LAEX 103 Paper I Model Answers

LAEX - 103
MODEL ANSWERS: PAPER - I
Section-I
1. “Epidemics usually are good mirrors of society and country”. Discuss this statement in the
context of Covid-19 pandemic in India.
Approach:
Introduction: Inequality as a major issue during covid-19 pandemic.
Body of the Essay: Explanation for socio economic dimensions of inequalities: Employment,
health, income, caste, gender, etc., during pandemic with examples.
Conclusion: Need for reducing inequalities, Providing social security
Introduction:
Inequality is not a new problem in India. It has been facing gross inequalities in social and
economic sectors since independence. Covid-19 pandemic further exposes these inequalities.
(you can also start with quote, anecdote, short note to grab the attention on the theme of
the essay, etc.)
Body of the Essay:
Employment Rights:
Social distancing has become the primary strategy to contain the coronavirus outbreak, with
countries such as Italy enforcing complete restrictions, and others like India issuing a range
of advisories on avoiding non-essential contact, and restricting large gatherings and events.
Social media is also a buzz about how to avoid boredom at home. However, there are a variety
of occupations, mostly informal, which involve acute social contact and are still running full
swing around us.
Consider, for instance, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers, staff in private buses, barbers, janitorial
staff, lift operators, traders in wholesale markets, street food vendors, construction workers,
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loading and unloading workers, sex workers, garment factory workers, and so on. For these
workers, social distancing is contradictory to the very nature of the job. Wishing to keep a
‘safe distance’ from people by staying at home would mean losing income, perhaps the job
altogether.
There are three key dimensions involved – health, income and employment. It is possible for
some, such as tech workers, to take health precautions (social distancing), receive income as
paid sick leave and still be able to retain their jobs. The experiences in informal employment
are mixed. Some, such as domestic workers or home-based workers, may be able to stay at
home and lose income but with some marginal assurance of retaining their jobs. Others may
go out and earn, retaining their jobs but risking their health.
Inequality in Health care facilities:
Access to timely and affordable health services varies considerably for people world over. In
India, there are significant inter- and intra-state disparities. Rural–urban differentials are also
severe. For instance, there is a huge skew in the distribution of doctors working in urban and
rural areas, with the urban to rural doctor density ratio being 3.8:1. In terms of availability of
hospital beds, states like Bihar are well below the national average of 0.55 beds in the public
sector per 1000 population while others like West Bengal (2.25 beds/1000) and Sikkim (2.34
beds/1000) have considerably more.
These differences are partly because health is a state subject and while the union government
has an important role to play, every state is free to determine its priorities with respect to
health financing and infrastructure.
Income inequality:
At the outset, a large share of the salaried and employed workforce should not be troubled
by the lockdown. However, significant inequality exists among regular wage earning or
salaried, non-agriculture sector employees. According to the PLFS (2017–18), 71 percent of
regular wage/salaried employees had no written job contracts; 54 percent were ineligible for
paid leave and almost 50 percent were ineligible for social security benefits.
In this situation, most people will not earn a salary for the days they are unable to work. Daily
wage earners and those in the informal sector will be affected disproportionately. To make
matters worse, this pandemic has happened at a time of global slowdown and a public health
crisis of this magnitude is likely to have an additional negative impact on the economy. The
growth rate will go down, and more people will lose their jobs thereby enhancing the income
inequality.
Gender inequality:
According to the OECD, Indian men spend around 52 minutes on unpaid work every day,
including routine household chores, shopping and caregiving. In comparison, Indian women
spend an additional 5 hours on unpaid work per day. With work-from-home guidelines issued
by private companies and a strictly enforced social distancing policy, families are at home
with kids, without any help from nannies or cooks. Women, with full-time paid employment,
will now also end up executing most of the household chores like cooking, cleaning, and
childcare. This would result in many women working with reduced efficiency because of the
additional and disproportionate share of the workload.
Further, there are concerns of rising domestic violence and sexual abuse. It is well-known that
many crimes against women are carried out by people close to them, often in their own
homes. Due to social distancing, it has become even more difficult for women to report their
experiences and seek help.
Caste Inequality:
A recent paper by Ashoka University on the critical role of social identities on lockdown-
induced job losses says, “Socially marginalized groups would be at higher risk of mortality due
to Covid-19. The risks extend beyond mortality as the economic consequences of the current
pandemic are likely to be most concentrated among the low wage earners and less educated
workers, segments of the labour force where racial and ethnic minorities are
overrepresented.”
The paper examined the impact of lockdown on various caste groups but as is the global
trend, job losses were high among those communities with low levels of human capital and
no security of tenure. “All caste groups lost jobs in the first month of the lockdown, the loss
was the lowest for upper castes (6.8 percentage points). The stigmatized caste groups — OBC,
SC and ST — all lost significantly more compared to UCs [upper castes]. The gap was the
highest between SCs and UCs; the probability of job loss for SCs was 14 percentage points
higher than that for UCs, in other words, the rate of job loss was three times higher for the
SCs.”
This crisis has left the marginalized communities at the receiving end. The lower caste groups,
SCs, STs not only faced loss of work, crisis of food security, health crisis but also identity-based
discrimination. Many people complained about the fear among upper castes that lower caste
are carriers of the virus. Domestic workers, for instance, were barred by gated communities
well after the lockdown.
The unorganized sector, self-employed, migrant and homeless, including also the sexual
minorities and people with disability, mostly belong to stigmatized caste groups — Dalit,
Adivasi, Pasanda and Bahujan communities.
Digital divide (inequality):
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) revealed two startling facts. One, only a little
under a third of India’s schoolchildren are accessing online education—the only means
available to students with schools shut down for the last seven months. Second, even fewer
are able to take live online classes. And this despite most families having access to
smartphones. It goes without saying that schooling interruptions reduce learning
opportunities. Worse the have-nots have very little access to even this limited opportunity to
learn.
Conclusion:
In short, the covid-19 virus which originated in Wuhan, China has brutally exposed the deep
weaknesses and gross inequalities in our social and economic systems. It, also reminds us the
inability of our systems to cope with major public emergency's challenges.
There is an urgent need for strengthening public health care facilities and investing in social
security to provide safety net to vulnerable sections.25 years of economic reforms successes
have been accompanied by significant failures and weaknesses in policies and institutions.
Covid-19 pandemic exposes these failures and it is reminding policy framers that the fruits of
economic reforms yet to reach marginalized and unorganized sectors. Policies should address
inequalities and institutions should make consistent efforts for inclusive development
2. "Gender and Caste based violence against women remains a great challenge to the
egalitarian ethos of Democratic India”. Discuss
Approach:
Introduction: Define the terms ‘Gender based violence' and 'caste-based violence'.
Body:
Crimes statistics, Reasons for violence, Social structure and power imbalance, Patriarchal
system, Caste hegemony, Institutional failures, Consequences of violence, Rights violation,
Costs due to violence against women and girls—beyond the intangible suffering and impacts
on quality of life and well-being--include costs to the survivor and her family in terms of health
(mental and physical), employment and finances, and the effects it has on children.
Conclusion: Suggest measures
Introduction:
The term gender-based violence refers to "any acts or threats of acts intended to hurt or
make women suffer physically, sexually or psychologically, and which affect women because
they are women or affect women disproportionately".
Crimes against the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by the
upper caste represents an extreme form of prejudice and discrimination. Similar to the hate
crimes in other parts of the world, these groups have remained target to the crimes and
atrocities at the hands of the upper caste people mainly on account of their-low caste identity
in the form of rape, abuse by police personnel, harassment, illegal land encroachments,
forced evictions and so on.
Body of the essay:
How serious is this problem?
Statistics:
According to the National Crime Records Bureau a total of 4,05,861 cases of crime against
women were registered during 2019, showing an increase of 7.3% over 2018 (3,78,236 cases).
Majority of cases under crime against women under IPC were registered under ‘cruelty by
husband or his relatives’ (30.9%), followed by ‘assault on women with intent to outrage her
modesty’ (21.8%), ‘kidnapping & abduction of women’ (17.9%) and ‘rape’ (7.9%). The crime
rate registered per lakh women population is 62.4 in 2019 in comparison with 58.8 in 2018.At
least 10 Dalit women are raped per day, and their vulnerability to rape has increased by 44%
in the last 10 years.
Reasons:
The problem of gender-based violence runs very deep in India. The rape crisis is just one facet
of the multitude of problems that reflect the gender discrimination scenario. These
prejudicial attitudes are seen right from womb to tomb.
They start with the practice of sex-selective abortion and infanticide, and continue through
adolescent and adult life with high levels of female infant mortality, child marriage, teenage
pregnancy, lesser wages for women, unsafe workplaces, domestic violence, maternal
mortality, sexual assault and neglect of elderly women.
Patriarchal culture is one of the biggest barriers in ending violence against women in the
region. Violence against women is considered as a private matter that should be dealt with
privately within the family or relationship. Women fear reporting violence since they might
be told that they have encouraged such acts.
Violence against women and girls is related to their lack of power and control, as well as to
the social norms that prescribe men and women’s roles in society and condone abuse.
Inequalities between men and women cut across public and private spheres of life, and across
social, economic, cultural, and political rights; and are manifested in restrictions and
limitations on women’s freedoms, choices and opportunities.
These inequalities can increase women’s and girls’ risks of abuse, violent relationships and
exploitation, for example, due to economic dependency and limited survival and income-
earning options, or discrimination under the law as it relates to marriage, divorce, and child
custody rights.
Violence against women and girls is not only a consequence of gender inequality, but
reinforces women’s low status in society and the multiple disparities between women and
men.
Institutional Factors (Elaborate these points) : Political apathy, Gender and caste insensitive
law enforcement agencies.
An insensitive, inefficient, corrupt and unaccountable judicial system and law enforcement
machinery fails to deter against various forms of crime.
Caste based violence against women:
Dalit women across swathes of rural India have been victims of sexual violence for as long as
anyone can remember. In these regions, much of the land, resources and social power remain
with the upper and middle castes. Despite a 1989 law to prevent atrocities against the
community, there was no let-up in violence against Dalit women. They continue to be stalked,
abused, molested, raped and murdered with impunity.
Most of the women from marginalized communities are land-less agricultural laborers. In
rural areas violence against women as used to teach a lesson to the revolted marginalized
communities. Caste hegemony operates with impunity in rural and backward regions.
Consequences:
Injuries such as fractures and hemorrhaging, and long-term physical conditions (e.g.
gastrointestinal, central nervous system disorders, chronic pain), Mental illnesses, such as
depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, attempted suicide.
Sexual and reproductive health problems, such as sexually transmitted infections (including
HIV), and other chronic conditions; sexual dysfunction; unintended/unwanted pregnancies
and unsafe abortion; risks to maternal and fetal health (especially in cases of abuse during
pregnancy), Substance abuse (including alcohol); Poor social functioning skills and social
isolation and marginalization.
Death for both women and their children (from neglect, injury, pregnancy-related-risks,
homicide, suicide and/or HIV and AIDS-related).
Lost workdays, lower productivity and lower income.
Overall reduced or lost educational, employment, social, or political participation

