GS Paper - I Model Answers (2023) - 2 | UPSC Mains Answer Writing: Practice PDF Download

Q12: What were the major technological changes introduced during the Sultanate period? How did those technological changes influence the Indian society? (250 words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
Advent of Turks, infused India with new ideas in almost every field including technology and science.

Technological Changes in Various Fields -

1. Agriculture:
   • In irrigation, Persian Wheel (Saqia) was introduced.
   • Sultans like Muhammad Bin Tughlaq also established many model farms to disseminate good agricultural techniques.
   • Firoz Shah Tughlaq introduced many new techniques in horticulture, he founded nearly 1200 fruit gardens.
2. Trade and Craft:
   • In cotton cloth production, Charkha and carder's bow were introduced, increasing textile production. Rangsazi, coloring of cloth, became a prominent profession. Sultans promoted technique sericulture.
   • Paper technology became important, as use of paper became important. Apart from Delhi Sultans, regional rulers like Zain-ul-Abedin promoted bookbinding technique.
   • Glass technique improved due to influence from Middle East. Sultans promoted new techniques in leather production, carpet and shawls production, stone polishing.
3. Military Technique:
   • Turks brought better horse-riding technique. Also, the Turkish archers used a bow, called Navik, with entirely new technique.
4. Art and Architecture:
   • Sultanate period saw the introduction of scientific methods of building arches and domes. A good example is Alai Darwaja constructed by Allauddin Khilji.
   • Compared to Indian style of using stones in buildings, Muslims used bricks and gypsum as mortar or binding material in construction technique. 
5.  Impact on Indian Society:
   •  Agricultural production increased because of new techniques and surplus production which could sustain urbanization. Most historians believe that 3rd Phase of urbanization in India came with the advent of Turks.
   • Economic activities became very dynamic and diverse and cotton cloth production became much better.
   • New architectural styles emerged in form of Indo-Islamic architecture by confluence of the Indian and Islamic architectural techniques.

Conclusion
The new techniques introduced in Sultanate time had deep and permanent impact on society reflecting that Sultanate period was period of dynamism.

Q13: How did the colonial rule affect the tribals in India and what was the tribal response to the colonial oppression? (250 words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
Tribals occupied the forest areas and the resource richness of these areas attracted the British to these areas for their commercial potential. The British policies thus led to unwanted interference in tribal societies.

Impact of colonial policies on Tribals -

• Land revenue policies such as zamindari system led to forced commercialisation in tribal regions. Regions under Chaur and Munda tribe.
• Policy of interference in social and religious practice enabled the British to stop such tribal acts, for example Mariah sacrifice among tribal Khond. Many Christian missionaries tried to convert tribals to Christianity affecting their cultural rights. Britishers banned local liquor and mandated leases to outsiders to brew palm liquor.
• Expansionist policy where tribal communities faced land dispossession and encroachments by colonial powers and landlords, for example in Santhal tribal areas.
• Protection of Forest rights through Forests Act such as Forests Act (1865), and Indian Forests Act (1878) restricted tribal access to forests and natural resources, further affecting their traditional hunting, gathering, and agricultural practices like jhum cultivation. (Chenchu).
• Commercialisation of forests:
  • Opening of forests encouraged penetration of moneylenders and outsiders who exploited tribals. 
  • Need for Oak and Timber for Railways and Navy made Britishers control forests and change their character.
• Criminalisation of tribes: Britishers criminalised many tribals who were engaged in long distance trade as criminal tribes and ostracised them.
• Response of Tribals towards Colonial rule -
  • Resistance and Rebellion: Some tribal communities actively resisted colonial rule through armed uprisings and rebellions. Ex. Santhal Rebellion of 1855-1856 in Bengal and Bastar Rebellion of 1910 in Central India. 
  • Isolation and Avoidance: some tribes (in Himalayan regions) chose to isolate themselves from colonial authorities and maintain their traditional ways of life in remote areas. They avoided contact with outsiders to protect their culture, land, and autonomy.
• Cultural Preservation: Some tribes responded to colonialism by making efforts to preserve their cultural heritage and traditions. Ex. Birsa Munda urged Mundas to give up drinking liquor, clean their village, and stop believing in witchcraft.
• Non-violent means: In certain cases, tribal leaders and communities opted for violating the laws and rules of the British such as in Bhagat movement tribal members refused to pay the land rent. Chenchu tribe launched Forest Satyagraha during the non-cooperation movement.

Conclusion
Rise of colonial interference in the tribal regions across India gave rise to the anti-British sentiments during the 19th and early 20th century. This helped the nationalist leaders to unite these tribal regions after Independence following the policy of non-interference and inclusive development.

