UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 4 Q4a: model answer
What do you understand by the term ‘good governance’? How far recent initiatives in terms of e-Governance steps taken by the State have helped the beneficiaries? Discuss with suitable examples.
What the question wants
Explain good governance and discuss how far e-governance initiatives have helped beneficiaries, with examples.
How to structure it
Define, initiatives, gains, gaps.
- Good governance
- E-governance initiatives
- Benefits
- Limits
How to think it through
Good governance UNDP eight. E-gov: DBT via JAM (savings ₹3.48 lakh crore cumulative—DBT Bharat; fine), UPI, DigiLocker, CoWIN (2021, 220 crore doses), e-NAM, GeM, UMANG, PM-KISAN, One Nation One Ration Card (portability), CPGRAMS. Gaps: digital divide (rural internet), biometric failures, exclusion, privacy, data security (CoWIN leak allegations 2023), language.
Model answer
More than 220 crore vaccine doses were recorded on CoWIN, each with a downloadable certificate.
Good governance
- Governance that is participatory, transparent, accountable, responsive, equitable, efficient and based on rule of law, as the UNDP describes it.
E-governance initiatives
- Direct Benefit Transfer using the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile).
- One Nation One Ration Card: migrants draw rations anywhere in India.
- DigiLocker, UMANG and CPGRAMS for documents, services and grievances.
How beneficiaries have gained
- Less leakage: DBT removed fake and duplicate beneficiaries, with large savings reported by the government.
- Speed and convenience: money reaches accounts directly; certificates are online.
- Portability: migrant workers no longer lose rations when they move.
- Transparency: citizens can track applications and payments.
Limits
- Digital divide: many rural, elderly and poor citizens lack devices, connectivity or skills.
- Language and design barriers.
- Exclusion errors: biometric failures have denied entitlements.
- Privacy and data security concerns.
Balanced verdict
- E-governance has helped beneficiaries greatly, provided assisted access and offline fallbacks remain.
Technology should widen the door to the state, not add a new lock.
Draw: A two-column table: gains (speed, transparency, portability) and gaps (divide, exclusion, privacy).
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
good governance, UNDP, CoWIN 220 crore doses, DBT, JAM trinity, One Nation One Ration Card, DigiLocker, UMANG, CPGRAMS, GeM, e-NAM, leakage, portability, digital divide, exclusion errors, privacy, assisted access, offline fallback.
Where most answers lose marks
- Listing schemes without assessing how far beneficiaries actually gained.
Related Mains PYQs
- Analyse the advantages and limitations of the generalist structure of the Indian Civil Services in contemporary governance. UPSC 2026 · GS-II
- Owing to paucity of time, a university professor generates a Ph.D. evaluation report using Artificial Intelligence and submits it with some modifications.… UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
- To what extent do pressure groups, social movements and corporate lobbies deepen pluralistic democracy in India by representing excluded interests? Analyse whether… UPSC 2026 · GS-II
- Discuss how national security can be balanced with concerns of human rights. UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
Fresh examples from current affairs
Census 2027: can private teachers be made enumerators? The Census Rules amendment and Article 23
Census 2027 needs over 30 lakh enumerators, the people who go door to door counting everyone. This month the Centre amended the Census Rules, 1990 to name teachers of private schools and staff of banks and companies as possible enumerators. But two High Courts had already stopped governments from forcing private-school teachers into Census duty. For you, it raises a classic exam question: can a rule make private citizens do public work, and what do the Census Act and Article 23 allow?
UPSC angle: Prelims: Entry 69 Union List, Census Act 1948, Article 23, Committee on Subordinate Legislation. · Mains GS-II: delegated legislation; federal administration of the Census.
25 Oct 2026
11 crore Farmer IDs created five months early under the Digital Agriculture Mission and Agri Stack
The Centre is building a digital register of farmers, so that each farmer has one verified identity for all schemes. Under the Digital Agriculture Mission, 11 crore Farmer IDs were created by the night of 23 October, five months before the March 2027 deadline. With this ID, farmers need not submit the same papers again and again for loans, crop insurance or relief. For you, this links Agri Stack, the Kisan Credit Card, PMFBY and land-record reform.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Digital Agriculture Mission, Agri Stack, KCC, PMFBY, DILRMP. · Mains GS-III: technology in agriculture; DBT.
25 Oct 2026
Vehicle data sold for ₹5: Centre orders CERT-In audit of VAHAN, SARATHI and e-Challan portals
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has asked CERT-In, India’s cyber-security agency, for a forensic audit of its VAHAN, SARATHI, e-Challan and pollution-certificate portals. A security firm found that owners’ names, addresses and phone numbers were being sold through apps and a Telegram channel for as little as ₹5. On the same day, The Hindu reported a separate leak of film certification records. For you, this connects cyber security, the right to privacy and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
UPSC angle: Prelims: CERT-In, Section 70B IT Act, VAHAN/SARATHI, Puttaswamy, DPDP Act 2023, GDPR. · Mains GS-III: cyber security and data protection.
25 Oct 2026
Panel to review pharma marketing code: UCPMP 2024 and why a voluntary code is not enough
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has set up a committee under Dr. M. Srinivas, Member, NITI Aayog, to review how drug companies market medicines and to suggest ways to curb unethical practices, PIB said on 23 October 2026. Former Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and Dr. Naresh Trehan of Medanta are members, and the report is due within two months of its first meeting. The core issue: the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices is still voluntary.
UPSC angle: Prelims: UCPMP, Department of Pharmaceuticals, NITI Aayog. · Mains GS-II: health governance, regulation and ethics.
24 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
Want every PYQ in one place? See the Battle IAS PYQ Book.