opportunities; and expenditures (at the level of individual, family and public sector budgets)
on medical, protection, judicial and social services.
Measures:
• Sex education and counseling.

• Justice - by identifying and breaking the barriers that women face while accessing
justice.
• Ensure Law enforcement agencies and other state mechanisms – bureaucrats, welfare
departments, medical and para medical agencies, local bodies - are sensitized for
effectively addressing the grievances of the women and Where officials fail to
undertake their duty to protect and assist women without discrimination, they must
be held accountable for their actions
• Conduct Fact- finding and research to understand the violence and its underlying root
causes and implement policies and programmes to address the root causes
• Ensure that Dalit and other vulnerable women who report violence are protected
from retaliation and prevent renewed violence against them including social boycotts
and restrictions against dalit women and the community.
• With an effective implementation and enforcement of laws, the government should
also address attitudes and prejudices that lead to violence and foster the culture of
impunity. They should conduct public campaigns to promote equality and challenge
discrimination for example through schools and the media.
• Initiate processes to challenge discrimination based on caste and gender by
encouraging dialogue and sensitization of non-dalit communities and men.
• The government should identify caste gender conflict prone areas and provide
additional resources to address underlying issues in these areas.
• Caste and gender disaggregated data is to be collected, analyzed and made publicly
available.
3. What are the adverse impacts of climate change on India’s biodiversity, food, water and
energy security, and public health? Discuss the challenges they pose to sustaining economic
growth and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Approach
Introduction: Climate change definition.
India's geographical profile and vulnerability.
Body: Adverse impacts on Food and agriculture, Water, Biodiversity, Energy Security, Public
health, Challenges to achieve SDGs, etc.
Conclusion: Suggest measures
Introduction:
Climate change is the global phenomenon of climate transformation characterized by the

