UPSC Mains 2023 GS1 Q9: model answer
Explain why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian society.
What the question wants
Causes of rising suicide among young women, with data and a way forward.
How to structure it
Intro: NCRB data on suicides; housewives and students form large shares. Body: (1) Family and marriage pressures: dowry, domestic violence, early marriage; (2) Education and career stress; (3) Patriarchy and restrictions on choice; (4) Mental health stigma and lack of care; (5) Cyber-bullying, relationship issues; (6) Economic dependence. Conclusion: Mental Healthcare Act 2017, Tele-MANAS, the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2022, and social change.
- 1(1) Family and marriage pressures: dowry, domestic violence, early marriage
- 2(2) Education and career stress
- 3(3) Patriarchy and restrictions on choice
- 4(4) Mental health stigma and lack of care
- 5(5) Cyber-bullying, relationship issues
- 6(6) Economic dependence
Model answer
NCRB data show over 1.7 lakh suicides in India in 2022; housewives and students form large shares, and India has a far higher share of global female suicides than its share of population.
Reasons
- Marriage and family: dowry harassment, domestic violence and forced or early marriage.
- Restricted choice: control over education, career, mobility and partners.
- Exam and career pressure: Kota-style coaching stress and unemployment.
- Economic dependence: no income of their own to leave abuse.
- Online harm: cyber-bullying and sharing of private images.
- Mental health: depression goes untreated due to stigma and few counsellors.
- Role conflict: modern aspirations clash with traditional expectations.
Way forward
- The National Suicide Prevention Strategy (2022), Tele-MANAS helplines and the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, which decriminalised attempted suicide.
- Counsellors in schools and colleges; strict action on dowry and domestic violence.
Women's agency and mental health care must grow together.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
NCRB dowry Tele-MANAS National Suicide Prevention Strategy Mental Healthcare Act 2017
Where most answers lose marks
- Writing only about mental illness.
- No data or remedies.
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17 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-I-180923.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.