TLP-UPSC Mains Answer Writing, Yesterday's Synopsis
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SYNOPSIS [25th February,2022] Day 26: IASbaba’s TLP (Phase 1): UPSC Mains Answer Writing (General Studies)
1. What sort of political attitude should a civil servant have? Why? Substantiate your views.
Approach-
Candidates need to write about political attitude and simply explain political attitude required for civil servant to run the bureaucracy highlight your views.
Introduction
Political attitude refers to the opinions and values individuals hold about political issues, events, and personalities. The civil servants are the backbone of our country and are expected to be partners who work and carry out the policies of the government. It is a combination of lay politician and politically neutral and permanent civil servants.
Body
- Civil servants are Selected impartially and given orientation to be politically neutral with the people, and are expected to evince a spirit of service to the community.
- The power is exercised through elected representatives who hold ministers accountable and in turn, civil servants are accountable to Ministers.
- The restrictions placed on civil servants in relation to politics and political activity are designed to ensure that a civil servant does not do anything that could give rise to a perception that his or her official actions are in any way influenced or capable of being influenced by party political motives.
The civil servant should possess a political attitude such as which helps him in the following:
- To uphold constitutional values – like empathy and compassion towards weak, respect for women, protection of environment.
- Practice civil service values – Objectivity – A secretary who has negative attitude towards reservation if asked to prepare a report on the same must be able to do it objectively.
- Responsive – Civil servants are accused of showing resistance to power sharing and decentralization. They must change their attitude to respond to aspirations of people.
- Bureaucracy should be neutral in terms of ideology and politics. So that there will not be an affinity to a particular class or ideology. Even in the post-retirement period, public officials could make significant interventions for more noble purposes underlying the good society even without joining a particular brand of formal politics.
If bureaucracy won’t be neutral then it cannot lend its whole-hearted support to the existing political system, and to the economic and political system if any radical changes are introduced.
- Neutrality depicts that public officials are not slaves to either the politicians or any other authority other than the moral authority of the Constitution.
- Without neutrality, there can be a close nexus between bureaucracy and large-scale enterprises which could further lead to crony capitalism.
- The role of civil servant is to effectively implement the policies irrespective of rightist, centrist or leftist government and whether it is NREGA or Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.
- If he is too vocal about his views, he may not be able to implement the policies of the party he does not favour with the same level of zeal and motivation.
Conclusion
The civil servant has a critical role to play in the development of the society. In that sense, he has a lot of responsibility and accountability towards public for which people should have trust in civil servants. Attitude and emotional intelligence are two very important qualities of a civil servant which helps him to remain neutral in all matters, which is required for the healthy functioning of a democracy.
2. The definition and dynamics of social influence have changed in the age of social media. Do you agree? Critically comment.
Approach
Students are expected to write about the basics of social influence and then critically comment on how social media is changing the dynamics of the social influence provide both alternative side with specific examples.
Introduction
Social media is a powerful communications medium, with widespread social influence over people in urban areas as well as remote areas. Social media influence is a an individual’s ability to affect other people’s thinking in a social online community.
Body
Social influence:
- Social influence is described as the change in person’s behaviour, thoughts, feelings and attitudes that results from interaction with another individual in society. It can be intentionally or unintentionally, as a result of the way the changed person perceives themselves in relationship to the influencer.
Social media influence changing dynamics:
- Social persuasion tactics, methods and procedures are used by which a social entity’s attitude, belief, or behavior is affected by other entities in a social network.
- Social influence is the process by which individuals make real changes to their outlooks and behaviours as a result of communication with others who are perceived to be similar, desirable, or expert.
- People adjust their views with respect to others to whom they feel similar in accordance with psychological principles such as balance.
- The more influence a person has, the more appeal that individual has to companies or other individuals who want to promote an idea or sell a product.
- For example social media influencers promote beauty care products, flaunt there private trips to Maldives this all impacts the users socio psychology.
- Cricket players as social media influencer promoting Dream 11 and other apps has impact on the children make them addicted divert from there essential routine.
Social influence to bring positive change:
- It can bring change in attitude of people. It has moral conditioning effect. For example Video messages by celebrities like Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachhan etc during the COVID to maintain covid appropriate behavior.
- The Selfie campaign was a major success in promoting the Beti Padhao Beti Bachao scheme.
- Social influence through social media can be key to bring behavioural changes to solve social evils like caste system, patriarchy, climate change, solid waste management.
- Using social influence of celebrities and campaigns have been quite effective in persuading people to adopt any desired behaviour.
- For example United Nations taking help of popular Hollywood actors to promote campaigns for climate change and gender equality.
- Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya as social media influencer promotes gym exercise and it influence people in positive angle to maintain the healthy life.
Conclusion
Therefore, social influence through social media is a dynamic & powerful tool that hold a huge potential to change the face of world in both positive and negative spectrum. If creatively used, they can prove to be the most effective tool to tackle and fight against social evils and bring social behavioural change.
3. What are India’s concerns with respect to the ongoing negotiations in the WTO on the issue of fishery subsidies? Are India’s concerns justified? Analyse.
Approach-
Candidates need to mention India’s concerns with respect to the ongoing negotiations in the WTO on the issue of fishery subsidies. Also, the candidate needs to analyse if India’s concerns are justified or not.
Introduction
WTO negotiations aimed at disciplining fisheries subsidies are based on the 2001 Doha mandate, supplemented by a more detailed one agreed at the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. These mandates call for WTO Members to strengthen disciplines on subsidies in the fisheries sector, including through the prohibition of certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and over-fishing. Members also agreed that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least-developed Members should be an integral part of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, taking into account the importance of this sector to development priorities, poverty reduction, and livelihood, and food security concerns.
India’s concerns with respect to the ongoing negotiations in the WTO on the issue of fishery subsidies
- India has rejected the latest draft text on fishery floated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) this week, saying it is imbalanced, weak and unfair, and doesn’t address its concerns on food security and livelihood of small fishers, instead favouring developed nations.
- It is unacceptable to India because it fails to uphold the much-needed sustainability of fisheries.
- Going by the estimates put out by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), nearly two-thirds of the $35-billion subsidies go to enterprises engaged in commercial fishing.
- On the other hand, the developing countries’ subsidies, just a fraction of it, are aimed mostly at facilitating livelihood security for the fisheries-dependent coastal communities.
- To correct this imbalance, India has proposed that the rich countries stop subsidising fishing in distant waters beyond their exclusive economic zones (EEZ) for 25 years. This would give time to the other countries to build their own sustainable fisheries capabilities.
Are India’s concerns are justified due to the following reasons:
- India is in favour of stopping IUU (illegal, unreported, unregulated) fishing and supporting sustainable fishing by checking harmful subsidies.
- However, the text is tilted heavily towards advanced fishing nations letting them maintain their subsidies for high-sea fishing.
- At the same time developing countries are denied adequate carve-outs that could hurt both livelihood and food security interests.
- India will oppose developed nations’ proposal of forging government-to-government access agreements wherein two countries can sign a pact for fishing activities. India is critical of such agreements as they will lead to exploitation of least developed nations.
- India is also of the view that developed nations should assume more responsibility for the huge amounts of subsidies and should cut it down to reduce overfishing.
Conclusion
Subsidies do not lead to trade distortions on their own. Subsidies for food security needs to be treated differently than the subsidies for exports.
