Essay 2017

Read it as

1. Plain reading: for most Indian farmers, income from cultivation alone no longer supports a decent living
2. Deeper reading: the problem is structural, with tiny and shrinking holdings, rising input costs, price and weather risk and low productivity pushing families into debt and non-farm work
3. Tension to resolve: the statement is true for the majority but not for all, since irrigated, dairy and horticulture farmers prosper, so the essay must test how far it holds and argue what would make farming viable again

Angles to explore

• Land: most holdings are small and marginal and shrink with each generation, so output per family is low even with good yields.
• Economics: costs of seed, fertiliser, power, labour and credit rise faster than farm-gate prices; weak markets and price crashes cut margins.
• Risk and debt: monsoon failure, pests and falling prices lead to borrowing from informal lenders; distress shows in farmer suicides and loan waivers.
• Resource stress: falling groundwater, tired soils and climate change reduce yields and raise costs, especially for small farmers.
• Policy response: MSP and procurement reach few crops and regions; crop insurance, e-NAM, producer organisations and the goal of doubling farm income by 2022 try to fill the gap.
• Counterpoint: some farmers prosper, especially in irrigated areas, dairy and horticulture, and many families survive on non-farm income; so the picture is uneven, not uniform.
• Way forward and flow: land leasing reform, irrigation, diversification, agro-processing and rural non-farm jobs. Flow: the paradox, land and costs, risk, policy, counterpoint, way forward.

Read it as

1. Plain reading: how recent measures such as GST, larger Finance Commission devolution and NITI Aayog replacing the Planning Commission have changed the sharing of taxes and funds between Centre and States
2. Deeper reading: whether these measures have made fiscal federalism more cooperative or have tightened the Centre's hold over revenue and spending choices
3. Tension to resolve: States gained a larger untied share and a joint forum in the GST Council but gave up independent indirect-tax powers and remain exposed to cesses and conditional schemes, so the essay must weigh autonomy gained against autonomy lost

Angles to explore

• Meaning of 'new measures': GST, the Fourteenth Finance Commission's larger devolution, the replacement of the Planning Commission by NITI Aayog and changes in centrally sponsored schemes.
• Devolution: the Fourteenth Finance Commission raised the States' share of the divisible pool to 42 per cent, giving them more untied funds and choice.
• GST: the 101st Amendment created a GST Council in which States hold two-thirds of votes; shared decision-making, but States gave up much independent power over indirect taxes.
• Protection and concerns: revenue shortfall compensation for five years, yet concerns about cesses outside the divisible pool, limited borrowing space, and goods such as petrol kept outside GST.
• Cooperative or coercive: the GST Council is a model of joint rule-making, but the Centre's vote weight and its control of schemes and cesses raise questions of balance.
• Differences among States: producing and consuming States, and rich and poor ones, gain and lose unequally; capacity to manage new systems also varies.
• Way forward and flow: keep compensation and consensus in the Council, rationalise cesses, and share data and administration. Flow: fiscal architecture, measures, impact on States, concerns, way forward.

Read it as

1. Plain reading: what a nation's schools and colleges teach, and how well, decides its future
2. Deeper reading: classrooms build skills, values and citizens, so quality, equity and freedom in education shape economic strength and democratic health
3. Tension to resolve: destiny is also shaped by health, jobs, politics and institutions, and Indian classrooms carry serious learning gaps, so the essay must argue why classrooms remain the starting point and what reforms would let them shape destiny well

Angles to explore

• Human capital: literacy, skills and research raise productivity and growth; East Asian economies grew on schooling, and India's young workforce needs learning quality to become a dividend.
• Citizenship and values: classrooms teach reasoning, tolerance, constitutional values and responsibility, which hold a plural democracy together.
• Equity: education is the surest ladder for the poor and marginalised; the Right to Education Act (2009), scholarships and reservation aim to open it.
• Present gaps: many children cannot read or do arithmetic at grade level (ASER surveys), teacher shortage and absence, dropouts, rote learning and exam pressure.
• Innovation and leadership: universities and research produce ideas, technology and leaders; India's ancient centres such as Nalanda show the tradition.
• Counterpoint: destiny is also shaped by health, jobs, family, politics and institutions; educated youth without jobs waste the gain, but classrooms are where change starts.
• Way forward and flow: teacher quality, foundational learning, skills and spending near the 6 per cent of GDP the Kothari Commission urged. Flow: quote, growth, values, equity, gaps, counterpoint, reforms.

Read it as

1. Plain reading: does a Cold War movement of States that refused to join military blocs still matter when power is spread across many centres
2. Deeper reading: whether independence in foreign policy, solidarity among developing countries and peace remain useful ends, even if the movement's forms have faded
3. Tension to resolve: NAM as an organisation lacks unity, resources and weight, yet its core idea of strategic autonomy is needed more under US-China rivalry, so the essay must separate the institution from the principle and give a verdict

Angles to explore

• Purpose: to stay out of Cold War blocs, end colonialism and build a fairer economic order for the developing world.
• Case that it has lost relevance: the bipolar world ended in 1991; members are diverse and divided; resolutions carry little weight; top-level presence at summits has thinned.
• Case for relevance: over a hundred members give a voice at the UN and in climate and trade talks; disarmament, UN reform and South-South cooperation remain live.
• India's evolution: from non-alignment to strategic autonomy and multi-alignment, engaging the US, Russia, the EU and China by interest; the 'Non-Alignment 2.0' report (2012) restated it.
• Multipolarity: US-China rivalry revives pressure to pick sides, exactly what non-alignment resisted; BRICS, the SCO and G20 carry parts of the idea.
• Counterpoint: NAM lacks institutions, resources and unity; as an organisation it may have lost relevance, but as a principle it remains useful.
• Way forward and flow: focus on climate, technology and economic issues, and on reform of global institutions. Flow: origin, purpose, case against, case for, India's shift, verdict.

