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Journalism of Courage
UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-1 to check your progress.
“The over-consumption of finite resources by a minority of the world’s population is shrinking the Safe and Just Space”.
Elucidate the above statement in the context of the study ‘A Just World on a Safe Planet’.
What were the views of B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi on the question of separate electorates? Discuss.
Introduction
— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.
— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.
Body
— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.
— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.
— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.
— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.
— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.
Way forward/ conclusion
— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.
— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.
Self Evaluation
— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.
QUESTION 1: “The over-consumption of finite resources by a minority of the world’s population is shrinking the Safe and Just Space”.
Elucidate the above statement in the context of the study ‘A Just World on a Safe Planet’.
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— The study, ‘A Just World on a Safe Planet’, was conducted by 65 prominent natural and social scientists from more than 20 nations and published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health.
— The study demonstrates that a minority of the world’s population’s overconsumption of scarce resources is diminishing the “Safe and Just Space” — a notional region in which it is possible to provide everyone’s fundamental needs while causing the least amount of environmental damage.
— The researchers discovered that distributing resources to those who do not have enough is less destructive to the environment than the current scenario, in which the wealthy minority consumes more than their fair share.
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:
Key findings of the study
— The study builds on Earth System Boundaries (ESBs), published in 2023, which highlighted the safe and just “ceiling” at which people might continue to take natural resources and pollute without destabilising the Earth’s systems and jeopardising humanity.
— According to the researchers, ‘Safe ESBs’ are the levels above which tipping points may be activated, causing Earth instability. Safe ESBs are not always just. ‘Just ESBs’ avert considerable harm to individuals, communities, and countries. According to the report, seven of eight metrics for the five areas have already exceeded the EBSs. These include climate, surface water, groundwater, and natural ecosystems.
— The Paris Agreement aims to keep global warming at 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, but even then, 30 million people in Bangladesh will be susceptible to the effects of sea level rise.
— According to the study, the notion that the wealthy are to blame for the current catastrophe is central to all debates about the climate crisis. Aside from the fossil fuel-powered industrial revolution of the industrialised world, there is data on consumerism. In 2020, Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute found that the richest 10% of the world’s population was responsible for roughly half of global emissions in 2015.
— According to the new study, economic development trajectories that dominate global economic policy pose a threat to the global commons. “Current environmental pressures are hugely unequal, with the richest 10 per cent of the global population consuming as much energy as the poorest 80 per cent and being responsible for more emissions than the other 90 per cent,” according to the investigation.
Conclusion:
— According to the researchers, the time has come to reconsider economic structures and technology innovations in order to ensure that essential natural resources are fairly accessible, shared, and maintained. By 2050, even if every person on the planet had merely a basic quality of living, the earth’s climate systems would still be overshot, and the planet “would be outside the climate boundary” unless these changes are enacted.
Points to Ponder
Paris Agreement
Related Previous Year Question
What characteristics can be assigned to the monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more than 50 percent of the world population residing in Monsoon Asia? (2017)
QUESTION 2: What were the views of B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi on the question of separate electorates? Discuss.
Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.
Introduction:
— Mahatma Gandhi started a death-defying fast in September 1932 at Pune’s Yerawada Central Jail in against the award of separate electorates to the Scheduled Castes. The effects of this fast, together with the subsequent Poona Pact between Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, are still evident in the reservations system that exists in India today.
— Gandhi’s opinions on caste changed over time, going from being fervently traditional to the point where he advocated for bans on intermarriage and interfaith meals to eventually opposing untouchability and calling untouchables “harijans.”
Body:
You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:
— Gandhi’s criticism of untouchability did not result in him abandoning the institution of caste itself, which, as Ambedkar expressed it, would necessitate Gandhi rejecting the very foundation of caste – the Hindu religion. Recognising that the legitimacy of caste stems from the divine authority of the shastras (holy texts), Ambedkar asserted that no amount of piecemeal reformism that did not challenge the authority of the scriptures themselves could erase it.
— The depressed classes are a unique and independent group. And, although they are included among the Hindus, they in no way represent an important part of that community,” Ambedkar declared during the plenary session of the First Round Table Conference in London.
— He contended that, while shared electorates could help lower castes integrate into Hindu society, they would do little to undermine their subordinate status. He thought that combined voting “enabled the majority to influence the election of the representatives of the Dalits community, and thus disabled them for defending the interests of their oppression against the ‘tyranny of the majority'”.
Gandhi’s opposition to separate electorates
— Gandhi’s objection to separate electorates was apparently motivated by his belief that they “do too little” for lower castes. Gandhi argued that lower castes should seek to control “the kingdom of the whole world” rather than being limited to a small number of seats.
— Gandhi claimed that separate electorates would only assist the British ‘divide and control’. Second, this was a time when animosity between Hindus and Muslims was growing. If separate electorates for lower castes were declared alongside those for Muslims, caste Hindu leadership would lose major authority by breaking away from the united Hindu fold.
Conclusion:
— The “Gandhi-Ambedkar debate” culminated in Gandhi’s fast, which began on September 20, 1932. “This is a God-given opportunity that has come to me,” Gandhi stated from his prison cell, “to offer my life as a final sacrifice to the oppressed.”
— Gandhi’s fast placed Ambedkar in a difficult predicament. He disagreed with Gandhi’s political option (reservations), which he argued would limit the potential for more fundamental social change.
Points to Ponder
Poona Pact
Communal Award
Related Previous Year Questions
What was the difference between Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore in their approach towards education and nationalism? (2023)
Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate. (2015)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 69)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 68)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 70)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 69)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 69)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 70)
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