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Civil Services (Mains)
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Examination 2015
Solutions
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GS PAPER II
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Note: in many answers, some extra information has also been provided so that students
can have a better idea of the topics and issues asked in the question paper.
1.
Discuss the possible factors that inhibit India from enacting for its citizens a uniform civil code as provided
for in the Directive Principles of State Policy.
Answer The provision for Uniform Civil Code has been provided in our Constitution, under Article 44. A Uniform
Civil Code essentially refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters of all citizens of the country
irrespective of the religion.
Need of Uniform Civil Code
1. Just and fair treatment of women from all sections of the society.
2. Help in progress of society, by realizing the values enshrined in the Constitution.
3. Reducing vote-bank politics, as everyone will be covered under same law.
4. Help in integration of India as it will be a binding thread across the diverse cultural groups.
5. The inconsistency in personal laws is against the right to equality enshrined under article 14.
Challenges in implementing UCC
1. Historical Reasons - India has a strong and long history of personal laws and it cannot be given up easily. UCC
has been opposed by several groups over the years as it may go against their personal laws. Such major
change, if carried out in haste, will lead to resistance by the people.
2. Lack of Consensus Due to the uniquely diverse nature of Indian society, its a big challenge to arrive at a
consensus. However, a broad consensus must be drawn among different communities, political parties, civil
society organizations etc. to facilitate such a landmark step in Indias religious, social, political and most
importantly judicial history.
3. Drafting issues - The biggest question is if UCC be a blend of all the personal laws or should it be a new law
adhering to the constitutional mandate? No model law has been drafted yet.
4. Misinformation The misinformation regarding UCC among large section of society, due to various reasons.
People form a negative attitude towards UCC, due to this. They do not realize the benefits in longer term. It
is one of the biggest impediments. People also wrongly think that India being a secular nation cannot
interfere in personal laws of different religions, under article 25.
5. Lack of political will At the end of it all, it boils down to the political will of the people in power. If there is
political will then, above challenges can be easily overcome. But, till now there is a general lack of political
will, because of various factors like caste appeasement and vote bank politics.
6. Sensitive nature of issue at hand The issue is very sensitive as it is directly related to cultural aspect of
peoples life. If not handled properly then it may become a law and order challenge across the country. This
severely restricts the initiatives to formulate and implement UCC.
Way Forward
1.
2.
3.

Gradual reforms in existing personal laws of different communities.

Convincing the communities regarding benefits of UCC, through social influence.
Institutional mechanisms should be found out for facilitating dialogue between various stakeholders.

So, there is a need of piecemeal approach rather than holistic reforms towards achieving the ultimate objective of
Uniform Civil Code.
2.
The concept of cooperative federalism has been increasingly emphasized in recent years. Highlight the
drawbacks in the existing structure and the extent to which cooperative federalism would answer the
shortcomings.
Answer Cooperative federalism is a concept of federalism in which central and state governments interact
cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems, rather than making policies separately.
There are many drawbacks in the existing structure. Some of these are
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1. Planning Process: The existing structure for planning has minimum participation of the states. The Planning
Commission carried out this exercise, with minimum representation of states.
2. Resource allocation: It is mainly decided by the Union Government, and states have limited say in this. Even
financial resources of states are mostly allocated by the centre, and they have limited capacity of generating
finances.
3. Administrative aspect: With respect to All India Services, states have only limited powers. It acts as an
impediment in the centre-state relations. Also under article 256, states are directed not to impede the
administrative functioning of the central government.
4. Legal aspect: With respect to appointment of Governors, imposition of Presidents rule etc states have
limited say in legal sphere as well. On subjects mentioned in the concurrent list, a law enacted by the
Parliament always prevails over the law made by states.
5. Political aspect: The present structure has greater degree of political coordination between centre and only
those states, where same party is ruling. But the coordination with states having a different ruling party, is
somewhat compromised.

Cooperative federalism will help in addressing these issues in the following manner:
1. Planning Process: With cooperative federalism, states will be able to participate effectively in the planning
process. It will ensure in making holistic plan, with provisions of flexibility in implementation, across different
states. NITI Aayog is expected to provide the institutional mechanism for ensuring greater participation of
the states in the planning process. It will promote bottoms-up approach in planning.
2. Resource allocation: It will help in equitable allocation and optimum utilization of available resources as
there will be greater degree of coordination between centre and states. The 14th Finance Commission is of
the view that tax devolution should be the primary route for transfer of resources to the States.
3. Administrative relations: It will help in achieving better administrative relations between centre and states,
as they work for realization of shared goals. Number of Centrally Sponsored schemes, have been reduced, to
give more flexibility to states in implementing programmes. It will help in improving effectiveness of
schemes.
4. Legal relations: Inter state councils and zonal councils can be revitalized and strengthened. Further, legal
relations will improve in areas of concurrent responsibility, where the Centre has had a tendency to ride
roughshod over the States by occupying the common legislative space.
5. Participative policy making and implementation: Sharing of powers and responsibilities between the three
levels of government is a key element of the concept, which involves participative policymaking. So, holistic
policies can be formulated, along with better implementation at the ground level.
6. Political aspect: A key element in fostering cooperative federalism is the respect for the mandate of elected
governments, even those run by opposition parties. It will help in establishing viable, working relationship
between centre and states, even those run by opposition parties.
The major initiatives of the government which can ensure cooperative federalism are
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1. GST Bill when implemented will help in this

