12 Nov 2026GS1Topic
Indian society: poverty, globalisation, urbanisation and population
Previous year questions
5 as set1 · UPSC 201715 marks250 words
“The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues of employment, but has also created new problems.” Substantiate this statement with examples.
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Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Gurugram grew around information technology after the 1990s. The same growth that created jobs also strained these cities.
New avenues of employment
Direct jobs: The information technology and business process management sector employs about 58 lakh people directly, mostly young graduates.
Indirect jobs: Each campus supports drivers, security guards, caterers and domestic workers. Delivery and cab platforms grew on this demand.
Startups: Bengaluru became India's startup capital, creating jobs in finance technology, design and marketing.
Women at work: Women form roughly a third of the sector's workforce, far above most formal industries.
New problems
Water stress: Bengaluru faced a severe water crisis in 2024, as borewells dried and lakes had been built over.
Floods and traffic: Heavy rain flooded the Outer Ring Road in 2022. Commutes at Hinjewadi in Pune and Gurugram's Golf Course Road often take hours.
Costly housing: Rents rise beyond the reach of service workers, who move to informal settlements on the edges.
Local tension: Migrant professionals and local residents sometimes clash over language and jobs, as in Bengaluru.
Health strain: Long hours and night shifts cause burnout and lifestyle diseases.
Way forward
Tier 2 cities such as Coimbatore, Indore and Bhubaneswar can share growth. Metro rail, lake restoration and planned affordable housing can ease the load on existing hubs.
Information technology made cities engines of jobs, but planning has to catch up with growth.
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Decode
Substantiate both halves of the statement with examples.
Implicit demand
The examiner wants named cities and concrete examples of jobs and problems, not general claims.
Architecture
An introduction, four kinds of jobs, five problems, a way forward, then a verdict.
Articulation
Bengaluru's water crisis makes the problems real. Money line: planning has to catch up with growth.
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Facts
Software Technology Parks of India scheme, 1991.
HITEC City in Hyderabad.
Bengaluru has lost most of its historic lakes to construction.
2 · UPSC 201810 marks150 words
'Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing.' Explain by giving reasons.
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NITI Aayog estimates that about 25 crore people left multidimensional poverty between 2013 and 2023. Yet poverty persists for clear reasons.
Informal work: About nine in ten workers hold informal jobs without security. One illness or lost job pushes families back into poverty.
Weak farm incomes: Nearly half the workforce depends on agriculture, with small holdings and disguised unemployment.
Health shocks: High out of pocket spending on health drives many households into debt.
Leakages and targeting: Exclusion errors, fake beneficiaries and corruption weaken schemes.
Social exclusion: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women face barriers to land, credit and jobs.
Climate shocks: Droughts, floods and heatwaves wipe out farm incomes and push marginal households back.
Regional concentration: Poverty remains highest in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where growth is slow.
Schemes have reduced poverty, but only good jobs and strong health care can end it.
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Decode
Explain why poverty persists despite many programmes.
Implicit demand
The examiner wants structural reasons, not a list of schemes.
Architecture
An introduction with recent data, six reasons, then a verdict.
Articulation
Informal work and health shocks explain why people fall back. Money line: good jobs and strong health care.
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Schemes
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
National Food Security Act, 2013.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, 2014.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, 2020.
3 · UPSC 201910 marks150 words
“Empowering women is the key to control population growth.” Discuss.
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India's total fertility rate has fallen to 2.0 according to the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019 to 2021). The decline closely follows gains in women's education and agency.
Why empowerment works
Education: Women with twelve or more years of schooling have about 1.8 children, against about 2.8 for women with no schooling.
Later marriage: Educated women marry later and space their children.
Choice and health: Empowered women control contraception, and lower child deaths reduce the wish for more children.
Paid work: Women who earn gain a say in family decisions, including the number of children.
Evidence: Kerala reached low fertility early through female literacy, while Bihar's rate remains near 3.
