During the Sabarimala Temple Entry Dispute review hearing, the Union government argued before the Supreme Court that all religious practices are presumed constitutionally protected unless they violate: Public order, Morality, and Health
The Centre also questioned the judicially evolved doctrine of “Essential Religious Practices” (ERP).
What is ERP?
The ERP doctrine was evolved by the Supreme Court to determine:
Which religious practices are “essential” to a religion
Only such essential practices receive constitutional protection
Centre’s Criticism of ERP Doctrine
The Centre argued:
The phrase “essential religious practices” does not appear in the Constitution.
It is a judicial innovation created through court interpretation.
According to the Centre:
Articles 25 and 26 should receive broad interpretation like other Fundamental Rights.
Courts should avoid excessive interference in religious matters.
Supreme Court’s Observations
Faith Beyond Rituals: Surya Kant observed:
One need not visit temples to be religious.
Even lighting a lamp in a hut can express faith.
Hinduism as a Way of Life: Justice B. V. Nagarathna remarked:
Hinduism is a “way of life”
It is not dependent solely on rituals or temple visits
Related Case Laws
Shirur Mutt Case
Origin of ERP doctrine
Court held religion includes essential practices
Indian Young Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala
Allowed women of all ages entry into Sabarimala Temple
[2020] Consider the following statements: 1. The Constitution of India defines its ‘basic structure’ in terms of federalism, secularism, fundamental rights and democracy. 2. The Constitution of India provides for ‘judicial review’ to safeguard the citizens’ liberties and to preserve the ideals on which the Constitution is based. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? a) 1 only b) 2 only c) Both 1 and 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has installed a second Coastal Flood Monitoring System (CFMS) near Kollam Harbour to improve forecasting of ‘Kallakkadal’ or swell surge events along India’s southwest coast.
What is ‘Kallakkadal’?
“Kallakkadal” is a Malayalam term meaning: “Sea that comes stealthily”
It refers to:
Sudden high-energy swell surges
Coastal flooding without local storms or rainfall
Purpose
Improve accuracy of coastal flood forecasts
Study nearshore wave transformation
Build better early warning systems
About Coastal Flood Monitoring System (CFMS)
A scientific monitoring system developed by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services for:
[2017] At one of the place in India, if you stand on the seashore and watch the sea, ‘you will find that the sea water recedes from the shore line a few kilometers and comes back to the shore, twice a day, and you can actually walk on the seafloor when the water recedes. This unique phenomenon is seen at a. Bhavnagar b. Bheemunipatnam c. Chandipur d. Nagapattinam
China, EU, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Türkiye, UK, US, Egypt
[2015] With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC)’, Consider the following statements: 1. It was established very recently in response to incidents of piracy and accidents of oil spills 2. It is an alliance meant for maritime security only Which of the following statements given above is/are correct? [A] 1 only [B] 2 only [C] Both 1 and 2 [D] Neither 1 nor 2
The President of India conferred the National Florence Nightingale Awards 2026 on outstanding nursing professionals.
About the Award
Instituted in 1973.
Established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Recognises exceptional nursing services and contributions to public health.
Who Receives the Award?
The award is presented to:
Registered Nurses
Midwives
Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs)
Lady Health Visitors (LHVs)
Serving in:
Central Government
State Governments
Union Territories
Voluntary organisations
Award Components
Each award includes:
Certificate of Merit
Medal
Cash prize of ₹1 lakh
Role of Nurses in Healthcare
Nurses play a vital role in:
Primary healthcare
Immunisation
Community outreach
Emergency care
About Florence Nightingale
English social reformer and statistician.
Known as the founder of modern nursing.
Gained prominence during the Crimean War by organising nursing care for wounded soldiers.
Professionalised nursing practice and introduced scientific healthcare methods.
Founded the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, considered the world’s first scientifically based nursing school.
[2024] With reference to the ‘Pradhan Manti Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan’, consider the following statements: 1. This scheme guarantees a minimum package of antenatal care services to women in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy and six months post-delivery health care service in any government health facility. 2. Under this scheme, private sector health care providers of certain specialties can volunteer to provide service at nearby government health facilities. Which of the statements given above is/are correct ? [A] 1 only [B] 2 only [C] Both 1 and 2 [D] Neither 1 nor 2
Vijay won the confidence motion in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly with 144 votes, ensuring the survival of the TVK-led coalition government.
