SECURE SYNOPSIS: 30 DECEMBER 2019
NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.
Topic: Indian Culture will cover the salient aspects of Art forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
Why this question:
Vishwesha Tirtha Swami, the 88-year-old pontiff of Pejawar Mutt, passed away in Udupi on Sunday. The question in this context is to assess the contributions of Dvaita philosophy to Hinduism.
Key demand of the question:
Discuss in detail the philosophy of Dvaita and its contributions to Hinduism.
Directive:
Evaluate – When you are asked to evaluate, you have to pass a sound judgment about the truth of the given statement in the question or the topic based on evidences. You have to appraise the worth of the statement in question. There is scope for forming a personal opinion here.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Discuss the structure of eight schools of philosophy of Hinduism in general.
Body:
- Explain what you understand by Dvaita and Advaita philosophy.
- Highlight the concept of Dvaita Philosophy.
- The Dvaita Vedanta school believes that God (Vishnu, supreme soul) and the individual souls (jīvātman) exist as independent realities, and these are distinct.
- The Dvaita school contrasts with the other two major sub-schools of Vedanta, the Advaita Vedanta of Adi Shankara which posits nondualism – that ultimate reality (Brahman) and human soul are identical and all reality is interconnected oneness, and Vishishtadvaita of Ramanuja which posits qualified nondualism – that ultimate reality (Brahman) and human soul are different but with the potential to be identical.
- Discuss few proprietors of the school.
Conclusion:
Conclude by highlighting the contributions it made to Hinduism.
Introduction:
Dvaita is a dualist school of Vedanta Hindu philosophy. The Sanskrit word dvaita means “dualism”. This school was established as a new development in the Vedanta exegetical tradition in the thirteenth century C.E. with the south Indian Vaishnava theologian Madhva, who wrote commentaries on a number of Hindu scriptures. The word ‘Bhakti’ means devotion to God. Bhakti was accepted as a means to attain moksha along with jnana and karma.
Body:
Dvaita philosophy:
- Madhvacharya propounded this philosophy.
- According to dvaita, the world is real.
- God, the creator of this world, is also real.
- There is a natural difference between the ordinary, ignorant soul who experiences sorrow in this world and the God who knows all and is omnipotent.
- This is the essence of dvaita siddhanta.
- The very thought helps in preventing escapism and motivates one to perform duties sincerely.
- It also establishes the Supremacy of God and indicates the path to devotion.
- It cautions us about His omnipresence thus stressing the importance of righteousness.
- Unlike other systems of Hinduism, Madhva taught that souls achieve different levels of liberation, and one category of souls is destined for eternal damnation.
Contribution of Dvaita philosophy to Hinduism:
- Madhva’s dualism is based on the authority of the Vedas, which he regards as authorless. God, rather than being the author of the Veda, is the great teacher (mahopadhyaya) who reveals the truth expressed in the Veda.
- Madhva wrote thirty-seven works, including a commentary on the Brahma Sutras called Madhva-bhasya.
- In addition to his writings, Madhva founded the Madhva sampradaya (community) in Udupi, where it is said he discovered an idol of Krishna encased in mud. He placed this statue in the Udupi temple.
- He also ordained eight monks in eight different monasteries (astamathas) who propagated his teachings both during his life and afterward.
- The main purpose of the mathas is to propagate bhakti, dharma and philosophical truths, along with the duty of performing aradhana and puja of Udupi Sri Krishna.
- His eight original monasteries of Udupi have continued under an uninterrupted series of abbots and are still in existence today; the main icon of Krishna, which he allegedly recovered from the mud still stands in the temple there.
- The spiritual hierarchy of Dvaita is distinct from that of other Hindu movements.
- It also establishes the Supremacy of God and indicates the path to devotion; it cautions us about His omnipresence thus stressing the importance of righteousness.
- The very thought helps in preventing escapism and motivates one to perform duties sincerely.
- Madhva is considered to be a very influential Hindu theologian due to his revitalization of monotheism in the face of the powerful doctrines of monism and polytheism introduced by foreign invaders.
- His influence was particularly evident in Karnataka, where great leaders of the Vaishnava Bhakti movement such as Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa adhered to the Dvaita traditions.