changes in the usual climate of the planet (regarding temperature, precipitation, and wind)
that are especially caused by human activities. As a result of unbalancing the weather of
Earth, the sustainability of the planet’s ecosystems is under threat, as well as the future of
humankind and the stability of the global economy.
India faces some of the highest disaster risk levels in the world, ranked 29 out of 191 countries
by the 2019 Inform Risk Index. India has very high exposure to flooding, including, riverine,
flash, and coastal, as well as high exposure to tropical cyclones and their associated hazards
and drought.
Body of the Essay:
Climate change impacts:
Water Resources:
• Climate change shall bring about an increase in the extreme rains in north-west India
during summer monsoons.
• Kutch and Saurashtra which constitute about 1/4th area of Gujarat and also 60% area of
Rajasthan shall face a situation of acute water scarcity.
• Many other river basins shall face serious shortage of water.
• Severe floods are predicted for the basins of Godavari, Brahmani and Mahanadi basins.
• Thirty eight percent of Himalayan glaciers have already disappeared. By 2035, the total
glacial area may shrink from 5, 00,000 km2 to 1, 00,000 km2.
• Half a billion people in Himalaya- Hindukush region shall be affected by climate change.
• Increased salinity of surface and groundwater’s is predicted especially in coastal areas.
• Incidents of excessive precipitation of the like of July 2005 rain of Mumbai shall increase,
this coupled with low in rivers/other water bodies shall lead to a rise in water pollution of
both organic and toxic kin. This will affect water usage further bringing down availability
of water. A rise in water borne diseases is also predicted by many studies.
• Groundwater recharge in several river basins shall be reduced to a significant level.
• The annual per capita availability of water in India shall decline from 1990 m3 in 1990 to
1235 m3 in 2050.
• Decreased water supply is predicted from snow-caps for major small holder irrigation
systems particularly in the Indo-gangetic plains.
• Sea-level rise shall extend areas of salinization of groundwater’s and estuaries resulting
in a decline in freshwater availability for humans and ecosystems in coastal areas.
• Increased precipitation intensity and variability is projected to increase the risk of flooding
and drought in many areas.
• Overall, the impact on water resources shall be myriad and complex. The population
dependent on glaciers or snow-melt fed river basins shall be severely hit.
• The adverse impact of climate change on freshwater systems aggravates the impact of
other stresses such as population growth and increased affluence.
• The current water management practices are likely to be inadequate to reduce the
negative impact of climate change.
Forests and Biodiversity:
• Climate change will cause drastic changes in 85% of the forest grids in India.
• The impact shall be very high on savannah biomes & Teak and Sal forests of central and
east India and temperate biomes of Himalayas.
• Moist and dry savannahs are likely to be replaced by tropical dry forests and seasonal
forests.
• Major impact on forests shall be felt around 2050.
• The impact shall be lower on the evergreen rain forests of the Western Ghats and the
north-east.
• Large scale forest depletion and loss of biodiversity is predicted.
• Loss of biodiversity in turn shall contribute to climate change further.
• Timber production in the coming five six decades is likely to increase. Acceding to the IPCC
4th assessment report by 2020 +5 to +15% growths in timber is expected. Further growth
shall be +20 to +40.0 % by 2050 and +20.0 to 60.00 % by 2080 with regional variations.
• Higher timber growth may lead to more deforestation and shall discourage forestation
activities.
Public health:
Climate change is expected to have major health impacts in India- increasing malnutrition and
related health disorders such as child stunting - with the poor likely to be affected most
severely. Child stunting is projected to increase by 35% by 2050 compared to a scenario
without climate change.
Malaria and other vector-borne diseases, along with and diarrheal infections which are a
major cause of child mortality, are likely to spread into areas where colder temperatures had
previously limited transmission.
Heat waves are likely to result in a very substantial rise in mortality and death, and injuries
from extreme weather events are likely to increase.
Energy Security:
Climate-related impacts on water resources can undermine the two dominant forms of
power generation in India - hydropower and thermal power generation - both of which
depend on adequate water supplies to function effectively.
To function at full efficiency, thermal power plants need a constant supply of fresh cool water
to maintain their cooling systems.
The increasing variability and long-term decreases in river flows can pose a major challenge
to hydropower plants and increase the risk of physical damage from landslides, flash floods,
glacial lake outbursts, and other climate-related natural disasters.
Decreases in the availability of water and increases in temperature will pose major risk factors
to thermal power generation.
Food and Agriculture:
Even without climate change, world food prices are expected to increase due to growing
populations and rising incomes, as well as a greater demand for biofuels.
Rice: While overall rice yields have increased, rising temperatures with lower rainfall at the
end of the growing season have caused a significant loss in India’s rice production. Without
climate change, average rice yields could have been almost 6% higher (75 million tons in
absolute terms).
Wheat: Recent studies shows that wheat yields peaked in India and Bangladesh around 2001
and have not increased since despite increasing fertilizer applications. Observations show
that extremely high temperatures in northern India - above 34°C - have had a substantial
negative effect on wheat yields, and rising temperatures can only aggravate the situation.
Seasonal water scarcity, rising temperatures, and intrusion of sea water would threaten crop
yields, jeopardizing the country’s food security.
Should current trends persist, substantial yield reductions in both rice and wheat can be
expected in the near and medium term.
Under 2°C warming by the 2050s, the country may need to import more than twice the
amount of food-grain than would be required without climate change.
Sustainable development Goals:
The rapid changes in India’s climate projected by climate models will place increasing stress
on the country’s natural ecosystems, agricultural output, and freshwater resources, while
also causing escalating damage to infrastructure. These portend serious consequences for
the country’s biodiversity, food, water and energy security, and public health. In the absence
of rapid, informed and far-reaching mitigation and adaptation measures, the impacts of
climate change are likely to pose profound challenges to sustaining the country’s rapid
economic growth, and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by UN
Member States in 2015.
Conclusion:
Points of action:
✓ Passive reduction of indoor temperatures

