Q1) Describe the functioning of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India. To what extent are the issues in PDS a result of the problems in Food Corporation of India? (250 Words/ 15 Marks) Public distribution system (PDS) is a system for distribution of food grains and essential commodities for poor at subsidized prices. Central and state governments jointly manage the PDS. Center makes procurement, storage and bulk allocation…
Q1) Discuss the multifaceted significance of the fisheries sector and the challenges faced by it. (250 Words/15 Marks) ANS Fisheries sector is an important source of food, nutrition, and livelihood in the country. Economically, it contributes more than 7% of the agriculture GDP and employs 4-5 crore people directly or indirectly.  The wide-ranging significance of fisheries is as discussed below: Nutrition Security: a) Fisheries provide a vital…
Q1) What is regenerative agriculture? How is it helpful in addressing the issues of agriculture? (150 Words/ 10 Marks) ANS Regenerative Agriculture is a sustainable approach to farming systems which prioritises conservation and rehabilitation.  Regenerative agriculture may be seen as a panacea to the various issues plaguing the agriculture sector such as: Focus on rice-wheat system has led to mono-cropping, distorting the natural…
Q1) Agriculture sector needs to turn into an enterprise to become sustainable; ICT interventions are the key to this transformation. Comment. (250 Words/15 Marks) Poor farm incomes in India require efforts to make farming a profitable enterprise. Digital technologies are emerging as one of the ways to overcome the constraints and increase efficiencies in the…
Q1) Analysing various issues associated with farm subsidies, suggest ways to rationalise the same. (150 Words/10 Marks) ANS An agricultural subsidy is government’s incentive paid to farmers to ensure sustainable development of agriculture as well as prosperity of the farmers. Agriculture subsidy serves following purposes: Agricultural subsidies can enable sustainable farming, crop diversification etc. E.g.,…
Q1) The Green Revolution, with its focus on land productivity, created a crisis for water productivity, leading to the situation of water stress in farming. In this perspective, suggest measures to make agriculture sustainable and future-ready. (150 Words/10 Marks) While land productivity tells us about crop produced from unit area of agricultural land, water productivity…
Q1) Assess the present computational methodology for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in measuring economic activity in India. Do you think GDP is a good measure of development of a country? Â (250 Words/15 Marks) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the final value of goods and services produced within the domestic territory of an economy in a…
Q1) Critically evaluate the performance of Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a much-talked about measure for fiscal reform. (250 Words/15 Marks) GST is an umbrella, multistage, destination based indirect tax, which subsumed taxes like central excise, service tax, additional duties of excise & customs, VAT etc. The GST was launched at midnight on 1…
Q1) Limiting the country’s fiscal deficit is a cherished goal, but the progress towards it is full of hurdles. In this perspective, evaluate the effectiveness of India’s fiscal consolidation framework. Also examine the role of a fiscal council in enforcing fiscal discipline. (250 Words/15 Marks) The fiscal deficit is defined as the difference between total…
Q1) Domestic demand has been the north star of India’s economic growth; however, the target of achieving a five trillion USD economy requires holistic growth across various parameters. Comment. (250 Words/15 Marks) The potential growth of a country is a combination of various economic factors such as domestic demand, investments, government spending, exports etc. The…