- Madhvacharya’s theology influenced those of later scholars such as Nimbarka, Vallabha, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Conclusion:
Dvaita is one of the three most influential branches in the orthodox Hindu philosophical system of Vedanta, along with the schools of Advaita (non-dualism) and Visistadvaita (qualified non-dualism). The concept of dvaita is relevant even in today’s world.
Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Why this question:
The article brings out a study on child malnutrition in India by a team of researchers from Cambridge and Harvard University.
Key demand of the question:
Bring out the wealth related nutrition disparities in the country, discuss the various factors responsible for it and analyse what can be done to address the issue.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Present few facts from the studies that highlight the disparities in the nutrition levels; Wealth disparities in underweight children were seen across all districts with Gujarat, Jharkhand and Bihar having the worst disparities and Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur having the least. This observation is important since it brings out the fact that even within well-performing districts, there can be gross non-egalitarian malnutrition outcomes.
Body:
- Explain what Malnutrition is.
- Malnutrition, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), refers to deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients.
- Maternal, infant, and child nutrition play significant roles in the proper growth and development, including the future socio-economic status of the child.
- Discuss the concerns associated in detail.
- Bring out the Indian scenario, the issues that are specific to it.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way forward by suggesting solutions.
Introduction:
Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. India’s National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) show that there has been a decline in child malnutrition numbers in the country. However, various studies show that the rate of decline is very slow, and India is still fighting a tough battle.
Body:
Non-Egalitarian outcomes of malnutrition:
- A team from Harvard and Cambridge University has assessed district-level trends in the prevalence of malnutrition and how wealth disparity plays a role in five important malnutrition indicators such as stunting, underweight, wasting, low birth weight, and anemia.
- The researchers analyzed the NFHS-4 data of 2015-16 and noted that among the four indicators, anemia was highly prevalent at 54.6%, across the poorest of the poor in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
- Wealth disparities in underweight children were seen across all districts with Gujarat, Jharkhand and Bihar having the worst disparities and Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur having the least.
- For stunting and underweight, the north and central region of India which includes Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand were composed primarily of “pitfall” and “intensity” districts.
Factors responsible for malnutrition:
- Mother’s health:
- Scientists say the initial 1,000 days of an individual’s lifespan, from the day of conception till he or she turns two, is crucial for physical and cognitive development.
- But more than half the women of childbearing age are anemic and 33 per cent are undernourished, according to NFHS 2006. A malnourished mother is more likely to give birth to malnourished children.
- Social inequality:
- For example, girl children are more likely to be malnourished than boys, and low-caste children than upper-caste children.
- Sanitation:
- Most children in rural areas and urban slums still lack sanitation. This makes them vulnerable to the kinds of chronic intestinal diseases that prevent bodies from making good use of nutrients in food, and they become malnourished.
- Lack of sanitation and clean drinking water are the reasons high levels of malnutrition persists in India despite improvement in food availability.
- Lack of diversified food:
- With the increase in diversity in food intake malnutrition (stunted/underweight) status declines. Only 12% of children are likely to be stunted and underweight in areas where diversity in food intake is high, while around 50% children are stunted if they consume less than three food items.
- Lack of food security:
- The dismal health of Indian women and children is primarily due to lack of food security.
- Nearly one-third of adults in the country have a body mass index (BMI) below normal just because they do not have enough food to eat.
- Failure of government approaches:
- India already has two robust national programmes addressing malnutrition the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) and the National Health Mission but these do not yet reach enough people.
- The delivery system is also inadequate and plagued by inefficiency and corruption. Some analysts estimate that 40 per cent of the subsidized food never reaches the intended recipients
- Disease spread:
- Most child deaths in India occur from treatable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and complications at birth.
- The child may eventually die of a disease, but that disease becomes lethal because the child is malnourished and unable to put up resistance to it.
- Poverty:
- The staff of ICDS places part of the blame of malnutrition on parents being inattentive to the needs of their children, but crushing poverty forces most women to leave their young children at home and work in the fields during the agricultural seasons.
- Regional disparities in the availability of food and varying food habits lead to the differential status of under-nutrition which is substantially higher in rural than in urban areas.
- This demands a region-specific action plan with significant investments in human resources with critical health investments at the local levels.
- Lack of nutrition:
- Significant cause of malnutrition is also the deliberate failure of malnourished people to choose nutritious food.
