SYNOPSIS [21st February,2022] Day 22: IASbaba’s TLP (Phase 1): UPSC Mains Answer Writing (General Studies)

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SYNOPSIS [21st February,2022] Day 22: IASbaba’s TLP (Phase 1): UPSC Mains Answer Writing (General Studies)

1. How did the Indo-China war of 1962 shape India’s defense and foreign policy in the coming years? Explain. 

Approach- 

Candidates need to write about the background of Indo china war. Then simply highlight the defence and foreign policy due to impact  

Introduction 

Recent face-off between India and China in Galwan valley has awaken the memory of 1962 war. China attacked India over multiple points across the border in 1962, leading to a month-long standoff between 10,000 to 20,000 Indian soldiers and 80,000 Chinese troops. Unprepared for the offensive, India lost nearly 4,000 soldiers in the war and suffered its most humiliating defeat. 

Body 

• The aftermath of the war saw sweeping changes in the Indian military to prepare it for similar conflicts in the future, and placed pressure on Nehru, who was seen as responsible for failing to anticipate the Chinese attack on India. 
• Indians reacted with a surge in patriotism and memorials were erected for many of the Indian troops who died in the war. 
• The war also put an end to Nehru’s earlier hopes that India and China would form a strong Asian Axis to counteract the increasing influence of the Cold War bloc superpowers. 
• According to James Calvin, India gained many benefits from the 1962 conflict. This war united the country as never before. India got 32,000 square miles (8.3 million hectares, 83,000 km2) of disputed territory even if it felt that NEFA was hers all along.  
• It would more than double its military manpower in the next two years and it would work hard to resolve the military’s training and logistic problems to later become the second-largest army in the world. India’s efforts to improve its military posture significantly enhanced its army’s capabilities and preparedness. 
• However, since 1962 here have also been many instances when China had to face setbacks after initiating aggression against India. 
• The Nathu La conflict is better known as the India-China war of 1967. In a strong message to China that the mistakes of 1962 won’t be repeated, India landed a stern blow on the PLA’s pride at the Nathu La post in Sikkim. 
• In 1993 and 1996, the two sides signed the Sino-Indian Bilateral Peace and Tranquility Accords, agreements to maintain peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control.  
• During the 1962 war, India was left isolated. Barring Western countries like USA and UK, none came to India’s aid, though India considered herself as the leader of the Non-aligned Movement. 
• Seeking to balance the other side, each country has forged relationships that act as a counterpoint to the other; most notably, Beijing’s “all weather friendship” with Islamabad and Delhi’s partnership with Moscow. 
• The rivalry has also led both sides to compete for influence in their peripheries, especially in Burma and Nepal, and to resent the spread of the other’s influence close to their borders. 

Conclusion

India and China are two growing Asian powers and hence a clash of interests is inevitable.  The key is to keep it manageable and not allow it to flare up into another border war. It will be tough test for our diplomacy in the prevailing situation. 

2. Explain the factors that created instability in Punjab in the 1980s. How did the government respond? Discuss.  

Approach 

Students are expected to write about the insurgency led instability in the Punjab. Then how government responded with different operation to defeat movement.  

Introduction 

The Insurgency in Punjab, from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, was an armed campaign by the Sikh militant nationalist Khalistan movement. In the 1980s, the movement had evolved into a secessionist movement after the perceived indifference of the Indian state in regards to mutual negotiations. 

Body 

Factors created instability in Punjab: 

• The insurgency in Punjab originated in the late 1970s, was a threat to the unity and integrity of India due to the militant Sikh ethno-nationalism known as Khalistan movement. 
• Bhindranwale then joined the Akali Dal to launch the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982, to implement Anandpur Sahib resolution. 
• Bindranwale also increased the level of rhetoric on the perceived “assault” on Sikh values from the Hindu community. 
• Pakistani elements too that supported the Khalistani movement in order to weaken the country. 
• Failing to get the Anandpur Resolution implemented, he declared his intention to carve out a semi-autonomous homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab region of India. 
• In 1983, to escape arrest, he along with his militant cadre occupied and fortified the Sikh shrine Akal Takht. 

Response: 

• Hence, Operation Blue Star was launched between 1st June and 6th June 1984, with the aim of getting rid of Bhindranwale and his demands. 
• There were two components to the operation, Operation Metal, which was the invasion of the temple complex, and Operation Store, which was restricted to the state’s countryside. 
• This operation helped to eradicate Khalistani extremism, resulting in the death of Bhindranwale. 

Conclusion

Though the Golden Temple was restored and made free of militants and arms, the operation was criticised by Sikhs the world over, since it was carried out at their holiest site of worship. The long-term result of the operation left the Khalistan movement defeated. It also left India united, and Punjab free of militancy, and ensured that the Golden Temple is free of violence, guns and ammunition. 

3. What do you understand by the phenomenon of feminisation of agriculture? What are its implications? Analyse. 

Approach- 

Candidates need to explain the phenomenon of feminisation of agriculture and then analyse its implications. 

Introduction 

In India, the structural transformation is a stunted transformation. One of the drivers as well as an outcome of this transformation/transition is feminization of agriculture, though the degree varies across regions and countries. The roles of women in agriculture have increased during the last two decades and women now have broader and deeper responsibilities in agriculture – both in subsistence agriculture as well as in commercial farming. There is also evidence of the blurring of the traditional gender segregation of roles in agriculture. 

The phenomenon of feminisation of agriculture 

• Male outmigration from rural, primary agricultural areas and the globalization of agri-food systems have both been linked to a significant increase in women’s work and responsibilities in agriculture, a phenomenon referred to as the ‘feminization of agriculture’.  
• While the term has been broadly used to bring attention to the increasing number of women, relative to men, in agricultural employment, little attention has been paid to what the ‘feminization of agriculture’ means for women’s empowerment and their roles in agriculture more generally.  
• Feminization of agriculture, in its simplest and broader term, refers to women’s increasing participation in the agricultural labor force, whether as producers, as unpaid family workers, or as agricultural wage labor.  
• It is an increase in women’s participation rates in the agricultural sector, either as self-employed or as agricultural wage workers.  
• The phenomena include an increase in the percentage of women in the agricultural labor force relative to men, either because more women are working and/or because fewer men are working in agriculture. 
• Depending upon the existing agricultural and livelihoods system, feminisation can mean slightly different things in the context of agriculture in different countries.  
• It is therefore imperative that to understand recent trends in women’s work in agriculture, it is useful to locate them within the broader agricultural context. 

Its implications 

• Access to land is one of the major challenges affecting women farmers’ productivity. Access to land is a basic requirement for farming and those who have ownership and control over land usually also command wealth, status and power in many societies. Agri feminization will help in solving these challenges. 
• Creation and promotion of women-led micro enterprises will go a long way in validating female agency both on micro and macro-levels.  
• This would require increased extension services such as capacity building, training and access to credit.  
• Specifically, in agriculture, due to increasing feminisation of farms, providing cultivator status to women will be critical. This will help them in accessing benefits under multiple agricultural schemes that are only reserved for landowners. 
• Adapting extension services to the needs of women farmers will be beneficial. Under farm mechanisation, a focus on innovating farm machines that are better suited to female use will be rewarding.  
• Continued efforts to aggregate women under Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), and organising and training them via women self-help groups (SHGs) will also be crucial towards their empowerment. 

Conclusion:

These days women are taking on ever more responsibility in managing rice production, as more men seek work off-farm to generate needed household income, a process characterized as the ‘feminization of agriculture’. Women are having to take on the entire process of food production as well bringing up their children and caring for elderly relatives. It is a severe burden on all members of the family. 

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