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General Studies Paper 1 · By subject

Indian Society — UPSC Mains GS Paper 1 PYQ

104 previous year questions on Indian Society, 2013–2026, each with a model answer

← All GS Paper 1

2026

  1. Q8
    Unity in diversity remains the defining feature of Indian society despite the challenges from communalism and regionalism. Comment.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q9
    How do you understand disability? Substantiate the need for inclusive policy framework in India in this regard.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q10
    Do you think digital technology promotes social empowerment? Explain with examples.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  4. Q18
    Is caste disappearing in urban India? Illustrate your answer with examples.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q19
    Critically examine the challenges of demographic transition in contemporary India.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  6. Q20
    Evaluate the impact of globalization on Indian youths with reference to social, political, economic and cultural spheres.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2025

  1. Q8
    How does smart city in India, address the issues of urban poverty and distributive justice?
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q10
    Do you think that globalization results in only an aggressive consumer culture? Justify your answer.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q18
    How do you account for the growing fast food industries given that there are increased health concerns in modern society? Illustrate your answer with the Indian experience.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q19
    Achieving sustainable growth with emphasis on environmental protection could come into conflict with poor people’s needs in a country like India – Comment.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q20
    Does tribal development in India centre around two axes, those of displacement and of rehabilitation? Give your opinion.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →

2024

  1. Q8
    Distinguish between gender equality, gender equity and women’s empowerment. Why is it important to take gender concerns into account in programme design and implementation?
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q9
    Intercaste marriages between castes which have socio-economic parity have increased, to some extent, but this is less true of interreligious marriages. Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q10
    In dealing with socio-economic issues of development, what kind of collaboration between government, NGOs and private sector would be most productive?
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q17
    What is regional disparity? How does it differ from diversity? How serious is the issue of regional disparity in India?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q18
    Despite comprehensive policies for equity and social justice, underprivileged sections are not yet getting the full benefits of affirmative action envisaged by the Constitution. Comment.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  6. Q19
    Globalization has increased urban migration by skilled, young, unmarried women from various classes. How has this trend impacted upon their personal freedom and relationship with family?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  7. Q20
    Critically analyse the proposition that there is a high correlation between India’s cultural diversities and socio-economic marginalities.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →

2023

  1. Q8
    Do you think marriage as a sacrament is loosing its value in Modern India?
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q9
    Explain why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q10
    Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q16
    Why did human development fail to keep pace with economic development in India?
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  5. Q18
    Does urbanization lead to more segregation and/or marginalization of the poor in Indian metropolises?
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  6. Q19
    Why is caste identity in India both fluid and static?
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  7. Q20
    Discuss the impact of post-liberal economy on ethnic identity and communalism.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →

2022

  1. Q8
    Explore and evaluate the impact of ‘Work From Home’ on family relationships.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q9
    How is the growth of Tier 2 cities related to the rise of a new middle class with an emphasis on the culture of consumption?
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q10
    Given the diversities among tribal communities in India, in which specific contexts should they be considered as a single category?
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q18
    Analyse the salience of ‘sect’ in Indian society vis-a-vis caste, region and religion.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  5. Q19
    Are tolerance, assimilation and pluralism the key elements in the making of an Indian form of secularism? Justify your answer.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  6. Q20
    Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce resources, with special reference to India.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →

2021

  1. Q9
    Examine the uniqueness of tribal knowledge system when compared with mainstream knowledge and cultural systems.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q10
    Examine the role of ‘Gig Economy’ in the process of empowerment of women in India.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q18
    Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail.
    15 marks 250 words Easy Model answer →
  4. Q19
    What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect global society? Has it been affecting Indian society also?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q20
    How does Indian society maintain continuity in traditional social values? Enumerate the changes taking place in it.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2020

  1. Q8
    Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi-cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q9
    COVID-19 pandemic accelerated class inequalities and poverty in India. Comment.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  3. Q10
    Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q18
    Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalisation? Justify your answer.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q19
    Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  6. Q20
    How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the education system in the country? Elaborate your answer.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2019

