Rampura, a remote district inhabited by a tribal population, is marked by extreme backwardness and abject poverty. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local population, though it is primarily subsistence due to the very small land holdings. There is insignificant industrial or mining activity. Even the targeted welfare programs have inadequately benefited the tribal population. In this restrictive scenario, the youth has begun to migrate to other states to supplement the family income. Plight of minor girls is that their parents are persuaded by labour contractors to send them to work in the Bt Cotton farms of a nearby state. The soft fingers of the minor girls are well suited for plucking the cotton. The inadequate living and working conditions in these farms have caused serious health issues for the minor girls. NGOs in the districts of domicile and the cotton farms appear to be compromised and have not effectively espoused the twin issues of child labour and development of the area.
You are appointed as the District Collector of Rampura.
Identify the ethical issues involved. Which specific steps will you initiate to ameliorate the conditions of minor girls of your district and to improve the over-all economic scenario in the district?
Approach · directive: “identify / which steps”
What it asks · Identify the ethical issues (child labour, exploitation of minor girls, failed welfare delivery and NGOs) and give specific steps, as Collector, for the girls and for the district's economy.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Identify the ethical issues involved
- Specific steps, as Collector, to ameliorate the conditions of the district's minor girls
- Specific steps to improve the district's overall economic scenario
Open with · Survival versus childhood, and profit versus a girl's dignity: as Collector, I owe Rampura's girls protection first and the district a livelihood that ends the trade.
Cover
- Opening: survival versus childhood, profit versus dignity; as Collector, protect the girls first, then end the poverty behind the trade.
- Issues: hazardous child labour (Article 24), lost schooling (Article 21A), girls used as means for their 'soft fingers' (Kant), failed welfare, compromised NGOs.
- Options weighed in a table: a ban at source, rescue and prosecution only, or rescue with rehabilitation and livelihoods (chosen).
- Girls: rescue through the Child Welfare Committee (JJ Act, 2015); prosecution and Rs 20,000 per child (M.C. Mehta, 1996); KGBV and Eklavya schools.
- Prevention: village child-protection committees, a register of migrating families, and action against unlicensed contractors under the 1979 Act (since then, the OSH Code).
- Economy: the Aspirational Districts method, MGNREGS works, watershed and irrigation, Van Dhan centres, women's SHGs, job-linked skilling, and outcome tracking.
Close with · Rescue meets today's emergency, but only a livelihood at home ends it; count Rampura's progress in girls in classrooms rather than cotton fields.
Add value (verified)
- Article 24 of the Constitution: no child below fourteen shall work in a factory or mine or in any other hazardous employment.The Constitution of India — Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice (2024 text) ↗“24. Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.—No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.”
- Article 21A of the Constitution: free and compulsory education for all children aged six to fourteen.The Constitution of India — Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice (2024 text) ↗“21A. Right to education.—The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.”
- Kant's Humanity Formulation of the categorical imperative: never treat humanity, in oneself or others, as a means only, but always as an end in itself.Kant's Moral Philosophy — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ↗“This formulation states that we should never act in such a way that we treat humanity, whether in ourselves or in others, as a means only but always as an end in itself.”
- M.C. Mehta v State of Tamil Nadu (Supreme Court, 10 December 1996): the offending employer pays Rs 20,000 for each child employed in violation of the Act, into a Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund.M.C. Mehta vs State of Tamil Nadu and Others, Supreme Court, 10 December 1996 — Indian Kanoon ↗“The inspectors appointed under section 17 would see that for each child employed in violation of the provisions of the Act, the concerned employer pays Rs.20,000/- which sum could be deposited in a fund to be known as Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund.”
- The Aspirational Districts Programme (January 2018) aims to transform 112 of the most under-developed districts through convergence, collaboration with District Collectors, and competition through monthly delta ranking.Aspirational Districts Programme — NITI Aayog ↗“Launched by the Hon’ble PM in January 2018, the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) aims to quickly and effectively transform 112 most under-developed districts across the country. The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level Nodal Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts through monthly delta ranking”
- PIB: the four Labour Codes, including the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, were made effective from 21 November 2025, rationalising 29 existing labour laws.PIB, Ministry of Labour & Employment: Government makes the four Labour Codes effective (21 November 2025) ↗“the four Labour Codes - the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 are being made effective from 21st November 2025 , rationalising 29 existing labour laws.”
- PIB factsheet on the OSH Code, 2020 (22 November 2025): its definition of inter-state migrant workers now covers those employed directly or through a contractor and those who migrate on their own.PIB factsheet: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020 (22 November 2025) ↗“Inter-State Migrant Workermen (ISMW) The definition has been widened to include those employed directly or through contractor and also covers workers who migrate on their own.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 372words · Minimalist IAS
Survival versus childhood, and profit versus a girl's dignity: as Collector, I owe Rampura's girls protection first and the district a livelihood that ends the trade.
Stakeholders
- The girls and families; contractors and farm owners; the receiving state; NGOs; gram sabhas; my administration.
Ethical issues
- Childhood versus income: hazardous work and lost schooling violate Article 24 and the right to education under Article 21A.
- Dignity versus profit: contractors value the girls only for their "soft fingers"; Kant forbids treating humanity "as a means only", and parents persuaded by poverty do not consent freely.
- Duty of care versus neglect: welfare has not reached the tribal poor, and compromised NGOs have abandoned their watchdog role.
- Structural injustice: tiny holdings and no industry force families to choose between hunger and their daughters' health.
Options weighed
| Option | Merits | Demerits |
|---|---|---|
| Ban minors' migration at source | Quick signal | Drives it underground; ignores poverty |
| Rescue and prosecute only | Ends the abuse now | Girls return to the same poverty |
| Rescue, rehabilitate, build livelihoods | Ends the cause | Slower; needs convergence |
Steps for the minor girls
- Rescue, at once: with the cotton-growing state's Collector, police and labour department; produce the girls before the Child Welfare Committee (Juvenile Justice Act, 2015) for care and repatriation.
- Prosecution and compensation: cases against contractors and farm owners; following M.C. Mehta v State of Tamil Nadu (1996), recover ₹20,000 per child for a Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund.
- Back to school: Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and Eklavya Model Residential Schools, with bridge courses and health follow-up.
- Prevention: village child-protection committees, a register of migrating families, and action against unlicensed contractors under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 (since then, the OSH Code, 2020).
Steps for the district economy
- Converge and measure: the Aspirational Districts Programme method: converge schemes, work with nodal officers, rank on outcomes.
- Work near home: MGNREGS with a district shelf of works; watershed, check-dams and small irrigation; horticulture and millets.
- Forest livelihoods: Van Dhan centres for minor forest produce, women's SHGs and market links.
- Lasting delivery: skilling tied to real jobs; audit and replace compromised NGOs; track girls enrolled and household income.
Rescue meets today's emergency, but only a livelihood at home ends it; count Rampura's progress in girls in classrooms rather than cotton fields.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 1 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
