Daily Mains Answer Writing Practice – 31 August 2026
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“A high GDP growth rate is sustainable only when it is accompanied by broad-based investment, employment generation and productivity gains.” In the light of India’s recent growth performance, examine.
Official reference: Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI)
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Model Answer
Introduction
India’s real GDP grew by 7.8% in Q1 of FY 2026–27, showing resilience despite an uncertain global environment. However, the quality of growth matters as much as its pace. Durable growth requires investment to raise productive capacity, employment to distribute income, and productivity to sustain rising living standards.
Body
Why the recent growth picture is encouraging
- Investment momentum: Gross Fixed Capital Formation recorded strong double-digit growth, indicating expansion of productive capacity and the continuing impact of infrastructure investment.
- Domestic demand: Private consumption remained healthy, giving India a buffer against weak external demand.
- Services strength: Services continued to be a major growth driver, particularly finance, real estate, IT and professional services.
- Industrial support: Stronger secondary-sector activity can deepen linkages between infrastructure, manufacturing and domestic demand.
Why headline GDP alone is not enough
- High-skill services can raise output rapidly without generating employment at the scale required by India’s labour force.
- Agriculture and the rural economy remain vulnerable to weather shocks, low productivity and income volatility.
- Public capital expenditure must increasingly crowd in private investment; otherwise the investment cycle may remain government-led.
- MSMEs need easier credit, technology adoption and market access so that growth becomes more employment-intensive.
- Global trade fragmentation, energy-price shocks and geopolitical uncertainty can weaken exports and investment sentiment.
Way forward
- Promote labour-intensive manufacturing, exports and modern MSMEs.
- Improve logistics, regulatory predictability and access to long-term finance to revive private capex.
- Raise agricultural productivity and expand rural non-farm employment.
- Invest in health, education and skilling so that demographic potential translates into productivity.
- Maintain macroeconomic stability while improving the quality, rather than merely the quantity, of public expenditure.
Conclusion
India’s challenge is therefore to move from merely fast growth to employment-rich, investment-led and productivity-driven growth. If growth creates stronger household incomes, competitive firms and better human capital, today’s high GDP numbers can become the foundation of sustained and inclusive development.
“Parliamentary committees are the principal instruments through which Parliament converts formal accountability into continuous scrutiny.” Examine their role and discuss the reforms needed to strengthen the committee system in India.
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Model Answer
Introduction
Parliament holds the executive accountable, but limited floor time makes detailed scrutiny of every Bill, expenditure proposal and policy difficult. Parliamentary committees bridge this gap by providing a smaller, specialised and relatively less partisan forum for continuous legislative and financial oversight.
Body
How committees strengthen parliamentary accountability
- Legislative scrutiny: Committees can examine Bills clause by clause, hear experts and stakeholders, and identify unintended consequences before a law is enacted.
- Financial control: Department-related Standing Committees examine Demands for Grants, while the Public Accounts Committee scrutinises expenditure using CAG findings. The Estimates Committee and Committee on Public Undertakings add further financial oversight.
- Executive accountability: Ministries are questioned on implementation, annual reports, policy outcomes and administrative weaknesses throughout the year.
- Better deliberation: Smaller forums allow members from different parties to work with greater continuity and less political theatre than is often possible on the floor of the House.
- Institutional memory: Committee reports create a body of evidence and recommendations that can guide future parliamentary scrutiny.
What limits their effectiveness
- Referral of Bills to committees is not mandatory, allowing important legislation to receive limited detailed scrutiny.
- Committee recommendations are generally advisory and may not receive timely executive action.
- Short tenures, uneven attendance and inadequate research support can reduce institutional expertise.
- Limited public follow-up makes it difficult to track whether recommendations have actually improved policy.
Reforms needed
- Make committee scrutiny the normal route for major Bills, with exceptions requiring publicly stated reasons.
- Provide professional research, data and legal support to members.
- Strengthen time-bound Action Taken Reports and parliamentary tracking of government responses.
- Use public consultations and expert evidence more systematically while preserving confidentiality where genuinely necessary.
- Ensure adequate meeting time, attendance and continuity of membership.
Conclusion
Committees cannot replace debate and voting in Parliament, but they make those constitutional functions more informed. Strengthening them would deepen deliberative democracy by ensuring that executive accountability is not an occasional event on the floor of the House, but a continuous process of scrutiny.
- Did I directly address the directive used in the question?
- Did I build an argument instead of merely listing facts?
- Did I cover multiple dimensions and limitations?
- Did I use relevant examples, institutions, data or keywords?
- Did I give a practical way forward where required?
- Did I end with a balanced conclusion and stay within the word limit?