  1. Q8
    What makes the Indian society unique in sustaining its culture? Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q9
    “Empowering women is the key to control population growth.” Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q10
    What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism?
    10 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →
  4. Q16
    How is efficient and affordable urban mass transport key to the rapid economic development of India?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q18
    Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over the nation? Elaborate with examples.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  6. Q19
    What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  7. Q20
    Are we losing our local identity for the global identity? Discuss.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2018

  1. Q8
    “Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system cannot be eradicated in India.” Comment.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q9
    ‘Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing.’ Explain by giving reasons.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  3. Q10
    How the Indian concept of secularism is different from the western model of secularism? Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q18
    ‘Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata.’ Substantiate your view.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  5. Q19
    ‘Globalization is generally said to promote cultural homogenization but due to this cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian Society.’ Elucidate.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  6. Q20
    ‘Communalism arises either due to power struggle or relative deprivation.’ Argue by giving suitable illustrations.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →

2017

  1. Q9
    In the context of the diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units rather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q10
    What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence, addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)?
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  3. Q11
    The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at the present. Elaborate.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q19
    Distinguish between religiousness/religiosity and communalism giving one example of how the former has got transformed into the latter in independent India.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  5. Q20
    “The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues of employment, but has also created new problems.” Substantiate this statement with examples.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

2016

  1. Q8
    To what extent globalization has influenced the core of cultural diversity in India? Explain.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q9
    “An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from the process of deprivation.” Substantiate this statement with suitable examples.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q10
    Why are the tribals in India referred to as ‘the Scheduled Tribes’? Indicate the major provisions enshrined in the Constitution of India for their upliftment.
    12.5 marks 200 words Easy Model answer →
  4. Q11
    With a brief background of quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the ‘Smart City Programme’.
    12.5 marks 200 words Easy Model answer →
  5. Q12
    What is the basis of regionalism? Is it that unequal distribution of benefits of development on regional basis eventually promotes regionalism? Substantiate your answer.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →

2015

  1. Q8
    Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  2. Q9
    Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the main cause of population increase in India.
    12.5 marks 200 words Hard Model answer →
  3. Q10
    How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes?
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q11
    Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.
    12.5 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q12
    Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India.
    12.5 marks 200 words Easy Model answer →
  6. Q13
    Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste.
    12.5 marks 200 words Hard Model answer →

2014

  1. Q11
    How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle class working woman in India?
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q12
    Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q13
    The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  4. Q14
    Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of agriculture in India.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  5. Q15
    How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West?
    10 marks 150 words Hard Model answer →

2013

  1. Q15
    Discuss the various social problems which originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India.
    10 marks 200 words Easy Model answer →
  2. Q16
    “Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organization free from gender bias.” Comment.
    10 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →
  3. Q17
    Critically examine the effect of globalization on the aged population in India.
    10 marks 200 words Hard Model answer →
  4. Q18
    Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in generation of demand for a separate State. Discuss.
    10 marks 200 words Medium Model answer →

