GS-3 · Infrastructure (energy, ports, roads, airports, railways); Investment models
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How do smart cities in India address the issues of urban poverty and distributive justice?
With a brief background of quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the ‘Smart City Programme’.
The basis of providing urban amenities in rural areas (PURA) is rooted in establishing connectivity. Comment. Do government’s schemes for up-lifting vulnerable and backward communities by protecting required social resources, lead to their exclusion in establishing businesses in urban economics?
What are ‘Smart Cities’? Examine their relevance for urban development in India. Will it increase rural-urban differences? Give arguments for ‘Smart Cities’ vs ‘Smart Villages’ in the light of PURA and RURBAN Mission.
Capitalism has guided the world economy to unprecedented prosperity. However, it often encourages shortsightedness and contributes to wide disparities between the rich and the poor. In this light, would it be correct to believe and adopt capitalism as a means to achieve inclusive growth in India? Discuss.
While we find India’s demographic dividend, we ignore the dropping rates of employability. What are we missing while doing so? Where will the jobs that India desperately needs come from? Explain.
Explain how private public partnership agreements, in longer gestation infrastructure projects, can transfer unsuitable liabilities to the future. What arrangements need to be put in place to ensure that successive generations’ capacities are not compromised?
Normally countries shift from agriculture to industry and then later to services, but India shifted directly from agriculture to services. What are the reasons for the huge growth of services vis-a-vis industry in the country? Can India become a developed country without a strong industrial base?
Foreign direct investment in the defence sector is now said to be liberalised. What influence this is expected to have on Indian defence and economy in the short and long run?
"In the villages itself no form of credit organisation will be suitable except the cooperative society." – All Indian Rural Credit Survey. Discuss this statement in the background of agriculture finance in India. What constraints and challenges do financial institutions supplying agricultural finances face? How can technology be used to better reach and serve rural clients? How can the ‘Digital India’ programme help farmers to improve farm productivity and income? What steps has the Government taken in this regard?