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Practice UPSC New previous year questions on Anantam IAS: 0 Prelims MCQs and 596 Mains Q&A with answer keys, explanations and topic-wise links.
Prelims MCQs 0
No Prelims MCQs from New yet.
Mains Q&A 596
India’s demographic dividend is projected to close around 2046 even as the Sample Registration System 2024 reports a TFR of 2.0. Examine the implications for human-resource policy and skilling.
Neighbourhood First is being stress-tested as governments in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives change against incumbents friendly to India. With reference to specific instruments such as MAHASAGAR and the Greater Male Connectivity Project, examine India’s recalibration.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative and India’s refusal to join it rest on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s passage through Gilgit-Baltistan. Examine how this sovereignty position has shaped India’s connectivity diplomacy.
India’s eldercare architecture rests largely on the family, with the IGNOAPS pension at Rs 200 a month and no national long-term-care system. Discuss the demographic urgency and the policy steps required, with reference to NITI Aayog’s Senior Care Reforms framework.
The National Education Policy 2020 promises foundational literacy and numeracy by 2026-27 through the NIPUN Bharat Mission and a 6 percent of GDP spending target. Evaluate the implementation status and structural gaps.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 gave India a constitutional entitlement to schooling but learning outcomes have stagnated. Examine the gap between access and quality.
The Mental Healthcare Act 2017 recognised a right to access mental healthcare and decriminalised suicide attempts, yet NMHS data points to a treatment gap of 84.5 percent. Examine the institutional weaknesses behind the gap.
India’s National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme set a 2025 elimination target, five years ahead of the SDG 3.3 deadline, yet WHO estimates India accounted for 26 percent of global TB cases in 2023. Examine the public-health design and the gaps.
Public health spending in India hovers below 2 percent of GDP against the National Health Policy 2017 target of 2.5 percent. Examine the consequences for equity and out-of-pocket expenditure.
POSHAN 2.0 has shifted India’s child-nutrition architecture from food handouts to a first-1,000-days approach, yet anaemia in under-fives rose between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5. Examine the design strengths and implementation gaps of the scheme. Examine.
PM-JAY Ayushman Bharat covers a 50 crore population with Rs 5 lakh secondary and tertiary hospital cover, yet out-of-pocket health expenditure remains among the highest in the world. Discuss the achievements and design limits of the scheme.
MGNREGA 2005 created a justiciable right to 100 days of unskilled wage work but its real wage rates and budget have stagnated in recent years. Evaluate its continuing relevance for India’s rural poor.
PM-JANMAN and the Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan represent a saturation approach to tribal welfare, while the Forest Rights Act 2006 represents a rights-based approach. Critically analyse the gap between welfare and rights in tribal policy.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 promises a 4 percent job reservation and accessible infrastructure, but the Supreme Court’s Rajive Raturi judgment held that the law’s accessibility chapter was being treated as a discretionary favour. Examine.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 has not eliminated hazardous cleaning deaths, with the government recording 294 sewer and septic-tank deaths between 2020 and 2024. Discuss the gaps between the law and the lived practice and the role of the NAMASTE scheme.
Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act 1996 was meant to give Fifth Schedule areas a constitutionally-backed regime of tribal self-rule. Evaluate its implementation.
Cooperatives have re-emerged as a development instrument with the creation of the Ministry of Cooperation in 2021 and the National Cooperative Policy 2025. Examine their role as an NGO-charity-development institution.
The Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation are India’s premier anti-corruption arms but their independence has been judicially defended more than legislatively secured. With reference to the Vineet Narain judgment, discuss.
The fiscal architecture of Indian federalism rests not only on the Finance Commission but also on cesses, surcharges and Centrally Sponsored Schemes. With reference to the 15th Finance Commission and the rising CSS share, examine the autonomy of States.