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UPSC Essay Syllabus

Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.

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Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC – Year wise Collection (2013 – 2024)

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2024

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them.
2. The Empires of the future will be the empires of the mind.
3. There is no path to happiness; Happiness is the path.
4. The doubter is a true man of Science.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Social media is Triggering ‘ Fear of Missing Out ‘ amongst the youth , precipitating depression and loneliness.
2. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but to test the character, give him power.
3. All ideas having large consequences are always simple.
4. The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing.

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2023

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Thinking is like a game, it does not begin unless there is an opposite team.
2. Visionary decision-making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic.
3. Not all who wander are lost.
4. Inspiration for creativity springs from the effort to look for the magical in the mundane.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands – two equally harmful disciplines.
2. Mathematics is the music of reason.
3. A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.
4. Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2022

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence
2. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world
3. History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man.
4. A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ship is for.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining
2. You cannot step twice in the same river
3. A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities
4. Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any of them has to be right.

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2021

Section A  (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. The process of self-discovery has now been technologically outsourced.
2. Your perception of me is a reflection of you; my reaction to you is an awareness of me.
3. Philosophy of wantlessness is Utopian, while materialism is a chimera.
4. The real is rational and the rational is real.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
2. What is research, but a blind date with knowledge!
3. History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.
4. There are better practices to “best practices”.

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2020

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Life is long journey between human being and being humane
2. Mindful manifesto is the catalyst to a tranquil self
3. Ships do not sink because of water around them, ships sink because of water that gets into them
4. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Culture is what we are, civilization is what we have
2. There can be no social justice without economic prosperity but economic prosperity without social justice is meaningless
3. Patriarchy is the least noticed yet the most significant structure of social inequality
4. Technology as the silent factor in international relations

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2019

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Wisdom finds truth.
2. Values are not what humanity is, but what humanity ought to be.
3. Best for an individual is not necessarily best for the society.
4. Courage to accept and dedication to improve are two keys to success.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. South Asian Societies are woven not around the state, but around their plural cultures and plural identities.
2. Neglect of primary health care and education in India are reasons for its backwardness.
3. Biased media is a real threat to Indian Democracy
4. Rise of Artificial Intelligence: the threat of jobless future or better job opportunities through reskilling and upskilling.

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2018

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Alternative technologies for a climate change resilient India.
2. A good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
3. Poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere.
4. Management of Indian border disputes – a complex task.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Customary morality cannot be a guide to modern life.
2. “The past’ is a permanent dimension of human consciousness and values.
3. A people that values its privileges above its principles loses both.
4. Reality does not conform to the ideal, but confirms it.

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2017

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Farming has lost the ability to be a source of substance for majority of farmers in India
2. Impact of new economic measures on fiscal ties between the union and states in India
3. Destiny of a nation is shaped in its classrooms
4. Has the non-alignment movement lost its relevance in a multipolar world?

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Joy is simplest form of gratitude
2. Fulfilment of ‘new woman’ in India is a myth.
3. We may brave human laws but cannot resist natural laws
4. Social media is inherently a selfish medium

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2016

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. If development is not engendered, it is engendered.
2. Need brings greed, if greed increases it spoils bread.
3. Water disputes between State in federal India.
4. Innovation is the key determinant of economic growth and social welfare.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Cooperative federalism: Myth or reality.
2. Cyberspace and Internet: Blessing or curse to the human civilization in the long run.
3. Near jobless growth in India: An anomaly or an outcome of economic reforms.
4. Digital Economy: A leveller or a source of economic inequality.

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2015

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Lending hands to someone is better than giving a dole.
2. Quick but steady wins the race
3. Character of an institution is reflected in its leader.
4. Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever devil.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Technology cannot replace manpower.
2. Crisis faced in India – moral or economic.
3. Dreams which should not let India sleep.
4. Can capitalism bring inclusive growth?

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2014

Section A (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. With greater power comes greater responsibility.
2. Is the growing level of competition good for the youth?
3. Are the standardized tests good measure of academic ability or progress?
4. Words are sharper than the two-edged sword.

Section B (1000 – 1200 Words/125 marks)

1. Was it the policy paralysis or the paralysis of implementation which slowed the growth of our country?
2. Is sting operation an invasion on privacy?
3. Fifty Golds in Olympics: Can this be a reality for India?
4. Tourism: Can this be the next big thing for India?

Essay Previous Year Questions UPSC 2013

Not More than 2500 Words/250 marks

1. “Be the change you want to See in others” – Gandhiji
2. Is the colonial mentality hindering India’s success?
3. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) along with GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) would be the right indices for judging the well-being of a country.
4. Science and Technology Is the Panacea for the growth and security of the Nation.

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