Key Highlights of the Floor Test
Confidence Motion Passed
The motion moved by Chief Minister Vijay received: 144 votes in favour
Supporting Parties
Indian National Congress
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi
Indian Union Muslim League
25 rebel AIADMK MLAs
One AMMK MLA
Constitutional Significance of Floor Test
What is a Floor Test?: A mechanism to determine whether the government enjoys majority support in the legislature.
Conducted By: Speaker of the Legislative Assembly
Constitutional Basis: Related to Article 164(2) of the Constitution:
Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly.
Anti-Defection Aspect
Relevant Provision: Tenth Schedule of the Constitution
Deals With
Defection by legislators
Violation of party whip
Possible Issue Ahead
Potential action against rebel AIADMK MLAs.
Note: In India, the office of the “whip” is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, the Rules of the House, or any parliamentary statute; rather, it is based on convention. However, the authority to issue whips and the consequences for defying them are legally upheld by the Tenth Schedule (Anti-Defection Law).
[2020] A Parliamentary System of Government is one in which a) All political parties in the Parliament are represented in the Government b) the Government is responsible to the Parliament and can be removed by it c) the Government is elected by the people and can be removed by them d) the Government is chosen by the Parliament but cannot be removed by it before completion of a fixed term
UPSC is no longer asking isolated factual questions. Whether it is Polity, Economy, Environment, Geography or International Relations Current Affairs now shapes almost every part of the paper.
The issue is not lack of reading. The issue is studying without direction.
Shikhar Sir, Faculty and Founder, Civilsdaily IAS
What You’ll Learn in This Session
1. Why Current Affairs Now Dominate UPSC Papers
I will break down how UPSC has evolved over the last few years:
Shift from factual recall to applied understanding
Increase in interdisciplinary questions
Why static only preparation is becoming less effective
How Current Affairs are influencing even static looking questions
You’ll understand why many aspirants feel shocked after the paper despite completing the syllabus.
2. The Difference Between Reading News & Preparing for UPSC
Most aspirants become passive consumers of information.
This session will explain:
What to read
What to skip
What deserves notes
What deserves revision
What is only noise
Because reading everything is not preparation. Filtering intelligently is.
3. How to Study Current Affairs Through Microthemes
This is where serious preparation begins.
You’ll learn:
What microthemes are
How toppers prepare subjects through interconnected themes
Why chapter wise reading is often insufficient
How one Current Affairs issue can connect with multiple GS topics
Example: A simple issue like inflation can connect to:
Monetary policy
RBI tools
Fiscal deficit
Food security
Agriculture
Global crude prices
Welfare economics
This is how UPSC expects aspirants to think.
4. Identifying High-Yield Current Affairs
Not every topic deserves equal attention.
You’ll learn how to identify:
Dead areas that rarely matter
High frequency recurring themes
Topics UPSC repeatedly revisits
Issues likely to become important due to recent developments
This section will help you reduce FOMO and focus on what actually matters.
5. Current Affairs Revision Strategy Before Prelims
Most aspirants read too much and revise too little.
This session will cover:
How to revise Current Affairs efficiently
The role of microtheme based revision
How to consolidate scattered notes
Last 60-day and last 15 day revision strategy
Because retention matters more than collection.
6. Common Mistakes That Destroy Scores
We will also discuss:
Overdependence on multiple sources
Random note making
Reading without PYQ linkage
Ignoring revision cycles
Treating Current Affairs as isolated facts
Most score stagnation comes from strategic mistakes, not lack of effort.
Who Should Attend:
UPSC 2027 aspirants
Beginners confused about Current Affairs preparation
Aspirants struggling with retention and revision
Candidates overwhelmed by newspapers, compilations, and coaching material
Anyone who wants to study smarter instead of studying endlessly
Join me on 14th May at 7:00 PM, live for a Zoom session. In one session, I will help you rebuild your preparation and move forward with confidence.
It will be a 45 minute session, post which we will open up the floor for all kinds of queries which a beginner must have. No questions are taboo and Shikhar Sir is known to be patiently solving all your doubts.
Join us for a Zoom session on 14th May at 7 PM. This session is a must attend for you If you are attempting UPSC for the first time or have attempted earlier and now preparing for 2027, then it is going to be a valuable session for you too.
See you in the session”
Register for the session for a complete in-depth UPSC Prep
(Don’t wait—the next webinar/session won’t be until End May’26)
These masterclasses are packed with value. They are conducted in private with a closed community. We rarely open these webinars for everyone for free. This time we are keeping it for 300 seats only.