Q14: Comment on the resource potentials of the long coastline of India and highlight the status of natural hazard preparedness in these areas. (250 words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
India''s long coastline of 7517 km is rich in varied resources which can harnessed for development of blue economy.

Energy Resources:

• Shale deposits along coasts of Gujarat, TN and Andhra Pradesh
• Rich Methane Hydrate deposits along the KG Basin. (Not yet harnessed).

Renewable Energy Potential:

• Significant wind energy potential (665 GW) along with offshore wind.
• •    Tropical coasts of India have vast solar energy potential.
• •    Tidal energy and OTEC

Mineral Resources

•    Monazite sands and critical minerals important for India's nuclear energy security.

•    Placer deposits rich in titanium and gold along coasts

•    Salt production and export principally in Gujarat.

•    Sand and construction material from coasts.

Food Resources

•    Rich in fisheries - Rich source of protein and exports.

•    Seaweeds for food and fertilisers.

Though India has rich resources along its coastal areas, we have not been able to succesfully harness them due to technological, policy and financial bottlenecks. There is a need for a comprehensive Blue Economy Policy for harness these resources. 

Natural Hazard Preparedness in coastal areas:
India's coastal areas suffer from the following natural disasters: Cyclone, Tsunami, Storm surges, coastal erosion. Climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of natural hazards in coastal areas and sea level rise leading to risk of submergence of coastal areas.

Steps taken for Preparedness:

• Legal framework: Disaster Management Act, 2005 provides framework for handling of natural disaster among NDMA at Central Level, SDMA at State Level and District Magistrate at Local level.
• Early warning systems:
  
• Guidelines: NDMA has developed comprehensive guidelines for Tsunami and Cyclones but similar guidelines have not yet been developed for other hazards in the coastal areas such as storm surges.

Conclusion
Thus, to sustainable harness the resource potential there is a need for develop a comprehensive policy framework for addressing coastal disasters in line with Sendai Framework of Disaster Management. 

Q15: Identify and discuss the factors responsible for diversity of natural vegetation in India. Assess the significance of wildlife sanctuaries in rain forest regions of India. (250 words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
India, with its vast expanse, showcases a rich array of natural vegetation, a direct manifestation of its diverse climatic conditions. This diversity, rooted in variations in temperature and precipitation, plays a pivotal role in shaping the country's ecological landscape.

Factors responsible for diversity of Natural Vegetation in India

1. Physiographic factors
   • Altitude: Lower areas have rain forests in Kerala and upper reaches have temperate sholas.
   • Aspect: Southern slopes of Himalayas have dense forest as well as tree line upto higher altitude compared to northern slopes.
   • Leeward-Windward side: windward side of western ghats have tropical evergreen and leeward side has deciduous vegetation.
2. Climate-related factors: Temperature and precipitation are the major factors. Areas of high rainfall and high temperature like western Kerala and Andaman Islands have evergreen forests. Western Rajasthan having high aridity has xerophytic vegetation.
3. Soil variations: Edaphic factors like silt and clayey soil having good organic matter better supports the growth of mangroves as compared to sandy soils. E.g Bhitarkanika and Sundarban.
4. Photoperiod: Longer duration of sunlight promotes dense vegetation.

Significance wildlife sanctuaries in rainforest regions of India: India has rich rainforests in the Western Ghats, Northeast and A&N islands. These regions are rich in biodiversity and have been included in the Global Biodiversity Hotspots.

• Conservation of flora and fauna as these have endemism. Ex. Lion Tail Macaque etc.
• Water conservation and groundwater recharge.
• Carbon sequestration 
• Soil conservation
• Forest Resources ex. Minor Forest Produce (Ex. Honey) , medicinal plants (Arogyapacha used for cancer treatment found in Neyyar WLS)
• Research & Development
• Tourism and local employment generation
• Protection of tribal and indigenous culture eg Kani tribes.

Conclusion
Thus, protected areas like wildlife sanctuaries and national parks are essential to protect the virgin forests and protect the rich natural vegetation of India. Globally, India has committed to protect 30% land and ocean area under protected area network. Thus, India should gradually aim to expand the network of protected areas.

Q16: Why did human development fail to keep pace with economic development in India? (250 Words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
India experienced near 10% growth in the decade 2000-10 and near fastest growth amongst the world’s largest economies in the decade after that. Yet still, our performance on education and health parameters has been laggard. As per census 2011, 74% is our literacy rate with a gender gap of approx. 17%. As per NFHS5, the stunting rate among children is 35.5% and the wasting rate 19.3%.

