Answer

Introduction: Briefly define the key concept in the question and set the context with a relevant fact, report or constitutional provision.

Body: Examine the issue across 3–4 dimensions — constitutional, political, administrative and social. Support each point with an example, a committee recommendation or a Supreme Court judgment.

Challenges: Highlight the main gaps or criticisms, with data where possible.

Way forward: Suggest practical, specific reforms drawn from expert committees and best practices.

Conclusion: Close with a balanced, forward-looking statement that links back to the question.

Civil Society

Governance › Civil Society

2023

“Women’s political participation is the surest indicator of democracy’s depth.” – UN Women.

CSOs and women’s rights groups have played a pivotal role in mobilizing, training, and advocacy for women’s political empowerment.

Contributions of Civil Society Groups

Advocacy for Legislative Reforms – Eg- National Alliance for Women’s Reservation Bill (NAWRB) mobilized multi-party support for the 128th Constitutional Amendment (2023).

Political Education – Conduct capacity-building programs to train women in political leadership, campaigning, and governance. Eg- Sakhi Resource Centre (Kerala)

Building Networks – Create coalitions and forums to amplify women’s collective voice in politics. Eg- National Alliance of Women (NAWO)

Promoting Gender Sensitization within Parties to reform candidate selection processes and promote internal gender quotas.

Electoral Mobilization – Run voter education drives to increase women’s turnout and encourage women candidates.

Research and Documentation – Eg- Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) publishes gender-disaggregated election data to expose gaps in representation.

Grassroots-to-Legislature Leadership Pipeline – Supported Panchayat women leaders to transition into state politics.

Increased political visibility and legitimacy of women’s issues in policy spaces.

Challenges

Patriarchal Political Culture – Party hierarchies resist internal reforms and tokenize women leaders.

Resource Constraints – Civil society campaigns depend on donor funding and lack long-term institutional backing.

Fragmentation – Lack of unified women’s coalition across regions and ideologies.

Limited Media Coverage – Women’s political work underreported compared to male counterparts.

Token Representation – symbolic presence without real decision power. Eg- Sarpanch Pati

Regulatory Hurdles – Strict FCRA and compliance norms restrict civil society operations.

Socio-Cultural Barriers – Family opposition and traditional gender roles deter active participation.

Way Forward

Early implementation of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam

Joint CSO-government programs to train women politicians.

Formal Party-CSO Dialogue Platforms to improve women’s candidate representation.

Intersectional Inclusion – Target programs for Dalit, tribal, and minority women.

This can strengthen Civil society to transform women from voters to legislators, ensuring inclusive and participatory democracy.

Answer

Introduction: Briefly define the key concept in the question and set the context with a relevant fact, report or constitutional provision.

Body: Examine the issue across 3–4 dimensions — constitutional, political, administrative and social. Support each point with an example, a committee recommendation or a Supreme Court judgment.

Challenges: Highlight the main gaps or criticisms, with data where possible.

Way forward: Suggest practical, specific reforms drawn from expert committees and best practices.

Conclusion: Close with a balanced, forward-looking statement that links back to the question.

e-Governance

Governance › e-Governance

2023

The 2nd ARC’s 11th Report (2008) envisioned “SMART Governance”, Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent, through e-governance.

E-governance ushering in effectiveness

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)- saved more than

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) – Revolutionised digital payments with real-time, low-cost, interoperable transactions. Eg: 20+ billion transactions/month

Aadhaar-Based Authentication – Universal digital identity enables paperless, presence-less service delivery at scale.

DigiLocker – Digital storage of documents enables instant verification across services.

PM Gati Shakti – Inter-Ministerial Convergence

E-governance ushering in transparency

Open, competitive procurement on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) eliminates discretion and middlemen.

CoWIN Platform – Real-time vaccination tracking with public dashboards ensured transparent COVID response.

Online RTI Portal

Open Government Data Portal – data.gov.in publishes datasets across ministries for citizen scrutiny and research.

e-Procurement and e-Tendering – reduces corruption opportunities.

E-governance ushering in accountability

CPGRAMS Grievance Redressal – enables time-bound resolution and tracking by citizens.

MyGov – Direct policy participation through online consultations, polls, and feedback mechanisms.

Social Audit via MGNREGA – Online MIS publishes worksite details, wages, attendance

Aspirational Districts Dashboard – Real-time performance ranking of 112 districts on 49 indicators

Inadequacies hampering e-governance

Digital Divide – Eg: Rural internet penetration 59.06% vs urban 131.45% (TRAI Q1 2025).

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities- Eg: cybercrime losses in 2024 – 206% rise (I4C, MHA 2025).

Data Privacy Concerns – Weak enforcement of data protection exposes citizens to misuse risks.

Poor Digital Literacy – Eg: Only 38% women have ever used internet (NFHS-5, MoHFW).

Inadequate Infrastructure – Internet connectivity, electricity, devices remain insufficient in remote regions.

Capacity Constraints – lower level government staff lack training in digital tools, data analytics, AI skills.

Targeting and verification errors exclude genuine beneficiaries from welfare schemes. Eg: PM-Kisan validation errors stranded 2.18 crore families (Dvara Research).

Departmental Silos – Ministries operate in isolation; lack integrated digital data ecosystems for governance.

Faulty validation processes. Eg: Aadhaar-PDS biometric failures linked to Simdega starvation death, Jharkhand (NHRC).

Linguistic Barriers – English-dominant interfaces exclude regional language users from accessing services.

Measures for Effective Implementation

Bridge Digital Divide – Saturate rural connectivity through BharatNet expansion and affordable smartphones distribution.

Mass Digital Literacy Drive – Scale PMGDISHA and Mission Karmayogi to all citizens and government employees.

Citizen Co-creation – Engage citizens through MyGov, hackathons, and pilot testing before scaling projects.

Outcome-Based Monitoring – Real-time dashboards, third-party audits, beneficiary feedback for course correction.

Adopt Global Best Practices – Estonia’s X-Road, Once-Only Principle for seamless inter-departmental data sharing.

For Viksit Bharat 2047, robust ICT governance demands inclusion, security, capacity, and citizen-centric design.

Answer

Introduction: Briefly define the key concept in the question and set the context with a relevant fact, report or constitutional provision.

Body: Examine the issue across 3–4 dimensions — constitutional, political, administrative and social. Support each point with an example, a committee recommendation or a Supreme Court judgment.

Challenges: Highlight the main gaps or criticisms, with data where possible.

Way forward: Suggest practical, specific reforms drawn from expert committees and best practices.

Conclusion: Close with a balanced, forward-looking statement that links back to the question.

Governance

Other questions

Role of CCI in Containing Abuse of Dominant Position by MNCs

Challenges

Way Forward

Answer

Civil Society

Contributions of Civil Society Groups

Challenges

Way Forward

Answer

e-Governance

E-governance ushering in effectiveness

E-governance ushering in transparency

E-governance ushering in accountability

Inadequacies hampering e-governance

Measures for Effective Implementation

Answer