UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice Test 1

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UPSC Prelims Mock Test

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Answer Key

1 . “Indian constitution has components that ensure its dynamic nature and that it changes with the needs of time”.Critically analyze (10 Marks)

Answer: Indian Constitution is a living document that has provisions to change according to the needs of the people and time. 

• Amendments to the Constitution: As per the Article 368, Constitution can be amended through simple or special majority to meet the needs of people. 
• The recent amendments made by providing reservations to Economically Weaker Sections, constitutional backing to the National Commission for Backward Classes etc. can be attributed to the same. 
• Similarly, 42nd Amendment Act has included provisions for secularism, socialism etc. as vision for the nature of  India. 
• Supreme Court through judicial review has enlarged the scope of judiciary. It gave verdicts that the decisions taken by Speaker in the Anti defection law is subject to judicial review. 
• In addition, SC evolved the basic structure doctrine and put a brake on the unlimited amending power of the Parliament. 
• The Directive Principles of State Policy are added as non justiciable feature considering the incapacity of the state post independence. Still, government has enacted progressive legislations to achieve the same. 

Thus, it can be mentioned that the Constitution has principles which allow for expanding in the future and it has to be adapted to the changes that may take place in human affairs. 

2. “Efficacy in the functioning of parliament has decreased over years”Explain and suggest solutions. (10 Marks)

Answer : As the deliberative and representative assembly, Parliament’s role in developing India has been crucial. But over several decades there has been a decline in the effectiveness of the Parliament as an institution of accountability and oversight.
The instruments of accountability, the Parliament uses such as the committee system, motion on the floor etc have become increasingly dysfunctional.   The declining standards of debates, decorum and discipline are very much evident. The nexus between politicians and business groups also degrades the parliamentary process. 

The decline of Parliament has taken an unprecedented rise due to the following-

• Decline in number of sittings in Indian Parliament. According to the analysis of PRS Legislative Research (PRS), against the average 127 days of sitting in the 1950s, Lok Sabha met only 74 times in 2012. Likewise, Rajya Sabha on an average meets 93 days a year in the 1950s. But it has reduced to merely 74 days in 2012
• Decline in number of hours per sitting in Indian Parliament. The fifth Lok Sabha recorded an average sitting of 7 hours 38 minutes; the 7th Lok Sabha recorded an average sitting of 7 hours 9 minutes per sitting. In the 12th Lok Sabha, the average hour per sitting was only 6 hours 30 minutes.
• Decline in the duration of budget session in Indian Parliament. In 2006 Lok Sabha,  more than 40% of bills were passed without even an hour of debate. In the year 2012, both Houses met for only 35 days but the irony is that 92 percent of budgetary proposals were put to vote without any discussion.
• Decline in the attendance of the Parliamentarians in Indian Parliament. As per the PSR report, during the 11th and 12th sessions of the fourteenth Lok Sabha, more than 75 percent members were below the median point of 16 or more days of attendance. The number of MPs whose attendance ranged from 0–5 days increased in the 12th session.
• Decrease in the number of questions answered in Indian Parliament. In 2009 session of Lok Sabha, out of 1100 questions admitted for question hour, only 266 were called in the house while rest could not be raised due to the paucity of time. Similarly, in 2012 only 144 questions in Lok Sabha and 157 questions in Rajya Sabha being answered orally, while others were left for written answers due to the paucity of time as a result of frequent disruptions.
• Declining standards of debates in Indian Parliament. The declining standards of debates in Parliament and the manner in which parliamentarians conduct themselves, forgetting that there is a huge difference between a fight on the floor of the house and a fight on the streets are pointers towards the lack of ability or merit in the parliamentarians.

It is very much evident with the speech of our ex-President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee when he expressed his worry over declining debates and standards of Indian Parliament. For any strong democracy, it is very important Parliament function more efficiently and great issues should be discussed.