2. NITI Aayog has more participation of states
3. Fourteenth Finance Commission Recommendations It has increased the share of states in financial
resources.
In this manner Cooperative federalism will solve the existing problems.
3.
In absence of a well-educated and organized local level government system, `Panchayats and Samitis
have remained mainly political institutions and not effective instruments of governance. Critically discuss.
Answer Panchayati Raj Institutions have not been able to achieve their true potential and have remained just a
political institution. The main reasons are:
1. Inadequate level of expertise: It has severely affected the effectiveness of Panchayati Raj Institutions, as they
are unable to take a holistic approach to find the solutions of existing problems.
2. Absence of well educated members: It has restricted the decision making capability of the members. Hence
the issues concerning the local government are not discussed. It only serves the political purpose of
candidates.
3. Lack of organization: For proper planning and implementation of policies and programmes, the grassroot
level of governance needs to have a well defined structure. Gram Sabha meetings are not held on regular
basis, in many cases.
4. Absence of clear cut agenda: Due to lack of clear cut agenda for working and clearly defined goals, these
institutions take ad hoc decisions. This reduces the effectiveness of governance at grass root level
Way forward
1. Providing adequate training: It will help in imparting expertise to the members. Hence they can contribute in
better way in planning process and in implementation of policies and programmes.
2. Amendments in Panchayat Raj Act: It should be carried out to provide more powers to these institutions, so
that they can become agents of change at the grassroots level.
3. Devolution of powers: Decentralization of governance can be achieved with devolution of power to lower
levels. This will help in strengthening these institutions.
4. Financial resources: One of biggest challenges facing the Panchayati raj Institutions is the inadequate level of
financial resources. It has severely affected their functioning. So, more financial resource generation powers
should be give to these institutions.
5. Qualifications criteria: Certain minimum qualification standards for fighting Panchayat elections will help in
improving its effectiveness in governance mechanism. Recently some states like Rajasthan and Haryana
introduces such provisions, which was held to be constitutional by the Supreme Court.
So, we need to take these steps to make our Panchayati Raj Institutions, effective centres of local governance.

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4.
Khap Panchayats have been in the news for functioning as extra-constitutional authorities, often
delivering pronouncements amounting to human rights violations. Discuss critically the actions taken by the
legislative, executive and the judiciary to set the things right in this regard.
Answer Issues regarding Khap Panchayats have been discussed extensively in recent times, because of their extraconstitutional functioning and unjust pronouncements.
Legislative actions taken:
(i)
Many states tried to bring legislation to ban Khap Panchayats, but due to lack of consensus it has not been
passed successfully. Bills banning Honour Killing has also been proposed by many states,
(ii)
Law Commission had drafted a Bill - The Prohibition of Unlawful Assembly (Interference with the Freedom of
Matrimonial Alliances) Bill, 2011. It tried to address the issue of Khap panchayats.
Executive actions taken:
(i) District Administration has taken many steps to tackle the menace of Khap panchayats in the affected districts. It
has declared such assembly to be illegal, subject to severe punishments.
(ii) Political executives have taken steps to reform these khap panchayats, as their view is that social change cannot
happen immediately.
Judicial actions taken:
(i) Supreme Court has declared the Khap panchayats unconstitutional and illegal and they must be ruthlessly
stamped out.
(ii) Condemning honour killings and khap panchayats, the Bench directed the administrative and police officials to
take strong measures to prevent such atrocious acts.
These steps have been effective, but still a lot more needs to be done. The following steps need to be taken
(i) Lok Adalats: These institutions need to be strengthened at the grassroots level. It will help in eliminating the
unconstitutional Khap panchayats, as well as in delivering justice.
(ii)Legislation: Effective legislation needs to be enacted in the states, to ban Khap panchayats. It will provide the
framework for executives to take action against khap panchayats.
(iii)Executive action: They need to be proactive in implementing the law and in taking action against khap
panchayats.
(iv) Attitude change: Elders of the village needs to be persuaded for attitude change in order to bring social change.
5.
Resorting to ordinances has always raised concern on violation of the spirit of separation of powers
doctrine. While noting the rationales justifying the power to promulgate ordinances, analyze whether the
decisions of the Supreme Court on the issue have further facilitated resorting to this power. Should the power to
promulgate ordinances be repealed?
Answer The constitution provides for Ordinance making power to the President under Article 123 and to the
Governor under Article 213.
An Ordinance may relate to any subject that the Parliament has the power to legislate on. The following limitations
exist with regard to the Ordinance making power of the executive:
(i) Legislature is not in session: The President can only promulgate an Ordinance when either of the two Houses of
Parliament is not in session.
(ii) Immediate action is required: The President cannot promulgate an Ordinance unless he is satisfied that there are
circumstances that require taking immediate action.
(iii) Parliamentary approval during session: Ordinances must be approved by Parliament within six weeks of
reassembling or they shall cease to operate. They will also cease to operate in case resolutions disapproving the
Ordinance are passed by both the Houses.
There has been significant debate surrounding the Ordinance making power. Constitutionally, important issues that
have been raised, which include judicial review of the Ordinance making powers of the executive; the necessity for
immediate action while promulgating an Ordinance; and the granting of Ordinance making powers to the
executive, given the principle of separation of powers.
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In RC Cooper vs. Union of India (1970) the Supreme Court, held that the Presidents decision could be challenged on
the grounds that immediate action was not required; and the Ordinance had been passed primarily to by-pass
debate and discussion in the legislature.
It was argued in DC Wadhwa vs. State of Bihar (1987) the legislative power of the executive to promulgate
Ordinances is to be used in exceptional circumstances and not as a substitute for the law making power of the
legislature. The Supreme Court argued that if Ordinance making was made a usual practice, creating an Ordinance
raj the courts could strike down re-promulgated Ordinances.
However, the general rule in the Wadhwa verdict came with an exception. It was stated that the government may,
occasionally, be unable to introduce and push through a Bill to convert an ordinance either because the
Legislature [has] too much legislative business or the time at its disposal is short. In such a case, the verdict stated,
the President may legitimately find that it is necessary to repromulgate the Ordinance. And such repromulgation
of the Ordinance, the Court said, may not be open to attack.
So, this exception in the Wadhwa judgment has enabled the government to resort to re-promulgation of ordinances,
though they need to show that situation is extraordinary.
No, the power to promulgate ordinances should not be repealed. It is a method of last resort, for the executive when
there is immediate need and legislature is not in session. So, it is not the use of ordinances, but its misuse which is a
cause of concern and must be checked.
6. What are the major changes brought in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 through the recent
Ordinance promulgated by the President? How far will it improve Indias dispute resolution mechanism?
Discuss.
Answers The President promulgated the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 which amends
the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The important changes brought in are the following:

