Society PYQ -UPSC Mains (2013–2025) | Civilspath
Society PYQ – UPSC Mains (2025 → 2013)
GS Paper I (Society Section). Topic-wise PYQs, year-wise, verbatim. Use the Topic menu below to jump to each topic.
Civilspath — Society PYQ
| Year | Total Marks |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 75 Marks |
| 2024 | 100 Marks |
| 2023 | 90 Marks |
| 2022 | 60 Marks |
| 2021 | 75 Marks |
| 2020 | 75 Marks |
| 2019 | 75 Marks |
| 2018 | 75 Marks |
| 2017 | 50 Marks |
| 2016 | 50 Marks |
| 2015 | 75 Marks |
| 2014 | 62.5 Marks |
| 2013 | 40 Marks |
| Year | Marks (Topic 1) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 25 |
| 2024 | 25 |
| 2023 | 35 |
| 2022 | 35 |
| 2021 | 25 |
| 2020 | 25 |
| 2019 | 25 |
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2016 | 12.5 |
| 2015 | 25 |
| 2014 | 12.5 |
| 2013 | 0 |
UPSC 2025
- The ethos of civil service in India stand for the combination of professionalism with nationalistic consciousness–Elucidate.
- How do you account for the growing fast food industries given that there are increased health concerns in modern society? Illustrate your answer with the Indian experience.
UPSC 2024
- Critically analyse the proposition that there is a high correlation between India’s cultural diversities and socio-economic marginalities.
- Inter-caste marriages between castes which have socio-economic parity have increased, to some extent, but this is less true of interreligious marriages. Discuss.
UPSC 2023
- Do you think marriage as a sacrament in losing its value in Modern India?
- Child cuddling is now being replaced by mobile phones. Discuss its impact on the socialization of children.
- Why is caste identity in India both fluid and static?
UPSC 2022
- Explore and evaluate the impact of “Work from Home” on family relationships.
- Given the diversities among tribal communities in India, in which specific contexts should they be considered as a single category?
- Analyse the salience of ‘sect’ in Indian Society visa-a-vis caste, region and religion.
UPSC 2021
- Examine the uniqueness of tribal knowledge systems when compared with mainstream knowledge and cultural systems.
- How does Indian society maintain continuity in traditional social values? Enumerate the changes taking place in it.
UPSC 2020
- Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi-cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations.
- Customs and traditions suppress reason leading to obscurantism. Do you agree?
UPSC 2019
- What makes Indian society unique in sustaining its culture? Discuss
- Do we have cultural pockets of small India all over the nation? Elaborate with examples.
UPSC 2018
- “Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, the caste system cannot be eradicated in India.” Comment.
UPSC 2017
- The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at the present. Elaborate.
UPSC 2016
- Has the formation of linguistic States strengthened the cause of Indian Unity?
UPSC 2015
- Describe any four cultural elements of diversity in India and rate their relative significance in building a national identity.
- Debate the issue of whether and how contemporary movements for assertion of Dalit identity work towards annihilation of caste.
UPSC 2014
- The life cycle of a joint family depends on economic factors rather than social values. Discuss.
UPSC 2013
No Topic 1 questions in 2013.
| Year | Marks (Topic 2) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 25 |
| 2024 | 45 |
| 2023 | 40 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2021 | 35 |
| 2020 | 40 |
| 2019 | 55 |
| 2018 | 25 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2016 | 37.5 |
| 2015 | 50 |
| 2014 | 30 |
| 2013 | 20 |
UPSC 2025
- How does smart city in India, address the issues of urban poverty and distributive justice?
- Achieving sustainable growth with emphasis on environmental protection could come into conflict with poor people’s needs in a country like India – Comment.
UPSC 2024
- In dealing with socio-economic Issues of development, what kind of collaboration between government, NGOs and private sector would be most productive?
- Distinguish between gender equality, gender equity and women’s empowerment. Why is it important to take gender concerns into account in programme design and implementation?
- Why do large cities tend to attract more migrants than smaller towns? Discuss in the light of conditions in developing countries.
- Despite comprehensive policies for equity and social justice, underprivileged sections are not yet getting the full benefits of affirmative action envisaged by the Constitution. Comment.
UPSC 2023
- Explain why suicide among young women is increasing in Indian Society.
- Why did human development fail to keep pace with economic development in India?
- Does urbanization lead to more segregation and/or marginalization of the poor in Indian metropolises?
UPSC 2022
- How is the growth of Tier 2 cities related to the rise of a new middle class with an emphasis on the culture of consumption?
UPSC 2021
- Examine the role of “Gig Economy” in the process of empowerment of women in India.
- What are the main socio-economic implications arising out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India?
- Discuss the main objectives of Population Education and point out the measures to achieve them in India in detail.
UPSC 2020
- COVID-19 pandemic accelerated class inequalities and poverty in India. Comment.
- How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the educational system in the country? Elaborate your answer.
- Account for the huge flooding of million cities in India including the smart ones like Hyderabad and Pune. Suggest lasting remedial measures.
UPSC 2019
- “Empowering women is key to control population growth”. Discuss
- What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?
- How is efficient and affordable urban mass transport key to the rapid economic development of India?
