UPSC Mains 2019 GS Paper 2 with Solution - 2 | UPSC Previous Year Question Papers and Video Analysis PDF Download

Q.11. On what grounds a people’s representative can be disqualified under the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951? Also mention the remedies available to such person against his disqualification.

The Representation of the People Act, 1951 provides for the conduct of elections to the Houses of Parliament and to the Houses of the State Legislature, the provisions regarding qualification and disqualification for the membership, and remedies of disputes in connection with such elections.

The Act of 1951 has laid down certain criteria for disqualifications. According to it, the person is disqualified if he/she:

• is found guilty of certain election offences or corrupt practices in the elections;
• is convicted for any offence resulting in imprisonment for two or more years (except for the detention under a preventive detention law);
• has failed to lodge an account of his/her election expenses within the time;
• has any interest in government contracts, works or services;
• is a director or managing agent or holds an office of profit in a corporation in which the government has at least 25% share;
• has been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the State;
• has been convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offence of bribery;
• has been punished for preaching and practising social crimes such as untouchability, dowry and sati.

The Act of 1951 also provides for the following remedies against disqualification:

• An election can be called in question only by an election petition. Election petitions are to be heard in the High Court with its appeal lying at the Supreme Court. They act as a mechanism of grievance redressal for the affected parties.
• Furthermore, on the question of whether a legislator is subject to any of the disqualifications the final authority to decide rests with the President (in case of members of Parliament) and the Governor (in case of members of State legislature).
• However, the President or Governor shall act according to the advice of the Election Commission of India.
• In case of any enquiry, the Election Commission is conferred the powers of a civil court for summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person or any evidence.
• Besides, after a legislator is disqualified, the Election Commission may, on certain grounds, remove any disqualification or reduce the period of any disqualification.

Q.12. Parliament’s power to amend the constitution is limited power and it cannot be enlarged into absolute power”. In light of this statement explain whether parliament under Article 368 of the constitution can destroy the Basic structure of the constitution by expanding its amending power?

Article 368 of the Indian constitution gives the parliament the power to amend by way of addition, variation or repeal any provision of the constitution in accordance with the procedure laid down by the law. The power to amend the constitution is necessary to overcome the challenges and to meet the demands for the nation’s growth and development.

However, in the process of amending the constitution under Article 368, the Parliament at times have breached the constitutional limits by transgressing the areas related to federal relation between Union and States, issues of Individual liberty and to a certain extent misused Article 368 itself. This is evident from amendments like 25th and 42nd Constitutional amendment Acts which has threatened the principle of constitutionalism.

Therefore, the Supreme Court intervened to create a harmonious balance between fundamental rights and the Directive Principles which eventually led to the emergence of the doctrine of ‘basic structure’ of the constitution.

The emergence and the application of the doctrine of ‘basic structure’ can be seen in light of following Supreme Court judgments:

1. Kesavananda Bharati Case (1973): The Supreme Court held that Parliament’s power to amend the constitution is limited as it cannot alter the ‘basic structure’ of the constitution.
   • A limited amending power is one of the basic features of the constitution and, therefore, the limitations on that power cannot be destroyed.
   • Parliament cannot, under Article 368, expand its amending power so as to acquire for itself the right to repeal or abrogate the Constitutional provisions which threatens the basic features or the Constitution itself.
2. Minerva Mills v/s Union of India Case (1980): The Supreme Court struck down clauses (4) and (5) of Article 368 inserted by 42nd Amendment, on the ground that these clauses destroyed the essential feature of the basic structure of the constitution.
3. Chandra Kumar v/s Union of India (1997): The judgment held that every provision of the Constitution was open to amendment provided the basic foundation or structure of the Constitution was not damaged or destroyed.

Thus, Parliament is restricted in its power to amend the Constitution so that the soul of Constitution as envisaged by founding father of India remains intact. It is to be noted that, the doctrine of basic structure does not undermine the legislative competence of the parliament, rather it helps in maintaining the supremacy of the constitution and upholding the constitutional spirit.

Q.13. “The reservation of seats for women in the institutions of local self - government has had a limited impact on the patriarchal character of the Indian Political Process.” Comment. 

A million women have been elected at the village, block and district levels, following the 73rd Constitutional Amendment which reserved 33 percent of seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions for women. The process of decentralization has provided representation but representation has not always led to their participation in the Indian political process.