(i)
Relevant court for domestic and international arbitration matters: The Ordinance states that in the case of
international arbitration, the relevant court would only be the high court having original ordinary jurisdiction.
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(ii)
Powers of Court to refer a party to arbitration if agreement exists: The Ordinance states that the power of
referral is to be exercised by a court even if there is a previous court judgment to the contrary. The Court must refer
the parties to arbitration unless it thinks that a valid arbitration agreement does not exist.
(iii)
Interim order by a Court: The Ordinance amends the provision to specify that if the Court passes an interim
order before the commencement of arbitral proceedings, the proceedings must commence within 90 days from the
making of the order, or within a time specified by the Court. Further, the Court must not accept such an application,
unless it thinks that the arbitral tribunal will not be able to provide a similar remedy.
(iv) Appointment of arbitrators: The 1996 Act permits parties to appoint arbitrators. If they are unable to appoint
arbitrators within 30 days, the matter is referred to the court to make such appointments. The Ordinance states
that, at this stage, the Court must confine itself to the examination of the existence of a valid arbitration agreement.
(v) Time period for arbitral awards: The Ordinance introduces a provision that requires an arbitral tribunal to make
its award within 12 months. This may be extended by a six month period.
(vi) Time period for disposal of cases by a Court: The Ordinance states that any challenge to an arbitral award that is
made before a Court, must be disposed of within a period of one year.
(vii)
Fast track procedure for arbitration: The Ordinance permits parties to choose to conduct arbitration
proceedings in a fast track manner. The award would be granted within six months.
Dispute resolution mechanism in India will be significantly improved by the provisions of this ordinance. The
Amendments reflect the need of the present times, which is a significant improvement over the provisions enacted
twenty years earlier. The above provisions introduced in the amendments have addressed major issues which were
facing the dispute resolution mechanism in India. The shortcomings of present mechanisms were clear from the
Vodafone tax case and Reliance case on KG D6 basin.
Hence, addressing the problems ailing the dispute resolution mechanism, will help in improving the investor
sentiments and give a boost to ease of doing business in India. It is in line with our vision of becoming a
manufacturing sector hub for the world.
7.
Does the right to clean environment entail legal regulations on burning crackers during Diwali? Discuss in
the light of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and Judgement(s) of the Apex Court in this regard.
Answer Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement has pronounced right to clean environment as a fundamental
right enshrined under right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Though no law has been enacted on regulating the burning of crackers, but the apex court has issued guidelines in
this regard. So, it entails legal regulation on burning fire crackers, on account of these guidelines.
In the landmark case of 2005; Prevention of Environment & Sound Pollution v. Union of India, the apex court laid
down a few essential guidelines relating to firecrackers and addressing other problems of sound pollution. The key
highlights being:
(a)
The Department of Explosives may divide the firecrackers into two categories (i) Sound emitting
firecrackers, and (ii) Colour/light emitting firecrackers.
(b)
There shall be a complete ban on bursting sound emitting firecrackers between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. It is not
necessary to impose restrictions as to time on bursting of colour/light emitting firecrackers.
(c)
Every manufacturer shall on the box of each firecracker mention details of its chemical contents and that it
satisfies the requirement as laid down by Department of Explosives.