✓ water conservation and rainwater harvesting
✓ Groundwater regulation
✓ Reversing land degradation
✓ Reduction in food and water wastage
✓ Waste segregation and recycling
✓ Low impact urban development
✓ Expansion of urban green spaces and urban farming
✓ Pollution control
✓ Increasing the area under irrigation and improving the efficiency of agricultural water
use
✓ Forest conservation and proactive afforestation
✓ Construction of coastal embankments and mangrove restoration
✓ Improvement in disaster response
✓ Phasing out fossil fuels and transition to renewables, electrification, expansion of
walking, bicycling and public transport infrastructure, and carbon taxation.
✓ It is crucial to make vulnerability assessment central to long-term planning for
developing adaptation and mitigation strategies.
✓ Preparing the list the steps that individuals and policymakers can take to reduce GHG
emissions, control climate change impacts and derive other benefits.
Section-II
4. "The skills provided by the arts and humanities are essential for the progress of humankind
into the next era”. Discuss in the Indian Context.
Approach
Introduction: Definitions of Arts and Humanities.
Body:
Importance of education in Arts and humanities.
Current status of liberal arts education in India.
Reasons for neglecting education in Arts and humanities.
Need for strengthening education in arts and humanities.
Conclusion: Suggesting measures.
Introduction:
Arts and Humanities are considered as two of the oldest fields of knowledge available to
Human.
The difference between the two is often seen with ambiguity. While art is seen as a more all-
inclusive field, humanities, on the other hand, takes into consideration a diverse and
oftentimes unrelated set of disciplines from literature to political history.
The humanities are academic disciplines that study human culture. The humanities use
methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element—
as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences. The
humanities include ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, religion, and visual
and performing arts such as music and theatre.
(Areas that are sometimes regarded as social sciences and sometimes as humanities include
history, archaeology, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, classical studies,
law and linguistics…. The humanities and social sciences teach us how people have created
their world, and how they in turn are created by it.)
Art is a diverse range of human activities involving the creation of visual, auditory or
performing artifacts (artworks), which express the creator's imagination, conceptual ideas, or
technical skill, intended to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
Other activities related to the production of works of art include art criticism and the history
of art.
Body of the Essay :
Colleges around the world infuse their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) degrees with a general education in the arts and social sciences
Engineering or medicine? That’s an age-old question faced by Indian students. The arts and
humanities are out of the picture. Only those whose grades aren’t great study commerce or
economics. But literature, history or political science? That must infer that the student has
either failed or is rebellious.
But why does the average middle-class Indian parent think so? It’s simple — money. STEM
majors earn much more than others over a lifetime. If you want to venture a guess of what
the lowest paying majors are, you’ll probably be right. Majors such as early childhood
education, human services, visual arts and international studies — all part of the arts,
humanities, and social sciences — pay far less. The dream of a secure financial future can
seem rosy, but will it compensate for broken dreams and a world without innovation?
Those broken dreams have a scarring effect — data show that India is facing a youth suicide
crisis, with suicide being the leading cause of death among those aged 15-39 in 2016. For the
same year, suicide was the third most common cause of death for that age group on the
global scale. In Kota, a city renowned for its “coaching institutes” — cram schools which have
continuous four-hour lectures — suicide rates are high.
A large contribution to this rise is academic pressure, with many students being forced to
abandon their dreams and study STEM. The time-consuming, monotonous and mechanical
workload of STEM classes drives the creativity out of students, and leads to an increase in
stress and anxiety.
Similar to how cram schools’ dry students’ creativity and ingenuity, it seems that the funding
for the arts and humanities is drying up as well. R&D and manufacturing have been some of
the largest contributors to India’s fast-growing economy, and STEM education has been
placed at the forefront, with polytechnic institutes and IT schools popping up everywhere.
The top STEM schools in India receive more government funds than Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU), the nation’s leading liberal arts and social sciences university. The funding
for JNU includes funding for its Schools of Engineering and Science, which results in even
lower budgets for the arts, humanities, and social sciences. This gross imbalance shows the
clear bias towards STEM.
If math’s and the core sciences provide strong foundations, the arts and humanities help the
flow of new ideas and perspectives born out of innovation, critical thinking, and creativity.
Without the arts and humanities, STEM will be forever stuck in its current state, with little
development and progress. The skills provided by the arts and humanities are essential for
the progress of mankind into the next era.
Was it the technical knowledge of Leonardo da Vinci which helped him make discoveries in
anatomy, geology and optics? It was Da Vinci’s ingenuity and creativity which sparked his
discoveries — not his knowledge of algebra. His technical and scientific abilities came into
play as he developed his ideas. Da Vinci had the perfect combination of skills from both fields.
He was a polymath.
A STEM education must not be spent only in laboratories looking under microscopes or sitting
with calculators in front of stacks of paper. Colleges around the world infuse their STEM
degrees with a general education in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, whereas 11th
and 12th grades in India are usually devoid of any content resembling history, literature, or
creative writing.
At the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, for a degree in computer science, only 4.5%
of all credits must be from courses in the humanities or social sciences. For the same degree
at Carnegie Mellon, around 20% of all credits must be from general education courses, which
are mostly courses in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. There’s a difference in the
rankings as well, with Carnegie Mellon being ranked three and the IIT-B below 50. The better
university is providing a more well-rounded education, making their graduates better
prepared to face real-world problems.
There shouldn’t be any argument of which field is “better”. Both STEM and the arts and
humanities are important in their individual aspects. While the humanities and social sciences
lay out the blueprints of mankind’s future, STEM starts building. There is no use creating a
skilled workforce which lacks innovation or an understanding of humanity and society.
STEM and the arts and humanities have become intertwined and it is time for India to
understand that. The two fields are symbiotic in nature, and with today’s ever-evolving world,
the boundaries seem to fade with fields like cognitive science.
Conclusion:
Public policy should advocate for a curriculum in which STEM and the arts and humanities are
intertwined and symbiotic. It’s no use having a STEM major forced to study hours and hours
of humanities or social sciences. But they do need to gain the critical thinking skills and ability
to expand their perspectives to be well-rounded and successful in their career.
Similarly, arts and humanities majors could benefit from a better understanding of the
physical world around them, or understand the beauty of mathematics or the functioning of
a computer. It is time for Indian institutes to adopt more liberal general education policies,
which will lead to better all-round development for their students, and the country as a
whole.
Parents should stop the pressure, forcing children into engineering or medicine is
contributing to the death of creativity, fragmentation of dreams, and an increase in anxiety
and stress. Let them be “the music makers, and dreamers of dreams”, for they will be “the
movers and shakers of the world forever, it seems”.
5. Discuss the evolution of Indian Federalism since independence.
Approach:
Introduction: Federalism meaning,Nature of Indian federalism (Constitutional structure)
Body of the essay:
✓ Phases of evolution and their characteristic features.

✓ First Phase: One party Federalism (1950-1967)
✓ Second Phase: Expressive Federalism (1968-1989)
✓ Third Phase: Multiparty Federalism (1989-2014)
✓ Fourth Phase: The return of ‘Dominant Party’ Federalism (2014-present)-
Conclusion: Need for strengthening Federalism, Measures for strengthening Federalism
(Recommendations of Sarkaria Commission, Punchi Commission and Second ARC on

federalism as references)
Introduction:
Federation’ is derived from the Latin word foedus, which means treaty or agreement. A
federation, therefore, is a political system that is formed through a treaty or agreement
between its various constituent units. When few contiguous provincial units voluntarily come
together to form a strong union, a federation is formed. The US is a classic example of a
‘federation of states.’ Apart from this model of provincial units “coming together” to form
the federation, there is another type of federal model—where the geographically vast and
culturally diverse state gives autonomy to its provinces for administrative convenience and
for representing the regional interests.
This model of federation is called the “holding together” federation. Indian federalism has
been broadly designed based on the second model. The Indian Constitution laid down a
political system which is federal in nature—i.e., there are two tiers of government: at the
national level, and the state level. However, the Indian Constitution has structurally made the
Union government more powerful than the states—therefore the seeming paradox of
“Centralised Federalism.”
The Indian Constitution has an inherent bias for the Union government, and this dominates
the political structure of India: the central government is superior authority to the states in
various ways. Indeed, the term ‘federation’ finds no mention in the fundamental law of the
land. Article 1 describes India as a ‘Union of States’, and not ‘Federation of States'
Even as Indian federalism has a bias for the Union government, states have also sought to
assert their interests and influence over the years, whether in times of one-party dominance
or multi-party coalition politics.
Body of the Essay:
Phases of evolution and their characteristic features (Note : Elaborate these points with
examples)
• First Phase (1947-1967):

