation measures against it.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving a context of the recent Assam floods
Body:
Give reasons for recurring floods in some parts of India and the devastation they cause e.g., in Brahmaputra valley (as given in the article)
They give the positive impact it has on ecology (also given in the article)
Mention how humans and infrastructure can be made resilient against these recurring floods. ( you may need to research a bit)
e.g., capacity building, and creation of the sponge city concept.
Conclusion:
Give a positive way forward.
Introduction
Floods have once again inundated Assam and Bihar. A study by the Asian Development Bank says that floods already account for at least half of all climate-related disasters in the country. The trend of extreme rainfall and erratic monsoon patterns will only exacerbate this challenge. India must rethink its flood-control strategies.
Body
Floods in India:
- India is one of the most flood-affected nations in the world, after Bangladesh.
- Floods constitute 52% of all natural disasters in India, and the costliest as well, with over 63% of all damages attributed to it.
- The economic losses due to this destruction was 0.43% of GDP.
- The damages translate to 2.68% of the Centre’s total expenditure every year.
Impacts of flood
- Assam floods this yearhave been merciless.
- In many parts of the state, both rural and urban, shoals of water drove people from their homes and forced many of them to seek shelter for their livestock.
- In many places, people failed to save standing crops. Granaries were damaged and mud houses were filled with sand brought by the rivers in spate.
- The retreating waters — before the onset of another flood cycle — could leave behind more wreckage.
Key role of floods in the making of the floodplain ecosystem
- The floodplains are dynamic natural systems, natural processes of periodic flooding, accompanied by erosion and deposition.
- They bring changes to the topography, the soils, the vegetation, and the physical features within these areas over time.
- The floodplains provide a wide range of benefits to the ecosystem and community that includes, flood storage and erosion control provide a broad area with streams and rivers to spread out and accommodate temporary storage of the floodwater, reducing the flood peaks and the erosion potential.
- Floodwaters carry nutrients and sediments, which are deposited on flood plains.
- It makes the soil more fertile and increases the agricultural production.
- For instance, Rice paddies are flooded deliberately to take advantage of this natural fertilization process.
- Thus, They provide fertile soils with a high rate of plant growth and diversity, richer agricultural harvests, and healthier forests.
Adaptation Measures needed to build resilience
- India’s policymakers must do away with the pro-embankment strategy; restore agricultural practices that make best use of floods; ensure re-vegetation of catchments to control rapid soil loss; revive dry springs; and ensure greater percolation of rainwater.
- The dire need is for watershed-based master planning and development legislated guidelines for each major river basin, especially those that impact densely populated settlements.
- There must be a demarcation of ecologically sensitive zones using existing village survey maps and public participation.
- There must be clear land use plan for these zones specifying flood plains, protected forest areas, agricultural and plantation zones, with details of the types of crops, building usages permitted and the density of buildings permitted.
- To compensate owners in non-buildable areas, there must be strategies such as Transfer of Development Rights to buildable zones in cities.
- The master plan should focus on permitting only ecologically sensitive building strategies for these areas by proposing new construction techniques.
- Controlled development can be proposed using building height rules, floor area ratio control, and restrictions on cutting and filling natural land.
- Strategies to make sure that all infrastructure projects are carried out in a scientific manner with strict scrutiny must be specified.
- This should include roads built on difficult terrain and all public infrastructure projects in wetlands and the High Ranges.
- Copenhagen in Denmark, which faces a similar problem of repeated flooding, has come up with active cloudburst responsive planning as a process to develop the city in line with climate change needs.
Conclusion
A complete overhaul of processes to hire technical expertise which allows access to necessary skills, and with a long-term vision of capacity building of local agencies, is the way forward.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, and Human Resources.
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu
Why this question
India has the highest burden of TB patients in the world despite the fact that TB is a completely curable disease. Even though there are many policies but the disease still inflicts heavy economic and health costs on the poor patients
Key demand of the question.
The question wants us to delve deep into the TB disease burden in India, and bring out the inefficiencies of the surveillance-based strategies in tackling the disease.
