PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Local Government

New Panchayat Raj is an effective instrument for women empowerment.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
| RD | 73rd Amendment: 1/3 seats + chairperson posts reserved, many states to 50% — New Panchayat Raj as a real instrument ~ entry point, not finished achievement Gandhi: no Swaraj /decentralisation without women in public life ~ 73rd Amendment turns that into guaranteed seats — effective as opening, partial as outcome
Body flow
. | reach: 10 lakh+ women elected ~ Palnitkar: 70-80% first-time representatives ~ presence shifts priorities ~ Chattopadhyay & Duflo: more drinking-water investment — Iyer & Mani: women report crimes/injustice more openly
Counter-view
| | presence # power — Sudha Pai’s “Pati Panchayat”: male relatives control elected women ~ Manor: council meetings deny women the right to speak
Conclusion routes
| R1 effective instrument of entry ~ real empowerment needs training, safety, easing of patriarchy (23 real but incomplete > task is moving from reserved presence to actual power

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2013, Local Government