Reasons for human development parameters lagging behind economic development are as follows:

• We initially focussed on GDP growth post-independence with the presumption of the trickle-down theory. This however, largely proved to be a mistake according to Amartya Sen. We complemented the macro approach with the HDI based micro approach only since the 10th five-year plan.
• Until recently, we have continued to focus exclusively on a BPL line approach to identify beneficiaries for many welfare schemes. This threshold has been kept quite low excluding many deserving beneficiaries. Suresh Tendulkar committee identified 21.9% of the population as poor in 2011 compared to the Socio¬economic caste census 2011 identifying 60% of rural and 35% of urban households as poor.
• If the poor earn even marginally above the poverty line they are excluded from beneficiary lists under many government schemes. This means out of pocket expenditure often increases much more than the income, reducing the total consumption capacity on nutrition. Thereby, while between 2004-05 to 2019¬20 41.5 crore people came out of poverty in India, malnutrition levels increased in the same time period.
• Census 2021 has not been conducted, potentially excluding many deserving beneficiaries from an updated list on welfare schemes.

Conclusion
Amartya Sen advocates 6% of GDP allocation each to education and health as the way forward. The National Education Policy 2020 commits to this. Programs such as Samgara Shiksha Abhiyan and Poshan 2.0 guide the way forward. 

Q17: From being net food importer in 1960s, India has emerged as a net food exporter to the world. Provide reasons. (250 Words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
Partition of India led to the most productive parts of India’s agricultural land this made India dependent on food imports. (PLI-480 program). However, despite domestic production increasing till the 1990s India’s agricultural exports was not very significant due to instability of domestic production and inward looking trade policies.

However, since the 1990s India became a net exporter of agricultural commodities. Exports increased in both dollars terms and as a proportion of total agricultural output. 

• Green Revolution: Green Revolution boosted agricultural productivity in the areas of Punjab, Haryana , Western Uttar Pradesh and coastal deltas of Andhra Pradesh. This made India sufficient in food- production.
• Marketing reforms: such as introduction of MSP regime and based on recommendations of CACP, formation of Food Corporation of India for mandatory procurement of cereals from farmers incentivised farmers to boost production of cereals.
• Adoption of high yielding variety (HYVs) seeds by farmers has led to increase in per hectare productivity as well as cropping intensity. Later interventions like introduction of Bt-Cotton boosted cotton productivity.
• Widespread canal irrigation in alluvial rich areas of northern and coastal areas has brought more area under cultivation leading to increase in overall production.
• Slowdown in population growth compared to growth of agricultural production leading to surplus produce which could be exported.
• Improved infrastructure: like roads, rail, warehouses, cold storages etc have reduced post-harvest losses.
• Agro based industries promoted value addition as well as strengthened the forward linkages with foreign countries.
• Marin food exports: Schemes like PMMSY, setting up of Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund, 
• Liberal export policies: First following the economic reforms and later because of WTO agreement. This was further liberalised due to various FTAs signed by India.
• Other government policies like land reforms, MSP, Agriculture export policy, setting up of Canada, PMKSY, PMFBY, National mission for sustainable agriculture all have reformed the agriculture sector and ultimately increased the food exports.

Conclusion
India's Agricultural Export Policy aims that India's net agri-exports should cross $60 billion. This gradual outward orientation of agricultural exports will improve India's image as provider of global food security, boost farmers income and earn foreign exchange for the country.

This can be done by increasing competitiveness by agricultural diversification, boosting productivity, shift towards organic and higher value-added products and developing logistics infrastructure in agricultural exports.

Q18: Does urbanization lead to more segregation and/or marginalization of the poor in Indian metropolises? (250 Words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
Urbanisation is a process by which proportion of population in urban areas is increasing. Urban settlements are characterised by close interactions, benefits of agglomeration, anonymity and social mobility.
However, despite its promise India’s urbanisation has been characterised as exclusionary marked by segregation and marginalisation.

Factors contributing to segregation in urban areas

• Spatial segregation:
  • Gated communities: Increasing proliferation of gated communities restrict the access to general public and poor. These gated communities exclude poor and highlight the tendency among the elite for social segregation.
  • Religious segregation: Poor from minority communities especially Muslims concentrate in ghetto-like localities. Sometimes, some communities do not rent out houses to minorities even if they are willing to pay market rates.
• Access to commons: Poorers parts of the city are denser habitation with lower per capita access to common areas like public parks and roads etc.
• Education: Children of urban poor are mostly educated in government schools and lack in adequate number of teachers.
• Lack of well-developed public transport and common areas means the rich travel in
• Cultural segregation: Urban poor are often migrants who are culturally alienated from the mainstream culture of the metropolises.

