Economics

Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment

This topic is quite broad as it in itself covers most of the static part of the Economics. But the questions which are asked are of dynamic nature, so it advised to go through NCERTs first and then hop on to a single reference book, complementing your preparation with Newspapers and Magazines. It is also recommended to study about various government schemes and programmes feeling in mind the benefits and its impact.

Inclusive growth and issues arising from it

This subtopic deals with the concept of Inclusive Growth and issues and challenges attached to it such as measures, methodologies and the strategy which needs to be adopted to achieve inclusive growth.

Government Budgeting

This part covers the budgeting aspect of the Indian economy, the way it is prepared, put out in the parliament, procedures for its passing and the final stage of getting enacted and applied. This topic has to be looked at from two perspectives, firstly procedural (Polity) and secondly efficacy, need and shortcomings (Economics).

Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth

This subtopic covers issues concerning one of the most important topics touching the Economy of India i.e. Liberalization, Globalization and Privatization (LPG) and the effects that LPG policies have on the economy and the industrial growth.

Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

This part of the Indian Economy deals with various infrastructure issues important for development such as Energy, Airport, Sea Port, Railways and likes, it also concerns about the issues which plague them such as delays in projects, monetary issues etc.

Investment models

This topic deals with investment models concerning Infrastructural development such as Road construction, Airport development or in fact any type of infrastructure creation. Issues such as Types of investment, Investment models, Investment strategies in India, PPPs, etc. are dealt with in this topic.

Agriculture

• Major crops and cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.

This subtopic is a mix of Geography, Science and Economics, and therefore it should be looked at from all the three perspectives.

• Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System - objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions; economics of animal-rearing.

There are several sub-parts to this topic, i.e. encompassing broader issues from Farm subsidies to Minimum support prices, from the Public Distribution system to Buffer stock, and lastly small topics like Technology Mission and Animal rearing.

Farm subsidies subtopic must be looked at from an analytics perspective, i.e. studying about its objectives, functioning and the lacunae if any, and the solutions for improvement. Minimum support price issue is a very current and hot topic, which is very dear to UPSC, this topic must be studied very minutely and exhaustively.

Land reforms in India

This sub-topic has lately been in news very much and thus its importance is also considerably high. It covers issues such as Land tenure system during British, and then post-independence reforms such as Land ceiling policy, Tenancy reforms, and various movements related to land reforms and the recent acts and policies concerning land reforms.

Sources

• Aspire IAS Economics Module classes and Handouts for Topic-wise detailed coverage.
• Yojana and Kurukshetra Magazines
• The Hindu
• NCERT Class IX-XII
• UNDP website
• State of Agriculture Report (Published by the Ministry of Agriculture).
• Budget (Know more about how and what to study in the budget, watch a comprehensive video on union Budget 2019-20; click here
• Economic Survey (gist)
• NITI Aayog 3-year Action Plan report (a good resource for policy recommendations that come in handy while you write conclusion)