Think and Learn, TLP Mains 2015, UPSC, UPSC Mains- Think and Learn-2015
TLP: GS Mains Synopsis [Day 87]
Q.1) Case Study
On a Sunday morning, you are flipping through the pages of a news paper. You see a news about Canada and that leaves you pondering about your own country.
The recently elected Prime Minister of Canada is a young and charismatic man, with the youth of Canada and other parts of the world looking upto him as a role model. Some of the steps taken by him are truly remarkable. His cabinet includes learned men from related disciplines. For instance, his defence minister is a former war veteran and also includes a Nobel laureate and an astronaut! Moreover, his cabinet includes 15 women members, exactly half the total strength of the cabinet. All these indicate towards the aspirational new Canada. India in contrast is a unique case. A country where the majority of the population is aged below 35 years, the institutions, policy and leadership hardly reflects the expectations of the youth.
Suppose you have cleared the civil service examination with top rank. Overnight, you become a youth icon for the young population of India. What will be your message to them, keeping in mind that you are equally baffled by the situation in the country?
The Top Answer for this Question is written by – V.K. Kumar
Ans) As Youth Icon and civil servant, i should motivate the youth for their contribution in progress of our country. Young generation has huge potential to transform society and country. Our country is having many challenges and youth can contribute to tackle them.
1) Youth have been most averse from the politics. They should realize that their votes are very valuable for giving direction to country. Voting should be on agenda based by leaving cast creed and region based.
2) Our half population i.e Women are not getting due place in education health and opportunities. They should come forward to overcome this menace.
3) Corruption in our society is very rampant. Youngsters are taking it as grated. They should use many instrument like RTI to make responsible authorities.
4) Poor and depressed class need support from youth. They can make them realize their rights and motivate to come forward for development of society and country.
Youth has huge potential and we just need to give them right direction with good ethical background. Youth is leading in sports, cinema, innovation and IT and becoming icon for millions. need of hour is make realize youth to participate all sphere of activities to provide energy by taking experience of elder luminaries.
Q.2) Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something. What is the significance of this statement for a public servant. Elucidate.
The Top Answer for this Question is written by – Rahul Agarwal
Ans) This statement reflects the normal tendencies of human beings. We often are afraid of losing our near and dear ones, erosion of our values and beliefs etc. Similarly, most of us have lost something or other in life, either material or emotional, which shapes our attitude in life. Finally, there are certain things which we love and which drives us to action.
Understanding of this psychology is essential for a public servant, for effective implementation of welfare programs and policies:
A. Public servants should remove fear and anxieties of public by providing information, doing demonstrations and providing examples. Eg people might be afraid of a new road construction in their villages, which may affect their agriculture. They should be educated about the benefits of development, and the compensation given to them.
B. They should also have awareness of what people love most and which can motivate them to action. Eg. People love to become a inspiring example in front of their children. Thus children could be roped in for schemes like swachh bharat abhiyan, to influence adult actions
C. Lastlly, public servant should also beware of the negative attitudes of people, which they developed due to certain losses they have faced in life.eg. If people of a coastal village, suffered severe losses during a cyclone, they are less likely to be receptive of government interventions in disaster management activities. Thus, suitable behavior change exercise have to be adopted.
Thus, a public servant should keep a tap on people emotions for effective discharge of his duties.
Q.3) Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to know how to feel, how to respond and how to let life in so that it can touch you. What quality do these statements refer to? Discuss.
The Top Answer for this Question is written by – Rahul Agarwal
Ans) The above statement refers to the importance of emotional intelligence both in the personal and the professional. For a long time, emotions were considered as weakness for person. We used to judge human capability in terms of intellect with metrics like IQ. Intellect is supposed to guide people towards rational and dispassionate decisions.
But off late, the role of emotions in holistic development of a person is being appreciated. Human beings, as a social animal, cant bereft of emotions. In fact our emotions provide us clues about the external environment and prepare us for our response. If we are able to identify our emotions and their source, we can manage them to our advantage. Also, by developing capabilities to understand emotions of other, we can empathize with them and can take decisions accordingly.
Real life scenarios are highly complex, and are often have emotional dimensions attached to it. For example, we may feel agitated by a sexual offence committed by people, but we should channelize our anger to work towards increasing safety for women rather than looking for retribution. Similarly, though governments have programs for girl education, but people have unfavourable emotions attached to it. Thus, both personal and inter-personal decisions need to be guided by education emotions to ensure optimal and desired results.
High Order Thinking
Q.1) Excessive political intervention at the micro level of planning and implementation is inimical to the objectives of grassroot democracy and societal oversight. Examine the issue in light of the recent decision taken by a state government to discontinue eggs from the menu of ICDS and Midday Meal scheme.
The Top Answer for this Question is written by – Machiaveli
Ans)
Image 1 – https://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/2854/5189/original.jpg
Image 2 – https://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/2854/5191/original.jpg
Q.2) Economic reforms that require legislative sanction have become victim of the politics of the day. Consensus on key reform initiatives seem distant and in the meantime, India is losing the window of opportunity that could propel economic growth to the next level. Critically comment.
The Top Answer for this Question is written by – Rahul Agarwal
Ans) Although, with favorable macro-economic fundamentals and demographic advantages India has been seen as the new engine of world economic growth, but certain economic reforms are stuck due to parliamentary logjam. Some of them are:
A. Goods and Services Tax: This tax regime has been mooted for quite a longtime, and has the potential to increase our GDP by 1-2% GDP points. But it has been stuck due to political opposition in the parliament.
B. Land acquisition Act: Although a new Land acquisition act has been framed in 2013, but still it hasn’t resulted in much of investment. But the new governments step to bring changes has been met opposition by the political parties.
This is the reason why certain global firms like Moodys have raised the concern of India missing the opportunity of the favorable conditions and have revised the GDP figures downward.
One of the downside of this is increased number of ordinances. Government had promulgated Land ordinances .It has also came up with ordinance on arbitration and conciliation. There are also talks about designating bills as money bills, to prevent obstruction by Rajya Sabha.
A functional parliament is the duty of legislators in the national interest. Therefore, both opposition and government should build consensus through discussion for passing of key legislations for economic growth and development of country.