Structure of the answer
Introduction– write a few introductory lines giving data about how Tuberculosis is the worst among endemic diseases, killing 1.5 million people every year (WHO).
Body-
Concerns: Bring out the flaws in the government programs in tackling TB.E.g. there is no prescribed method of monitoring the trajectory of TB control, contrast this with the National AIDS Control Programme. RNTCP has failed to elicit people’s partnership in TB control
Measures: Discuss the advantages/ need for a rights-based approach in this direction. E.g Such an approach focuses on creating health systems that foster trust, partnership, and dignity. This approach regards people with TB not as subjects to be controlled but as people to be partnered with
Conclusion– Based on your discussion, form a fair and balanced conclusion on the given issue.
Introduction
Tuberculosis (TB) remains the biggest killer disease in India, outnumbering all other infectious diseases put together — this despite our battle against it from 1962, when the National TB Programme (NTP) was launched. According to the World Health Organization’s “Global Tuberculosis Report 2018“, India accounted for 27% of the 10 million people, who had developed TB in 2017, besides making up 32% of global TB deaths among HIV-negative people, and 27% of combined TB deaths. In India, the TB capital of the world, the disease kills some 1,400 persons every day.
Body
India’s efforts to eliminate TB:
- In the 1950s and ’60s, India was the global leader in research in epidemiology, transmission and domiciliary treatment of TB. The National TB Control Programme of 1962 was a district-based one with public-private participation.
- Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program(RNTCP)
- It was renamed to National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP))
- It is the state-run tuberculosis control initiative of the Government of India.
- RNTCP incorporates the principles of directly observed treatment-short course (DOTS).
- In 1992, the WHO devised the Directly Observed Treatment-Short Course (DOTS) strategy and advised all countries to adopt the strategy to combat the menace of tuberculosis. The DOTS strategy is based on 5 pillars:
- political commitment and continued funding for TB control programs
- diagnosis by sputum smear examinations
- uninterrupted supply of high-quality anti-TB drugs
- drug intake under direct observation
- accurate reporting and recording of all registered cases
- The Indian government has been implementing Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB (PMDT) services, for the management of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and TB-HIV collaborative activities for TB-HIV
- “Nikshay,” (2012) an online tuberculosis reporting system for medical practitioners and clinical establishments was set up. The aim is to increase the reporting of tuberculosis, especially from the private sector.
- In 2018, Indian government launched Joint Effort for Elimination of Tuberculosis (JEET), to increase the reporting of TB cases by the private sector.
- National Strategic Plan (NSP) for TB Elimination (2017-2025) was launched in 2017. The government also called for the elimination of TB by 2025, five years prior to the international target (2030).
- The NSP plans to provide incentives to private providers for following the standard protocols for diagnosis and treatment as well as for notifying the government of cases.
- Further, patients referred to the government will receive a cash transfer to compensate them for the direct and indirect costs of undergoing treatment and as an incentive to complete treatment.
Challenges to achieve TB free India by 2025:
- Poor socio-economic conditions:
- Poverty remains a stark reality in India with associated problems of hunger, undernourishment and poor and unhygienic living conditions.
- According to GTB Report, 2018, a majority of TB patients (6lakhs) in India are attributable to undernourishment.
- Underreporting and misdiagnosis:
- According to GTB Report 2018, India is one of the major contributors to under-reporting and under-diagnosis of TB cases in the world, accounting for 26% of the 3.6 million global gap in the reporting of tuberculosis cases.
- Biomarkers and other diagnostics that identify individuals at highest risk of progression to disease are inadequate.
- Treatment:
- Inequitable access to quality diagnosis and treatment remains a major issue in combating tuberculosis. Further, the private sector which contributes a major part of TB care is fragmented, made up of diverse types of healthcare providers, and largely unregulated.
- Standard TB treatment is not followed uniformly across the private sector, resulting in the rise of drug resistance.
- Follow-up treatment:
- Though the reporting of TB cases has increased lately, the reporting of treatment outcomes has not been robust.