Read it as

1. Plain reading: taking delight in what one has and receives is itself a way of saying thanks
2. Deeper reading: gratitude is not only words or ritual; contentment and celebration of ordinary blessings are its most natural expression, and joy without gratitude is shallow
3. Tension to resolve: joy can be shallow and thanks can be forced on those who suffer, so the essay must show how genuine joy grows from acknowledgement and leads to sharing and action rather than excusing injustice

Angles to explore

• Philosophical: Indian ideas of santosha, or contentment, and other religious and Stoic traditions of thankfulness link inner joy with acknowledgement of what one has been given.
• Psychological: gratitude is associated with well-being and better relationships; comparison, greed and constant wanting weaken both joy and gratitude.
• Personal: joy in health, family, friends and small daily things is thanks to those who made them possible, from parents to teachers.
• Social: harvest festivals such as Pongal, Onam and Baisakhi turn joy into thanks to nature and farmers; celebrating soldiers, caregivers and workers honours their contribution.
• Public and ecological: gratitude to nature and fellow citizens leads to care for the environment and a sense of civic responsibility.
• Counterpoint: joy can be shallow, and thanks can be forced on those who suffer; gratitude should not excuse injustice and must lead to sharing and action.
• Flow: the image, meaning, philosophy, personal, social, nature, counterpoint, conclusion.

Read it as

1. Plain reading: the modern, educated, independent Indian woman is said to be fulfilled; the essay must decide whether that fulfilment is real or a myth
2. Deeper reading: gains in law, education, politics and work are real, yet safety, equal pay, care burdens, class divides and social norms leave fulfilment partial and uneven
3. Tension to resolve: 'myth' is too strong and 'complete' is untrue, so the essay must argue that fulfilment is unfinished, show for whom it is real and for whom it is not, and say what agency and safety it still needs

Angles to explore

• Gains: rising literacy and college enrolment, one-third reservation in panchayats and municipalities, and women in the armed forces, sport, business and science.
• Law and rights: the Domestic Violence Act (2005), the workplace harassment law (2013), tougher rape laws after 2012, 26 weeks' paid maternity leave (2017) and the 2017 verdict on instant triple talaq.
• Gaps: low female labour participation, wage gaps, unpaid care work, few women in legislatures (Women's Reservation Bill pending), skewed child sex ratio and fear of violence.
• Double burden and norms: working women still do most housework; patriarchy, dowry and honour crimes narrow choices, and 'fulfilment' is often defined by others.
• Diversity: rural, Dalit, tribal, minority and poor women lag behind urban middle-class women, so the 'new woman' image is class-bound.
• Verdict: not a myth, but incomplete; real fulfilment means agency, safety, equal pay and choice, and it depends on changed attitudes of men and institutions.
• Flow: the contrast, progress, laws, gaps, double burden, diversity, verdict and way forward.

Read it as

1. Plain reading: people can defy, bend or evade laws made by human institutions, but the laws of nature, physical, biological and ecological, cannot be broken without consequences
2. Deeper reading: the statement points to the limits of human power, the cost of ignoring ecological limits and a moral order that stands above human decree
3. Tension to resolve: braving unjust human laws can be courageous while defying nature is folly, so the essay must show that progress comes from working with natural laws and that sustainable development is obedience to them

Angles to explore

• Meaning: human laws are conventions made by societies and can be broken, evaded or changed; natural laws, physical, biological or ecological, operate regardless of belief or power.
• Environment: climate change, deforestation and depleted water and soil follow ecological limits; the Uttarakhand floods (2013) and Chennai floods (2015) showed the cost of building on floodplains and hillsides.
• Science and technology: humans do not defy natural laws but learn and work with them, from aircraft to vaccines; success comes from obeying nature's rules.
• Health and mortality: lifestyle, ageing and disease follow biological laws; wealth and power buy no exemption.
• Ethics: natural law and karma traditions, and Gandhi's obedience to a higher law of truth; Thoreau, Gandhi and King defied unjust human laws in the name of a higher moral order.
• Counterpoint: human laws matter, since law restrains power and protects the weak, and braving an unjust law can be courageous; arrogance towards nature is the true folly.
• Flow: the contrast, meaning, environment, science, health, ethics, counterpoint, conclusion.

Read it as

1. Plain reading: platforms built around posting, likes and self-display push users to put themselves first
2. Deeper reading: whether selfishness is built into the design through metrics, attention and advertising, or arises from how people choose to use it; 'inherently' is a strong claim
3. Tension to resolve: the same medium that breeds comparison, outrage and echo chambers also mobilises relief, protest and voice for the marginalised, so the essay must weigh design against use and give a verdict on 'inherently'

Angles to explore

• The case for: likes and follower counts reward self-promotion; advertising models profit from attention, comparison and outrage; echo chambers reinforce one's own view.
• Effects: anxiety and envy from comparison, fake news and hate speech, distraction from real relationships and loss of privacy for convenience.
• The case against: it mobilises help, from crowdfunding for treatment to rescue coordination in the Chennai floods (2015), and campaigns after the 2012 Delhi gang rape and #MeToo (2017).
• Governance and voice: citizens use it to raise grievances with government, and marginalised groups use it to be heard and to organise.
• Design versus use: technology is a tool; its business model nudges self-interest, but laws, platform rules and digital literacy can steer it towards the common good.
• Verdict: not inherently selfish; it magnifies both self-interest and solidarity, and the outcome depends on design, regulation and users.
• Flow: the image, the case for, effects, the case against, design versus use, verdict.