0

  1. •
    India’s old-age population will more than double from 14.9 crore in 2022 to 34.7 crore by 2050 (UNFPA). Examine the ‘ageing without a care system’ thesis and outline a long-term care architecture.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  2. •
    India’s tribal population at 10.43 crore (Census 2011) includes 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups concentrated in 18 states. Examine the constitutional framework — Fifth Schedule, Sixth Schedule, PESA and the FRA — and the gap in PVTG implementation.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  3. •
    India’s mental-health treatment gap stands at 84.5% — only one in six people with a diagnosable disorder reaches care. Examine the structural drivers and the promise of task-sharing under the District Mental Health Programme.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  4. •
    India’s official disability prevalence stands at 2.21% (Census 2011) against the WHO’s global estimate of around 16%. Examine the data undercount and assess the gap between the RPwD Act, 2016 and lived exclusion.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  5. •
    Women’s organisations in India have historically led both social reform and rights-based legislation. Trace this lineage from the 19th-century reformers to contemporary self-help group federations.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  6. •
    ‘Indian secularism is sui generis — neither French laïcité nor American wall-of-separation.’ Examine with reference to constitutional articles, the Sachar Committee and recent debates over personal laws.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  7. •
    Indian society draws diversity not only from religion but from a vast linguistic, ethnic and dietary spectrum. Examine how the Eighth Schedule and Article 350 institutionalise linguistic diversity.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  8. •
    India’s urban housing shortage was estimated at 1.88 crore units in 2012; PMAY-Urban has sanctioned 1.18 crore homes as of 2024. Critically analyse the demand-supply gap and the case for an Urban Employment Guarantee.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  9. •
    Globalisation has rewritten India’s middle-class consumption, work culture and family life — but it has not produced uniform gains. Examine its differentiated impact with reference to job markets, traditional crafts and cultural homogenisation.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  10. •
    Regionalism in India is the politics of perceived neglect of resources, identity and recognition. Discuss with reference to demands for sub-state autonomy, river-water disputes and the Sixth Schedule areas.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  11. •
    Child stunting in India fell only from 38.4% to 35.5% between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5, while child anaemia rose from 58.6% to 67.1%. Examine the 20-80 driver split and the convergence challenge facing POSHAN 2.0.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  12. •
    Census 2011 put India’s urban population at 31.16%; the 2027 enumeration is expected to record over 37%. Examine the structural drivers of Indian urbanisation and the limitations of the 5,000-population census-town definition.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  13. •
    The Code on Social Security, 2020 names ‘gig worker’ and ‘platform worker’ in Indian statute for the first time. Examine the recognition-versus-disbursement gap and the structural challenges of social security for India’s 90% informal workforce.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  14. •
    Multidimensional poverty in India has fallen sharply — NITI Aayog estimates 24.82 crore people escaped poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23 — but the bottom states still lag. Examine the Alkire-Foster method and the policy implications.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  15. •
    India’s female labour-force participation rose from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24, but unpaid care work fell barely at all. Examine the care-economy argument with reference to the Time Use Survey and the Mahila Samman scheme architecture.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  16. •
    India’s sex ratio at birth has improved from 918 in NFHS-4 to 929 in NFHS-5, yet ten states still report ratios below 900. Examine the persistence of son preference and assess the effectiveness of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao initiative.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  17. •
    Manual scavenging stands banned in India since 1993, yet the government’s own data records 294 sewer and septic-tank deaths between 2020 and 2024. Critically analyse the definitional gap and the shift from rehabilitation to mechanisation under NAMASTE.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  18. •
    India’s age-old saying that ‘the family is the social security of the poor’ is breaking down. Examine the structural drivers of family change with reference to nuclearisation, ruralisation of ageing and rural-urban migration.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  19. •
    Communalism in India is less an inheritance of religious difference and more a modern political construction. Discuss with reference to the colonial legacy and post-1947 communal incidents.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  20. •
    India’s Total Fertility Rate has fallen to 1.9 — below replacement level — yet the country’s working-age share is still rising. Explain this paradox and assess what it means for the demographic dividend.
    10 marks 150 words Medium Model answer →
  21. •
    Indian urbanisation is generating wealth at one end and slums at the other. Examine the structural reasons for this dual outcome with reference to migration, housing and urban local governance.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →
  22. •
    A caste census could ground reservation in evidence or harden caste as a public category for another century. Critically analyse with reference to the Mandal Commission, Indra Sawhney and Census 2027.
    15 marks 250 words Hard Model answer →
  23. •
    India’s religious and linguistic diversity is a constitutional resource as much as a sociological fact. Evaluate the framework of secularism and linguistic federalism that protects it.
    10 marks 150 words Easy Model answer →
  24. •
    India’s female labour-force participation rate rose from 23.3% in 2017-18 to 41.7% in 2023-24, but job quality has not improved at the same pace. Examine the role of unpaid care work and policy choices.
    15 marks 250 words Medium Model answer →

Other GS Paper 1 subjects

World HistoryWestern disturbances and winter precipitationSources of ancient Indian history and cultural traditionsSoil erosion and land degradation in IndiaSeismicity of the Indian platePost-Independence IndiaPlate tectonics and the Pacific Ring of FireModern Indian and world historyModern Indian HistoryInterior of the Earth and seismic evidenceGeographyGeneral circulation and ocean currentsFluvial landforms and flood managementEarly states, religion and medieval polityCryosphere change in the HimalayaContinentality and maritime influence on climateClimate change and Indian monsoon variabilityArt & Culture