- An international study found that the poor in developing countries had enough money to increase their food spending by as much as 30 per cent but that this money was spent on alcohol, tobacco and festivals instead.
Measures needed:
- Anganwadis system is the backbone of India’s nutrition target effort and we really have to improve it.
- Primary health infrastructure is not strong so proper steps needs to be taken in this regard.
- Farmers should be encouraged and incentivized for agricultural diversification.
- Innovative and low-cost farming technologies, increase in the irrigation coverage and enhancing knowledge of farmers in areas such as appropriate use of land and water should be encouraged to improve the sustainability of food productivity.
- Public Health Management Cadre.
- The government should improve policy support for improving agricultural produce of traditional crops in the country.
- Improve ICDS
- The targeting efficiency of all food safety nets should be improved, especially that of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), to ensure that the poorest are included.
- In addition, fortification of government-approved commodities within the social safety net programmes can improve nutritional outcomes.
- Child feeding practices should be improved in the country, especially at the critical ages when solid foods are introduced to the diet.
- Fortification, diversification and supplementation may be used as simultaneous strategies to address micro and macronutrient deficiencies.
- Storage capacity should be improved to prevent post-harvest losses.
- There is a need for more robust measures that can take cognizance of all aspects of SDG 2.
- All the major welfare programmes need to be gender sensitive.
- The inherited dehumanizing poverty explains the persistence of malnutrition on a large scale.
- Children born in impecunious circumstances suffer the most from malnutrition. It is all the more reason for governments to intervene to provide adequate nutrition to all.
- Taking medical services to the door step of villages
- Funds for food to all yield great returns and help in unlocking the full potential of citizens besides strengthening the workforce.
- Focus to improve the hygiene and cleanliness of our surrounding.
- Real time delivery of such schemes to the targeted beneficiaries.
- Schools kids and their parents should be made aware about the various government programmes.
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Why this question:
The question is in the context of Finance Minister’s announcement on waiver of Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on digital payments.
Key demand of the question:
The question expects one to comment upon the role of Digital India programme and the essence of it to $5 trillion economy.
Directive:
Comment– here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Discuss that In the past few years, digital technology has become a vital factor in accelerating the pace of India’s economic growth, in promoting social and economic equity by enhancing access for all to information, markets and public services; and in overcoming the country’s infrastructure deficit.
Body:
Explain the idea behind digital India.
Discuss the steps taken by the government in this direction.
Discuss the benefits of the programme.
Analyse the challenges and concerns associated.
Conclusion:
Conclude by reasserting its role in augmenting the dream of $5 trillion economy.
Introduction:
According to a recent study by industry association Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Digitization of services will be an essential step towards achieving the $5 trillion goal. True to the tenets of the fourth industrial revolution, the next phase of India’s prosperity will be driven by digitalization with next-generation technologies. The nation’s naturally tech-savvy demography – 1.2 billion mobile phone connections, 560 million internet subscriptions, and over 350 million smartphones – will serve as the fulcrum of an inclusive digital transformation.
Body:
India’s digital consumer base is the world’s second-largest, as well as the second-fastest growing among 17 major economies, as per findings of the latest India Economic Survey. And this base is core to the creation of future economic value and societal empowerment as digital solutions backed by new-gen technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and automation become ubiquitous.
Digital India:
- The ‘Digital India’ initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 1 July 2015.
- It has been launched with an aim of transforming the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
- It would ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically.
- It would also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of government’s services electronically
- Four years on, there have been dramatic improvements in all of its three key facets: in the creation of pervasive national digital infrastructure, in the electronic delivery of public services and financial succour to citizens, and in enhancing digital awareness and literacy.
Steps taken by the Government of India in promotion of Digital India:
- Digilockers: it is a “digital locker” service operated by the Government of India that enables Indian citizens to store certain official documents on the cloud. The service is aimed towards reducing the need to carry physical documents.
- BHIM app: It is an app to enable digital payments. BHIM app was used to facilitate 913 million transactions in 2017-18.
- JAM Trinity, a union of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile number will better contribute to nation-building and overall economic progress. Digitalization has already helped disburse over $86.4 billion directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries spanning over 430 government schemes since 2015 while saving around $15.3 in the process by plugging channel inefficiencies.
- Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharatha Abhiyan to make citizen digitally literate. The project is expected to be one of the largest initiatives of the country with an overall target of training 6 crore students until the financial year, 2019. The government has accepted 250,000 Gram Panchayats to register at least 200-300 candidates each.
- India’s digital economy will touch $1 trillion by the year 2022. India would be $10 trillion economy by 2030 and half of it would be the digital economy.
- More than 12,000 rural post office branches have been linked digitally and soon payment banking would also become a reality for them.
- The government also plans to make ‘digital village’ across the country, by linking all schemes with technology. The ‘digital village’ would be powered by LED lighting, solar energy, skill development centres and e-services like e-education and e-health.
- Electronic transactions related to e-governance projects in the country have almost doubled in 2015, owing to the Digital India Programme. According to government website electronic transaction aggregation and analysis layer (eTaal), 3.53 billion transactions took place in 2014, which almost doubled in 2015 to 6.95 billion.
- The progressive policies and aggressive focus on ‘Make in India’ have played a significant role in the resurgence of the electronics manufacturing sector.
- Implementation of Aadhaar – the biometric digital identity program spanning 1.2 billion citizens, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) – which brought more than 10 million businesses online – have been the hallmarks of large-scale digitalization in India.
Need for a refreshed Digital India:
- One of the most promising outcomes of India’s digital transformation experiment is its role in catalyzing the energies and in meeting the blossoming aspirations of India’s youth, who have a natural flair for technology.
- Apart from the iconic start-ups that have metamorphosed into unicorns, thousands of technology enterprises and BPOs are sprouting across small-town and rural India.
- With the government’s 365,000 Citizen’s Service Centres [CSCs] providing employment to a million small entrepreneurs, as well as access to information and services to millions.
- The creation of a nationwide digital infrastructure, allied with potent new tools and technologies that are on the anvil: AI, Big Data, and the Internet of Things [IOT].
- These are expected to galvanize sectors that affect the well-being of every Indian, ranging from agriculture, that can benefit from the infusion of technological intelligence, to natural-resource management, energy-use, transportation, urban-infrastructure and manufacturing.
- Indeed, there is practically no aspect of modern life that cannot be improved by the application of intelligent digitization. India is striving to become one of the early adopters of 5G technology, and its induction is expected to multiply possibilities and opportunities across the spectrum in ways that we cannot fathom now.
Challenges:
- The BharatNet project has been delayed several times which proposes to give internet connection to 2.5 lakh villages.
- Delayed roll-out of Wi-Fi hotspots and the slow speed, in comparison to other developed nation.
- Most small and medium scale industry is struggling to adapt to modern technology.
- Entry level smartphones have limited capabilities for smooth internet access, and the outreach of the ‘smartphones’ is limited.
- There is an absence of enough skilled manpower in digital technology.
- Lack of user education and there are limited facilities to train personnel. India needs over one million cybersecurity experts to check and monitor the growing menace of digital crime.
Measures needed:
- There is a need for bridging the digital gap in rural areas.
- Websites and portals should be more compliable to standardization.
- Local language portals can be established to cater to the needs of diverse Indian population.
- External audits by NIC and increase of physical infrastructure to increase reach of internet services is necessary.
- Participative regulatory models will not only help us address emerging challenges in India’s digital economy, but will also allow us to position ourselves as a technology-friendly jurisdiction.
- There should be an appetite for innovative structures such as regulatory sandboxes and a willingness to enhance regulatory capacity and measure performance
Conclusion:
India in the 21st Century must strive to meet the aspirations of its citizens where government and its services reach the doorsteps of citizens and contribute towards a long-lasting positive impact. The Digital India Programme aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy by leveraging IT as a growth engine of new India.
Topic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Reference:
Why this question:
The question is based on the concept of Shadow banking and its effect on the common man.
Key demand of the question:
Discuss in detail the concept of shadow banking; explain the concerns associated and its impact on common man.
Directive:
Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Define what shadow banking is – The shadow banking system is a term for the collection of non-bank financial intermediaries that provide services similar to traditional commercial banks but have different regulatory guidelines.
Body:
- Briefly explain what is shadow banking system and its role.
- Enumerate the challenges faced by it in India.
- Suggest ways to address these challenges.
Conclusion:
Conclude that the challenges of shadow banking system have to be addressed at multiple levels.