3. What is meant by Parliamentary privileges.? Comment on the factors that necessitate them (10 Marks)

Answer : Parliamentary privileges are special rights, immunities, exceptions enjoyed by the members of the two houses of Parliament and their committees originally envisaged by the constitution under Article 105 and Article 194. The concept of parliamentary privilege in the Constitution of India has been taken from the British Constitution. The main motive of these privileges is to uphold the supremacy of the office of the Parliament and its members

Parliamentary privileges can be broadly divided into two categories;

• Enjoyed by the Members of Parliament collectively
• Enjoyed by the Members of Parliament individually

Parliament can fulfil its role only if its members enjoy the freedom of expression necessary in order to be able to speak out on behalf of constituents. Members of parliament must be free to seek, receive and impart information and ideas without fear of reprisal. Parliamentary privileges are needed to 

• Secure the independence and effectiveness of their actions
• Protect their members from any obstruction in the discharge of their parliamentary responsibilities 
• Maintain the honour, dignity and authority of the house

However, there have been incidents when these privileges were misused. An example for the same is the overreach of these privileges is when the Karnataka legislative assembly sentenced two journalists for one year imprisonment and fine for defamatory articles under its power to punish breach of privileges. 

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4. “The basic structure doctrine is the most important contribution of the judiciary in maintaining the sanctity of the Indian constitution.” Comment. (10 Marks)

The Basic Structure Doctrine  was propounded by the Indian Judiciary on 24th April 1973 in Keshavananda Bharati case to put a limitation on the amending powers of the Parliament so that the ‘basic structure of the basic law of the land’ cannot be amended in exercise of its ‘constituent power’ under the Constitution. 

Basic structure though is not exactly defined but through its contents which have been provided by the judicature clarifies a scope defining the frame or the structure of the constitution. Some of its constituents are Rule of law, Sovereignty, liberty and republic nature of Indian polity, judicial review, Separation of power, secularism, and Republic nature of India etc.

Importance

One thing that has had a long lasting effect on the evolution of the Indian Constitution is the theory of the basic structure of the Constitution. The Judiciary advanced this theory in the famous case of Kesavananda Bharati. This ruling has contributed to the evolution of the Constitution in the following ways:

• It has set specific limits to the Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution. It says that no amendment can violate the basic structure of the Constitution;
• It allows the Parliament to amend any and all parts of the Constitution (within this limitation); and
• It places the Judiciary as the final authority in deciding if an amendment violates basic structure and what constitutes the basic structure

In the S.R.Bommai Case, the Supreme Court included federalism as the part of basic structure of the Constitution, virtually putting an end to the ambiguous imposition of President’s rule in the States by the Centre. 

In Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain and Minerva Mills v. Union of India, Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court used the basic structure doctrine to strike down the 39th Amendment and parts of the 42nd Amendment respectively, and paved the way for restoration of Indian democracy.The Supreme Court’s position on constitutional amendments laid out in its judgement is that Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its “basic structure”.

Criticism of Basic Structure doctrine

• The doctrine does not have a textual basis.
• The concept of the “basic structure of the Constitution” cannot be defined.
• The attempt by a constitutional court to review the substance of the constitutional amendments would be dangerous for a democratic system in which the amending power belongs to the people or its representatives, not to the judges.

Since 1973, the Court has, in many cases, elaborated upon this theory of basic structure and given instances of what constitutes the basic structure of the Constitution of India. The basic structure doctrine has further consolidated the balance between rigidity and flexibility. Even though the judiciary never gave a solid test to discover what basic structure is, it has acted as a brake to the legislative enthusiasm of Parliament, thereby preserving the original ideals envisioned by the constitution-makers and strengthening democracy.

5. Analyze the progress made by panchayath Raj institutions in the direction of democratic decentralisation and grass-root level development. (10 Marks)

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 marked a new era in the democratic set up of the country as it created Panchayath Raj Institutions (PRIs) as tiers of self governance below the level of States in the federal set up. It is also a landmark in the decentralized development as it envisions people’s participation in the process of planning, decision-making, implementation and delivery.

The main features of the Act are:

• Constitution of panchayats at village, intermediate (block) and district level; however, panchayats at the intermediate level may not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding twenty lakh.
• Regular elections to Panchayaths.
• Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes and Women (33%).
• Setting up of an independent State Finance Commission for strengthening finances of local bodies at all levels.
• Constitution of an independent State Election Commission to hold PRIs elections on a regular basis.
• Legal status to Gram Sabhas.