Patriarchal Character of Indian Political Process

• The practice of “Sarpanchpatis”: The effective political power and decision making are wielded by husbands or other male relatives of elected women representatives. This makes the intended empowerment of women through reservation infructuous.
• Rubber stamps: Most of these women are just rubber stamps with the men in their house- can be the husband, father or the son - running the show. They also work as proxies for rural elites hence restricting their autonomy.
• Lack of exposure of women themselves to politics and the absence of any experience in exercising their political responsibilities hinder their participation. Since most women are illiterate and do not have any training of handling technical issues and financial deals, they have no option but to take assistance from male family members.
• Stereotypes and traditional norms: This relegates women to the domestic sphere and dissuades them to engage in public affairs. Caste and class factors also play a key role that restrict women to take leadership roles.
• The burden of household responsibilities, purdah (veil) system, etc adversely affect their performance.

However, there have also been many positive impacts of women representation:

• Women have done considerable development work on the ground, for example, women sarpanch of Dhani Miyan Khan Gram Panchayat in Haryana built a training centre for women and ensured that every village child went to school.
• Elected women representatives are also more accessible than their male counterparts who are often not around.
• It has been seen that though women lacked confidence initially but exposure to local politics gave them new confidence to take independent decisions and not become a proxy of male candidates.
• There has been a marked improvement in social development parameters such as education and health where panchayats are led by women.

Way forward

• Capacity Building of Elected Women Representatives (EWR) and Functionaries of PRIs: This would prepare women to discharge multiple roles, enabling them to raise local priorities to the planning process.
• Strengthening women’s groups and building networks: Formation of women’s forums and networks to develop a sense of solidarity amongst the women.
• Institutionalisation of mechanisms to strengthen the capacity building of EWRs to better understand and perform their functions.
• Mobilisation of community and strengthening the processes of constituency building to enable women to better articulate their voices and participate in the electoral process.

The reservation of women at the local level has had various social and developmental impacts like promotion of nutrition, sanitation drive, behavioral changes, etc. Also, women are more aware of their rights now which could be seen in women voters outnumbering men voters in states like Bihar. However, women’s participation in politics in a true sense is still to be realized. Their participation in the political process is a matter of human right and a key in deepening our democracy. It would also help India in realizing the SDG-5 (Sustainable Development Goal) that aims to end gender inequality in all forms.

Q.14. “The Attorney-General is the chief legal adviser and lawyer of the Government of India.” Discuss.

The Constitution under Article 76 has provided for the office of the Attorney-General for India (AGI). He is appointed by the President and holds the office during the pleasure of the President. He must be a person who is qualified to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court.

As the chief legal adviser of the Government of India, the Attorney-General has the following duties:

• To give advice to the Government of India on legal matters, which are referred to him by the President.
• To perform other duties of a legal character that are assigned to him by the President.
• To discharge the functions conferred on him by the Constitution or any other law.

The AGI is the highest law officer in the country and acts as the lawyer of the Government of India. Through a notification of 1950, he has been assigned the following duties by the President:

• To appear on behalf of the Government of India in the Supreme Court and high courts.
• To represent the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.

Along with these duties, the AGI also has the right of audience in all courts in the territory of India. He also enjoys all the privileges and immunities that are available to a member of Parliament.

However, the Attorney-General is not the full-time counsel of the Government. He does not fall in the category of government servants and he is not debarred from private legal practice. But, he should not advise or hold a brief against the Government of India and he should not defend accused persons in criminal prosecutions without the permission of the Government of India.

Thus, the duties and privileges of the AGI, combined with the limitations imposed on him, make him the chief legal adviser and lawyer of the Government of India. Nevertheless, the separate law minister in the Central cabinet to look after legal matters at the government level, to some extent, gives the office of AGI a subordinate position.

Q.15. Individual Parliamentarian’s role as the national law maker is on a decline, which in turn, has adversely impacted the quality of debates and their outcome. Discuss.

The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 was introduced as a private member’s Bill by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Tiruchi Siva, and passed by the Rajya Sabha in April 2015. It was the first time in four decades that the Rajya Sabha had passed a private member’s Bill. The Bill brought into picture the plight of transgenders in the country and mainstreamed the issue in the public debate.

Ministers or parliamentarians representing a political party are often bound by populist decision making, election manifestos and the ideology that governs the party. Individual parliamentarians or the private members are free from such boundations and offer a more fertile ground, on the floor of the Parliament, for dissent and debate around various issues that affect the nation.

However, the Individual Parliamentarian’s role as national law maker has been on a decline of late. From 2014-2018 about 900 private member Bills were introduced in the Parliament but not even 2% of these bills were discussed.

In a mature parliamentary system, all ideas should be debated and decided upon. While the legislative ideas piloted by the government get discussed, the ideas of individual MPs get accumulated and more than often remain ignored.