PYQ Relevance[UPSC 2018] How does biodiversity vary in India? How is the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 helpful in conservation of flora and fauna?Linkage: The PYQ tests understanding of biodiversity conservation, habitat protection, and institutional mechanisms for ecological sustainability. Human-wildlife conflict arises from habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss; coexistence strategies require stronger ecological conservation and legal protection frameworks like the Biological Diversity Act.
Mentor’s comment
Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) has emerged as a major conservation and governance challenge. This is because habitat fragmentation, infrastructure expansion, climate stress, and shrinking ecological corridors intensify encounters between humans and wildlife. India reports hundreds of human deaths annually due to elephant encounters, while crop damage and livestock predation continue to affect livelihoods.
Why is human-wildlife conflict increasing globally and in India?
Habitat Fragmentation: Roads, railways, dams, mining, and urbanisation disrupt migratory routes and ecological corridors. Elephants and large mammals increasingly move through agricultural landscapes.
Case Study (India): The Siliguri-Alipurduar railway track in North Bengal acts as a barrier, causing frequent train-elephant collisions.
Agricultural Expansion: Cultivation near forest fringes increases overlap between biodiversity-rich habitats and settlements.
Case Study (India): In the Western Ghats (Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu), the expansion of tea, coffee, and banana plantations adjacent to protected areas has severely disrupted elephant movement. This has resulted in high crop raiding in districts like Coimbatore and Wynad.
Ecological Imbalance: Decline in natural prey and food sources pushes wildlife towards human settlements.
Case Study (India): In Manas National Park, Assam, the degradation of traditional fodder habitats has led to increased crop raiding. Furthermore, the substitution of native trees with commercial monoculture like Eucalyptus has reduced natural grazing, forcing herds into villages.
Climate Change: Alters vegetation and water availability, intensifying competition for resources.
Case Study (India): During intense summers, elephants in the state of Odisha and in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape have been observed moving into human settlements looking for water and raiding paddy fields.
Population Pressure: Expands human settlements near forests and ecologically sensitive regions.
Case Study (India): In Karnataka’s Kodagu region, rapidly growing population and land conversion into ginger and coffee farms have shrunk elephant corridors, forcing them into intense competition with locals for space.
India’s Vulnerability: Elephant encounters, livestock depredation, and crop raiding impose significant economic and social costs.
Livestock Depredation: In Hemis National Park, Ladakh, Snow Leopards preying on sheep and goats are a major source of conflict, with a study finding that they are responsible for 31% of livestock predation in some valleys.
How does ecological imbalance shape human-wildlife conflict?
Why are education and awareness central to coexistence?
Behavioural Change: Reduces retaliatory actions against wildlife.
Risk Awareness: Promotes safer responses in conflict-prone regions.
Climate Adaptation: Builds preparedness for ecological stress.
Community Partnership: Reframes local populations as conservation stakeholders.
What should be India’s future strategy for managing human-wildlife conflict?
Habitat Restoration: Improves prey availability and ecosystem resilience.
Ecological Connectivity: Secures wildlife corridors to reduce accidental encounters.
Scientific Land-Use Planning: Integrates biodiversity concerns into development projects.
Rapid Compensation: Strengthens trust among affected communities.
Data-Based Governance: Uses GIS mapping and wildlife monitoring for prevention.
Participatory Conservation: Ensures community involvement and benefit-sharing.
Conclusion
Human-wildlife conflict reflects a deeper ecological imbalance rather than isolated wildlife aggression. Sustainable coexistence requires integrating conservation with local livelihoods through habitat restoration, ecological corridors, participatory governance, and scientific planning. India’s long-term success will depend on shifting from reactive mitigation to coexistence-centred conservation.
A new paper published in BMJ Global Health (March 2026) has revived scrutiny of IMF and World Bank Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), arguing that these institutions owe reparations to Global South countries for long-term socio-economic damage.
What are Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs)?
They are a set of economic mandates imposed by international financial institutions, principally the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, on developing nations. They are imposed as a strict prerequisite for securing new loans, refinancing existing debt, or avoiding sovereign default.
How did Structural Adjustment Programmes emerge in the Global South?
Debt Crisis: Developing countries borrowed heavily during the 1970s for industrialization and imports. Rising interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve in the late 1970s sharply increased repayment burdens.
Dollar-Denominated Loans: Countries borrowing in U.S. dollars faced rising repayment obligations due to currency depreciation beyond domestic control.
IMF-World Bank Intervention: Financial assistance became conditional upon implementing structural economic reforms aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability.
Debt Leverage: Creditor institutions used debt obligations to push policy reforms in exchange for access to loans and refinancing.
