UPSC Mains 2024 GS1 Q18 — Social Justice
Despite Comprehensive policies for equity and social justice, underprivileged sections are not yet getting the full benefits of affirmative action envisaged by the Constitution. Comment. (Answer in 250 words) 15
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- Comment
- Scope keywords
- Comprehensive policiesequity and social justiceunderprivileged sectionsfull benefits of affirmative actionenvisaged by the Constitution
- Implicit sub-parts
- Identify specific Constitutional provisions and corresponding policies intended for social justice.
- Analyze the structural and systemic barriers preventing the 'full' percolation of these benefits.
- Discuss the 'creamy layer' effect and intra-category exclusion within SC/ST/OBC groups.
- Evaluate the gap between legal/formal equality and substantive/socio-economic equality.
- Common pitfalls
- Focusing only on Reservation (quota) while ignoring other policies like scholarship, land reforms, or skill development.
- Writing a generic essay on caste discrimination rather than addressing 'policy implementation' gaps.
- Failing to mention specific constitutional articles like Art 15, 16, 17, 38, or 46.
- Ignoring the impact of the private sector and globalization on traditional affirmative action effectiveness.
- Dimensions required
- Constitutional/LegalAdministrative/InstitutionalSocio-EconomicPolitical/Representational
- Marks allocation hint
Devote approximately 50 words to defining the Constitutional vision and existing policy landscape. Use 150 words to critically analyze the bottlenecks (e.g., identity politics, exclusion errors, and institutional apathy). Reserve the final 50 words for a way forward focusing on 'equitable distribution of benefits' and recent developments like sub-categorization.
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