UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-1 to check your progress.Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for August 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.comQUESTION 1Discuss the role of nationalist leaders in spreading the Swadeshi movement across India. What strategies did they employ to mobilise popular support for the cause?QUESTION 2Discuss the changing behaviour of Western Disturbances and their impact on monsoonal precipitation and natural calamities in the Western Himalayan region.General points on the structure of the answers for UPSC MainsIntroduction— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.BodyStory continues below this ad— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.Story continues below this ad— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.Way forward/ conclusion— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.Self Evaluation— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.Story continues below this adTHOUGHT PROCESS FOR UPSC MAINSYou may enrich your answers by some of the following pointsQUESTION 1: Discuss the role of nationalist leaders in spreading the Swadeshi movement across India. What strategies did they employ to mobilise popular support for the cause?Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.Introduction:— During the freedom struggle, Gandhi’s modest spinning wheel became a symbol of India’s pursuit of swadeshi (literally, “of one’s own country”), which embodied the economic and political goals of self-reliance, self-sufficiency, and indigenisation.— For nearly two centuries, the notion of “self-reliance” has run through India’s political and economic discourse. The government has established the Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives, and it has regularly used the term swadeshi to describe the country’s current issues.Body:Story continues below this adYou may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:— Several political and economic philosophers and activists developed the early articulations of swadeshi in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) and Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848-1909) were most famous in this regard, according to Chandra, who made the point that “on the whole, British rule was economically injurious to India and that perhaps it was designedly so”.— In his two volumes of The Economic History of India, published in 1901 and 1903, Dutt demonstrated that the British had used “the arm of political injustice” to destroy India’s traditional handicrafts, resulting in “the present helpless dependence on agriculture,” which had been ruined by excessive land tax, Sarkar wrote.— Naoroji conceptualised the “drain of wealth” theory in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901) which posited that over the course of British rule India had lost at least 200 to 300 million pounds which could otherwise have been spent on Indians.Story continues below this ad— In the 1860s, during the Namdhari agitation in Punjab, Guru Ram Singh told his followers to boycott British goods and services, including cheap foreign-made cloth. His biographers called him the “harbinger of swadeshi”.— In 1896, the government imposed excise duties on manufactured Indian cloth. In response, Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1929) organised boycotts and public burnings of foreign cloth in the Bombay Presidency. This would become the template for the political deployment of the idea of swadeshi, and less than a decade later, galvanise the first “mass movement” of the freedom struggle.— The Swadeshi Movement was triggered by Viceroy Lord Curzon’s 1903 decision to partition Bengal on communal lines, although this was only “a last straw in a long series of humiliations”.— This message of swadeshi soon spread to various parts of India: among others, Tilak led the movement in Bombay Presidency, Lala Lajpat Rai (18651928) in Punjab and northern India, and Chidambaram Pillai (1872-1936) in Madras Presidency.Story continues below this ad— For Gandhi, swadeshi was not merely an economic doctrine, but one that had political, social, and religious dimensions. In a 1916 speech, he described swadeshi as “that spirit in us which restricts us to the use and service of our immediate surroundings to the exclusion of the more remote” (Speeches & Writings of M.K. Gandhi, 1922).Conclusion:— In post-independence India, swadeshi industrialism influenced economic policy. Aashish Velkar, an economic historian, explained how the concept of swadeshi became a fulcrum for capitalist demands.— “By the 1930s, the idea that Indian capital should be used to benefit Indian nationals had become a central tenet of nationalist ideology. This approach also served as a foundation for post-independence development planning and protectionist measures,” he stated in his article ‘Swadeshi Capitalism In Colonial Bombay’ (2020).— The Make in India initiative and the emphasis on creating an Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) echo the concerns and prescriptions that advocates of swadeshi have had since the 19th century — but in context of the supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and India’s difficult relationship with China.Story continues below this ad(Source: A brief history of swadeshi in India: from 1800s till the present)Points to PonderRead more about Swadeshi MovementRead about other important events of the Indian National MovementRelated Previous Year QuestionsEvaluate the policies of Lord Curzon and their long term implications on the national movement. (2020)Bring out the constructive programmes of Mahatma Gandhi during Non-Cooperation Movement and Civil Disobedience Movement. (2021)QUESTION 2: Discuss the changing behaviour of Western Disturbances and their impact on monsoonal precipitation and natural calamities in the Western Himalayan region.Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.Introduction:— The impact of climate change on Western Disturbances has been noticeable for at least a decade. The low-pressure system originates in the Mediterranean Sea and typically moves eastward across Central Asia and northern India during the winter and spring seasons.— However, it has been occurring more frequently recently throughout the summer and monsoon seasons. Its existence during the Southwest Monsoon frequently causes heavy rains, flash floods, and landslides in the Himalaya.— There have been at least 14 such disturbances this monsoon season. As a result, heavy rainfall has caused damage in the Northeast, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir.Body:You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:— The ongoing reworking of rocks in the world’s youngest mountain chain exacerbates the Himalaya’s fragility and enhances the vulnerability of those who live in the mountain nations.— The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has completed landslide susceptibility mapping of the Himalayan region. J&K was among the more landslide-prone regions of the country, with 12 per cent of its “mapped hilly area falling under the highly-susceptible category”.— Priority should be given to monitoring the most vulnerable zones with a dense population or high travel volume – places struck within the last two days, for example — as well as a huge built-up area.— Experts advise gaining information to deal with such unforeseen circumstances. Creating a council of Himalayan states, for example, could be the first step towards a coordinated effort to assess the stress on the region’s ecosystem, particularly the pressure on the rocks, and to create more detailed repositories that will aid in understanding the rainfall thresholds of individual slopes.Conclusion:— For example, in the most recent monsoon-related disaster in the Himalaya, more than 40 people, mostly Vaishno Devi pilgrims, were washed away by flash floods and buried under rocks in Jammu when the region experienced its highest-ever 24-hour rainfall.— More importantly, the Centre, state governments in the Himalayan region, and research institutes should collaborate to develop warning systems that notify people to weather changes.(Source: Floods in J&K and a warning from the hills)Points to PonderHow sustainable construction can be done in the Himalayan region?Read about floods, cloudburst, flash floods and landslides.Related Previous Year QuestionsWhy is the South-West Monsoon called ‘Purvaiya’ (easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system influenced the cultured ethos of the region? (2023)Bring out the causes for more frequent occurrence of landslides in the Himalayas than in the Western Ghats. (2013)Previous Mains Answer PracticeUPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 116)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 117)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 116)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 117)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 114)UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 115)Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.