✓ The inner-party federalism in the Congress party
✓ The demand for creation of states based on language.
✓ The resentment against one language for official state communication.
• Second Phase (1968-1989):
✓ The political challenge to the Congress party.
✓ The rise of strong regional forces.
✓ Excessive use of Article 356 in opposition ruled states.
✓ Rise of regional demands & reconciliation
• Third Phase (1990-2014):
✓ Weakening of Congress party at the national level.
✓ The creation of coalition governments with regional parties at the centre.
✓ The economic reforms and financial autonomy to states
✓ The judicial check to Centre’s use of Art 356 (The Supreme Court in the S.R.
Bommai vs Union of India case gave a landmark judgment that deepened the
federal design of Indian politics. The judgement created immunity for the state
governments against the arbitrary use of Article 356 by the Union
government)
✓ The Strengthening of local self -government through 73rd and 74th
constitutional amendments.
• Fourth Phase (2014 Onwards) :
✓ The rise of BJP as the dominant party at the national level
✓ The creation of Niti Aayog and GST Council in the spirit of cooperative
federalism.
✓ The rise of ‘national’ federalism
✓ The political assertion of regional parties and regional leaders in the state level
elections.
Conclusion:
To be sure, however, a diverse and large country like India requires a proper balance between
the six pillars of federalism: autonomy of states, national integration, centralisation,
decentralisation, nationalisation, and regionalisation.Extreme political centralisation or
chaotic political decentralisation can both lead to the weakening of Indian federalism.
The right balance would prevent the Union government from repressing state autonomy
beyond a point, while guarding the states against divergence that can begin to threaten
national unity. Controlling these extremes are a challenge,as federalism must reconcile the
need for national unity on one hand, and on the other, regional autonomy.
However, as Indian political discourse is largely being shaped by the onset of second
dominant party system (BJP)in the current phase, how far such a balanced approach in the
federal dynamic will be politically feasible, needs to be examined.
However, some reforms at the institutional and political level can deepen the roots of
federalism in India.
✓ First, the contentious role of the governor in suppressing the states for the Centre’s
interest needs to be reviewed.
✓ Second, proper utilisation of the institutional mechanism of the Inter-state Council
must be ensured to develop political goodwill between the Centre and the states on
contentious policy issues.
✓ Third, the gradual widening of the fiscal capacity of the states has to be legally
guaranteed without reducing the Centre’s share.
✓ Fourth, adequate electoral reforms for creating a level playing field for the regional
political parties and regional leaders would facilitate more competitive political
contest between the national and regional political forces.
Finally, unless the third level of Indian federalism i.e. the local self-governments, are not
further politically empowered, efforts to strengthen the federal discourse will fail. Despite all
their tussles, the Union government and the states have a mutual need for survival.
6. “Three decades of Economic transformation has made China the preeminent power in Asia
and it has also resulted in greater power imbalance between India and China". Discuss the
strategic challenges posed by assertive China and the options India can have to secure it's
best interests.
Approach:
Introduction: Brief description of rise of China as a major power in the last three decades (It's
economic, military and political strengths).
Body of the Essay:
✓ India vs China comparison.

✓ Challenges posed by China on militarily,economic and political fronts, etc.
✓ Choices India have
Conclusion: Best possible way forward
Introduction:
Prior to the initiation of economic reforms and trade liberalization nearly 40 years ago, China
maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally controlled, vastly
inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy. Since opening up to foreign trade
and investment and implementing free-market reforms in 1979, China has been among the
world’s fastest-growing economies, with real annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth
averaging 9.5%, through 2018, a pace described by the World Bank as “the fastest sustained
expansion by a major economy in history.”
Such growth has enabled China, on average, to double its GDP every eight years and helped
raise an estimated 800 million people out of poverty. China has become the world’s largest
economy (on a purchasing power parity basis), manufacturer, merchandise trader, and holder
of foreign exchange reserves.
Body of the Essay:
Comparison of India and China:
The comparison of China’s and India’s economic trajectories over the last 40 years reveals the
massive potential of targeted policies for economic development (in general) and economic
growth (in particular). In the early 1980s India and China had a roughly similar GDP and up
until 1990 India had a higher GDP per capita. Fast-forward to 2018 and … India’s economy is
5 times smaller than China’s and GDP per capita is $2010 in India vs. $9771 in China.
Accordingly, nowadays most of the major economic development indicators are in China’s
favor – for instance, in 2017 the value of China’s exports of high-technology products was 43
times higher than India’s.
As per a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India has the
third biggest defense budget at $71.1 billion. However, China’s defense budget is more than
three times that of India at $261 billion.
Challenges:
China is a direct military threat to India, particularly in light of the two countries’ border
disputes. Though India has considerable military power, China’s forces are already stronger
and better-funded; Beijing’s outsized wealth will likely allow it to outspend New Delhi for the
foreseeable future.
Beijing’s influence in both established international organizations like the United Nations and
in new institutions China is setting up, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, gives
Beijing opportunities to hamper Indian interests and goals in multilateral forums, especially
when it comes to reforming these institutions and giving India a greater voice in global affairs.
China’s alignment with Pakistan and deepening relations with other South Asian countries
represents a significant challenge to India’s position in the region, which New Delhi has
dominated for decades. Beijing’s ability to provide financial assistance and balance against
New Delhi may tempt India’s smaller neighbors to play one power against the other,
undermining India in its own backyard.
China’s economic power allows Beijing to spread its influence around the world, which could
be used to India’s detriment.
In response to the challenges China represents, India has four types of tools at its disposal:
military power, potential partnerships with other countries (including China), multilateral
diplomacy, and international economic integration. India needs to cultivate and enhance
these tools as much as possible.
Choices India have: (Elaborate the following points)
✓ Indian decisionmakers face at least six choices for how to deal with the strategic
environment in Asia.
✓ Nonalignment
✓ Hedging (Hedging is the strategy of remaining neutral between two major security threats
(Assuming USA and China) until one becomes sufficiently dangerous to require siding with
the other)
✓ Internal balancing (that is, building indigenous defense capabilities)
✓ Regional balancing (In order to balance against China, Such partners could include
Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam—although, in the future,
Indonesia and Malaysia could potentially be incorporated)
✓ Alignment with China
✓ Closer alignment with the United States
Conclusion:
None of India’s potential strategic choices are easy or obvious.
Every option has advantages and shortcomings. No choice by itself will give India everything
it wants. The objective should be to pick the best out of this series of imperfect choices as a
primary strategy and supplement with other complementary approaches as needed.
Section-III
7. The State of Andhra Pradesh State passed “The Decentralisation and Inclusive
Development of All Regions Act, 2020” to pave the way for three cities to be the executive,
judicial and legislative Centres. Can ‘three capitals’ plan ensure equal and balanced
development across the State? Discuss the pros and cons of It.
Approach:
Introduction: Brief description of 'three capitals plan'
Body of the Essay:
✓ Link between decentralization and development of Multiple Nodal cities.