Historical Context: SAPs coincided with the rise of market-oriented neoliberal economic policies globally.
What were the major components of Structural Adjustment Programmes?
Fiscal Austerity: Reduced public expenditure on healthcare, education, subsidies, and social security to reduce fiscal deficits.
Privatization: Transferred state-owned enterprises and public services to private ownership.
Trade Liberalization: Removed trade barriers and opened domestic markets to global competition.
Deregulation: Reduced industrial regulations, labour protections, and capital controls.
Currency Devaluation: Encouraged export competitiveness through exchange-rate reforms.
Conditional Financing: Linked access to international loans with compliance to reform packages.
How did SAPs affect economic growth in the Global South?
Growth Slowdown: Economic growth reportedly declined sharply during adjustment periods. The Global South’s average growth rate fell from nearly 3.2% before SAPs to 0.7% during the 1980s-1990s.
Income Loss: Developing countries collectively lost an estimated $480 billion annually in potential national income.
Latin America: Real per capita income reportedly declined by 15% after 1980, recovering to previous levels only by 2006.
Sub-Saharan Africa: Income levels reportedly fell sharply before eventual recovery decades later.
Industrial Weakening: Liberalization exposed domestic industries to global competition before adequate institutional preparedness.
Developmental Sovereignty: Reduced state capacity to pursue independent industrial policy.
What social consequences emerged from Structural Adjustment Programmes?
Healthcare Retrenchment: Public health expenditure cuts weakened medical infrastructure and service delivery.
Education Cuts: Reduced state spending constrained human capital development.
Child Mortality: SAP-linked effects reportedly contributed to 56.62 additional child deaths per 1,000 births in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Maternal Mortality: Around 360 additional maternal deaths per 1,00,000 births were associated with SAP-linked reforms.
Excess Mortality: Nearly 3,05,000 excess infant deaths reportedly occurred between 1986-2010 relative to pre-adjustment trends.
User Fees: Privatization and reduced welfare spending increased costs of essential services.
Food Inflation: Currency depreciation increased food prices and reduced affordability.
Did SAPs reinforce historical patterns of economic dependency?
Neo-Colonial Continuity: Critics argue SAPs reopened developing economies to exploitative global market structures.
Labour Cost Compression: Reduced labour protections lowered production costs for multinational firms.
Capital Flight: Liberalized financial systems facilitated outflows of profits.
Institutional Democratization: Expands policy voice of developing countries within IMF and World Bank governance.
Policy Sovereignty: Ensures aid recipients retain flexibility over domestic development choices.
Alternative Financing: Expands access to institutions such as the New Development Bank (BRICS Bank) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Inclusive Development: Balances macroeconomic stability with social welfare investments.
Conclusion
The structural adjustment debate reflects a larger tension between macroeconomic stabilization and social justice. While fiscal discipline and market reforms can support economic efficiency, externally imposed conditionalities without domestic context risk undermining welfare and developmental autonomy. Future global financial governance requires balancing economic reform with equity, democratic participation, and sovereign policy space.
PYQ Relevance
[UPSC 2024] Examine the pattern and trend of public expenditure on social services in the post-reforms period in India. To what extent this has been in consonance with achieving the objective of inclusive growth?
Linkage: The PYQ examines whether post-reform economic policies balanced fiscal reforms with social sector expenditure to ensure inclusive growth. IMF-World Bank structural adjustment policies are critiqued for reducing public spending on health, education and welfare. This highlights how austerity can undermine inclusive development outcomes.
India’s water governance architecture has come into focus amid rising concerns over groundwater depletion, urban water stress, declining per-capita water availability, and climate-induced hydrological variability. The debate has gained significance because India supports nearly one-fifth of the global population with only around 4% of global freshwaterresources. At the same time, nearly 600 million people face high to extreme water stress.
Why is India facing a water paradox despite substantial rainfall?
Hydrological Abundance: India receives nearly 4,000 BCM of annual rainfall, yet only about 1,100 BCM is considered usable, due to storage constraints and uneven distribution.
Population Pressure: India supports nearly 20% of the world’s population while possessing only around 4% of global freshwater resources, intensifying stress.
Uneven Distribution: Rainfall remains spatially and temporally concentrated, creating regional imbalances between water-rich and water-scarce regions.
Storage Deficit: Limited reservoir capacity and weak rainwater harvesting reduce effective utilization of precipitation.
Ecological Constraints: River degradation, catchment destruction, and wetland loss reduce water retention capacity.
