Practice two fresh UPSC CSE Mains questions for 22 September 2026—one current-affairs based and one static—with answer upload, topper-style model answers and self-evaluation.
Daily Mains Answer Writing Practice – 22 September 2026
Attempt first. Upload your handwritten answer. Then compare it with the model answer.
“Climate-resilient water management requires India to move beyond supply augmentation towards basin-scale governance, demand management, ecological restoration and risk-informed planning.” Discuss in the context of India International Water Week 2026.
Official reference: Ministry of Jal Shakti / PIB – India International Water Week 2026
Attempt the answer before checking the model
Model Answer
Introduction
India’s water challenge is no longer only one of scarcity. Climate change is intensifying floods, droughts, glacier-related risks and rainfall variability, while urbanisation and groundwater depletion are increasing demand. Climate-resilient water management therefore requires institutions that manage variability, not merely projects that increase supply.
Body
Why the present approach is insufficient
- Fragmented governance: Rivers, groundwater, irrigation, cities and pollution are often managed by separate agencies despite being part of one hydrological system.
- Supply bias: New dams and extraction can postpone scarcity without correcting inefficient agricultural, industrial and urban water use.
- Groundwater stress: Unpriced or weakly regulated extraction disconnects local consumption from aquifer limits.
- Climate extremes: Infrastructure designed around historical rainfall may fail under more intense floods, droughts and glacier-related hazards.
Elements of a resilient framework
- Basin-scale planning: Integrate surface water, groundwater, land use and ecological flows across administrative boundaries.
- Demand management: Promote micro-irrigation, crop diversification, leakage control, recycling and efficiency standards.
- Ecological restoration: Protect wetlands, floodplains, catchments and urban lakes as natural water-storage and flood-buffer systems.
- Risk-informed infrastructure: Use climate projections, dam-safety reviews and flood/drought scenarios in project design.
- Local participation: Empower panchayats, urban bodies and water-user groups with data, finance and accountability.
- Better incentives: Metering, rational pricing and transparent subsidies can encourage conservation while protecting vulnerable users.
Conclusion
Water security in a warming climate cannot be built by engineering alone. India needs a hydrological-governance approach in which infrastructure, ecosystems, institutions and users are managed together at the scale at which water actually moves.
“Parliamentary Committees are where legislative scrutiny can escape the pressures of adversarial politics, but their effectiveness depends on information, expertise, time and executive responsiveness.” Examine.
Attempt the answer before checking the model
Model Answer
Introduction
Parliament performs law-making, financial control and executive accountability, but floor debates are constrained by limited time and party competition. Committees provide a smaller, relatively less adversarial forum where members can examine Bills, budgets, ministries and public expenditure in greater detail.
Body
Why committees matter
- Detailed scrutiny: Department-related Standing Committees can examine Demands for Grants, Bills and policy performance beyond headline debate.
- Financial accountability: The Public Accounts Committee and Estimates Committee scrutinise expenditure, efficiency and audit findings.
- Expert input: Committees can hear ministries, specialists, stakeholders and civil society before making recommendations.
- Bipartisan working: Closed-door deliberation often allows members to engage more substantively than in televised floor politics.
- Institutional memory: Repeated examination of sectors can build continuity and policy knowledge across sessions.
Why effectiveness remains uneven
- Committee recommendations are generally advisory, allowing ministries to reject or dilute them.
- Not all important Bills are mandatorily referred for committee scrutiny.
- Members may face limited research support, technical staff and time for complex subjects.
- Short parliamentary tenures and frequent membership changes can weaken specialised expertise.
- Action Taken Reports may reveal delayed or incomplete executive responses.
Way forward
- Presume committee referral for major non-urgent legislation.
- Strengthen non-partisan research and technical support for members.
- Provide adequate scrutiny time and publish reasoned government responses to recommendations.
- Improve follow-up on accepted recommendations through periodic review.
Conclusion
Committees do not replace debate in the House; they make it more informed. Their value lies in converting Parliament from a forum of political contestation alone into an institution of continuous, evidence-based executive 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 data, examples or concepts?
- Did I give a practical way forward where required?
- Did I stay within the word limit?
