UPSC Mains 2025 · GS I · Q8 · 10 marks · 150 words

How does smart city in India, address the issues of urban poverty and distributive justice ?

हिन्दी में

भारत में स्मार्ट शहर, शहरी गरीबी और वितरणात्मक न्याय के मुद्दों को कैसे संबोधित करता है ?

How a topper answered the closest question

Toppers wrote this one in a test series: “Do you agree with the view that Indian cities are turning into landscapes of stark inequality and social exclusion? What steps can be taken to make urban areas more egalitarian in India?”

Surbhi PathakCSE 2024 · 241 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening · a figure

Indian cities have become major contributor to India's GDP where 30% of India's population (Census 2011) resides. Yet, they have high contrast & paradox where world's largest slum Dharavi faces high rise apartments (Mumbai). Indian cities → landscape of stark inequality

Body · points and prose

X-axis: Years (2018, 2050)

  • Graph: Upward sloping line from 430mn in 2018 to 870mn in 2050 (UN source)

Indian cities → landscape of stark inequality

  1. Widening income disparities between formal and informal work
  2. Oxfam report → diagram
  • Pyramid: Top 1% of wealth
  • Inverted Pyramid: Top 1% owns 70% of income
  1. Disproportionate impact on poor with respect to climate change →
  • flooding of slums ex near
  • drought, heat waves ex AC create more burden
  1. Unaffordable for poor to live in cities
  2. Domestic violence, crime against women in cities ex → Anjali rape case Delhi 2023

Landscape of social exclusion

(1) Limited scope of social mobility * restricted to low pay jobs * domestic labor * daily wage labor

(2) Lock of skills → low paying jobs → more contractualization * (57% only formally trained) * out of labor economy frequently → gig economy (eg NITI Aayog's 77 lakh gig workers) * low health & education prospects

(3) Marginalization on caste lines * caste divides / class divides

diagram

  • village → migration / in anticipation of good life → city
  • village → low paying jobs / poor health & education benefits → city
  • city → forced to live on fringes of city

Steps to make urban areas more egalitarian

(1) Institutional methods * separate body to look into the cause of migrants * Data based analysis

diagram

  • Intersectionality approach
    • women → need safe places
    • children → education → RTE schools
    • working age → e.g. urban employment guarantee programs
  • Infrastructure methods
    • Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana expansion → affordable housing
    • Ayushman Bharat → for health indicators
    • street lighting → for safe roads
    • Capacity Building → PM Vishwakarma Yojana
    • Technical Skills training → e.g. diploma courses
    • Boost to public transport → e.g. delhi metro to reduce conveyance cost
  • Behavioural methods (among the urban rich)
    • AC @ 24 campaign
    • nudge theory → Reduce waste
    • public transport use

Close

In her book, 'Samaj, Sarkar & Bazar' - urban based approach, reduce burden of climate change on poor society.

Rohini Nilekani says government need to come together to equally distribute the benefits of capitalism (Bazar) to all for 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'

How toppers approach this question, and more on its topic: open the question.

Toppers’ answers to other close questions

Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Main) Examination 2025, General Studies Paper I, Q8. The paper on upsc.gov.in. Themes and links to toppers’ answers are by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.