Introduction:
Shadow banks are those institutions that do not collect deposits but still provide loans. These include a variety of institutions, ranging from trusts, investment funds etc. It facilitates the creation of credit but they are not subject to regulatory oversight. As a result, many of the institutions and instruments have been able to employ higher market, credit and liquidity risks, and do not have capital requirements commensurate with those risks. There are concerns that over lending and default in such institutions can destabilize the financial system.
Body:
Importance of Shadow banking:
- in the context of the developing countries, the shadow banking sector plays an important role in promoting financial inclusion.
- They are very customer friendly, market oriented, innovative and flexible.
- The main advantages of shadow banks lie in their ability to reduce transaction costs, their quick decision making ability, and customer orientation and prompt delivery of services.
- Similarly, in India, the NBFC sector performs an exceptional role in providing credit in the rural areas. Hence, the sector is carefully regulated by the RBI in recent years.
Implications of Shadow banking:
- Shadow lending has played a major role in the build-up to the Great Financial Crisis in 2008.
- In India’s case, shadow banking primarily consists of NBFCs and housing finance companies (HFCs).
- A 2017 report by the RBI said that 99.7% of shadow banking in India involves making long-term loans against short-term funding, primarily carried out by NBFCs and housing finance companies.
- Problems arise when such NBFCs become too big, invest in assets of dubious quality and are interconnected with other financial institutions, as demonstrated in the case of IL&FS.
- Additionally, NBFCs, owing to the nature of their business, are also more prone to risks from business cycles, excess leverage and over-reliance on wholesale funding.
- Concentration risks—too much exposure to some sectors—can also be a headache.
- In its recently released Global Financial Stability Report, the International Monetary Fund warned of systemic risks associated with such shadow banking practices which might spill over to banks.
- Such warnings are especially relevant for India as the size of its shadow banking sector appears to be on the higher side, when compared to many other large economies, as per the estimates by Basel, Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board (FSB).
- the recent IL&FS episode, the related lapse on the part of ratings agencies, and the looming threat of a liquidity squeeze across the NBFC sector have raised concerns of spillover, with exposure of banks and mutual funds to NBFCs rising in recent years.
Conclusion:
India also must end the regulatory arbitrage that allows shadow banks to raise most of their funds from retail investors and deposit-taking banks. Either shadow lenders should come out of the dark and be turned into banks, or a firewall will have to be erected around them to protect the rest of banking.
Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
Why this question:
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) planning its first unmanned test mission of the Gaganyaan mission.
Key demand of the question:
Discuss the significance of the Gaganyaan mission to India and the challenges it has been facing in going ahead with an unmanned mission in space.
Directive:
Explain – Clarify the topic by giving a detailed account as to how and why it occurred, or what is the particular context. You must be defining key terms where ever appropriate, and substantiate with relevant associated facts.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Discuss the background of the Mission Gaganyaan; Gaganyaan will be the first manned space mission of ISRO which is proposed to be launched by 2022.
Body:
Deliberate upon the manned and unmanned missions of the past in brief first.
Explain what the mission Gaganyaan is.
Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the basis of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.
Gaganyaan is expected to carry three people into space for seven days. The largely autonomous capsule will orbit the Earth in the low earth orbit of 300-400 Km.
The crewed vehicle is planned to be launched on ISRO’s GSLV Mk III in December 2021. HAL has manufactured the crew module.
With this, India could potentially become the fourth country to send a man to space, after the erstwhile USSR, the US and China. Denmark also has a manned space flight scheduled for 2022.
Highlight the challenges faced.
Conclusion:
Conclude with way forward.
Introduction:
The Prime Minister of India in his Independence Day address announced that an Indian astronaut would go into space by 2022, when India celebrates her 75th year of Independence. In pursuance of this, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to fly the first unmanned test mission ahead of its ambitious crewed Gaganyaan mission by the end of 2020, according to ISRO Chairman.
Body:
Mission Gaganyaan:
- India’s first manned space flight Gaganyaan is expected to send three persons into the space for seven days and the spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km.
- Two unmanned Gaganyaan missions will be undertaken prior to sending humans.
- The total programme is expected to be completed before 2022 with first unmanned flight within 30 months.
- The mission is estimated at 9000 crore.
- It would raise scientific and technological temper across the country and inspire youngsters.
- When it achieves the mission, India would be the fourth nation to circle Earth after the Soviets, the Americans and the Chinese.
