GS Paper I — Q8
How does smart city in India, address the issues of urban poverty and distributive justice ? (Answer in 150 words)
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
भारत में स्मार्ट शहर, शहरी गरीबी और वितरणात्मक न्याय के मुद्दे को कैसे संबोधित करता है ? (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए) 10 अंक
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
The Smart Cities Mission (SCM) leverages technology-driven infrastructure to address multi-dimensional urban poverty and advance distributive justice through specific socio-economic mechanisms.
Basic Service Delivery and ICT Governance: Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) and e-governance optimize municipal operations. Deploying smart water meters, automated waste management, and affordable public transit (BRTS and Metros) directly improves public health and reduces out-of-pocket expenditure for slum dwellers.
Digital Inclusion and Distributive Justice: Installing public Wi-Fi hotspots and Common Service Centres (CSCs) bridges digital literacy gaps and reduces information asymmetry, enabling vulnerable groups to access targeted welfare entitlements. Citizen-engagement portals, participatory budgeting, and online grievance redressal institutionalize spatial and procedural justice by giving the urban poor a voice in resource allocation.
Livelihood Integration: Smart vending zones, GIS mapping of informal markets, and skill incubation centres integrate street vendors and informal labour into formal economic supply chains, boosting income security.
Limitations: The Mission, which formally concluded on 31 March 2025, concentrated funds in area-based development covering a small part of each city; critics point to elite capture, SPVs sidelining elected urban local bodies, a widening digital divide and the neglect or eviction of unauthorised settlements. Ensuring equitable urbanization requires coupling smart technologies with inclusive spatial planning and universal social protection.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: GS1 Society/Urbanization
What earns full marks: Critically links specific SCM mechanisms to justice/poverty with structural critique.
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- The answer Explain the mechanisms by which the Smart Cities Mission addresses urban poverty and distributive justice, and its limits. 10 marks · 150 words
explain— definition/context → points in order → small example → short close
Must cover
- Define distributive justice in the urban context (fair access to services, space, voice)
- Link specific Smart City features (e.g., ICCCs, e-governance, transit, vending zones) to poverty reduction
- Analyse elite capture or exclusion (area-based focus, evictions, digital divide)
- Mention the Smart Cities Mission design (area-based and pan-city components, SPVs)
Loses marks
- Narrating the history of the mission without analysis
- Emotive language without structural critique
- Ignoring the distributive aspect and focusing only on technology
Earns more
- Reference to the Smart City Challenge or specific city examples (e.g., Pune, Indore, Bhubaneswar)
- Discussion of last-mile services for the poor (water, sanitation, transit)
- Critique of SPVs bypassing elected urban local bodies (74th Amendment)
- Note that the Mission concluded on 31 March 2025; convergence with PMAY-U, PM SVANidhi, AMRUT
Extra mark
- A specific statistic on urban poverty or slum population
- Reference to Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) on livelihood and shelter
What "Explain" is asking you to do
Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.
Structure that answers it
State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces
Where marks are lost
Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.
Practice this exact question
Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.
Evaluate my answer →More from General Studies 2025 GS Paper I
- Q5 What are non-farm primary activities ? How are these activities related to physiographic…
- Q6 Explain briefly the ecological and economic benefits of solar energy generation in India…
- Q7 What are Tsunamis ? How and where are they formed ? What are their consequences ? Explain…
- Q8 How does smart city in India, address the issues of urban poverty and distributive justic…
- Q9 The ethos of civil service in India stand for the combination of professionalism with nat…
- Q10 Do you think that globalization results in only an aggressive consumer culture ? Justify…
- Q11 Mahatma Jotirao Phule's writings and efforts of social reforms touched issues of almost a…