✓ Citing examples in India and the world.
✓ Need for balanced regional development.
✓ Hyderabad as an example for lopsided growth in erstwhile United Andhra
Pradesh.
✓ Pros and cons
Conclusion: Effective Implementation is going to decide success.
Introduction:
The Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020 is
an act of Andhra Pradesh Legislature containing provisions relating to the decentralisation of
governance in the state of Andhra Pradesh so that establishments for additional two capitals
can be made at any place outside Amaravati. The bill was proposed by the Andhra Pradesh
Government to establish three capitals at different places in the state namely
Vishakapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool, which will serve as executive, legislative and judicial
capitals respectively.
This Act provides for decentralisation of governance and inclusive development of all the
regions of the state of andhra pradesh and for providing for establishments of zonal planning
and development boards apart from the provisions of the seats of governance in different
regions of the state and for matters ancillary thereto.
Body of the Essay:
Beginning with an analysis of the multiple capital idea, this is not a completely nascent one.
South Africa has a different capital for its judicial, legislative, and executive branches at the
federal level (Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein). Benin, a West African country, has two
capital cities – Benin and Porto Novo. So do Bolivia (with capitals in Sucre and La Paz), Chile
(Valparaiso and Santiago) and Georgia (Tbilisi and Kutaisi). The World Atlas lists 15 countries
that have distributed federal functions over more than one capital city. These arrangements
are an outcome of history, efforts at decentralisation, administrative convenience and
placation of different cantankerous groups of people.
In our own country, several examples exist of states having high courts in a city different from
the capital. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Kerala, for example, have such an
arrangement. Their capitals are at Lucknow, Bhopal, Gandhinagar and Thiruvantapuram;
whereas the High Courts of these states are located at Prayagraj, Jabalpur, Ahmedabad and
Kochi. While Maharashtra’s High Court is in Mumbai, its benches operate in Nagpur and
Aurangabad. Some states also move their legislative assemblies to a different city for part of
the year. These include Maharashtra (Mumbai and Nagpur), Himachal Pradesh (Shimla and
Dharmshala) and Karnataka (Bengaluru and Belgaum). In the given background, AP takes the
logic further by establishing three state capitals and thereby distributing the fruits of
development.
In erstwhile Andhra Pradesh we have seen lopsided development of different regions.
Development of Hyderabad as a single largest growth centre hasn't witnessed balanced

regional development. With increasingly crowded cities and lopsided economic growth in
many states, decentralization is desperately needed.
India has five megacities with populations of more than 10 million each, and is forecast to
have two more by 2030, according to the United Nations. Each of these cities - including
Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata - suffers from lack of adequate public transport and affordable
housing, along with increasing congestion and pollution. While big cities create wealth and
generate employment, they also drive climate change impacts, and worsen inequality and
exclusion, said the U.N.
Pros:
Governmental activities are the fulcrum around which several developmental activities spring
up and boost local economy. In that sense, different regions gain from a decentralised
arrangement rather than all activities getting concentrated in a single city.
Three economies would get built in three different regions and bring in greater productivity
and employment for locals. Fortunately, Amravati is included among the three state capitals;
hence part of the earlier deal will still go through.
From the urbanisation angle, it is better to work against a primate city with high population
density and move in favour of mid-sized cities with decent economies.
The state government has also advanced the argument of a financial crunch and AP
government’s inability to spare so much money for putting up a new capital. It does appear
that the new arrangement will come at a fraction of the earlier cost as it would buy into
existing infrastructure of Kurnool and Vishakhapatnam.
An additional argument against spreading governmental jobs at three different places is that
governmental arms, especially the bureaucracy and ministers are required to do frequent
consultations. Separation and distance of the two will hamper coordination during assembly
sessions. This theory of the tyranny of distance does not apply in this age of technology and
consummate digital communication. In view of the above, the idea of three capitals is not
such a bad idea.
Cons :
Irrespective of all other aspects, one key fact is the decision has not been made on a clean
slate. We are here dealing with a situation where a state government decided five years ago
to build a green field capital. Subsequent to the decision, external global parties as well as
national organisations and individuals were invited and contracted to work on the vision.
After a sufficiently prolonged period of half a decade, nullifying the earlier decision has set a
chain of unfortunate consequences. Investors who had put in money and farmers who had
contributed land had done so in the hope that certain gains will flow out of their initiatives.
Today, they are highly aggrieved. They believe, and not without reason, that they have a lot
to lose.
An additional key fallout has been the necessity of disengaging with appointed experts and
organisations that had mobilised men and women and spent time, energy and money on their
assigned tasks. Many of those assignments would have to be foreclosed. This is patently
unfair to those men, women and institutions. The World Bank, Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank and a Singapore consortium have already wound up their funding
commitment. It is bound to strengthen the ill reputation that we seem to have acquired of
the very likely risks of course reversal in this country on account of the compulsions of internal
politics. The huge dangers that emerge from engaging with Indian authorities will fortify
negativity in businesses and professionals and this bodes ill for future projects.
Conclusion:
Decentralisation and inclusive development, however, will not get significantly served by this
mere single step of three state capitals. What would really deliver those goals are functional
and financial decentralisation and empowerment down to the third tier of governance that
make local bodies’ self-governing institutions. States have been chary of walking that path.
Simply declaring a city a capital will not guarantee decentralization or more equal
development.
The idea of decentralised growth needs to be institutionalised and there need to be

