UPSC Mains 2020 GS Paper 4 Q9: model answer
Rampura, a remote district inhabited by a tribal population, is marked by extreme backwardness and abject poverty. Agriculture is the mainstay of the local population, though it is primarily subsistence due to the very small land holdings. There is insignificant industrial or mining activity. Even the targeted welfare programs have inadequately benefited the tribal population. In this restrictive scenario, the youth has begun to migrate to other states to supplement the family income. Plight of minor girls is that their parents are persuaded by labour contractors to send them to work in the Bt Cotton farms of a nearby state. The soft fingers of the minor girls are well suited for plucking the cotton. The inadequate living and working conditions in these farms have caused serious health issues for the minor girls. NGOs in the districts of domicile and the cotton farms appear to be compromised and have not effectively espoused the twin issues of child labour and development of the area. You are appointed as the District Collector of Rampura. Identify the ethical issues involved. Which specific steps will you initiate to ameliorate the conditions of minor girls of your district and to improve the over-all economic scenario in the district?
What the question wants
As Collector of a backward tribal district, identify the ethical issues in minor girls being sent to cotton farms and suggest steps for the girls and for the district's economy.
How to structure it
Issues, girls, economy.
- Ethical issues
- Steps for girls
- Steps for the district
How to think it through
Issues: child labour (2016 Act: under 14 banned except family enterprise; adolescents banned from hazardous —agriculture with pesticides?), trafficking (BNS 143), exploitation of poverty, health, education (RTE), gender, compromised NGOs, inter-state coordination, failure of welfare. Steps for girls: rescue with destination district (inter-state), CWC, rehabilitation, KGBV residential schools, Sponsorship (Mission Vatsalya), registration of contractors (Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979, now in OSH Code), village child protection committees, awareness, monitor school dropouts, track via Anganwadi. Economy: MGNREGA, FRA titles, minor forest produce value addition (Van Dhan Vikas Kendras, MSP for MFP), SHGs NRLM, irrigation, skill, PMKVY, connectivity; Aspirational Districts programme.
Model answer
Stakeholders
- The minor girls and their parents; labour contractors; cotton farm owners; NGOs; administrations of both States; the tribal community.
Dilemmas
- Family income vs child rights; quick rescue vs lasting livelihoods.
Options
- Ban and raid only; ignore as economic reality; rescue, rehabilitate and create local livelihoods.
The phrase 'soft fingers suited for plucking cotton' is the most chilling line in this case. Poverty has turned a child's hands into a production input.
Ethical issues
- Child labour and trafficking: girls are recruited by contractors and moved across States, which may amount to trafficking.
- Exploitation of poverty: parents are persuaded because they have no alternative.
- Health and dignity: poor living conditions, pesticides and long hours harm growing bodies.
- Denial of education, guaranteed under Article 21A.
- Gender: girls are seen as earners to be sent away, not as students.
- Compromised NGOs and failed welfare: those meant to protect have looked away.
Steps for the minor girls
- Rescue with the destination district: contact the Collector there; joint teams with police and labour officials; return the girls safely.
- Child Welfare Committees to handle each child; counselling and medical care.
- Education: enrol them in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas or residential schools; sponsorship support under Mission Vatsalya for families.
- Stop recruitment: register labour contractors, track school dropouts through teachers and Anganwadi workers, and set up village child protection committees.
- Act against contractors under anti-trafficking and child labour law.
- Review the NGOs and empanel credible ones.
Steps for the district economy
- Work at home: guaranteed MGNREGA work, especially on irrigation and land development.
- Forest rights and forest produce: settle FRA titles; set up Van Dhan Vikas Kendras for value addition of minor forest produce.
- SHGs and livelihoods: link women to the rural livelihoods mission.
- Skills and connectivity: ITI courses, roads and markets; use the Aspirational Districts programme to track results.
A Collector succeeds here when the contractor's van comes to the village and leaves empty because every girl is in school.
Draw: Two columns: 'rescue and protect' and 'build livelihoods', both feeding into 'girls in school'.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
child labour, trafficking, inter-State migration, Article 21A, Child Welfare Committee, KGBV, Mission Vatsalya, contractor registration, village child protection committee, MGNREGA, FRA, Van Dhan Vikas Kendras, NRLM SHGs, Aspirational Districts.
Where most answers lose marks
- Focusing only on raids at the destination and ignoring the poverty that sends the girls.
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Fresh examples from current affairs
Supreme Court: no prior approval under Section 17A needed to probe a bribe demand
In a judgment of 16 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria held that investigating a bribe demand by a public servant does not need prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Asking for a bribe, the court said, is not part of discharging official duties.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sections 7, 7A, 17A and 19 of the PC Act. · Mains GS-II/GS-IV: honest officers versus accountability.
19 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.
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