UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 19)

QUESTION 2

The link between growth and employment has weakened over time. Discuss the relationship between GDP growth and employment in India with reference to the State of Working India (SWI) Report.

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: What are mRNA vaccines and how do they work? How the development of mRNA vaccines was crucial to the development of Covid vaccines?

Introduction:

A simple introduction to this answer can revolve around a general statement about mRNA vaccine.

— The messenger RNA molecules that direct the body’s cells what proteins to generate are used in mRNA vaccinations. Once administered, a coronavirus vaccine based on mRNA instructs the body’s cells to produce copies of the spike protein. As a result, immune cells are anticipated to produce antibodies to combat it.

— These antibodies will remain in the blood and fight the real virus if and when it infects the human body.

Working of mRNA Vaccine

How mRNA vaccines work. (Source: Bloomberg)

(Source: Explained: What is mRNA vaccine?)

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

Development of mRNA Vaccines

— Traditionally, vaccines have depended on introducing dead or weakened viruses into the human body, so it can develop antibodies against them. Thus, when the actual virus infects someone, their body is prepared to fight it.

— Basically, instead of putting an inactivated virus in the body to activate an immune response, vaccines using this technology use messenger Ribonucleic Acid, or mRNA, to deliver a message to the immune system.

— The large-scale production of such vaccines necessitates cell culture (the controlled growth of cells) and takes time. During the Covid-19 epidemic, finding a weapon against the lethal and rapidly spreading virus was critical. This is where mRNA technology proved crucial.

— This technology had been known since the 1980s, but had not been perfected enough to create vaccines at a viable scale.

— Genetically engineered mRNA can instruct cells to make the protein needed to fight a particular virus.

Conclusion:

You conclusion should be short and you many include:

— According to the Nobel Prize website, Karikó and Weissman realised that the problem with lab-grown genetically engineered mRNA is that the body’s dendritic cells [which have important functions in immune surveillance and the activation of vaccine-induced immune response] recognise them as a foreign substance, and release inflammatory signaling molecules against them.

— The scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman have won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of mRNA vaccines against Covid-19.

(Source: Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023: How Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman’s work helped develop Covid vaccines)

Points to Ponder

Other types of Vaccines

Noble Prize in other fields

Related Previous Year Question

What is the basic principle behind vaccine development? How do vaccines work? What approaches were adopted by the Indian vaccine manufacturers to produce COVID-19 vaccines? (2022)

QUESTION 2: The link between growth and employment has weakened over time. Discuss the relationship between GDP growth and employment in India with reference to the State of Working India (SWI) Report.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in the body of your answer:

— In India, GDP growth is viewed as the first and necessary step towards any kind of development and prosperity.

— The fourth edition of State of Working India (SWI) Report focuses on “a long-run view of India’s structural transformation experience and its implications for three key social identities: caste, gender, and religion.

— The SWI 2023 also emphasises the need of appreciating the quality of employment produced. For example, supplying “casual labour” at an MGNREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme) workplace or a construction job site, or working part-time in one’s family firm without pay (“self-employment”), are both inadequate alternatives for having a regular wage job.

— Since the 1980s, non-farm output — that is GDP from sectors other than agriculture — consistently grew much faster than non-farm employment. (See Table below)

— A good way to measure this relationship is to look at employment elasticity of growth — it is the extent to which employment grows when GDP grows by one unit. It is calculated by dividing the employment growth rate by the output growth rate.

— The period 2017-2021 stands noteworthy since it saw a significant increase in employment. However, it is worth noting that employment flexibility has increased dramatically in recent years.

— During 2017 and 2021, there was a slowdown in overall regular wage job creation but formal jobs (with a written contract and benefits) as a share of all regular wage work rose from 25% to 35%.

Findings of the Report

— During 1983 and 2021, the proportion of regular wage workers belonging to the SC category has increased even though it is significantly lower than the proportion of regular wage workers belonging to the general caste category.

— In 2021, 32% of general caste workers were in regular wage employment as compared to 22% of SC workers.

— There is also a higher rate of self-employment amongst general caste workers as opposed to SC workers.

— The economic intergenerational mobility has been more pronounced for general caste casual wage workers than for SC/STs.

— The employment type with the highest intergenerational persistence, i.e. the highest probability that a father’s son works in the same profession as him, is casual wage work.

— During 1983 and 2021, the degree of women’s representation in industries like tobacco, education, health and social work, and textiles has increased whereas in waste management & sewerage, it has decreased.

— The U-shaped trend of metropolitan women’s labour participation rates as education level rises implies that as growth continues and female education levels rise, women are offered with employment options with greater earnings, luring them into the workforce.

— SWI 2023 analyses data from 1983 to 2023 and uses a whole host of official data sources including Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFS), the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS), as well as Census 2011 and Economic Census 2013 among others.

(Sources: ExplainSpeaking: What’s the link between GDP growth and employment in India by Udit Mishra, ‘State of Working India’ in 7 charts: On women in workforce, educated youth unemployment and more by Aggam Walia)

Points to Ponder

Periodic Labour Force Surveys

National Family Health Surveys

Unemployment (Types)

Related Previous Year Questions

Explain the difference between computing methodology of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the year 2015 and after the year 2015. (2021)

“Industrial growth rate has lagged behind in the overall growth of Gross-Domestic-Product (GDP) in the post-reform period” Give reasons. How far the recent changes in Industrial Policy are capable of increasing the industrial growth rate? (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 17)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 18)

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