deliberate efforts to ensure investments.Authorities will face infrastructure challenges and
environmental risks including climate change in each of the three cities, and will need to build
efficient linkages between them.Calling a city a capital may bring some attention and some
investments, but the challenge will be sustaining it for a more balanced, equitable growth
and development.
AP has to be watched closely to see whether the state government truly intends the
achievement of its stated goals.
8. Explain the key features of New Industrial Policy 2020-23 announced by the Government
of Andhra Pradesh.
Approach:
Introduction:Policy main objective
Body of the Essay: Key measures, Industrial Parks,Fiscal Incentives, Ease of doing
Business,Entrepreneurship Special Incentives for Disadvantaged Groups, etc.
Conclusion:
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, India has faced a significant economic slowdown. In this
context, the measures announced by the AP Government to enhance investor friendliness
and streamline the processes for obtaining approvals / clearances at district level are a
welcome step.
Introduction:
The Government of Andhra Pradesh ("AP Government") recently unveiled its new Industrial
Policy 2020-23 with the aim of providing incentives and an investment-friendly environment
for certain industries in the state.
Broadly, the interventions by the state – that are intended to support and facilitate industry
– include infrastructural interventions (related to the development and management of
industrial parks), ease of doing business measures (such as creation of a single desk portal for
approvals, deemed approvals for certain industries), improving labour access / skilling,
developing a support centre for entrepreneurs, incentives (such as GST reimbursements for
certain industries), and special incentives for socially disadvantaged groups such as women,
members of the scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and other communities.
Key Measures:
Industrial Parks:
The development of industrial parks and provision of plots at affordable rates are a key area
of focus for AP Government under the new policy with the AP Government intending to
promote new industries only in industrial parks/ estates to ensure greater environmental
sustainability. To accomplish this, the AP Government proposes the following:
Development – by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation ("APIIC") – of

multi-sector or sector specific industrial parks built on land that is specifically notified / zoned
/ designated for industrial use as per the State's Environment Management Plan.
The APIIC will then complete the Environmental Impact Assessment for the park, along with
all other necessary clearances, prior to allocation of the plots to micro, small and medium
and large industries. This enables a quicker set up and risk free operation.
The parks dedicated towards micro, small and medium enterprises ("MSME") shall have all
basic facilities (roads, water, power, built factory shells) with minor deviations based on need
and requirement while larger industrial parks would be developed to cater to sector specific
needs. Therefore, mega industries such as bulk drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredient
manufacturing (and other hazardous industries) would be permitted in certain designated
parks which would be specifically built for such purposes. For instance, the AP Government
has planned parks at Kurnool, Nellore and Prakasam to accommodate 300 new units, as well
as explored collaborations in research for medical device technology, gene therapy,
biosimilars and specialty drugs
The development of industries on private land, outside of these parks shall be permitted only
under specific circumstances by the AP Government.
The AP government has reduced the upfront cost of land acquisition, by allowing businesses
to lease land with the option to buy after 10 years. This model is also permitted for the pre-
built factory shells for MSMEs.
Fiscal Incentives:
The AP Government has granted certain fiscal and other incentives based on the size of the
enterprise.
Micro and small enterprises shall receive the following benefits:
Reimbursement of stamp duty on land purchased for industrial use; leases; mortgages and
hypothecations;
Uninterrupted power at concessional rates of INR 1 per unit for the first 5 years after
commencement;
Reimbursement of 100% of net SGST for a period of 5 years from the date of commencement
of commercial production, or up to realisation of 100% of fixed capital investment, whichever
is earlier;
Investment subsidy on fixed capital investment up to INR 2,000,000.
Interest subsidy of 3% on the term loan taken for fixed capital investment by new industries
for 5 years from the date of commencement of commercial production;
Reimbursement on land conversion charges for industrial use of 25%.
Medium enterprises, large and mega industries shall receive a reimbursement on SGST for a
period of 5 years from the date of commencement of commercial production, or up to
realisation of 100% of fixed capital investment, whichever is earlier. The amount of
reimbursement will vary based on employment generated. If the magnitude of employment
generated is less than 1000 then 50%; if 1000 to 2000 then 75%; and if greater than 2000
then 100% of SGST.
Ease of Doing Business:
Among the transparency measures undertaken is the 'deemed approval' granted to all green
and white category industries (classifications based on environmental impact). Such
industries would be able to commence activities and formalise their approvals within 3 years
and need only submit an undertaking / declaration of intent.
Creation of a robust, single desk portal for all necessary approvals and clearances from
multiple government agencies and departments and a central helpline for approvals related
grievances. The portal currently grants nine pre-establishment approvals and seven pre-
operational approvals with fixed timelines which include approvals for change of land use,
factory licensing, consent to operate, fire NOCs and permission to utilise contract and migrant
workers with the intent being to eliminate the need for in person contact with the authorities
at the district level. The AP Government currently guarantees the granting of all approvals
within 21 days.
Other efficiency measures such as more frequent department meetings for quicker approvals
and disbursement of loans.
Entrepreneurship:
The AP Government proposes to set up a support centre called YSR AP One to provide one
stop shop support to entrepreneurs including support regarding the business model, market
research, branding, sales etc.
Special Incentives for Disadvantaged Groups:
The AP Government shall grant fiscal incentives (relating to stamp duty, investment subsidies,
loan interest subsidies, rebates in land cost, and SGST reimbursements) to socially
disadvantaged groups such as women, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other backward
class community members ensuring inclusive development. In addition, the AP Government
shall reserve plots in industrial parks for members belonging to these groups.
Conclusion:
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, India has faced a significant economic slowdown. In this
context, the measures announced by the AP Government to enhance investor friendliness
and streamline the processes for obtaining approvals / clearances at district level are a
welcome step. The restriction on commencement of new industries to land designated for
such purposes ensures greater environmental sustainability and mitigates damage to more
sensitive regions of the state. Lastly, the fiscal incentives to new industry are a welcome step
in light of supply side slowdowns. The State itself presents a good industrial opportunity,
especially with its logistics' channel being so clean with Vizag port and access to Hyderabad
airport.
9. "Providing education through English medium would help the poor and marginalised
students and bring better opportunities for career growth" In the light of above statement
discuss the recent initiatives taken by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the
development of educational sector.
Approach:
Introduction: Aim and objective of introducing English medium education
Body of the Essay: Importance of English as a medium of instruction.
Possible positive Outcomes, Democratization,Better Opportunities,Reducing

caste and class inequalities,Concerns,Telugu language protection,Challenges in
implementation, etc.
Conclusion: balanced conclusion
Introduction:
The decision to introduce English as medium of instruction is one among many other major
reforms in education announced by the AP government, apart from the ‘Nadu-Nedu’
programme to improve school infrastructure, and the ‘Amma Vodi’ scheme, which provides
an annual financial assistance of Rs 15,000 to mothers or guardians of poor school-going
children.
Aim of this change is to address the current inequality in education in government and private
schools and objective is to prepare Public education to the globalisation era.
Body of the Essay:
Democratizing Education:
English-medium education to their children is a dream for a large number of parents in India.
Many of them toil hard and spend substantial part of their incomes in giving quality education
to their children. However, a lot of them who often come from disadvantaged sections like
SC, ST, BC and minorities are unable to realize this dream because of poverty.
Introduction of English-medium in government schools is a democratising step as it helps in
turning dreams of lakhs of parents and their children into reality. Further it has an equalizing
effect as it will help reduce educational inequalities in Andhra Pradesh.
Harnessing English medium education for better employment opportunities:
In today’s world it is almost impossible to disagree with the fact that proficiency in English is
quintessential to grab better employment opportunities. This can be seen not only from the
recruitment process of most of the private companies that test English language skills but
also selection to various government sector jobs like Union Public Service Commission (UPSC),
Staff Selection Committee (SSC) and banking demands proficiency in English language.
A 2016 report of Cambridge University titled ‘Findings of English at Work: Global analysis of
language skills in the workplace’ highlights that about 90% of employers in India say that
English language skills are important for their organization. Further, English figured among
the top three skills, along with learning agility and adaptability, employers look for in India
according to the findings of India Skills Report 2019.
As they say early bird catches the prey, it is important that our children achieve mastery of
English language at early years through sound understanding of fundamentals like grammar,
sentence formation among others that would give them a distinctive edge in the future.
English-language education should be primarily seen in the context of social mobility,