- “The reservation of seats for women in the institutions of local self-government has had a limited impact on the patriarchal character of the Indian Political Process.” Comment.
UPSC 2018
- “Despite implementation of various programmes for eradication of poverty by the government in India, poverty is still existing.” Explain by giving reasons.
- “Women’s movement in India has not addressed the issues of women of lower social strata. Substantiate your view.
UPSC 2017
- The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new avenues of employment but has also created new problems. Substantiate this statement with examples.
UPSC 2016
- “An essential condition to eradicate poverty is to liberate the poor from deprivation.” Substantiate this statement with suitable examples.
- With a brief background of quality of urban life in India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the “Smart City Programme”.
- Major cities of India are becoming more vulnerable to flood conditions. Discuss.
UPSC 2015
- How do you explain the statistics that show that the sex ratio in Tribes in India is more favourable to women than the sex ratio among Scheduled Castes?
- Critically examine whether growing population is the cause of poverty OR poverty is the main cause of population increase in India.
- Discuss the changes in the trends of labour migration within and outside India in the last four decades.
- Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart villages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural–urban integration.
UPSC 2014
- How does patriarchy impact the position of a middle-class working woman in India?
- Discuss the various economic and socio-cultural forces that are driving increasing feminization of agriculture in India.
- Why do some of the most prosperous regions of India have an adverse sex ratio for women? Give your arguments.
UPSC 2013
- Male membership needs to be encouraged in order to make women’s organizations free from gender bias. Comment.
- Discussion of the various social problems which originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India.
| Year | Marks (Topic 3) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 |
| 2024 | 15 |
| 2023 | 15 |
| 2022 | 15 |
| 2021 | 15 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2019 | 30 |
| 2018 | 15 |
| 2017 | 0 |
| 2016 | 12.5 |
| 2015 | 12.5 |
| 2014 | 0 |
| 2013 | 10 |
UPSC 2025
- Do you think that globalization results in only an aggressive consumer culture? Justify your answer.
UPSC 2024
- Globalization has increased urban migration by skilled, young, unmarried women from various classes. How has this trend impacted upon their personal freedom and relationship with family?
UPSC 2023
- Discuss the impact of post-liberal economy on ethnic identity and communalism.
UPSC 2022
- Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce resources, with special reference to India.
UPSC 2021
- What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect global society? Has it been affecting Indian society also?
UPSC 2020
No Topic 3 question in 2020.
UPSC 2019
- Are we losing our local identity for the global identity? Discuss.
- Is diversity and pluralism in India under threat due to globalisation? Justify your answer.
UPSC 2018
- “Globalization is generally said to promote cultural homogenization but due to these cultural specificities appear to be strengthened in the Indian Society. Elucidate.
UPSC 2017
No Topic 3 question in 2017.
UPSC 2016
- To what extent globalization has influenced the core of cultural diversity in India? Explain.
UPSC 2015
- Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India.
UPSC 2014
No Topic 3 question in 2014.
UPSC 2013
- Critically examine the effects of globalization on the aged population in India.
| Year | Marks (Topic 4) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 15 |
| 2024 | 15 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2022 | 15 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2019 | 10 |
| 2018 | 40 |
| 2017 | 40 |
| 2016 | 25 |
| 2015 | 12.5 |
| 2014 | 12.5 |
| 2013 | 10 |
UPSC 2025
- Does tribal development in India center around two axes, those of displacement and of rehabilitation? Give your opinion.
UPSC 2024
- What regional disparity in India do you witness? How does it differ from diversity? How serious is its issue?
UPSC 2023
No Topic 4 questions in 2023.
UPSC 2022
- Are tolerance, assimilation and pluralism key elements in the making of an Indian form of secularism? Justify your answer.
UPSC 2021
No Topic 4 question in 2021.
UPSC 2020
- Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue.
UPSC 2019
- Are we losing our local identity due to our cultural practices, in the name of secularism? Discuss.
UPSC 2018
- How is the Indian concept of secularism different from the western model of secularism?
- Secularism in India has been misinterpreted due to power struggle or relative deprivation. Argue by giving suitable illustrations.
- Discuss whether formation of new states in recent times is beneficial or not for the economy of India.
UPSC 2017
- In the context of diversity of India, can it be said that the regions form cultural units rather than the States? Give reasons with examples for your viewpoint.
- The spirit of tolerance and love is not only an interesting feature of Indian society from very early times, but it is also playing an important part at the present. Elaborate.
- Distinguish between religiousness/religiosity and communalism. Giving one example of how the former has transformed into the latter in Independent India.
UPSC 2016
- What is the basis of regionalism? Is it that unequal distribution of benefits of development on regional basis eventually promotes regionalism? Substantiate your answer.
- Why are the tribals in India referred to as the Scheduled Tribes? Indicate the major provisions enshrined in the Constitution of India for their upliftment.
UPSC 2015
- Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, despite having divergent approaches and strategies, had a common goal of amelioration of the downtrodden. Elucidate.
UPSC 2014
- How do the Indian debates on secularism differ from the debates in the West?
UPSC 2013
- Growing feeling of regionalism is an important factor in the generation of demand for a separate state. Discuss.