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The court has directed that non-implementation of the guidelines is leading to gross violation of the Fundamental
Rights which must be preserved and respected at all times.
Arguments have often been made against such restrictions on the grounds that it violates Article 25 of the
Constitution, i.e., to practice and propagate our religion freely. What one must keep in mind that Fundamental
Rights are not absolute in nature and falls under the umbrella of certain reasonable restrictions.
The apex court in its landmark judgment; Church of God in India vs. K.K.R Majestic Colony Welfare Assn. held that
the court can put certain restrictions on controlling the noise, even if such noise was a direct consequence of any
religious ritual or activity being held.
In a recent case, 3 toddlers moved to the Supreme Court with a petition to take action against the rising levels of air
pollution. The Supreme Court dismissed this petition which was aimed at putting a blanket ban on bursting of
crackers on Diwali or designating a particular place for bursting crackers. The Supreme Court exclaimed that such a
blanket ban would be lethal and would cause an unnecessary uproar in the society. The court, however, has directed
the government to spread awareness about the hazardous effects of crackers.
Bursting crackers has been a custom in our society which is now proving to be lethal for the coming generations.
Article 21- Right to Life, is a basic human right and subsequently a Fundamental Right for Indian Citizens, and to
breathe clean air constitutes the same.
Hence, it is necessary to exercise certain prudence and caution in this situation and one must give precedence to
various rights in terms of their necessity.
8. Examine critically the recent changes in the rules governing foreign funding of NGOs under the Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 1976.
Answer The government has drawn up new guidelines which stipulate that NGOs must not use foreign funds for
activities detrimental to national interest, likely to affect public interest, or likely to prejudicially affect the security,
scientific, strategic or economic interest of the state.
The draft Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2015, also require any NGOs receiving foreign funds
to register themselves and to report the receipt of such funds on its website or a government prescribed website
within 7 days. The rule replaces the older rule under which only foreign donations in excess of Rs. 1 crore were to be
notified at the end of the year.
Another rule requires banks to disclose information regarding the entry of foreign funds for NGOs in India within 48
hours. Earlier, banks were only mandated to disclose details of contributions in excess of Rs. 1 crore, within 30 days.
The rules also provide for new forms for registration, renewal of registration and disclosure of receipt of foreign
funds, which need to filled and uploaded on government portals.
The new rules have not only increased the frequency with which NGOs are required to file information with the
government, they also have provisions that require the disclosure of additional information. NGOs will now have to
reveal the details of their social media accounts, and disclose whether their office bearers are part of other NGOs, to
help in profiling them.
The present crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs in India began after the Intelligence Bureau submitted a report on
NGOs last year that said that some NGOs are deliberately trying to restrict Indias developmental projects. So these
new guidelines will help in better regulation of NGOs and their funding.
9. The Self-Help Group (SHG) Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP), which is Indias own innovation, has proved to be
one of the most effective poverty alleviation and women empowerment programmes. Elucidate.
Answer - The SHG-Bank linkage model is the indigenous model of micro-credit evolved in India and has been widely
acclaimed as a successful model. SHG-Bank linkage programme is considered a promising approach to reach the
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poor and has since its inception made rapid strides exhibiting considerable democratic functioning and group
dynamism.
SHG-Banking is a programme that helps to promote financial transactions between the formal rural banking system
in India comprising of public and private sector commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative banks with
the informal Self Help Groups(SHGs) as clients.
They usually start by making voluntary thrift on a regular -mostly fortnightly or monthly - basis. They use this pooled
resource together with the external bank loan to provide interest bearing loans to their members. Such loan
provides additional liquidity or purchasing power for use in any of the borrowers production, investment, or
consumption activities.
The programme has resulted in 34.77 lakh SHGs being credit linked. Further, the programme has enabled an
estimated 409.5 lakh poor households to gain access to microfinance from the formal banking system. The
programme has indeed helped in the social and economic empowerment of rural folk, especially women, causing
significant up-scaling of social capital while at the same time delivering crucial financial services.
Access to finance by the poor and vulnerable groups is a prerequisite for poverty reduction and social cohesion. This
has to become an integral part of our efforts to promote inclusive growth and empower the vulnerable groups.
The various financial services include credit, savings, insurance and payments and remittance facilities. The objective
of financial inclusion is to extend the scope of activities of the organized financial system to include within its ambit
people with low incomes. Through graduated credit, the attempt must be to lift the poor from one level to another
so that they come out of poverty
Thus, it has proved to be a successful model wherein the outreach has expanded substantially leading to many
advantages like micro savings, timely repayment of loans, reduction in transaction costs to SHG members and banks,
etc.