- The absence of consistent follow-up of treatment regimens and outcomes may result in relapse of cases and MDR-TB and XDR-TB. India has already been facing the problem of increasing MDR-TB cases
- Drugs:
- The drugs used to treat TB, especially multidrug-resistant-TB, are decades old. It is only recently that Bedaquiline and Delamanid (drugs to treat MDR-TB) has been made available. However, access to such drugs remains low.
- Funds:
- The RNCTP remains inadequately funded. There has been a growing gap between the allocation of funds and the minimum investment required to reach the goals of the national strategic plan to address tuberculosis.
- Issues with RNCTP:
- No prescribed methods of monitoring: First, for a programme that is heavily funded by the government, there is no prescribed method of monitoring the trajectory of TB control.
- Programme is based on assumptions: The assumption that treating pulmonary TB patients alone would control TB was epidemiologically fallacious in India.
- Failed to elicit people’s participation: RNTCP has failed to elicit people’s partnership in TB control. In India’s AIDS Control Programme, public education was given high priority. Red ribbon clubs in schools and colleges are its legacy.
- R&D:
- R&D for new methods and technologies to detect the different modes of TB, new vaccines, and new drugs and shorter drug regimens have been slow, as compared to other such diseases like HIV/AIDS.
- Social Stigma:
- According to a study which assessed social stigma associated with TB in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, India had the highest social stigma index.
- Patients often hesitate to seek treatment or deny their condition altogether for fear of social discrimination and stigmatization.
Measures needed:
- It is important to address the social conditions and factors which contribute to and increase vulnerability to tuberculosis. Concerted efforts should be made to address the issues of undernourishment, diabetes, alcohol and tobacco use.
- Increased political will, financial resources and increasing research to develop new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent TB will help achieve the goal.
- Private sector engagement in combating TB needs to be strengthened. The private sector should also be incentivised to report TB cases. Example: The Kochi Model– Increasing TB cases reporting from private sector
- There is an urgent need for cost-effective point-of-care devices that can be deployed for TB diagnosis in different settings across India.
- Universal access to drug, susceptibility testing at diagnosis to ensure that all patients are given appropriate treatment, including access to second-line treatment for drug-resistant TB.
- To ensure public participation — a missing element in the RNTCP —in public-private participation mode.
- Mass awareness campaigns like ‘TB Harega Desh Jeetega’ can play an important role in breaking social taboos regarding TB.
Conclusion
India has the highest TB burden in the world. Given our inter-connected world and the airborne spread of TB, we need collective global action. Ending TB in India will have massive global impact in addition to saving the lives of tens of millions of India’s people over the next 25 years. Even if ending TB by 2025 is not complete, pulling the TB curve down by 2025 and sustaining the decline ever after is a possibility.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Environment Conservation
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: The Hindu
Why the question:
The Environment Ministry proposes to soften the provisions of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) by replacing a clause that provides for imprisoning violators with one that only requires them to pay a fine.
Key Demand of the question:
Write down the mandate of the act and analyse the recent changes brought in it.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by giving a briefly describing EPA 1986
Body:
Write down its main purpose
e.g., The Act covers all forms of pollution; air, water, soil and noise. It provides safety standards for the presence of various pollutants in the environment. It prohibits the use of hazardous material unless prior permission is taken from the Central Government.
Then briefly describe the recent changes brought it.
Then answer, will the recent changes dilute its effectiveness- Yes/No: Give reasons for each.
Conclusion:
Give a balanced conclusion about what more need to be done in EPA 1986.
Introduction
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change sought feedback from experts and other stakeholders on Friday as it proposed to decriminalise the existing provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. Incidentally, the EPA provisions will be in force for penal provisions of the single use plastic ban.
The ministry has proposed to replace imprisonment with monetary penalty for the “less severe” contraventions under the EPA, an overarching law that supersedes other environment laws such as the Water and Air Act, which will also be decriminalised.
Body
About EPA 1986
- The EPA, 1986 establishes the framework for studying, planning, and implementing long-term requirements of environmental safety and laying down a system of speedy and adequate response to situations threatening the environment.’