 Panchayath raj institutions and democratic decentralization

The status of PRIs,which is important in democratic decentralization  can be reviewed in terms of following parameters:

(i) Conduct of Panchayat elections;

(ii) Devolution of Financial Powers;

(iii) Devolution of Functions and Functionaries;

(iv) Constitution of District Planning Committees (DPCs);

(v)  Status of Gram Sabha;

Panchayath raj institutions for grass-root level development

The Balwant Rai Mehta committee recommended a three tier Panchayath Raj system which includes:

•         Zilla  parishad at district level
•         Panchayath samiti at Block/Taluk level
•         Gram Panchayath at the village level

 This decentralized approach helps to implement developmental programs in the grass root level more efficiently  and effectively.

In addition, it encouraged the development of Gram Panchayat Development programmes which ecourage region specific development, encourages social audits in key programmes like MGNREGA, NRLM etc.

Evaluation:

•  PRI has succeeded in creating another layer of government and political representation at the grass-roots level, it has failed to provide better governance.
• Various states have also provided the statutory safeguards for many devolution provisions, which have considerably empowered local governments. Etc.

Suggestions:

• Genuine fiscal federalism i.e. fiscal autonomy accompanied by fiscal responsibility can provide a long term solution without this PRIs will only be an expensive failure.
• 6th report of 2nd ARC, ‘Local Governance- An inspiring journey into the future’’, had recommended that there should be a clear-cut demarcation of functions of each tier of the government.
• States should adopt the concept of ‘activity mapping’, wherein each state clearly delineates the responsibilities and roles for the different tiers of the government in respect to the subjects listed in the Schedule XI.
• There is need for bottom up planning especially at the district level, based on grassroots inputs received from Gram Sabha.

Way Forward:

•  The need of the hour is to bring about a holistic change in the lives of beneficiaries among the villagers by uplifting their socioeconomic and health status through effective linkages through community, governmental and other developmental agencies.
•  Government should take remedial action in the interest of democracy, social inclusion and cooperative federalism.
• It is important to have clarity in the assignment of functions and the local governments should have clear and independent sources of finance.

6. “The state legislative councils are dilatory chambers that do nothing but prolongs passage of bills and increase legislative expenses”Critically analyze. (10 Marks)

Answer: India has a bicameral system that is, two Houses of Parliament. At the state level, the equivalent of the Lok Sabha is the Vidhan Sabha or Legislative Assembly; that of the Rajya Sabha is the Vidhan Parishad or Legislative Council. A second House of legislature is considered important for two reasons:

• To act as a check on hasty actions by the popularly elected House.
• To ensure that individuals who might not be cut out for the rough-and-tumble of direct elections too are able to contribute to the legislative process.

Also,

• They can be used to delay progressive legislation.
• They would strain state finances.
• Having a second chamber would allow for more debate and sharing of work between the Houses

Currently six states have legislative councils namely Andra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana. Jammu and Kashmir too had one, until the state was bifurcated into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh

Criticism:

Rather than fulfilling the lofty objective of getting intellectuals into the legislature, the forum is likely to be used to accommodate party functionaries who fail to get elected. It is also an unnecessary drain on the exchequer.  Unlike Rajya Sabha which has substantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative Councils lack the constitutional mandate to do so. Legislative Assemblies have the power to override suggestions/amendments made to a legislation by the Council.

While Rajya Sabha MPs can vote in the election of the President and Vice-President, members of Legislative Councils can’t. MLCs also can’t vote in the elections of Rajya Sabha members.

As regards Money bills, only fourteen days’ delay can be caused by the Council, which is more or less a formality rather than a barrier in the way of Money Bill passed by the Assembly. 

All these factors aid the increase in the legislature expenditure.

State Legislative Councils and other limitations: 

The constitution gives Councils limited legislative powers. Unlike Rajya Sabha which has substantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative Councils lack the constitutional mandate to do so. Legislative Assemblies have the power to override suggestions/amendments made to a legislation by the Council.