Reasons for the Decline

• A successful passing of a private member’s Bill is often perceived by many as incompetence on the part of the government and intrusion into the respective Ministry’s domain. If such a legislation is seen getting support in Parliament, the government requests the MP to withdraw it and promises to introduce it as a Government Bill instead.
• Without support from the ruling party or a party that commands majority, it becomes impossible to pass a private member’s Bill especially in the Lok Sabha.
• There has also been a shift to law-making by ordinance, which completely bypasses the formal route of debate and discussions. For e.g., the promulgation of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2018.
• Even individual parliamentarians are obliged to toe the party line, through regulatory frameworks like the Anti-Defection Act. This discourages any deviation from the party decision and takes out the possibility of diverse perspectives that parliamentarians as individuals can offer.
• Quality of the elected Individual Parliamentarians also affect the quality of debate and discussions in the house. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms’ report (2014), 30% of sitting MPs and MLAs were facing some form of criminal proceedings, and only 0.5% were convicted of criminal charges in a court of law.
• Currently, a large part of the voting population views their representatives as their problem solvers. So they are willing to vote for a candidate who can get things done ignoring his involvement in a crime.

Way Forward

The Anti-Defection Act needs to be recast, and used only in the most exceptional circumstances, while allowing MPs greater freedom of self-expression.

• The UK, for example, has the concept of a free vote allowing MPs to vote as they wish on particular legislative items. This in effect allows voting in line with the parliamentarians’ conscience, judgement and interests of her electorate.

Research staff and resources should be increased for Individual Parliamentarians as the availability of expert in-house advice can further boost their ability to contribute to the national law making process.

People’s perception of what they want from their representative should change so that MPs can be viewed as lawmakers with character and integrity. This requires a fresh pool of candidates who can appeal to the voters by their abilities as good lawmakers with innovative ideas.

However, apart from paying respect and giving encouragement to the legislations framed by the Individual Parliamentarians, several other issues also need to be addressed to improve the overall quality of discussions in the Indian Parliament and in governance in India. For eg, Members of Parliament have to address their low attendance and increase their engagement in the discussions. Similarly they have to utilise the limited parliamentary time for proceedings judiciously without unnecessary disruption.

Q.16. ‘In the context of neo-liberal paradigm of development planning, multi-level planning is expected to make operations cost-effective and remove many implementation blockages.” Discuss.

India underwent a transition in its developmental planning from macro policy planning to neo-liberal policies in the 1990s. There has also been a gradual shift towards Multi Level Planning in recent times. Multilevel planning integrates decision-makers at all spatial levels in the planning process through negotiations, deliberations, and consultations. This makes policies relevant and need-based. It also sets up process mechanisms/institutions for affecting such cooperation at each required stage.

Cost-effectiveness operations and better Implementation

• Tackling Corruption: Through empowerment and involvement of local bodies, various discrepancies in developmental implementation can be solved. This can help enormously in increasing the effectiveness of poverty alleviation programmes as could be seen through the stellar example of MGNREGA.
• Simplification of the implementation process: This is done by ensuring appropriate role clarity, removing overlapping jurisdictions and establishing necessary linkages across sectoral departments. This will reduce the red-tapism in the administrative setup.
• Reducing Planning-Implementation Mismatch: The planning process will access the capacity of administration and local institutions to implement the objectives of the macro-plan on the ground. Thus it would help in need better outcome and reduce mismatch.
• Active people’s participation: It incorporates a mechanism to intensively engage with people to make more relevant policies. This helps to access the needs and interests of people who are intended to be the beneficiaries of the developmental process.
• Deepen democratic traditions: Multi-Level planning would create a sense of ownership among various administrative units. This would also empower the district level planning committee to contribute to overall policy making. It deepens the democratic tradition in policymaking and its implementation.
• Reducing Regional disparities: Decentralised planning will help suitability of the implementation strategies and resource allocation for desired outcomes. It would increase the effectiveness of government schemes.
• Better supervision and monitoring: Multi-level planning help in making people and lower administration an active stakeholder in the developmental process. Such planning improves the supervision and monitoring of scarce government resources.
• Promote competitive and cooperative federalism: Strong emphasis is given on participatory development action from the local level upwards.

Way forward

• Promoting Evidence-based planning: It harnesses the knowledge gained from data and information and using it to optimize our planning process and improve results.
• Training of Local Government officials in policy making: This would enable their active participation in the policymaking process and its implementation.
• Revamping District Planning Committee: This is an essential component in the process of decentralised planning as they hold consultation, debate and deliberation and integrates consensus-based choices.