Factors contributing of marginalisation

• Slums and ghettos: Most poor live in informal shanties with poor living conditions, lacking in provision of basic amenities like provision of clean drinking water, sanitation and lighting.
• Lack of government services like access to healthcare, public transport and education.
• Informal sector: Most urban poor are employed in the informal sector with no or limited social security leading to their harassment and exploitation. 
•  Domestic workers: Domestic help workers do not have dedicated legal framework to offer them protection.
• Environmental marginalisation: Increasing urban pollution levels hits the poorest as they do not have adequate resources to employ RO plants, air purifiers etc. Also, adverse impacts of climate change like heat island effect.
• Political marginalistion: Migrant populations do not have say in the governance of cities. Also, urban local bodies lack effective powers and resources to tackle issues of urban poor.

Conclusion
Thus, in the spirit of New Urban Agenda India should plan for Right to City as the bedrock of inclusionary urbanisation. This can be done by developing common areas, better investment in public provisions of health and education and public housing for urban poor.

Q19: Why is caste identity in India both fluid and static? (250 Words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
The development of caste consciousness emerged with colonial-era census, transforming it into a competitive force. This led to the formation of caste associations, which later evolved into pressure groups and political entities, all vying for state resources like jobs and education. Eg: Mahajan Sabha and Jat Sabha.

Caste identity in India exhibits a dual nature. Below the "line of pollution" in rural domains and private spheres, it remains largely static. Yet, in the realm of politics and economic structures, it takes on a fluid character.

The surge of identity politics in 1960s followed by the Mandal era politics of 1990s, further accelerated the malleability of caste identity. Middle castes, such as Jats in Punjab, Patidars in Gujarat, Kammas and Reddys in Andhra, and Yadavs in Bihar and UP, benefiting from land reforms, secured political power and became dominant castes. However given the heterogenous nature of caste blocs, some thrive while others lag behind. This has compelled the latter to assert their subcaste identities to leverage reservation policies, heightening the dynamism and complexity of caste identities in contemporary India.

Conversely, for outcastes like Dalits, caste remains static and oppressive with severe restrictions on commensality within India's socio-cultural fabric. Though Dalit consciousness and identity have developed from Ambedkar's efforts in 1930s to the Dalit movements of the 1970s, the benefits have primarily accrued to a select Dalit middle class. In rural areas, Dalits still encounter a rigid and oppressive caste identity, evident in violent incidents aimed at suppressing their demands for rights and entitlements. Instances include the Kilvenmani violence of 1968, Dharampur violence of 1977, the Karamchedu violence of 1985, and the Hathras rape case of 2020.

Conclusion
Thus, caste identity is enduring through the sands of time in different forms in different places for differential motives at different points of time in Indian social fabric. 

Q20: Discuss the impact of post-liberal economy on ethnic identity and communalism. (250 words, 15 marks)
Ans:

Introduction
Post-liberal economy in India refers to the period after Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization reforms i.e. 1991-2001 onwards. It marks a shift from a largely government regulated and controlled economy towards an open-market driven and private investment led one.

The impact of post-liberal economy on ethnic identity and communalism has been as follows:

Positive:

• With faster growth there has been a general de-emphasis on ethnic and communal identities. As prosperous times bring more focus to developmental economics and access to avenues of social mobility.
• Faster growth meant more welfare expenditure which brought the vulnerable sections out of poverty. This led to reduced ethnic and communal clashes as well as perception of relative deprivation amongst communities decreased.

Negative:

• As migration increased with regionally imbalanced development with private capital concentration, so did 'Son of the Soil' movements against migrants. These strengthened ethnic identities.
• The inflow of private capital also led to land acquisition in forested regions resulting in tribal displacement. These displaced tribals often got assimilated with mainstream losing their distinctive identities and way of life in the process.
• The post-liberal economies also brought western cultural onslaught resulting in Mcdonaldization or homogenization of culture and identities - English, pop music, disco, burgers etc. The Fundamentalist reaction to this perceived threat to identity, led to the rise of fringe groups promoting ethnic, religious and linguistic nationalism.
• As Gulf money poured in, changing land ownership patterns between communities, for example in Kerela, communal currents have simmered.

Conclusion

Ethnic identities and communalism are often more about concerns of relative deprivation and power struggles than community culture or religion itself. Inclusive growth has the potential to redress these parochial tendencies.