Not the only key
Health services, male responsibility in family planning and economic growth also matter. The Emergency showed that coercion backfires.
Empowering women is the surest and most humane path to a stable population.
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Decode
Discuss whether women's empowerment is the key to population control.
Implicit demand
The examiner wants the mechanism with data, and other factors for balance.
Architecture
An introduction with fertility data, four links, other factors, then a verdict.
Articulation
Fertility by schooling level gives hard evidence. Money line: the surest and most humane path.
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Facts
International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994.
National Population Policy, 2000.
Mission Parivar Vikas, 2016.
4 · UPSC 202015 marks250 words
Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalisation? Justify your answer.
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Globalisation brings ideas, goods and media across borders faster than ever. It challenges India's diversity, but India's pluralism has also absorbed and reshaped it.
Where diversity is under threat
Cultural homogenisation: Global brands, fast food and Western dress spread a uniform urban lifestyle.
Languages: English and a few major languages dominate jobs and media. UNESCO lists many Indian languages as endangered.
Crafts and livelihoods: Cheap factory goods undercut handloom and handicrafts, and artisans leave hereditary skills.
Tribal communities: Mining and industrial investment displace tribes from forests, eroding their way of life.
Reactive identity: Fear of losing culture sometimes breeds exclusive nationalism and intolerance.
Why pluralism endures
Glocalisation: Global firms adapt to India, as the McAloo Tikki burger shows.
Indian culture goes global: The International Day of Yoga (2015) and the Oscar for Naatu Naatu in 2023 carried Indian culture abroad.
Regional voices: Digital platforms have expanded regional language content, from Malayalam films to Bhojpuri music.
Protecting crafts: Geographical Indication tags and online markets help weavers and artisans reach buyers worldwide.
Judgement
Globalisation threatens specific groups such as small language communities, artisans and tribes. It does not threaten Indian pluralism as a whole, which has always grown by absorbing outside influences.
Globalisation tests India's diversity, yet India's pluralism remains strong enough to turn the global into the local.
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Judge whether globalisation threatens Indian diversity.
Implicit demand
The examiner wants both sides argued with examples and a clear final position.
Architecture
An introduction, five threats, four reasons for resilience, a judgement, then a verdict.
Articulation
Separating threats to groups from threats to pluralism gives a precise stand. Money line: the global into the local.
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Facts
Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999.
One District One Product scheme, 2018, for local crafts.
Bhasha Sangam initiative for exposure to Indian languages.
5 · UPSC 202115 marks250 words
What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India?
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India's information technology sector earns over 280 billion dollars a year, mostly through exports. Its growth in a few cities has changed both economy and society.
Economic implications
Jobs and a new middle class: Lakhs of well paid jobs created a new consumer class, fuelling housing, retail and services.
Inequality: A sharp income gap separates technology workers from the informal workers who serve them.
Regional imbalance: Jobs concentrate in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and the National Capital Region. Young people migrate from eastern and northern states.
Real estate: Land prices soar, displacing farmers and urban poor on city edges.
Job risk: Artificial intelligence and automation now threaten routine roles, as layoffs at Tata Consultancy Services in 2025 showed.
Social implications
Women's work: Women form about a third of the workforce, gaining financial independence. Night shifts, though, raise safety concerns.
Family change: Nuclear families, later marriage and dual income homes have become common.
Cosmopolitan culture: Migrants from many states mix, though this sometimes creates local resentment over language.
Gated lives: Gated communities separate the affluent from the rest of the city.
Stress: Long hours and global time zones cause burnout and lifestyle diseases.
Information technology modernised Indian cities, but its gains must spread more widely to keep them inclusive.
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Decode
List the economic and social effects of information technology growth in cities.
Implicit demand
The examiner wants a balanced spread of effects under two clear heads.
Architecture
An introduction, five economic effects, five social effects, then a verdict.
Articulation
Automation brings the answer up to date. Money line: gains must spread more widely.
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Facts
Global capability centres of multinational firms are expanding in Indian cities.
Startup India, 2016.