Niti Aayog has taken various initiatives to develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government. Similarly, Aspirational District Scheme is also an innovative step in the direction of multi-level planning and implementation. Going further, more such steps should be taken to usher good governance in the country.

Q.17. The need for cooperation among various services sectors has been an inherent component of development discourse. Partnership bridges the gap among the sectors. It also sets in motion a culture of ‘collaboration’ and ‘team spirit’. In the light of statements above examine India’s development process.

India continues to remain one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Despite recent slowdown, India’s growth of real GDP has been high with average growth of 7.5% in the last five years. As per Economic Survey 2018-19, the services sector accounts for 54% of India GVA. FDI equity inflows into the services sector account for more than 60% of the total FDI equity inflows into India.

Components of Indian services sector

There are twelve identified sectors where the government wants to give focused attention for promoting their development which are:

• Education Services
• Health & Wealth Services
• Accounting & Finance Services
• Financial services
• Tourism & Hospitality Services
• Transport & Logistics Services
• Legal Services
• Telecommunication Services
• Media & Entertainment services
• IT & IT enabled services
• Consultation & Related engineering services
• Environmental services

Cooperation among various services sub-sectors

• Initiative of Bharatmala project not only provide connectivity through better transportation services but also creates employment in construction sector thereby promoting tourism in remote areas.
• UDAAN scheme to boost air connectivity not only promotes regional development but also leads to growth in housing and real estate sector, construction, building materials, tourism, etc.
• ISRO’s technology of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for electric vehicles (EV) is being used in the automobile sector.
• Increasing digital connectivity through BharatNet project benefitted education and health services in rural areas.
• e-Commerce services reaching the rural areas through increased mobile internet connectivity.
• Initiatives like Start-up India giving boost to start-ups in multiple domains like health care, inter-city cab services, online food delivery businesses, etc.
• Investment in higher education produces high quality IT professionals needed for the fast growing IT services sector.

Hence, different sectors have functional inter-linkages and investment in one sector creates multiplier effect benefitting the entire economy.

Cooperation at leadership level

The fastest growing Indian economy provides vast opportunity for collaboration among different departments of the government and with businesses as well. This can be seen in India’s development process through the following examples:

• Government initiative to provide focused attention to 12 identified Champion services sectors through partnership at different levels.
• Introduction of GST required collaboration among centre, states, and with business groups.
• Introduction of Government e-Marketplace as a technology driven platform to facilitate procurement of goods and services by various ministries and agencies of the government.
• NITI Aayog facilitating implementation of programmes and focus on technology upgradation and capacity building, fostering better inter-ministry coordination and better centre-state coordination.

Services sector not only promotes economic growth but also creates opportunity for development in human capital. Thus, India’s huge demographic dividend can only be productively utilized if there is a culture of ‘collaboration’ and ‘team spirit’ at all levels of governance architecture.

Q.18. Performance of welfare schemes that are implemented for vulnerable sections is not so effective due to absence of their awareness and active involvement at all stages of policy process. Discuss.

The welfare schemes are the schemes, designed to provide the necessary means for the development of individuals, groups or a community. Generally, they are targeted towards the vulnerable and marginalised section of the society.

However, It is observed that the benefits intended to be delivered to the people through these schemes do not reach the beneficiaries because of weakness in administrative planning delivery mechanism and lack of awareness of the targeted groups. It is also observed that many development projects and programmes have failed in the past because of the inadequacies in design, implementation,involvement and general awareness about the policy in the public.

Ineffectiveness of the Policies

• Weak professional support to design, implement and monitor schemes at national, state and local levels.
• Too realistic or too optimistic assumptions, based on technical and non-technical parameters without the knowledge of the local situation, proper database and resource constraints, making the policies suffer at last.
• Poor policy formulation due to the unawareness about the vulnerable sections and area specific approach to handle distinct groups.
• No systematic attempt to identify people who need welfare schemes, determine their needs, address them and enable them properly.
• Inadequate analysis of environmental and rehabilitation implications.
• Delays in clearances from regulatory authorities for land acquisition and in procurement of resources due to poor planning and coordination.
• Inability of the project management to take prompt decisions on various levels of policy making even if they are necessary to achieve the objectives.
• There is no consistent approach in the design of delivery mechanisms and do not provide flexibility needed for different development levels of a policy.
• Lack of strict time frames, financial mechanisms and inter agency cooperation pose challenges.
• Most of the schemes are unrelated to each other with little horizontal convergence or vertical integration resulting in conflicts.
• Policies and programmes are not evaluated on their outcomes instead focus stays on monitoring finances.
• No method to ensure that policies reach everybody they are meant for.

