GS Paper I 2024 · Q17
15 marks · 250 words Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism X-Ray · Core #61What is regional disparity? How does it differ from diversity? How serious is the issue of regional disparity in India?
Approach · directive: “what / how serious”
What it asks · Define regional disparity, separate it from diversity, and assess how serious it is in India with evidence, causes and consequences.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Define: what regional disparity is
- Distinguish: how it differs from diversity
- Assess (how serious): evidence, causes, consequences and responses in India, with a verdict
Open with · The Fifteenth Finance Commission gave income distance a 45% weight in sharing central taxes, the largest of any criterion — a measure of how deep regional disparity runs.
Cover
- Definition: a persistent, measurable gap in income, infrastructure and human development between or within States.
- Versus diversity: diversity is horizontal difference to be protected; disparity is vertical hierarchy to be reduced.
- Evidence: Bihar had the highest MPI value in NFHS-4; Vidarbha, Marathwada, Bundelkhand and KBK lag within States.
- Causes: colonial port-centred growth, geography, a Green Revolution first confined to irrigated areas, investment following infrastructure.
- Consequences: statehood demands (Telangana 2014; Vidarbha), extremism in neglected tribal belts, fiscal friction.
- Responses: 45% income-distance weight (XV FC), Aspirational Districts Programme (2018, 112 districts), Article 371 provisions.
- Verdict: serious because it overlaps with caste, tribe and geography, yet Bihar's fastest MPI fall shows it is tractable.
Close with · Transfers can equalise budgets but not capabilities; SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) will be met when the aspirational district becomes the norm-setter, not the exception.
Add value (verified)
- XV Finance Commission horizontal devolution: income distance carries 45% weight (population 15, area 15, forest & ecology 10, demographic performance 12.5, tax & fiscal effort 2.5).The Report of the Fifteenth Finance Commission — PIB, Ministry of Finance ↗“Population 15.0 Area 15.0 Forest & ecology 10.0 Income distance 45.0 Tax & fiscal efforts 2.5 Demographic performance 12.5 Total 100”
- Aspirational Districts Programme: launched January 2018 to transform 112 most under-developed districts.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.”
- NITI Aayog National MPI 2023: Bihar had the highest MPI value in NFHS-4 (2015-16) and saw the fastest absolute reduction by 2019-21.National Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023 — NITI Aayog ↗“Bihar, the state with the highest MPI value in NFHS-4 (2015-16), saw the fastest reduction in MPI value in absolute terms”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2024, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 347words · Minimalist IAS
The Fifteenth Finance Commission gave income distance — how far a State's per capita income lags — a 45% weight in sharing central taxes, the largest of any criterion. That single number shows how deep regional disparity runs, and why it must be told apart from diversity.
What regional disparity is
- Definition: a persistent, measurable gap in income, infrastructure and human development between States, or between regions within a State.
- Markers: per capita income, multidimensional poverty, infant mortality, literacy, bank credit and industrial investment.
How it differs from diversity
| Basis | Diversity | Disparity |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Horizontal difference | Vertical hierarchy |
| Examples | 22 Scheduled Languages, faiths, ecologies | Gaps in income, health, schooling |
| Policy aim | Protect and celebrate | Reduce and close |
Diversity can coexist with equality; disparity breeds resentment, and when it overlaps with identity it turns difference into grievance.
How serious is it in India?
- Between States: NITI Aayog found Bihar had the highest multidimensional poverty value in NFHS-4 (2015–16); industry and jobs cluster on the western and southern coasts.
- Within States: Vidarbha, Marathwada, Bundelkhand and Odisha's KBK districts lag their own State averages.
- Causes: colonial port-centred growth, geography, a Green Revolution first confined to irrigated areas, and private capital that follows infrastructure.
- Political strain: Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, and Vidarbha still seeks statehood; neglected tribal belts feed left-wing extremism.
- Fiscal friction: richer States question how much weight equalisation should get, as migration flows from lagging to leading regions.
Signs of response
- Convergence: Bihar also saw the fastest absolute fall in its MPI value by 2019–21 (NITI Aayog, 2023).
- Targeted programmes: the Aspirational Districts Programme (January 2018) seeks to transform the 112 most under-developed districts through convergence of Central and State schemes.
- Constitutional tools: Article 371 special provisions for regions such as Vidarbha and Marathwada, alongside Finance Commission equalisation.
- Verdict: serious, because it overlaps with caste, tribe and geography; yet tractable where States invest in schooling, health and connectivity.
Fiscal transfers can equalise budgets but not capabilities; India will meet SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) only when the aspirational district sets the pace rather than trails it.
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.