- The roots of the enactment of the EPA lies in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in June,1972 (Stockholm Conference), in which India participated, to take appropriate steps for the improvement of the human environment.
- The Act implements the decisions made at the Stockholm Conference.
- EPA empowers the Central Government to establish authorities charged with the mandate of preventing environmental pollution in all its forms and to tackle specific environmental problems that are peculiar to different parts of the country.
- The Act covers all forms of pollution; air, water, soil and noise. It provides safety standards for the presence of various pollutants in the environment.
- It prohibits the use of hazardous material unless prior permission is taken from the Central Government.
Proposed amendments
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) proposes to make three main changes to legislations governing environmental protection and pollution in the country – the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
- One is to remove the provision of imprisonment as a penalty for non-compliance under some sections of these Acts.
- For example, non-compliance under the Environment Act will currently attract fines (of up to Rs 1 lakh) or imprisonment (up to five years), or both.
- If violations continue for more than one year after conviction, the imprisonment term can extend to seven years.
- However, the latest amendment proposes to restrict penalties to fines alone, which an adjudicating officer appointed by the government will authorise.
- Another change that the amendment proposes is to increase the monetary penalties for some offences. Under the Environment Act, for example, non-compliance currently attracts a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh and an additional fine may extend to Rs 5,000 for every day of the violation.
- As per the latest amendment, however, non-compliance will now attract penalties of anywhere between Rs 5 lakh to 5 crore; additional fines can range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh per day.
- The third change that the amendments seek is to create specific funds under each Act, to house the compensatory money that offenders pay. The amendment moots an ‘Environmental Protection Fund’ under the Environment Act, a ‘Water Pollution Remediation Fund’ under the Water Act and an ‘Air Pollution Remediation Fund’ under the Air Act. The government will disburse these funds to the affected parties.
Dilution of provisions
- That penalties will be increased is a good thing but even these amounts may not be enough to capture the losses to both people and the environment.
- Most offenders can afford to pay these amounts and this could foster a pollute-and-pay attitude.
- Penalties alone are no deterrent for big corporates and industries. With no fear of imprisonment, the implementation of the Acts could be affected.
- For instance, wilfully delaying or obstructing an officer’s entry or investigation is an offence that currently attracts both fines and imprisonment. But with penalties being only monetary for this as per the amendment, offenders can easily obstruct or refuse to comply, and just pay later.
- According to the amendment in the Environment Act, the adjudicating officer will decide the penalty amount based on several factors such as the losses caused to people. The factors listed do not include the assessment of losses that the ecosystem and biodiversity would have borne, or the costs involved in offsetting these losses such as through restoration activities.
- Moreover, there are numerous funds that are not really effective – such as the Compensatory Afforestation Fund and Environment Relief Fund (ERF).
Conclusion
Given that these laws have been in existence for over a decade, its footprint is visible not just on private sector profits, but on food security, health, ecology and social life of people living in contaminated areas. It is also important to debate these proposals by asking first, how it will address the long legacy of pollution, livelihood loss and loss of life arising out of past illegalities
Syllabus: Quote-based questions.
6. What do the following quotations mean to you in the present context?
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude by Lexicon Publications.
Why the question:
There has been a growing resistance to bringing positive change in the world in recent times. (Ex: Racist-motivated attacks in America, Honor killing in India, refugee crisis). However, there has been some positive change brought in recent times through collective effort. Ex: Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao.
Key Demand of the question:
To test your skills on what you perceive as change and how you can connect it with what is happening in the world in the present times.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction: Give your understanding of what change means briefly.
Body:
- Elaborate on positive examples which have brought about a change in any old obsolete idea.
- Identify those areas where we need to focus our energies to bring change and usher in a more positive and newer order (both within ourselves and in the world). Elaborate on those factors which are preventing us from doing this.
- Provide solutions to overcome these challenges.
Conclusion:
An optimistic and solution-based opinion on this issue would suffice.
