UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. Mains Answer Writing 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-2 to check your progress. The wait is finally over! The Indian Express UPSC Essentials brings to you the first edition of its monthly magazine. Click Here to read. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com. QUESTION 1 One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment Bill, 2023 seeks to reserve seats for women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. How does reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies work? QUESTION 2 What does Constitution of India specifies about the sessions of the parliament? How special session of the Parliament is different from the normal session of the Parliament? General points on the structure of the answers 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. THOUGHT PROCESS You may enrich your answers by some of the following points QUESTION 1: One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment Bill, 2023 seeks to reserve seats for women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. How does reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies work? Introduction: A simple introduction to this answer can revolve around a general statement about 128th amendment bill. — The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha on September 19, 2023. The Bill seeks to reserve seats for women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. — The Bill reserves, as nearly as may be, one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Additionally, this reservation will also extend to the seats reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. — The reservation will be provided for a period of 15 years. However, it shall continue till such date as determined by a law made by Parliament. (Source: prsindia.org) Body: You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer: — The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill 2023 states that "as nearly as possible, one-third (including seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of People shall be reserved for women." — The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill 2023 proposes to introduce new articles — 330A and 332A — in the Constitution. These new provisions will introduce the changes for Lok Sabha and Assemblies respectively. Reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies — Article 243D of the Constitution provides for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and women in Panchayats. — As per the provisions of Article 243D, not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for SCs and STs shall be reserved for women. — It also says that nothing in this part shall prevent the legislature of a state from making any provision for reservation of seats in any Panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at any level in favour of the backward classes of citizens. Conclusion: You conclusion should be short and you many include: — According to government data, the percentage of women elected representatives in Panchayati Raj institutions was greater than 50 per cent in at least 18 states as of September 8, 2021: Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Manipur, Telangana, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh. — The Bill states that one-third of the seats in Parliament and state Assemblies will be reserved for women. However, it doesn’t specify how these seats will be identified. Hence, it is expected that the determination of seats will be addressed by a separate law that the government will introduce. (Source: Women’s reservation: What is the road ahead, before it can be implemented by Apurva Vishwanath and Harikishan Sharma) Points to Ponder How reservations are provided currently? Delimitation Commission What constitutional amendments will be needed to operationalise the scheme of women’s reservation? Related Previous Year Question Though women in post-Independent India have excelled in various fields, the social attitude towards women and feminist movement has been patriarchal.” Apart from women education and women empowerment schemes, what interventions can help change this milieu? (2021) QUESTION 2: What does Constitution of India specifies about the sessions of the parliament? How special session of the Parliament is different from the normal session of the Parliament? Introduction: A simple introduction to this answer can revolve around a general statement about sessions of the Parliament. — India’s Parliament has no fixed calendar of sittings. A Lok Sabha committee prepared a programme for legislative sessions in 1955. It proposed that the Budget session of Parliament begin on February 1 and finish on May 7, and that the Monsoon session begin on July 15 and end on September 15. — The committee suggested that the Winter session, the last session of the year, commence on November 5 (or the fourth day after Diwali, whichever is later) and finish on December 22. While the government agreed to this calendar, it was never implemented. — The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs takes the decision about the date and duration of parliamentary sessions. It currently has ten Ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, Agriculture, Tribal Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting. — The Law Minister and the Minister of State for External Affairs are special invitees to the Committee. The President is informed about the Committee’s decision, who then summons Members of Parliament to meet for the session. (Source: Special session of Parliament: How it will workby Chakshu Roy) Body: You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer: What does the Constitution say? — The Constitution specifies that six months should not elapse between two parliamentary sessions. The framers of the Constitution borrowed it from the Government of India Act of 1935. — It allowed the British Governor General to call a session of the central legislature at his discretion, requiring that the gap between two sessions should not be more than 12 months. — Before independence, the central assembly met for a little more than 60 days a year. This number increased to 120 days a year in the first 20 years after Independence. Since then, the sitting days of the national legislature have declined. — Between 2002 and 2021, Lok Sabha averaged 67 working days. The situation in state legislatures is much worse. In 2022, 28 state Assemblies met for 21 days on average. — The conference of presiding officers has repeatedly urged that Parliament assemble for more than 100 days. A similar suggestion was made by the National Commission to Review the Workings of the Constitution, which was established in 2000. What is a special session of Parliament? — The Constitution does not use the term “special session”. The term sometimes refers to sessions the government has convened for specific occasions, like commemorating parliamentary or national milestones. — The presiding officers should preside over the proceedings of the two Houses when they are in session. The presiding officers can also mandate that the operations of their respective Houses be curtailed and that procedural devices such as question hour be unavailable to MPs throughout the session. — Article 352 (Proclamation of Emergency) of the Constitution does refer to a “special sitting of the House”. — Parliament added the part relating to the special sitting through the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978. Its purpose was to add safeguards to the power of proclaiming Emergency in the country. It specifies that if a Proclamation of Emergency is issued and Parliament is not in session, then one-tenth of Lok Sabha MPs can ask the President to convene a special meeting to disapprove the Emergency. (Source: Special session of Parliament: How it will workby Chakshu Roy) Points to Ponder How many times special session of the Parliament took place? Proclamation of Emergency Related Previous Year Question The Indian Constitution has provisions for holding a joint session of the two houses of the Parliament. Enumerate the occasions when this would normally happen and also the occasions when it cannot, with reasons thereof. (2017) Previous Mains Answer Practice UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 18) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 17) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 17) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 18) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 19) UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 18) Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.