10. How can the role of NGOs be strengthened in India for development works relating to protection of the
environment? Discuss throwing light on the major constraints.
Answer There are large number of NGOs in India that are exclusively working for environmental protection,
conservation, and aware-ness. However, some of the major challenges faced by NGOs in this regard are:
(i)
Shortage of trained personnel in the field of environment protection.
(ii)
Lack of research and development facilities.
(iii)
Financial constraints.
(iv)
Lack of cooperation from the governmental agencies.
(v)
Difficulties in the mobility to remote locations of the country.
(vi)
Environmental NGOs are facing a credibility crisis with a number of cases of embezzlement and scandals
involving some of them coming to the fore.
For strengthening the role of NGOs, to make significant contribution in the field of environment the following steps
need to be taken:
(i)
Regulation: NGOs are not properly regulated in our country. Creating a separate regulatory authority for the
same is the need of the hour. It will help in solving many other problems ailing the NGOs.
(ii)
Strict compliance mechanism: NGOs have been recently under the scanner for their alleged violation of the
law of the land. Tax evasions and misappropriation of funds are some of the serious allegations. Some NGOs like
Greenpeace were involved in anti-development activities in the name of environmental issues, as highlighted by
Intelligence Bureau report. So, we need to put mechanisms in place for strict compliance of the laws, rules and
regulations.
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(iii)
Bringing NGOs under RTI Act : At present NGOs are not covered under RTI Act. This enables opaqueness in
their functioning. So bringing them under RTI Act will help in ensuring greater degree of transparency and
accountability.
(iv)
Cooperation: Greater degree of cooperation is needed between Government agencies, Corporate houses,
NGOs, Civil Society groups and people at large. This will help in taking a holistic approach towards environmental
issues.
(v)
Providing resource base : Environmental NGOs should be provided with adequate resources and training to
their members, so that they are able to carry out their work efficiently.
So, we need to strengthen the NGOs working in the environment field, so that together we can achieve our goal of
sustainable development.
11.
The quality of higher education in India requires major improvements to make it internationally
competitive. Do you think that the entry of foreign educational institutions would help improve the quality of
higher and technical education in the country? Discuss.
Answer The debate over whether foreign educational institutions should be allowed to operate in India is divided
into three camps.
(i)
The opponents argue that it would lead to commercialization of higher education, which would lead to
withdrawal of the government from the sector. It would also increase the disparity of access to quality education
between the rich and the poor.
(ii)
The proponents argue that it would increase choices for students, enhance competition in the sector with
potential for qualitative improvement in the Indian educational institutions, provide technical skills for the job
market and retain some of the funds that flow overseas.
(iii)
Some experts take a middle view arguing that foreign institutions should have limited entry so long as
certain concerns over the quality of the education provided, the type of subjects that would be taught, and the
possibility of faculty moving from Indian institutions are addressed.
In this regard a Bill was introduced in Parliament - The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and
Operations) Bill, 2010. However the problems facing Higher education system in India are different.
Driven by market opportunities and entrepreneurial zeal, many institutions are taking advantage of the lax
regulatory environment to offer 'degrees' not approved by Indian authorities, and many institutions are functioning
as pseudo non-profit organizations, developing sophisticated financial methods to siphon off the 'profits'.
Regulatory authorities like UGC and AICTE have been trying to extirpate private universities that run courses with no
affiliation or recognition. Students from rural and semi urban background often fall prey to these institutes and
colleges. One of the fundamental weaknesses of the system is lack of transparency and recommendations have been
made to mandate high standards of data disclosures by institutions on performance.
So, the way forward is, to focus more on strengthening and capacity building of our existing institutes, so that they
reach International standards. The shortcomings need to be removed by concerted effort.
12.
Public health system has limitations in providing universal health coverage. Do you think that the private
sector could help in bridging the gap? What other viable alternatives would you suggest?
Answer - Providing universal health coverage (UHC) to citizens is a priority. As with nearly 80 per cent of health
spending being out-of-pocket, health shocks are a major cause of poverty. The respective roles of the public and
private sectors in achieving Universal Health Care are a matter of major contention amongst policymakers. But, given
that the majority of all healthcare (approx. 93%) in India is provided by the private sector, it will have to play a major
role, in achieving UHC.
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Private sector can play a role in the following manner:

(i) Investments and health care infrastructure: Indias current public healthcare spending and infrastructure is
currently well short of what is required to fulfill its ambition of achieving universal health care. Large investments by
private sector players are likely to contribute significantly to the development of Indias hospital industry, which
comprises around 80 per cent of the total market.
(ii) Expertise and State-of-the-art facilities: Private sector will also bring expertise which will be crucial for providing
good quality secondary and tertiary healthcare sector to the masses. This is the major segment where people are
more vulnerable due to changing lifestyle. So, private sector has crucial role to play in this regard.
(iii) Increasing access: Access to quality health care services can be provided through private sector participation. In
rural areas, the main problem is of access. Initiatives like mobile health units, are bridging this gap.
(iv) Affordability: Poor people are unable to afford costly health insurance facilities. In that case private companies
can provide community health insurance services.
(v) Efficiency: Private sector participation will bring efficiency in overall functioning of health care system, as it will
also introduce competition. Functional autonomy to private hospitals, is needed along with regulatory oversight.
(vi) Outreach: Outreach of health services will also increase by private sector participation with grassroots
organization. Capacity of these grassroots organization will be built, over a period of time, to provide primary health
care services.
So, India needs Private sector participation in health care system, to bridge the existing gap. For this, one approach
can be Public-Private partnership. Many PPP initiatives in health care sector have been successful in the past like
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).
Other approaches to achieving UHC, can be through privatization of existing public hospitals, creation of new private
initiatives and subcontracting of public health centres to NGOs etc. some of these approaches have been tried in the
past, with mixed degree of results. To make these approaches viable, their shortcomings need to be found out and
removed.
So, India needs prudent compromises to achieve its UHC goals. Public sector should acknowledge its fiscal and
personnel constraints. Further, we need to leverage all available resources, public and private, formal and informal.
Finally, given the enormous diversity across states, it should avoid embracing one-size-fits-all models and allow
enough flexibility for local design experimentation within an overarching national UHC plan.
13.
Though there have been several different estimates of poverty in India, all indicate reduction in poverty
levels over time. Do you agree? Critically examine with reference to urban and rural poverty indicators.
Answer Over the years, different methods have been used for data collection and estimation of poverty levels in
India. Though the estimates have been different according to different committees, but overall there is a view that
poverty levels have declined in India.
In India, we have a long history of studies on the measurement of poverty. The methodology for the estimation of
poverty used by the erstwhile Planning Commission was based on recommendations made by various expert groups.
The Tendulkar Committee computed new poverty lines for rural and urban areas of each state. It concluded that
the all India poverty line was Rs 446.68 per capita per month in rural areas and Rs 578.80 per capita per month in
urban areas in 2004-05. The following table outlines the manner in which the percentage of population below the
poverty line changed after the application of the Tendulkar Committees methodology.
Committee
Rural Urban Total
Lakdawala Committee 28.3 25.7 27.5
Tendulkar Committee 41.8 27.5 37.2
Table below shows national poverty levels for the last twenty years, using methodology suggested by the Tendulkar
Committee. According to these estimates, poverty declined at an average rate of 0.74 percentage points per year
between 1993-94 and 2004-05, and at 2.18 percentage points per year between 2004-05 and 2011-12.
Year
Rural Urban Total
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1993 94
2004 05
2009 10
2011 12

