UPSC 2021 GS-II · 15 marks · 250 words

To what extent, in your view, has the Parliament been able to ensure accountability of the executive 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”.

Instruments: Question Hour, motions, DRSCs (1993), CAG-PAC chain (Art 151)
Decline evidence: bills referred to committees fell from ~71% (15th LS) to ~16% (17th LS) — PRS data
Ordinance route (Art 123) and money-bill route (Aadhaar Act; Rojer Mathew pending) as bypasses
Anti-defection's chilling of intra-party dissent (Tenth Schedule)
Comparative: UK Liaison Committee PM appearances as a reform pointer

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

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To what extent, in your view, has the Parliament been able to ensure accountability of the executive in India?

What a top answer must contain

Now write it, and find out what you actually scored

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