Wetland Degradation & Encroachment: The destruction of crucial wetlands like the Pallikaranai marshland in Chennai or the deepor Beel in Guwahati, used for urban infrastructure projects; This prevents natural rainwater storage, turning potential recharge areas into urban floodplains.
River Degradation and Pollution: Rapid industrialization has severely polluted critical rivers like the Yamuna (Delhi/Agra segment) and Ganga (near Varanasi/Kanpur); This renders the surface water unfit for consumption and requiring higher water treatment costs, making the available water unusable.
Catchment Destruction and Deforestation: Deforestation in the Himalayan catchment areas of the Ganga has accelerated soil erosion and reduced groundwater infiltration.
Over-extraction Leading to Aquifer Degradation: Unsustainable groundwater pumping in states like Punjab and Haryana is depleting aquifers. This reduces the natural storage capacity of the soil, making the region more vulnerable to drought.
How severe is India’s water stress and what trends indicate growing vulnerability?
Water Stress: Around 600 million people face high to extreme water stress, indicating large-scale vulnerability.
Declining Per Capita Availability: Annual per-capita water availability has declined from over 5,000 cubic metres after independence to nearly 1,400 cubic metres, approaching water stress thresholds.
Groundwater Dependence: India has become the world’s largest groundwater extractor, accounting for nearly 25% of global groundwater extraction.
Agricultural Pressure: Agriculture consumes the majority of freshwater resources, especially through inefficient flood irrigation.
Total Supply Share: Agriculture consumes approximately 80% to 84% of India’s total available freshwater.
Groundwater Depletion: The sector sucks up 89% of all extracted groundwater in the country. India pumps more groundwater annually than the US and the EU combined.
Annual Extraction Volume: Out of nearly 239 BCM of total groundwater extracted, 208.5 BCM goes solely to agricultural activities.
Urban Water Crisis: Rapid urbanization increases dependence on distant water sources, groundwater extraction, and tanker economies.
How is India’s institutional framework governing water resources structured?
Multi-Level Governance: Water governance operates through Union government, State governments, and local bodies, creating a federal framework.
Ministry of Jal Shakti: Functions as the nodal authority for water resources, drinking water, and sanitation.
Central Water Commission (CWC): Ensures surface water planning, river basin development, and flood management.
Central Ground Water Board (CGWB): Supports groundwater assessment, aquifer mapping, and scientific management.
NITI Aayog: Strengthens competitive federalism through Composite Water Management Index, improving accountability and evidence-based policymaking.
State Jurisdiction: Irrigation, groundwater management, and local water supply largely remain State subjects, creating coordination challenges.
How are national missions strengthening water governance in India?
Jal Jeevan Mission (2019)
Household Connectivity: Expands functional household tap water connections in rural areas.
Implementation Model: Aligns central funding with state execution, improving last-mile delivery.
Universal Coverage: Mission extension until 2028 supports universal access.
Atal Bhujal Yojana
Groundwater Sustainability: Strengthens community-based groundwater budgeting and monitoring in water-stressed regions.
Participatory Governance: Encourages local stakeholder involvement in aquifer management.
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)
Micro-Irrigation: Improves water-use efficiency through drip and sprinkler irrigation.
Agricultural Productivity: Supports higher productivity with lower freshwater consumption.
AMRUT Mission
Urban Water Infrastructure: Expands water supply networks, sewerage systems, and wastewater treatment in cities.
Namami Gange Programme
River Basin Restoration: Integrates pollution control, sewage treatment, ecological restoration, and river rejuvenation in the Ganga basin.
Why does India’s federal water governance face coordination challenges?
Constitutional Fragmentation: Water remains primarily a State subject, while river basins transcend political boundaries.
Can a circular water economy transform India’s water future?
A circular water economy is an economic and environmental framework that replaces the traditional, linear “take-make-dispose” approach with a closed-loop system. Instead of extracting freshwater, using it once, and discharging it as waste, a circular model focuses on reducing freshwater withdrawals, recycling wastewater, and recovering valuable by-products to keep water in circulation as long as possible.
River Basin Approach: Encourages integrated watershed and river management.
Community Participation: Improves accountability through decentralized governance.
Climate Resilience: Strengthens adaptation to changing rainfall patterns and droughts.
Case studies for circular water economy
Wastewater Reuse: Recycling treated municipal sewage for industrial and civic purposes directly preserves premium drinking-quality freshwater for human consumption.
The Chennai Metrowater Model: High-tech plants treat sewage into industrial-grade water. This recycled water is sold directly to major automotive and petrochemical clusters, saving millions of litres of freshwater daily.
