“Besides being a moral imperative of a Welfare State, primary health structure is a necessary precondition for sustainable development.” Analyze.
Approach · directive: “analyze”
What it asks · Show that primary health care is both a duty of the Welfare State and a foundation for development, and identify the gaps that weaken it.
The question has 3 parts — answer each
- Analyse primary health structure as a moral imperative of the Welfare State
- Analyse primary health structure as a necessary precondition for sustainable development
- Identify the gaps in India's primary health structure and what closing them needs
Open with · Primary health care is the first point of contact for most citizens, and Article 47 makes improving public health a primary duty of the State.
Cover
- Duty: Article 47 and the right to health read into Article 21 make health a core obligation of the State.
- Development link: healthy people raise productivity and learning, and cheap early care spares households the poverty caused by out-of-pocket health spending.
- Global commitment: SDG 3 and universal health coverage rest on strong primary care, as the Alma-Ata (1978) and Astana (2018) declarations stressed.
- Cost-effectiveness: immunisation, maternal and child care, and early treatment of chronic disease prevent costly hospital admissions.
- Indian efforts: National Health Mission, ASHAs, sub-centres and PHCs, Health and Wellness Centres under Ayushman Bharat, and National Health Policy 2017's stress on primary care.
- Gaps: shortages of doctors and specialists, weak infrastructure, low public spending, rural and State disparities, and heavy dependence on private providers.
- Way forward: higher public spending, stronger workforce and referral links, digital health records, and community participation through panchayats.
Close with · Investing in primary health care serves both justice and growth; without it, other development gains remain fragile.
Add value (verified)
- Article 47 makes raising the level of nutrition and the standard of living and improving public health among the State's primary duties. The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2024), Article 47 - Legislative Department ↗“The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2021, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 225 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
Primary health care is most citizens' first point of contact; Article 47 makes improving public health a primary duty of the State, and the right to health is read into Article 21.
A moral imperative of the Welfare State
- Duty: Articles 47 and 21 make health a core obligation, not charity; a Welfare State that abandons the poor to costly private care fails its purpose.
- Equity: free primary care reaches women, children and the rural and tribal poor who cannot afford hospitals.
A precondition for sustainable development
- Human capital: healthy people learn and work better, raising productivity and incomes.
- Poverty prevention: cheap early care spares households the debt that out-of-pocket health spending causes.
- Cost-effectiveness: immunisation, maternal and child care and early management of chronic disease avoid expensive hospital admissions.
- Global goals: SDG 3 and universal health coverage rest on primary care, as the Alma-Ata (1978) and Astana (2018) declarations stressed.
Gaps in India
- Shortages of doctors and specialists, weak infrastructure, low public spending, inter-State disparities and reliance on private providers persist despite the National Health Mission, ASHAs, Health and Wellness Centres and the National Health Policy 2017.
Way forward
- Higher public spending on primary care, a stronger workforce and referral links, digital records and panchayat oversight.
Investing in primary health serves justice and growth together; without it, gains in education, income and environment stay fragile.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.