Introduction
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with the idea that the only constant in life is change. Everything changes and nothing remains still; and you cannot step twice into the same stream.
While the first part of quote says that change will happen, the second part focusses on how we must handle the change. For instance, if an employee is fired from his job, he must not be bitter about it and dwell on it. Instead, he must focus on finding a better job and building new life and climb the ladder of success by making amends by learning from past mistakes.
Body
Sometimes changes lead to good consequences and sometimes they lead to worse situations. But how we accept these changes and focus on recovering and building new from that point onwards is what makes all the difference. For any civil service aspirant, failure is common. But we cannot be bogged down by it, rather build on the knowledge base and try to improve from there.
An important part of accepting change is finding a way to move on and think about the future. By looking ahead and looking to the future, one will be able to better deal with the past and accept it as something that had to happen for you to move forward.
Repeating behaviour and patterns reinforce neural connections in the reflective areas of the brain, building habits and routines, and challenging what we have learnt in the past can be difficult for us to process, making us feel uncomfortable or even pained. When we detect discrepancies between what we expect to happen and what actually occurs, the brain reacts by appealing to its most primal elements with a fight or flight response, which, in turn can make change unappealing.
The answer lies in a combination of nature and nurture. The human brain is wired to resist change, to a point; only deeper thinking and focus can inspire true change, requiring concentration from the part of the brain that involves the most effort.
Conclusion
Change is not inherently bad; since the beginning of time, change has been a constant in our world and in our lives, often garnering positive effects. Our bodies, environments and lives have changed over millennia to adapt to the needs of an evolving population. While many changes are good and necessary, some changes are difficult to inspire. Putting an end to bad habits or destructive behaviour can be tough, for example, and often willpower alone doesn’t cut it. Retraining the brain to achieve deeper awareness is key to bringing about lasting change.
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude by Lexicon Publications.
Why the question:
A rising tendency to create homogenization of culture in recent times.
Key Demand of the question:
Knowing the difference between unity and uniformity and its significance and how our constitution, programs and policies try to create unity.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction: Bring out the basic difference between unity and uniformity briefly and crisply.
Body:
- Talk about various steps we have taken to ensure unity in the country since our independence and also in recent times (Ex: Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat, NEP 2020 etc.)
- Identify the factors that are pushing us towards uniformity in recent times. Ex: Politics, Fundamentalism, social media etc.
- Suggest measures to overcome this.
Conclusion:
An optimistic and solution-based opinion on this issue would suffice or you can highlight the significance of ensuring unity for a country such as India and what you can do as an administrator to ensure this.
Introduction
One hundred years ago, management pioneer Mary Parker Follett wrote that “Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.” Her words ring true today as we dance between complexity and order.
Unity is not about uniformity, agreeing about everything, or being alike. We do not need sameness in people, we only need oneness.
Body
Unity calls for accepting differences, not trying to eliminate them. If there had to be uniformity, then each of us would not have a mind of our own and there would be no space for creative thinking or even evolution. There is no one way to be, to act, to believe.
Be it in speech, belief, religion, ideology or politics, we cannot bring everyone under a single category or fold. With more than 7 billion people on earth it is unachievable and unnecessary. Accept differences rather than fear them. Differences will help in bringing people together. Differences need not become fault lines rather they can be focal point for uniting everyone.
Consider India which is a melting pot of ethnicity and race. Yet all Indians are united under one Constitution that vows to protect them all equally. Despite this there are differences and such differences needs to be managed.
The concept of unity has certainly resulted in the ethical and moral evolution of humanity. It educates all humans and living beings to unify and find methods to bond with one another despite their differences. This will create an environment in which individuals can coexist harmoniously.
Conclusion
Long standing issues of differences and opinions can be resolved by integrating the differences rather than eliminating them. We must respect everyone’s thoughts and give space for each one of them. Only then there will be broadening of our rights as well. There must be respect for multiculturalism. John Rawls says that people may not agree on all things but may agree on public life that effects everyone in society and that is needed for a peaceful and a just society.
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