50.1
41.8
33.8
25.7

31.8
25.7
20.9
13.7

45.3
37.2
29.8
21.9

However, The Rangarajan Committee has submitted the latest report on povert estimates. It has gone back to the
idea of separate poverty line baskets for rural and urban areas, unlike the Tendulkar Committee, which took urban
poverty as a given and used it as the common basket for rural and urban households.
The Expert Group (Rangarajan) estimates that the 30.9% of the rural population and 26.4% of the urban
population was below the poverty line in 2011-12. The all-India ratio was 29.5%. In rural India, 260.5 million
individuals were below poverty and in urban India 102.5 million were under poverty. Totally, 363 million were below
poverty in 2011-12.
The poverty ratio has declined from 39.6% in 2009-10 to 30.9% in 2011-12 in rural India and from 35.1% to 26.4% in
urban India. The decline was thus a uniform 8.7 percentage points over the two years. The all-India poverty ratio fell
from 38.2% to 29.5%. Totally, 91.6 million individuals were lifted out of poverty during this period. Compared
to the poverty lines based on the methodology of the Expert Group (Tendulkar), the poverty lines estimated by
the Expert Group (Rangarajan) are 19% and 41% higher in rural and urban areas, respectively.
So, the above analysis shows that while there is considerable difference between poverty estimates of different
committees, but there is a constant decline in poverty levels over the years.
14. In the light of the Satyam Scandal (2009), discuss the changes brought in corporate governance to ensure
transparency, accountability.
Answer - The scam brought to focus multiple flaws in corporate governance practices -- unethical conduct,
fraudulent accounting, dubious role of auditors, ineffective board, failure of independent directors and nondisclosure of pledged shares.
The Government brought in changes in the Companies Act in 2013, introducing a slew of measures to ensure
transparency and accountability in corporate affairs.

The new Companies Act require at least one-third of the Board as Independent Directors with tenure of initial 5
years and receives only fee and not stock options.

The new Act introduced strict norms on related party deals. This is a welcome step. This should go a long way in
bringing in transparency to transactions. The class action suit provision empowers minority shareholders and
protects their interests.

Section 92 of the Act provides that annual return prepared by companies must have disclosures regarding
matters related to certification of compliance and disclosures. They deal with related party transactions, intercorporate loans, investments, guarantees and conduct of postal ballot.

The directors are supposed to have devised a proper system to ensure compliance as they prepare the Boards
report, conforming to all applicable laws. An important norm was compulsory dematerialization of promoter
holdings to ensure transparency in the dealings of shares by promoters, especially pledge or usage as collateral
and its subsequent disclosure.

The SEBI made it mandatory to rotate individual auditors after five years and audit firms after 10 years to
improve the quality of financial reporting, detect any oversight and ensure independence of auditors in the true
sense.

