Elections, rights issues & governance

Answer: (c) उत्तरदायित्व

Mr. X answered for the quality of a public programme he oversaw. He escalated the provider's lapse to the vigilance authority and stopped the contract despite pressure, which is accountability: officials being answerable to citizens and acting on failures in the services they run.

• ✓ (c) He took responsibility for the programme's outcome, held the private provider answerable by reporting it and halting the contract, and put citizens' interest above vested interests.
• ✗ (b) Equity concerns fair and impartial treatment of people or groups. The case is not about how vaccines were shared among citizens but about an officer answering for a failure.
• ✗ (d) Delegation means passing authority or tasks down to subordinates. Nothing in Mr. X's actions involves handing over authority.

Remember · Accountability: public officials answer to citizens for how public duties are carried out, and they act on lapses, including by contractors, rather than overlook them.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 10 Democratic Politics – II, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) केवल 1, 3 और 4

The task is to mediate and balance three legitimate interests, so steps that listen, bring all sides together and put shared evidence on the table help, while a decision that dismisses one side does not. Statements 1, 3 and 4 do this; statement 2 overrides the tribal community's concerns and is likely to deepen the conflict.

• ✓ 1. Starting with the tribal community's cultural and religious concerns shows respect, lowers tension and makes it possible to discuss technical alternatives afterwards.
• ✗ 2. Public health is among the State's primary duties (Article 47), but the State must equally protect the environment (Article 48A) and look to the welfare of Scheduled Tribes (Fifth Schedule); treating one group's view as automatically outweighing another's ignores the balance the task asks for.
• ✓ 3. A platform with tribal leaders, environmental experts and municipal representatives brings all interests to one table and helps reduce tension.
• ✓ 4. An independent impact assessment shared openly with both sides gives them common facts, so the decision can rest on evidence rather than on rival claims.

Remember · In conflict cases, choose steps that listen to every side, share facts openly and balance rights and needs. Reject options that override one party or rush ahead.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) केवल 3

The information is confidential and unproven. Ms. X should not bury it, as Mr. Y suggests, but she should also not act on it in public. Passing it to an oversight committee keeps the process transparent to an accountable body and lets the allegations be checked before anyone is named or removed.

• ✗ 1. Telling the public at once about allegations that have not been proven can damage the contractor unfairly and may expose the confidential source, before anyone has checked the facts.
• ✗ 2. Removing a contractor from the shortlist on unproven allegations, without an inquiry or a chance to respond, would be arbitrary and could be challenged.
• ✓ 3. A limited disclosure to an oversight committee avoids concealment, lets the claims be verified and the tender decision be taken on facts, and holds back public disclosure until there is something to disclose.

Remember · With confidential, unproven allegations: do not suppress them and do not act on them alone. Refer them to the proper oversight body for verification, then decide.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 10 Democratic Politics – II, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) केवल 2

Section 173 of the BNSS allows information about a cognizable offence to be given at any police station, whatever the place of the offence, orally or electronically. A preliminary enquiry is possible only with prior permission of an officer of at least Deputy Superintendent rank. Statement 1 goes wrong by adding non-cognizable offences, and statement 3 wrongly makes electronic filing compulsory.

• ✗ 1. Section 173(1) speaks of information relating to a cognizable offence, given irrespective of the area where the offence was committed. It does not extend this to non-cognizable offences, so the statement's wording is incorrect.
• ✓ 2. Under section 173(3), for a cognizable offence punishable with three years or more but less than seven, the officer in charge may, with prior permission of an officer not below Deputy Superintendent of Police, conduct a preliminary enquiry.
• ✗ 3. Information may be given orally or by electronic communication; the informant is not obliged to file electronically.

Remember · BNSS s.173: information on a cognizable offence can be given at any police station (Zero FIR), orally or electronically; preliminary enquiry only for 3–7 year offences, with DSP-level permission.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error