UPSC Mains 2023 GS3 Q9: model answer
Winning of ‘Hearts and Minds’ in terrorism-affected areas is an essential step in restoring the trust of the population. Discuss the measures adopted by the Government in this respect as part of the conflict resolution in Jammu and Kashmir.
What the question wants
Government's hearts-and-minds measures in J&K and their effect.
How to structure it
Intro: WHAM as a counter-insurgency principle. Body: (1) Army's Sadbhavana, Goodwill schools; (2) Development: PM's Development Package, industrial policy, AIIMS, IITs; (3) Youth: Himayat, sports, Super 50 coaching, Watan Ko Jano tours; (4) Governance: Back to Village, Jan Abhiyan, local body elections (DDC 2020), assembly elections 2024; (5) Rehabilitation and surrender policy; (6) Tourism and G20 meeting in Srinagar 2023. Conclusion: trust requires dignity, rights and jobs.
- 1(1) Army's Sadbhavana, Goodwill schools
- 2(2) Development: PM's Development Package, industrial policy, AIIMS, IITs
- 3(3) Youth: Himayat, sports, Super 50 coaching, Watan Ko Jano tours
- 4(4) Governance: Back to Village, Jan Abhiyan, local body elections (DDC 2020), assembly elections 2024
- 5(5) Rehabilitation and surrender policy
- 6(6) Tourism and G20 meeting in Srinagar 2023
Model answer
Winning 'Hearts and Minds' (WHAM) means reducing support for militancy by addressing people's needs and grievances, not only by force.
Measures in Jammu and Kashmir
- Operation Sadbhavana: the Army runs Goodwill Schools, health camps and tours for youth.
- Development: the Prime Minister's Development Package (2015), new AIIMS, IIT and IIM, roads and tunnels like Atal and Z-Morh, and the Chenab rail bridge.
- Jobs and skills: HIMAYAT and Mission Youth; a new Central Sector Scheme for industrial development (2021).
- Grassroots democracy: Back to Village programme, District Development Council elections (2020) and Assembly elections in 2024.
- Outreach: sports leagues, 'Watan Ko Jano' tours and coaching for competitive exams.
- Normalcy and tourism: record tourist arrivals and the G20 tourism meeting in Srinagar (2023).
- Surrender and rehabilitation policies for misled youth.
Challenges: communication restrictions, detentions and target killings dented trust.
Lasting peace needs dignity, jobs and an elected voice, alongside firm security.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
WHAM Sadbhavana Back to Village DDC elections Mission Youth
Where most answers lose marks
- Only security measures.
- No examples.
Fresh examples from current affairs
SCO Heads of Government meet in Dushanbe: Rajnath calls for dismantling the terror ecosystem
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh represented India at the 25th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 20 October 2026. With Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister in the room, he said there can be no justification and no double standards on terrorism. The meeting adopted the SCO budget for 2027 and a 2026–30 action plan for trade and economic cooperation.
UPSC angle: Prelims: SCO bodies and locations, new centres, INSTC. · Mains GS-II: SCO’s value for India; GS-III: terror financing.
21 Oct 2026
Open-weight AI models: why Big Tech gives them away and what it means for India
In October 2026 alone, Reflection AI, Meta, NVIDIA and Mistral released or announced open-weight AI models. The Hindu explained on 20 October why firms spend heavily and then let anyone download the weights: to win developers, set standards and earn from cloud, chips and services. For India, open weights offer a base to build Indian-language AI, but they also bring safety risks.
UPSC angle: Prelims: weights, open-weight vs open-source, IndiaAI, AI4Bharat. · Mains GS-III: AI sovereignty, safety and regulation.
21 Oct 2026
Police Commemoration Day 2026: Shah pays tribute, sets drug-free India target of 2029
On Police Commemoration Day, 21 October 2026, Union Home Minister Amit Shah paid tribute at the National Police Memorial in New Delhi to police personnel who died on duty. He recalled that India was declared free of Naxalism on 31 March 2026, asked all forces to work for a ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat’ by 31 December 2029, and flagged off a nationwide ‘Fight Against Drugs’ motorcycle rally.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Hot Springs, National Police Memorial, State List entries, NDPS Act. · Mains GS-III: police reforms and narcotics.
21 Oct 2026
AUSTRAHIND 2026: fifth India–Australia Army exercise begins in Thiruvananthapuram
The fifth edition of the India–Australia joint military exercise AUSTRAHIND began on 19 October 2026 at the Foreign Training Node, Thiruvananthapuram, and runs till 1 November. About 120 soldiers from each army will train for sub-conventional operations in island and coastal terrain under a UN Chapter VII mandate. For the first time, New Zealand has sent observers.
UPSC angle: Prelims: exercise names, venues, partner countries, UN Chapter VII. · Mains GS-III: defence diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific.
20 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC question paper: https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/QP-CSM-23-GENERAL-STUDIES-PAPER-III-180923.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.