The quality of policy framework and effectiveness of implementation of the policies are as important as the availability of resources for the realisation of the intended policy objectives. Availability of funds alone is not sufficient for tackling socio-economic problems like poverty and backwardness. Both implementing bodies as well as the benefitting people have to be aware of each others’ situations and work harmoniously.

Q.19. ‘The long-sustained image of India as a leader of the oppressed and marginalised nations has disappeared on account of its new found role in the emerging global order.’ Elaborate.

As the founding member of the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM), India propagated its vision among the newly independent countries of the colonized world to not align with any of the power blocks as these newly independent countries were weak in terms of military, economics and development aspects.

These ideas of Non Alignment, Peaceful Cooperation and Co-existence, End of Imperialism and Colonialism have made India one of the leaders of the marginalized nations.

The leadership and idealistic credentials of India was sustained and can be seen:

• During the cold war era.
• Upholding the interests of the smaller economies in Doha round of WTO.
• Supporting the cause of vulnerable nations during the Climate change negotiations.

Shift in India’s approach towards its strategic foreign policy perspective:

• Economic Development is now a major agenda of India’s growth as a world power, which is now reflected in India’s foreign policy.
• This trend was observed in NAM Summit Havana 2006, where India focused on anti-terrorism, nuclear disarmament, energy security, investing in Africa and such issues which are vital to India’s growth and doesn’t resemble priorities of developing or marginalized countries.
• India has actively supported the cause of developing and marginalized nation in Climate Change negotiations by thrusting on “differentiated responsibility” but recently diluted its stand in Paris negotiations.
• India has also been blamed for interfering in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries, for instance, Nepal, which led to friction in relations between the two nations.
• In regional forum SAARC, India has hard pressed its agenda of boycotting Pakistan, which resulted in the non-functioning of SAARC, which may result in delaying of development projects of SAARC in our smaller neighbouring nations.
• India’s involvement in QUAD, its focus on Indo Pacific Regional Growth and countering China has became its top priority.

These inferences are pointing towards shift in India’s approach from the leader of the oppressed countries to a great power in its own terms. India’s approach is shifting from Idealism to Realism and is prioritizing its national interests over the collective interests of the developing countries.

Q.20. “What introduces friction into the ties between India and the United States is that Washington is still unable to find for India a position in its global strategy, which would satisfy India’s National self-esteem and ambitions” Explain with suitable examples.

In 2016, the United States designated India as ‘major defence partner’, a status unique to India. However, recently, the US foreign and economic policies have started to appear against India’s self-esteem and ambitions. There are several issues that introduce friction into what US considers its global strategy and what India envisages as its self-esteem and ambitions.

• West Asia: The US’ West Asia policy is aligned in line with that of Israel and Saudi Arabia which stands adversarial to that of Iran. But for India, a strong, united and peaceful Iran holds significance not only for its oil imports but also for the Chabahar port and International North-South Transport Corridor (INTC) that will enable India to have a reach to Central Asia and counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, this stands opposed to the US policy of restricting Iran’s influence in the region. The US has pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement and subsequently imposed sanctions under Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on Iran.
• Afghanistan: Political development in Kabul have always had its implications in New Delhi. Situation in Afghanistan also poses security risks for India given Pakistan’s close proximity to the Taliban. This is more so given India’s huge investments in Afghanistan to bring peace and stability there. But the US policy has moved to focus on its withdrawal of troops. Any peace deal with the Taliban, an insurgent body, will legitimise the terrorist activities and hurt India’s interests.
• Russia: India’s strategic relations with Russia have historically been very significant and useful given Russia’s veto power at the Security Council. Russia is also the major defence partner of India. It is also emerging as a major option to meet India’s energy requirements. But, as bequeathed by the Cold War, the US considers Russia as its adversary and it has brought Russia under the CAATSA. This stood opposed to India’s defence deals with Russia involving the S-400 missile systems.
• Trade relations: Being a developing country, India wants to bring millions of its masses out of poverty and to have a strong economic footprint globally. The US is a major trade partner in this context and it Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) has been a useful mechanism for India. But the US’ policy to bring back jobs home and to restrict China’s growth trajectory has negative fallout on India. The US has accused India of not opening the Indian economy for American trade by means of tariffs, intellectual property regulations, subsidies, etc. and has clamped tariffs on Indian exports to America.

Moreover, the USA’s National Defense Strategy 2018 marked Russia and China as its central challenge and for the US India is an ideal balancer against rising China. In this context, India must convince the US that a strong India is in concurrence with the US’ interest. Besides, India must follow strategic hedging i.e. simultaneous engagements with major powers because in international relations, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests.