MAINS 2013
GS2
10 marks
Electronic cash transfer system for welfare schemes is an ambitious project to minimize corruption, eliminate wastage and facilitate reforms. Comment.
WRITE IN
7 min
200 words
What the examiner wants
Comment on whether cash transfers can cut corruption and waste in welfare.
CommentGive your own view on the statement and back it with facts and examples.
Demand-wise check
- 1Promise: removes middlemen, fake beneficiaries, delays≈35 words
- 2Enablers: Aadhaar, Jan Dhan accounts, mobile (JAM)≈35 words
- 3Concerns: authentication failures, bank access, cash vs food inflation risk, exclusion errors≈35 words
- 4Evidence: LPG (PAHAL) and fertiliser examples≈35 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
DBT conceptAnti-corruption logicEnabling infrastructureRisksBalanced view
Where marks usually go
- Treating DBT as a cure-all
- No mention of exclusion errors
Draw this
- Flow: old chain (Centre → state → middlemen → beneficiary) vs DBT (Centre → bank account)
Value addition
- CommitteeNilekani Task Force (2011) recommended direct transfer of LPG, kerosene and fertiliser subsidies.Task Force on Direct Transfer of Subsidies, 2011
- ReportEconomic Survey 2014-15 proposed the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity.Economic Survey 2014-15
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 38 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 44 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 15 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 5 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 7 minutes, then get it checked.