UPSC Mains 2017 GS Paper 3 Q20: model answer
The scourge of terrorism is a grave challenge to national security. What solutions do you suggest to curb this growing menace? What are the major sources of terrorist funding?
What the question wants
Suggest solutions to curb terrorism and identify the major sources of terror funding.
How to structure it
Two parts: solutions and funding.
- Nature of the threat
- Sources of funding
- Solutions: security, financial, legal, social, global
How to think it through
Funding: state sponsorship (Pakistan ISI), hawala, FICN, narcotics, extortion (NE, LWE levies), charities/NGO misuse, crowdfunding, kidnapping, legitimate businesses as fronts, crypto. Solutions: intelligence (MAC, NATGRID), NIA, UAPA, police modernisation, NSG hubs, border fencing (smart fencing CIBMS), PMLA, FIU, FATF, demonetisation claims, deradicalisation, CCIT at UN (India proposed 1996), regional cooperation, coastal security post 26/11.
Model answer
The 26/11 Mumbai attack cost its planners only a few lakh rupees in boats, phones and guns. It killed 166 people and shut India's financial capital for three days. Terror is cheap to run, which is why choking its money and its men must go together.
Major sources of terror funding
- State sponsorship from across the border, with training and safe havens.
- Hawala networks that move cash without records.
- Fake Indian currency notes (FICN) printed abroad.
- Narcotics from the Golden Crescent and Golden Triangle.
- Extortion and 'levies' by insurgent groups on contractors and traders.
- Misuse of charities and NGOs.
- Crowdfunding and crypto-assets online.
- Front businesses like real estate, transport and trading firms.
Solutions to curb terrorism
- Intelligence: real-time sharing through the Multi-Agency Centre and NATGRID.
- Investigation and law: a strong NIA, the UAPA, and speedy trials in special courts.
- Policing: modern state police, NSG hubs in major cities, and coastal security strengthened after 26/11.
- Border denial: smart fencing under CIBMS and anti-drone systems.
- Choke funds: PMLA, FIU-IND tracking, NGO audits under FCRA, crypto exchange reporting.
- Global pressure: FATF, UN listings, and India's push for a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
- Social shield: deradicalisation, jobs and community trust in vulnerable areas.
- Victim support and public resilience so terror fails in its aim to spread fear.
- Police-community links in sensitive districts, because the first warning usually comes from a neighbour, not a satellite.
- Accountability and rights safeguards, so that wrongful arrests do not hand recruiters a fresh grievance.
Terror is a business with low costs and high returns; India's task is to raise the costs and kill the returns.
Draw: A tree: roots (funding sources) feeding a trunk (terror groups), with an axe for each counter-measure.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
26/11 (166 killed), state sponsorship, hawala, FICN, narco-terror, extortion, FCRA, crowdfunding, crypto, MAC, NATGRID, NIA, UAPA, NSG hubs, CIBMS, FATF, CCIT.
Where most answers lose marks
- Answering only one part; the question has two distinct demands, solutions and funding.
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26 Jul 2026Question 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.
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