SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
There can be no social justice without economic prosperity, but economic prosperity without social justice is meaningless.
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The topic makes a two-part claim: economic prosperity is a necessary condition for social justice, since redistribution needs resources, but prosperity that excludes the poor, castes, women or regions loses its moral purpose. The examiner expects a balanced essay linking growth and equity.
ThesisGrowth and social justice are partners, not rivals: growth funds justice, and justice, by building human capability, sustains growth, so India must pursue both together.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Constitutional: the Directive Principles in Articles 38 and 39 commit the state to reducing inequalities in income, status and opportunity
- 2Economic: without growth, redistribution only shares scarcity, as pre-1991 low growth showed
- 3Social: growth concentrated among a few deepens caste, gender and regional divides and fuels unrest
- 4Human capability: investment in health, nutrition and schooling makes the poor contributors to prosperity, not just recipients
- 5Political: democracy loses legitimacy when citizens see prosperity around them but not in their own lives
Counter-view
- Some argue that focusing on growth first and trickle-down later is efficient. The essay should show that untargeted trickle-down is slow and that early investment in equity improves growth itself
Open and close
- Open: Open with a gleaming new expressway passing a village where women still walk to fetch water, a single frame holding prosperity and its missing justice
- Close: Conclude that a nation should judge its prosperity by how far it reaches the last citizen and its justice by whether it can be paid for sustainably
Where marks usually go
- Writing only one half of the statement and ignoring the 'meaningless' part
- Producing a GS-style list of welfare schemes without argument
- Treating social justice as only caste reservations, ignoring gender, region and class
Examples that fit
- HistoryOn 25 November 1949, B.R. Ambedkar warned the Constituent Assembly that political equality alongside social and economic inequality would put India into a life of contradictions.Constituent Assembly Debates, 25 November 1949
- DataNITI Aayog estimated that about 24.82 crore Indians escaped multidimensional poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23, showing growth plus targeted schemes reducing deprivation.NITI Aayog, Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005-06, Discussion Paper (2024)
- ThinkerJean Dreze and Amartya Sen argue that India's growth has not translated into proportionate gains in health and education, unlike East Asian economies that invested early.Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, An Uncertain Glory (2013)
- CaseMGNREGA, enacted in 2005, uses public resources to guarantee rural wage work, converting fiscal capacity into a right for the poorest.Ministry of Rural Development, MGNREGA