Evidence that earns its place
Evidence is a named fact that supports one of your points. Give its name, say what it did, and link it back to the question.
UPSC prints this rule for every Mains paper:
Marks will not be allotted for mere superficial knowledge.
Three things to attach to each piece of evidence
| Step | What you write |
|---|---|
| 1. What it is | The exact name and year |
| 2. What it did | The specific thing it changed, or failed to change |
| 3. What it shows | One clause linking it back to the question |
Naming and using, side by side
What are the challenges to solid waste management in India? Discuss the governmental policy framework on solid waste management. Discuss the success/failure cases of Delhi and Indore cities highlighting the salient feature of their solid waste management initiatives.
(UPSC Mains 2026, GS Paper 3, 15 marks, 250 words)
| Kind | Naming | Using |
|---|---|---|
| Rules | The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 have been notified. | The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 require households to separate waste into wet, dry and domestic hazardous. Where collection trucks still take it mixed, the rule fails at the first step. |
| Scheme | Swachh Bharat Mission has been launched. | Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0, launched in 2021, funds the clearing of old dumpsites. Delhi's Ghazipur landfill, far above its safe height, shows how much is left to clear. |
| A city | Indore is the cleanest city in India. | Indore collects waste door to door, already separated, and turns wet waste into compost and bio-CNG. It topped the Swachh Survekshan rankings every year from 2017 to 2023, jointly with Surat in 2023. |
Each entry in the right column takes three to five times the words of the left. A 150-word answer has room for two or three pieces of evidence used this way. Use fewer and explain each one.
Kinds of evidence
| Kind | Good for | Be careful of |
|---|---|---|
| A scheme or mission | Showing what the state tried, and where delivery broke down | Naming it without saying what happened |
| An act or rules | Showing what is required by law | Stating the rule without saying whether it is followed |
| A committee or commission | Backing a recommendation | Getting the name or year wrong |
| A constitutional article | Showing who holds a power or a duty | Citing the number without the content |
| A court judgement | Showing where a principle was settled | Using the case name with no holding |
| A figure | Showing scale | Quoting a number you are not sure of |
| A named place or event | Showing the point happened somewhere real | Choosing an example that does not match the point |
Numbers you are not sure of
Write the trend if you do not remember the figure. "Ghazipur landfill has grown far above its safe height" is accurate without a number.
Steps
- For each point in your plan, choose one piece of evidence.
- Write its exact name and year.
- Write what it did, in one sentence.
- Add one clause that links it back to the question.
- If you have a fourth example, cut it and develop the first three.
Mistakes and what to do instead
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| "Several schemes such as A, B and C have been launched" | Choose one and say what it did |
| A scheme named with its launch year and nothing else | Say what changed, or what did not |
| An article number with no content | Say what the article provides |
| An invented percentage | Write the trend in words |
| Evidence that supports a different point | Match each piece of evidence to the claim it sits under |
Your turn
✍️ Your turn
Turn this naming sentence into using: "Various initiatives like the National Clean Air Programme and BS-VI norms have been introduced to tackle air pollution." It was written for the last part of this question: "Describe the key points of the revised Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) recently released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). How are these different from its last update in 2005? What changes in India's National Clean Air Programme are required to achieve these revised standards?" (UPSC Mains 2021, GS Paper 3). Rewrite in 45 words or fewer, using one piece of evidence properly.