boosting the confidence of students by enabling them to cater to a larger audience and by
gaining access to wider knowledge resources. In that sense, learning English is equated to
having more freedom, confidence, and reach.
As a better tool for social interaction:
At another level, the successful implementation of the scheme has the potential to promote
greater social interaction among antagonistic castes and classes. The reason for the mass
departure of the elite from government schools is often attributed to the fact that these were
not able to offer English-medium education, and this, many believe, has led to the
deterioration of government schools.
As the elite deserted government schools in favour of expensive private English-medium
schools, government schools have ended up as the only option for the poor. With the falling
educational standards in government schools and a consequent rise in aspirational levels of
the poor, poorly-equipped private and unrecognised English-medium schools have begun to
mushroom across the country.
Therefore, there has been an increase in the migration of students from government to
private English-medium schools at the elementary level in the last two decades after the
1990s.As a result, an unchecked private educational market, without any government
monitoring and quality assessment, has become the norm across the country.
Concerns and measures to overcome:
The proposed move could face several challenges like training of existing teachers, retaining
children in schools as the move is feared to increase dropouts, and maintain quality of
teaching content among others.
Danger to telugu language.
The real challenge for the AP government in carrying out its ambitious plan is the presence
of a larger number of teachers who have not been trained in English. This could be addressed
by training teachers in consultation with language experts and by digitising classrooms.
The other challenge is with the parents, as most of the students from marginalised
communities are, perhaps, the first-generation to study in English-medium schools and lack
a home environment to complement their learning at schools. To tide over this challenge,
many experts suggest bilingual education for students at the primary level and making the
move to English-medium instruction gradual. This would make the journey of students and
their families less difficult.
Further, training of teachers in English language skills is a crucial aspect that should be
addressed before implementing this move. The state government should train teachers from
next month, leveraging the use of information technology. The state government’s education
channel MANA TV should be used to train teachers.
A monthly or bimonthly examination should be conducted for teachers under the supervision
of District Education Officer and the performance in these examinations should be linked to
their incentives and promotions. Further, a pilot study can be conducted to identify the
challenges before implementing this scheme on a wider scale.
Telugu language protection:
Make Telugu a compulsory subject in every state government exam and consider the marks
scored for final selection. Telugu language development fund should be set up and its
proceedings should be used for popularizing the language.
Conclusion:
However, the introduction of English as the medium of instruction should not be seen as a
panacea to revive the education system as there are many other aspects that plague
government schools. Poor infrastructure, unavailability of regular and trained teachers, and
caste- and class-based discrimination are some of the most pressing issues.
At the same time, the introduction of English-medium schools, along with other issues taken
care of, has the potential to attract more children across caste and class to government
schools. It can become a game changer in addressing ever-widening inequality and increase
the possibility of social interaction and dialogue across caste, class, and religious divides.
While these are not stated objectives of the scheme, however, the return of the privileged to
government school fold will have a positive impact.
The proposed move should be seen as an investment in future generations, to help children
better equip themselves with skills necessary to face the world when they graduate out of
colleges.
Apart from this, a slew of other measures announced by Andhra Pradesh government in the
recent past like AMMA VODI (a scheme that gives a financial assistance of Rs 15,000 to
mothers from Below Poverty Lines families for sending their children to school) and NADU-
NEDU (a programme for revamping school infrastructure) would transform the education
sector in the state and help it emerge as Vidhyandhra Pradesh.

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LAEX - 103

MODEL ANSWERS: PAPER - I

Introduction: Inequality as a major issue during covid-19 pandemic.

Conclusion: Need for reducing inequalities, Providing social security

Body of the Essay:

Inequality in Health care facilities:

Digital divide (inequality):

Conclusion: Suggest measures

Body of the essay:

How serious is this problem?

Caste based violence against women:

Lost workdays, lower productivity and lower income.

Overall reduced or lost educational, employment, social, or political participation

• Sex education and counseling.

Introduction: Climate change definition.

India's geographical profile and vulnerability.

Conclusion: Suggest measures

Climate change is the global phenomenon of climate transformation characterized by the

Body of the Essay:

Climate change impacts:

Forests and Biodiversity:

Food and Agriculture:

Sustainable development Goals:

✓ Passive reduction of indoor temperatures

Introduction: Definitions of Arts and Humanities.

Importance of education in Arts and humanities.

Current status of liberal arts education in India.

Reasons for neglecting education in Arts and humanities.

Need for strengthening education in arts and humanities.

Conclusion: Suggesting measures.

Body of the Essay :

5. Discuss the evolution of Indian Federalism since independence.

Introduction: Federalism meaning,Nature of Indian federalism (Constitutional structure)

Body of the essay:

✓ Phases of evolution and their characteristic features.

Conclusion: Need for strengthening Federalism, Measures for strengthening Federalism

(Recommendations of Sarkaria Commission, Punchi Commission and Second ARC on

Body of the Essay:

• First Phase (1947-1967):

Body of the Essay:

✓ India vs China comparison.

Conclusion: Best possible way forward

Comparison of India and China:

Choices India have: (Elaborate the following points)

None of India’s potential strategic choices are easy or obvious.

Introduction: Brief description of 'three capitals plan'

Body of the Essay:

✓ Link between decentralization and development of Multiple Nodal cities.

Conclusion: Effective Implementation is going to decide success.

In erstwhile Andhra Pradesh we have seen lopsided development of different regions.

Development of Hyderabad as a single largest growth centre hasn't witnessed balanced

The idea of decentralised growth needs to be institutionalised and there need to be

Introduction:Policy main objective

Development – by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation ("APIIC") – of

Micro and small enterprises shall receive the following benefits:

Investment subsidy on fixed capital investment up to INR 2,000,000.

Reimbursement on land conversion charges for industrial use of 25%.

Ease of Doing Business:

Special Incentives for Disadvantaged Groups:

Introduction: Aim and objective of introducing English medium education