Learn tricks of good presentation

Hyderabad: It is very important to know the art of presentation of answers as it is the front face of the knowledge acquired by you. In the previous article, we have understood various methodologies to address questions related to the Indian Polity. These methodologies will help you maximise your score in your Group-I Main exams. […]

Hyderabad: It is very important to know the art of presentation of answers as it is the front face of the knowledge acquired by you.

In the previous article, we have understood various methodologies to address questions related to the Indian Polity. These methodologies will help you maximise your score in your Group-I Main exams.

In this article, let’s try to decode how to address the questions related to the Economy subject. The Economy as a subject involves static as well as dynamic (current happenings in the country and world as well). The following guidelines will help you in refining your preparation and in the best presentation of your answer.
1) Introduce your answer with statistics

To measure the health of an economy we need data and statistics. Thus, mentioning these statistics along with the source (optional) will give your answer a good start. Before knowing the best sources for this let us take an example and understand it well.

Example:

Do you agree with the view that steady GDP growth and low inflation have left the Indian Economy in good shape?

Answer: As per the Economic survey 2021-2022 India’s GDP Growth rate stood at 9% compared to 7% in the year (2020-2021) (numbers are given for illustration can be varied, kindly recheck).

Here, instead of saying India’s growth rate is more or less a subjective way of telling or opinionated statement it is better to show the numbers and source. This will add value to your answer as it is taken from authentic government sources.

In the same way collect the data about the country’s exports growth, growth of various sectors like primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, unemployment etc.
The best sources to collect the data are:
1) Economic Survey

2) Budget

3) Newspapers

4) NITI Aayog’s 3-year action plan, etc

2) Giving sub-headings wherever possible

This is applicable to all the subjects as I already mentioned in the previous article in detail. Divide the body of your answer into different parts and give sub-headings to each one. Here is a technique that gives order and coherence to your answer.

Example:
How has globalisation led to the reduction of employment in the formal sector of the Indian economy? Is increased formalisation detrimental to the development of the country?

Let’s structure the answer in the following ways

a) Introduction: What are the Globalisation and the formal sector (define both)

b) Body:

Sub-heading 1: How Globalisation led to a reduction in formal employment
Sub-heading 2: Informalisation is detrimental due to
c) Conclusion
Thus, the beauty lies in taking the keywords from the question and arranging them as sub-heading in the body of your answer. This makes your answer look complete as you are addressing each and every part of the question.
3) Preparing notes in a well-structured manner

The main reason to do this is that if you observe questions in the economy, they are often repeated with a few important themes. Thus, identifying those themes and preparing notes in a well-structure manner will help you write answers well.

Here are a few important themes:

a) FDI
b) Inclusive growth

c) E-technology and its applications in various sectors

d) Planning.

e) PDS

f) Unemployment, etc.
I recommend you to prepare 200/250 words summary for the above-mentioned topics in the syllabus and revise them multiple times before your exam.
What to cover about them in your notes?

For each topic/concept prepare the notes covering the following things

a) Definition

b) Statistics (latest)

c) Government policies and schemes related to each sector

d) Expert committee recommendations and solutions

e) Various challenges related to the topic

f) Suitable case studies

You should utilise the economic survey reports to prepare the notes for the above and revising them a number of times will enable you to recollect the answers in the exam hall quickly. Thus, following this approach in the subject will not only help you write the answers in a more structured manner but also help during the initial preparation itself.
Usually, data, information, statistics and recommendations are scattered across various sources both government sources and current affairs magazines of various civil services institutions. So, you need to put in sufficient time and effort in arranging them in one place – your notes.

By Anirudh Billa
Polity Faculty & Answer writing expert

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