Way ahead:

There is need of a National Policy on having Upper House in State Legislatures. The provision of the law for Councils to have seats for graduates and teachers should also be reviewed. Also, There is a need for wide range of debates and public and intellectual opinion to have an Upper House in all state legislatures. Legislative councils should be a responsible body that can also form their part in policies and programs for the development of states.

7. “Indian constitution was created borrowing ideas from a multitude of sources giving it unique characters that suit the unique nature of Indian society.” Analyze (15 Marks)

Answer: B.R.Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution stated that the Constitution of India has been framed after ‘ransacking all the known Constitutions of the World. 

Weimar Constitution	Suspension of Fundamental Rights during the emergency
Canada	Idea of federation with a strong centre    Distribution of powers between the centre and the states    Residuary Powers with the centre
United Kingdom	Parliamentary type of government
Japan	Procedure Established by law
Russia	Fundamental Duties, Idea of Justice
Ireland	Directive Principles of State Policy, Election of President    Nomination of members in the Rajya Sabha
United States	Preamble of the Constitution, Fundamental Rights       , Judicial review
Australia	Concurrent list, Provision regarding commerce, trade and intercourse

 Yet, the constitution makers did not merely borrow the features of the constitutions, rather they adopted it in a unique manner in such a way that it suits the nature of society overall. This is visible in the following ways:

• Secularism:  The western concept of secularism requires complete separation of religion and state. The religion is relegated entirely to the private sphere and has no place in public life whatsoever. However, in India the state supports all religions equally.
• Parliamentary form of government: Although borrowed from UK Constitution, we have not completely adopted parliamentary sovereignty rather we balanced it with judicial review.
• Federalism with Unitary bias: Although mainly federal system, Indian Constitution adopted a unitary bias for emergency situations. The nature of state is such as there is a tendency of secession from many states.
• DPSP: The principles are made non justiciable because the State lacked capacity to implement it. 
• Amendment: The Constitution is a blend of flexible and rigid procedures where states have role to ratify the amendments which change the federal structures. Such an adoption process ensures that the states too get a role in deciding the Constitutional division of powers.

Yet, the Constitution is not completely a mere borrowal of the provisions rather it also includes our own innovations such as the provisions for National Commission for SC, NCST, NCBC, creation of Schedule V and Schedule VI areas and along with that the creation of Schedule VIII scheduled languages to protect the multiple diversity, ethnicity etc.

8. “Though Indian federalism is also called bargaining federalism,often the centre holds disproportionate powers, making it a pseudo federalism”. Analyze (15 Marks)

Answer: Indian federalism was a kind of Cooperative federalism where bargaining took place between the centre and the states. Even though the position of states are legislatively, administratively and financially is weak, they do tend to exert their powers through bargaining.

Bargaining federalism is manifested between different states and also between Centre and States in the following ways:

• Territorial disputes between different states like Karnataka and Goa.
• Elements of competitive federalism between the states happening through Vibrant Gujarat Summit etc.
• Inter State River Water Disputes between several states. Eg: Cauvery Water Dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

The Centre still holds disproportionate powers and it is visible in the following ways:

• Legislative Relations – 
  • Under Article 249, Parliament is empowered to make laws with respect to every matter enumerated in the state list, if it is necessary in the national interest. 
  • Residuary powers of legislations are lying with the Centre.
  • The 42nd Constitution Amendment Act where the Centre has transferred several lists from the State list to the Concurrent lists which is a case of erosion of power from the State.
  • Parliament’s power to form new states and alter boundaries of existing states – the very existence of the state depends on the will of union.

• Administrative Relations – 
  • all planning is at the union level and the state only implement the plans. The executive power of every state has to be exercised as to ensure compliance with the laws made by parliament.
  • Existence of union territories – these are directly governed by the
  • central government.
  • Appointment of governors -the governors of states are appointment  by president and answerable to him. There are provisions in constitution under which the governor is required to send certain state laws for the assent of president.
  • Common All-India Services, centralized electron machinery/ controller, and Auditor-General/Inter-State Councils and Boards.
  • Emergency Provisions – under emergency, the normal distribution of powers between the Center and states undergo a vital change, and the center becomes all-powerful

• Financial relations -the states depend largely on financial assistance from the Union.
  • Finance Commission are established by the Centre and it determines the grants in aid that are required to be sent to the States.
  • Financial Emergency is proclaimed by the President where the President works on the aid and advice of the Council of Minister.
  • As per Article 293, the States cannot borrow from external sources without the permission of Centre.