Surat Municipal Corporation: Surat treats domestic sewage to tertiary standards and pumps it directly to textile and diamond processing industrial areas, generating municipal revenue while ensuring a reliable water supply.
Efficient Irrigation: Transitioning from wasteful flood irrigation to closed-loop, precision systems maximizes crop yield per drop of water.
Gujarat Green Revolution Company: The state heavily subsidized drip and sprinkler networks. In semi-arid regions like Saurashtra, this allowed farmers to cultivate cotton and groundnuts without collapsing local water tables.
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Zone (Telangana): Instead of using open, evaporative canals, water is piped directly to fields and applied via automated drip lines, reducing agricultural water waste by over 40%.
Technological Innovation: Deploying IoT sensors, automated meters, and data analytics cuts down on systemic water losses and illegal extraction.
Bengaluru’s IoT Water Metering: Tech startups have deployed smart water meters in residential and corporate hubs. These track real-time consumption and flag leaks, reducing apartment water wastage by 20% to 35%.
National Aquifer Mapping Program (NAQUIM): Advanced heliborne geophysical surveys map subsurface aquifers nationwide. This allows districts to precisely calculate sustainable extraction limits and prevent groundwater over-pumping.
River Basin & Watershed Approach: Treating entire river basins and landscapes as single interconnected hydrological units prevents upstream degradation from destroying downstream supply.
Hiware Bazar Transformation (Maharashtra): This drought-prone village banned water-guzzling sugarcane and deep borewells. By implementing contour trenches and bunds, they raised the local groundwater table to create a self-sustaining economy.
Neeranchal National Watershed Project: Backed by the World Bank, this project applies integrated watershed frameworks across multiple states to reduce soil erosion and improve rainfall retention in natural catchments.
Community Participation: Shifting water governance from centralized government bodies to local communities ensures accountability, long-term asset maintenance, and equitable sharing.
Mission Kakatiya (Telangana): This program engaged village communities to de-silt and restore centuries-old traditional tanks. Local farmers used the nutrient-rich silt on their lands, boosting both crop yields and local water storage.
Pani Panchayats (Odisha & Maharashtra): Democratically elected, community-led water user associations legally empower local farmers to distribute canal water equitably, resolve disputes, and maintain local infrastructure.
Climate Resilience: Circular water systems insulate urban and rural populations from the unpredictable weather patterns, erratic monsoons, and prolonged droughts driven by climate change.
Delhi Amrit Sarovar Initiative: The city is restoring over 250 urban lakes and water bodies. By routing treated wastewater into them, these spaces act as natural “sponges” that absorb heavy monsoon floods and recharge dry aquifers for summer use.
Global Best Practices
Israel: Demonstrates large-scale wastewater recycling and drip irrigation.
Singapore: Ensures urban water resilience through NEWater recycled water systems.
Australia (Murray-Darling Basin): Strengthens integrated river basin governance.
Conclusion
India’s water challenge increasingly reflects a governance deficit rather than absolute scarcity. Sustainable water security requires stronger federal coordination, groundwater regulation, wastewater reuse, river basin management, and community participation. Scientific planning, technological integration, and institutional accountability remain essential to transform India from a water-stressed economy into a water-secure society.
PYQ Relevance
[UPSC 2024] The groundwater potential of the Gangetic Valley is on a serious decline. How may it affect the food security of India?
Linkage: The question examines the link between groundwater depletion, agriculture, and food security. It helps build analytical linkage between water governance and long-term agricultural resilience.
The forest department has launched a comprehensive scientific wildlife census in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary to assess the population status and movement patterns of major wildlife species.
About Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary
Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is an important protected area in the Central Himalayan region known for:
Dense broadleaf forests
Rich biodiversity
Himalayan wildlife habitat
It was primarily created to conserve shrinking oak forests.
Location: Almora district, Kumaon region, and Uttarakhand.
[2014] If you travel through the Himalayas, you are Iikely to see which of the following plants naturally growing there? 1. Oak 2. Rhododendron 3. Sandalwood Select the correct answer using the code given below [A] 1 and 2 only [B] 3 only [C] 1 and 3 only [D] 1, 2 and 3
![🔴[UPSC Webinar for 2027] By Shikhar Sir, Founder & Faculty, Civilsdaily IAS | 90% of the UPSC Paper Is Current Affairs | Study It the Right Way | Join on 14th May at 7PM](https://d18x2uyjeekruj.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/shikar-sir-thumb-4.png)