Challenges:
- For a manned mission, the key distinguishing capabilities that ISRO has had to develop include the ability
- to bring the spacecraft back to Earth after flight
- to build a spacecraft in which astronauts can live in Earth-like conditions in space
- India is yet to perfect fool-proof launch vehicle technology, the basic requirement for a manned space mission.
- The Polar Satellite launch vehicle and the Geosynchronous Launch vehicle, the two Indian spacecraft deployed to launch satellites and modules into space, are yet to be man-rated.
- India does not even have the facilities to train astronauts.
- ISRO has not been able to put in place India’s own Global Positioning System in spite of completing the NavIC due to dysfunctional atomic clocks in the satellites, rendering the fleet a dud.
- The launchpad at the Sriharikota spaceport, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, will have to be enhanced for the human mission.
- While the launch vehicle, crew module, re-entry technology, crew escape system are in place, monitoring and tracking systems, Environmental Control & Life Support System (ELCSS), space suit and crew support systems are still in the developmental phase.
Way forward:
- It is important to ensure engagements at political level to obtain long term commitment for India’s human space flight missions
- Financial implications of a long-term human space-flight programme development should be assessed and the returns and benefits should be clearly articulated
- It is important to overcome the technological challenges to ensure a safe, successful manned space mission. International collaboration in this domain can help India ensure a robust technology for its HSF programme.
- Selection of Indians for astronauts will be an important step. Procedures and specifications for astronauts and a rigorous selection process is suggested.
Topic: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein. Human Values – lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators
Why this question:
The article brings out the significance of the principle that every Indian is equal before the law — enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
Key demand of the question:
One must critically analyse in what way the new citizenship law goes against Gandhi’s idea of civic nationalism.
Directive:
Critically examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by explaining the coming of the Act in action and the effects of it.
Body:
Explain first the idea of Gandhi’s civic nationalism.
A striking feature of Gandhi’s civic nationalism was his insistence that India is not an exclusively Hindu civilisation. His political genius lay in reconciling the complex social and religious fabric of traditional Indian society with the modern phenomenon of nationalism and the struggle for independence. As such, more than being the “father of the Indian nation” he could be remembered as the architect of an inter-faith, inter-cultural India. What Gandhi did was to give different religious communities, for the first time, a sense of involvement in the Indian nation’s destiny.
Take hints from the article and discuss
Conclusion:
Conclude with relevance of his thoughts even today.
Introduction:
Civic nationalism, also known as liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in an inclusive form of nationalism that adheres with traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, and individual rights. The principle that every Indian is equal before the law — enshrined in the Indian Constitution — is an ideal Mahatma Gandhi fought for all his life.
Body:
Recently, the Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 which received the President’s assent to become an Act. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955. Critics argue that it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution (which guarantees the right to equality and applicable to both the citizens and foreigners) and the principle of secularism enshrined in the preamble of the constitution. India has several other refugees that include Tamils from Sri Lanka and Hindu Rohingya from Myanmar. They are not covered under the Act. Thus, in light of this, Gandhi’s idea of civic nationalism is imperative.
Gandhi’s idea of civic nationalism:
- A striking feature of Gandhi’s civic nationalism was his insistence that India is not an exclusively Hindu civilization.
- His political genius lay in reconciling the complex social and religious fabric of traditional Indian society with the modern phenomenon of nationalism and the struggle for independence.
- Gandhi did not make the religious element an integral part of his civic nationalism.
- He abstained from any reference to Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism or Jainism in his definition of swaraj.
- He continually defined and defended Indian nationalism through his belief in the truth of all religions.
- Gandhi’s action was shaped by his conviction that all religious boundaries are arbitrary and false. He was convinced that a mere doctrinaire approach to religion will not help consolidate the foundations of Indian civic nationalism.
- Gandhi never accepted the argument that Hindus and Muslims constituted two separate elements in Indian society.
- He expressed sympathy for Muslims and the Khilafat movement at the Delhi Imperial War Conference in 1918 and later, followed it up with a letter to the Viceroy, Lord Chelmsford.
Conclusion:
Gandhi was convinced that despite many social and political contradictions, and the tragedy of Partition, India would become a secular, democratic republic. However, the new CAA act, NRC and NPR are being perceived as a divisive force against the Indian constitutional ethos.