The SEBI also directed the monitoring cell established by stock exchanges to ascertain the adequacy and
accuracy of disclosures. Companies were asked to compulsorily devise a whistle blower policy.
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In this way, corporate governance mechanisms have been improved in wake of Satyam scandal, to ensure
transparency and accountability.
15.
If amendment bill to the Whistleblowers Act, 2011 tabled in the Parliament is passed, there may be no
one left to protect. Critically evaluate.
Answer The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015 amends the Whistleblowers Act, 2011. These
amendments to the bill are being carried out with a view to incorporate necessary provisions aimed at strengthening
safeguards against disclosures which may prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of the country and
security of the state; strategic, scientific or economic interest of the state; relations with a foreign state or leads to
incitement of an offence. Some of the important provisions are:
The Bill prohibits the reporting of a corruption related disclosure if it falls under any 10 categories of information.
These categories include information related to: (i) economic, scientific interests and the security of India; (ii)
Cabinet proceedings, (iii) intellectual property; (iv) that received in a fiduciary capacity, etc.
The Act permits disclosures that are prohibited under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), 1923. The Bill reverses this to
disallow disclosures that are covered by the OSA.
Any public interest disclosure received by a Competent Authority will be referred to a government authorised
authority if it falls under any of the above 10 prohibited categories. This authority will take a decision on the matter,
which will be binding.
Analysis
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that the 10 prohibited categories are modelled on those
under the RTI Act, 2005. However, this comparison may not be appropriate. Unlike the RTI Act, disclosures under
the Bill are not made public but in confidence to a high level constitutional or statutory authority.
With regard to the 10 prohibited categories, the RTI Act allows (i) the public authority to disclose information if he
considers it to be in public interest; and (ii) a two stage appeal process if information is not made available. The Bill
does not contain such provisions.
A Competent Authority is required to refer a prohibited disclosure to a government authority for a final decision.
However, the Bill does not specify the minimum qualifications required or the process of appointment of this
authority.
Whistleblower laws in other countries also prohibit the disclosure of certain types of information. These include
information related to national security and intelligence, received in a fiduciary capacity, and any disclosure
specifically prohibited by a law.
While the Act sets out the procedure to inquire into the disclosures and provides adequate safeguards against
victimization of the whistleblower, it also seeks to provide punishment for false or frivolous complaints. The
wrongdoing might take the form of fraud, corruption or mismanagement.
Ensuring punishment for frivolous cases will act as a deterrent against those who try to misuse the legislation for
their vested interests. Undue interference and delay in decision making process can be checked if such safeguards
are in place.
So, the amendments are not meant to jeopardize the life of Whistleblowers. It is meant to strike a balance. Its
objective is to provide safeguards to both the stakeholders the public servants and the whistleblower.
16.
For achieving the desired objectives, it is necessary to ensure that the regulatory institutions remain
independent and autonomous. Discuss in the light of the experiences in recent past.
Answer With the increasing complexity of institutional mechanisms, it has become imperative to ensure
independence and autonomy of the regulatory bodies. Some of the examples reflect this clearly.
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1. Securities and Exchange Board of India: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was first established in the
year 1988 as a non-statutory body for regulating the securities market. Till 1992, SEBI was not an independent
regulator but was under government control. The stock market scam of 1992, paved the way for large scale reforms
in regulation of stock market. SEBI became an autonomous body in 1992 and more powers were given through an
ordinance. Recent fraudulent operation of Ponzi schemes further made it necessary to give more powers to SEBI.
Consequently, Securities Laws(Amendment) Act, 2014, was enacted. Over the years, SEBI has proved its credentials
as one of the best regulators of the country. This success is the result of its autonomy and independence in decision
making and functioning.
2. Forward Markets commission (FMC): It was the regulator of the commodities market. But due to lack of
autonomy, power and independence like that of SEBI, it failed to be effective in regulating the market. The volatility
in commodity market was a clear sign of this. It had very limited powers which restricted its range of operation.
National Spot Exchange (NSEL) Scam of 2013, further put FMC under pressure. FMC failed completely in checking
corruption, which ultimately resulted in scam of this extent. So, in 2015, it was merged with SEBI, which is a more
autonomous and competent regulator.
3. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)
is a national agency of the Government of India. It was formed by an Act of Indian Parliament known as IRDA Act
1999, which was amended in 2002 to incorporate some emerging requirements. It has also done commendable work
in regulating the insurance sector and increasing its penetration.
A regulator has important role of not just of regulating the entities, but also of consumer awareness, and deeper
penetration of services. With increasing complexity of various sectors and emerging new technologies, the
regulators need to be one step ahead in order to control the sector effectively.
So, the above examples clearly show the need for independence and autonomy in decision making and functioning
of regulatory institutions.
17.

Increasing interest of India in Africa has its pros and cons. critically examine.

Answer Pros of Indias Interest in Africa:

(i) India and Africa are aligned on the outstanding issues at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and are in
favor of multilateral trading systems. At the Bali Ministerial in 2013 too, Africa and India had united in seeking an
interim mechanism for safeguarding minimum support prices to farmers against WTO caps till a permanent solution
is found and adopted.
(ii) Cooperation to tackle terrorism: India strongly advocated stepped-up cooperation through intelligence exchange
and training with 54 African countries.
(iii) Cooperation on climate change between India and Africa, both who had contributed the least to global
warming,. Hence, there is convergence in our views, towards climate change action plan.
(iv) Theres a convergence of interest for reforming the Security Council. It is imperative for both sides to speak in
one voice for Security Council reforms.
(v) Economic significance: Africa is an important trade partner for India. India-Africa trade was worth almost $70
billion in 2014-15, and Indian companies invested some $30-35 billion in the continent over the past decade. It needs
to be taken beyond $100 billion.
(vi) People to people contact: There has been a welcome surge in people-to-people contacts as large numbers of
African entrepreneurs, medical tourists, trainees and students have started coming to India and Indian experts
and entrepreneurs have headed there.
(vii) Business-to-business links between India and several African nations have become increasingly important and
are driving the government-to-government relationship.(viii)
Stronger ties with Africa fit into Indias traditional
foreign policy milieu.
Cons:
(i) Political Instability in the African countries may affect our relations.
(ii) Threat of insurgent groups and terrorists. It is a big challenge for Indian Diaspora in African countries as well as
for the Indian companies operating there.
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(iii) Drugs trafficking: Many people from poor African countries get involved in drug trafficking business to earn
money. Liberal visa norms, can lead to drugs trafficking into India.
We should harness our assets in Africa, such as the Indian diaspora there; a growing acceptance of the
quality of our healthcare and educational facilities; relevance of our developmental model; and the greater
willingness of our private sector to engage the continent. The goodwill India enjoys in the continent is a result of the
principled anti-colonial positions the country took in the post-Independence era. Despite the above challenges,
India should cash in on the goodwill to build a stronger economic and political partnership with Africa in the
new century.
18.
Discuss the impediments India is facing in its pursuit of a permanent seat in UN Security Council.
Answer India is facing challenges on multiple fronts, in its pursuit of a permanent seat in the United Nations
Security Council. Some of these are:
Opposition to the expansion:
(i) Uniting for Consensus (UfC): It is a movement, nicknamed the Coffee Club, that developed in the 1990s in
opposition to the possible expansion of the United Nations Security Council. Under the leadership of Italy, it aims
to counter the bids for permanent seats proposed by G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) and is
calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the Security Council.
(ii) Opposition regarding type of reform: India along with Brazil, Germany and South Africa are demanding
increasing the number of permanent members. However, countries in the UfC demands a 25-member Security
Council with more non-permanent members instead of a few more permanent members.
(iii) Regarding Veto Power : Three powerful members of the UNSC Russia, China, and the U.S. are
opposed to any major restructuring of the Council, and do not want to extend veto power to other countries.
Whereas, India favours provision of veto powers to new permanent members.
(iv) Global Security role: The major Western criticism has been that India has not shouldered global security
responsibilities. Like India didnt participate in Libya or Syria, along with the western forces.
(v) Indias nuclear stand: India has not signed the Global Nuclear agreements like CTBT, NPT etc. Western countries
keep it as a precondition for India, to seek permanent membership in UNSC.
Indias argument for UNSC seat:
(i)India is among the founding members of United Nations.
(ii)It is the worlds largest democracy and Asias third largest economy.
(iii) The Indian Army is the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping mission since the inception of the
mission.
(iv) More important, Indias foreign policy has historically been aligned with world peace, and not with conflicts.
(v) It has been a member of UNSC for 7 terms and a member of G-77 and G-4, so permanent membership is a logical
extension.
Meaningful reform of the Council to make it more representative and democratic would strengthen the UN to
address the challenges of a changing world more effectively. The permanent members should realize that a more
democratic and representative Security Council would be better-equipped to address global challenges.
So, if the UN still shies away from reforming the Security Council, the possibility of the institution being
sidelined by emerging powers cannot be ruled out.
19.
Project `Mausam is considered a unique foreign policy initiative of the Indian Government to improve
relationship with its neighbors. Does the project have a strategic dimension? Discuss.
Answer Project Mausam: Maritime Routes and Cultural Landscapes across the Indian Ocean, the project focuses
on the natural wind phenomenon, especially monsoon winds used by Indian sailors in ancient times for maritime
trade, that has shaped interactions between countries and communities connected by the Indian Ocean.

