25 October: justice and charity
Sunday 25 October 2026
Essay · 1000 to 1200 words · 125 marks
A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.
(UPSC Mains 2023, Essay, Section B)
You have 80 minutes. Spend 20 planning and 60 writing. Plan your essay before you read anything below.
Open only after you have written
How to approach this topic
The form.
| Form | What it asks you to do first |
|---|---|
| A plain claim | Decide how far you agree, and where the claim stops being true |
The topic in your own words. When a society treats people fairly, fewer people have to depend on the goodwill of others.
What the topic assumes. It treats charity as a measure of injustice. Some charity is. Some answers bad luck, illness or disaster, which happen in a just society too. Your thesis can start from that split.
Four questions to ask before you plan.
- What does a person get from a right that they do not get from a gift?
- Where has India turned a form of relief into a legal entitlement?
- What need would remain in a perfectly just society?
- Can charity delay justice, by making an unfair system bearable?
Mistakes to avoid.
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Defining justice and charity at length | Open on a person, then state your position |
| Agreeing with the claim all the way | Show where it stops being true |
| Writing only about government schemes | Use cases from society too: disasters, donation, community kitchens |
| Ending on "both are needed" | End on what charity should be for in a fairer society |
A model plan
Thesis. More justice reduces the charity that patches unfair rules. It does not remove the charity that answers misfortune, and it frees giving for that second job.
| Paragraph | Point | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Introduction | A family raising money online for a hospital bill. State the thesis | Medical crowdfunding appeals |
| 2. Charity as a sign of injustice | When people lose their claim on resources, they depend on gifts | Amartya Sen, Poverty and Famines (1981), on the 1943 Bengal famine |
| 3. Relief turned into rights | India has turned some relief into legal entitlements | MGNREGA (2005, replaced by the VB-G RAM G Act in 2025), National Food Security Act (2013) |
| 4. Rights give dignity | A gift depends on the giver. A right can be claimed in court | Right to Education Act (2009), 25% of seats in private schools under Section 12(1)(c) |
| 5. The case against | Floods, illness and grief happen in any society | Fishermen rescuing people in the Kerala floods of 2018. Blood and organ donation |
| 6. Charity that delays justice | Giving can make an unfair system bearable and slow reform. The law now compels some giving | CSR under Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 |
| 7. Charity that builds justice | The best giving treats people as equals and organises them | The langar, where everyone sits together. SEWA, founded by Ela Bhatt in 1972 |
Conclusion. Return to the family in the opening. Insurance such as Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, with cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year, makes part of that appeal unnecessary. End on what charity should do once the rules are fair. It should answer the misfortune that no rule can prevent.