9. “The basis of Indian polity is a fine balance between legislature,executive and  judiciary which is not a clearly delineated line, but created through  cautious restraint and mutual respect between them”.Analyze (15 Marks)

Answer: The three organs of the government like the executive, judiciary and legislature represent the people and are responsible for running democratic government in our society. They are often envisaged to be kept separate and exercised by separate organs of the Government as per the doctrine of separation of powers.
However, often such separation of power is not clearly delineated and it includes cautious restraint and mutual respect between them. It can be seen in the following cases:

• Executive vs Judiciary: Article 50 suggests to separate the judiciary from the executive in the public services of the State. It is sometimes overlapping to each other.
  • Judiciary can use the power of judicial review and give directions to the executive in case of any vacuum. 
  • Similarly, though judiciary recommends the appointment and removal of the executives, the judges are appointed by the executives as well.
  • Executives recently tried to constitute the National Judicial Appointments Commission as a selection mechanism for the judges. However, this was later struck down by the judiciary as a violation of the basic structure.

• Executive vs Legislature: 

• India adopted a parliamentary form of government where the executives are responsible to the legislature. 

• • The law making powers of the legislature are devolved to the executives through delegated legislation, yet the legislature exerts cautious restraint through accountability over such laws through the committees.
  • The laws, policies made by the legislature are implemented by the executives in general.

• Judiciary vs Legislature: 
  • Article 13 gives power to the judiciary to declare that every future law inconsistent with or in derogation of the Fundamental Rights, shall be void.
  • Judiciary can also give guidelines to the legislature if the latter fails to act on a time bound manner. Eg: Vishaka guidelines.
  • No discussion shall take place in Parliament with respect to the conduct of judges except in the case of a motion of removal of judges. 
  • Such a system enhances the accountability of the performance of the judges.

Thus, basis of Indian polity is not strictly based on the separation of power rather they act as checks and balances. 

10. Compare and contrast presidential and parliamentary systems.Do you think it was right on the part of constitutional makers in choosing parliamentary system for India.?(15 Marks)

Answer: India adopted a parliamentary system of Government after independence. The Parliamentary system of government is one in which the executive is responsible to the legislature.

Presidential	Parliamentary
Legislative, executive and judiciary body of the government are independent of each other.	Executive is selected out of the legislative parts and the judiciary is independent of the other two bodies of government.
President cannot dissolve the lower house.	Prime Minister can dissolve the lower house before the expiry of the term.
Tenure of the government is fixed	Tenure of the government is not fixed
Single executive- the President who acts as the head of State and the head of Government.	Dual executive where the nominal Executive is represented by the head of the State and real executive is represented by the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers
Accountability of the executive to the legislature is minimal.	The executive is accountable to the legislature and has collective responsibility.
President acts as the leader of such government.	Leader of the majority party(Prime Minister) acts as the leader of the parliamentary form of government.
Powers are concentrated on the President itself- autocratic tendency.	Powers are concentrated on the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

The constitutional makers were right in choosing parliamentary system for India because of the following reasons:

• It ensures co-operation and co-ordination between the legislative and executive organs and limits the scope of conflicts between the two.
• The Parliamentary system ensures a better representation of the population and it is well suited for countries with multiple diversity like language, race etc.
• Familiarity with the system as the Parliamentary system of government was in existence during the British India rule.
• It ensures a system of collective responsibility on the executives and create accountability over their actions.

A switchover to the presidential system is not possible under our present constitutional scheme because of the ‘basic structure’ doctrine and it is not desirable as well because such a system will tend to make the government headed by the President as high handed and powerful.
The need of the hour is to comprehensively reform the problems such as the weakened functioning of the Parliament, increased disruptions in the Parliament, underlying in the Parliamentary form of governments.