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The endeavour of Project Mausam is to position itself at two levels: at the macro level, it aims to re-connect and reestablish communications between countries of the Indian Ocean world, which would lead to an enhanced
understanding of cultural values and concerns; while at the micro level, the focus is on understanding national
cultures in their regional maritime milieu.
The central themes that hold Project Mausam together are those of cultural routes and maritime landscapes that
not only linked different parts of the Indian Ocean littoral, but also connected the coastal centres to their
hinterlands. More importantly, shared knowledge systems and ideas spread along these routes and impacted both
coastal centres, and also large parts of the environs.
The government will seek to draw on its ancient linkages with countries in this region as it offers an
alternative which could counter-balance the maritime silk route of China. India also faces the onerous task of
matching China's emphasis on building landmark infrastructure in the region, including ports in Sri Lanka and
Pakistan. While the facilities are said to be civilian, India fears China getting operational control of these.
So, the project has a strategic significance. Increasing Cooperation with littoral countries of Indian Ocean will
strengthen Indias role in the Indian Ocean. It will counter the Chinese influence in the region. Also it will increase
the security architecture in the Indian Ocean, safeguarding Indias long coastline.
20.
Terrorist activities and mutual distrust have clouded India-Pakistan relations. To what extent the use of
soft power like sports and cultural exchanges could help generate goodwill between the two countries? Discuss
with suitable examples.
Answer Soft power is the ability of a country to persuade others to do what it wants without resorting to force or
coercion. Use of soft power like sports and cultural exchanges provide a promising opportunity to infuse fresh
degree of trust in India Pakistan relations, in the following manner:
(i)

Peopletopeople contacts will help in driving government-to- government relations. For example, people
from Pakistan coming to India for better healthcare services or Pakistan actors working in Bollywood etc
creates such goodwill.

(ii)

More cultural exchanges will erode away the distrust. People will know more of our cultural similarity, rather
than emphasizing on differences. For example, folk dances across the border have similar representation of
lifestyle of people.

(iii)

Negating the role of Pakistani Military and Non state actors: They have a considerable influence on the
foreign policy of Pakistan towards India. They are the main reasons for growing distrust between the two
countries. But, use of soft power can negate the role of these players.

(iv)

Building Conducive Environment: Use of soft power will help in creating suitable environment for carrying
forward other diplomatic initiatives. So, the setting for peace-talks and other engagements with Pakistan can
be provided by the use of soft power.

However, the scope and extent of soft power approach, with respect to our foreign policy towards Pakistan is very
limited. It can create conducive environments, but it cannot solve the outstanding issues between the two countries.
It can remove the distrust, but not remove the terrorists themselves.
For example, our initiative to start bus and train services between the two countries was an excellent example of our
soft power approach. It helped in generating lots of goodwill among people of both the countries. However, the
Pakistan Army became the game spoiler by attacking India in Kargil. Then we had to resort to war, to hand over a
decisive and humiliating defeat to the enemy.
So, we cannot rely completely on soft power to secure our national interests, with respect to Pakistan. We just need
to leverage our soft power, by using it to support larger foreign policy objectives. At the same time we need to use
hard power approach to solve the outstanding issues. At present, issues like punishing of Mumbai blast accused,
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Kashmir and cross-border terrorism are the ones where we cannot go soft. So, we need a mix of both soft power and
hard power.
Programs for 2016
1.
2.
3.

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All India Prelims Test Series 2016

All India Essay Test Series 2016
Ethics and Integrity Module 2016

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