GS Paper I 2023 · Q9
10 marks · 150 words Women, population, poverty & urbanisation X-Ray · Core #64Explain why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society.
Approach · directive: “explain”
What it asks · Explain the social, psychological and economic causes behind the rising suicides among young women in India.
It asks 2 things — answer each
- Explain: the familial, social, economic and psychological causes of rising suicide among young women in India
- Explain briefly: what would arrest the trend
Open with · NCRB counted 171,418 suicides in 2023, 27.2% of them women, and the rate rose from 12.0 to 12.4 per lakh in 2021–22; as Durkheim argued, such rates have social causes in family and gender norms.
Cover
- Marriage pressure: 23% of women aged 20–24 married before 18 (NFHS-5); dowry and isolation in a new home.
- Violence at home: domestic cruelty with weak shelters and slow courts.
- Curbs on autonomy: honour-based control over partner, dress, mobility and career.
- Aspiration gap: more educated women, scarce jobs and exam pressure.
- Digital harm and the mental-health gap: online abuse, stigma, few counsellors, pesticides at hand.
- Way forward: National Suicide Prevention Strategy (2022), Tele-MANAS, Mental Healthcare Act 2017, action on dowry and violence.
Close with · Each death of a young woman is a social signal, not a private failing; meeting the 2030 target needs families that accept choice and institutions that listen early.
Add value (verified)
- NCRB 2023: 171,418 suicides; females 27.2%.Understanding Mental Health — PIB feature ↗“171,418 suicides were reported in the country in 2023. The 2023 NCRB report revealed a significant gender disparity in suicides: males accounted for 72.8% of all suicides, while females accounted for 27.2%.”
- NCRB: suicide rate 12.0 per lakh (2021) and 12.4 (2022); National Suicide Prevention Strategy released November 2022.Update on status of mental health in the country — PIB, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ↗“the rate of suicide per lakh population was 12.0 in 2021 and 12.4 in 2022. The Government has released the National Suicide Prevention Strategy in November, 2022.”
- NSPS aims to reduce suicide mortality by 10% by 2030; Tele-MANAS is a national tele-mental-health programme.World Suicide Prevention Day 2025 — PIB backgrounder ↗“Aims to reduce suicide mortality by 10% by 2030 through multi-sectoral action. • National initiatives: Programs like Tele-MANAS (Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States)”
- The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 decriminalised suicide.Advancing Mental Healthcare in India — PIB, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ↗“the decriminalization of suicide in India”
- NFHS-5 (2019–21): 23% of women aged 20–24 were married before 18.Child marriage campaign — PIB, Ministry of Women and Child Development ↗“23% of women aged 20–24 were married before they turned 18 (National Family Health Survey-5, 2019–21)”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2023, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 224words · Minimalist IAS
NCRB's suicide rate rose from 12.0 to 12.4 per lakh in 2021–22 (since then, 171,418 suicides were counted for 2023, 27.2% of them women). As Durkheim argued, such rates have social causes; for young women these lie in family and gender norms.
Young women's distress: Marriage pressure; Violence; Curbs on choice; Job and exam stress; Online abuse; Untreated depression
Why suicides are rising
- Marriage pressure: 23% of women aged 20–24 were married before 18 (NFHS-5); dowry and isolation in a new home breed despair.
- Violence at home: domestic cruelty, weak shelters and slow courts leave few exits.
- Curbs on autonomy: honour-based control over partner, dress, mobility and career collides with rising aspirations.
- Aspiration gap: more young women finish college, but scarce jobs and exam pressure breed frustration.
- Digital harm: cyber-harassment, morphed images and body-image comparison add shame.
- Mental-health gap: stigma, few counsellors and family denial leave depression untreated; pesticides make impulses fatal.
Way forward
- Policy in place: the National Suicide Prevention Strategy (2022) aims to cut suicide mortality by 10% by 2030; Tele-MANAS offers tele-counselling.
- Care, not crime: the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 decriminalised suicide; add campus counsellors and swift action on dowry and domestic violence.
Each death of a young woman is a social signal, not a private failing; meeting the 2030 target needs families that accept choice and institutions that listen early.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 16 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
