Master Answer WritingSign in

UPSC 2020 GS-II · 10 marks · 150 words

'Once a Speaker, Always a Speaker'! Do you think this practice should be adopted to impart objectivity to the office of the Speaker of Lok Sabha? What could be its implications for the robust functioning of parliamentary business in India?

What “Critically examine” demands

examine both sides AND arrive at a reasoned judgement; the criticism must be substantive, not a token final paragraph.

The characteristic failure: balanced description that never commits to a view.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • The British convention: Speaker resigns party, seeks re-election unopposed, retires from partisan politics — the objectivity logic
  • Indian reality: Speakers remain party members, contest as partisans, anti-defection adjudication makes neutrality load-bearing (Kihoto, Keisham Meghachandra)
  • For adoption: credibility of Tenth Schedule rulings, House impartiality; against: India's electoral system offers no safe seat, small parties lose a member permanently
  • Middle path: internal-party resignation + defection adjudication moved to a tribunal (Law Commission 170th)

The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.

Now write it, and find out what you actually scored

Attempt this question — typed or photographed — and it is marked against the standard above in under a minute: six parameter scores, a blunt verdict, and the points you missed. 50 free credits on signup, no card.

Write this answerSee a marked copy first

More from UPSC GS-II