UPSC GS Paper 2 2025: VAM Reflections & Answer Writing

The UPSC has recently concluded its Civil Services Mains Examination for GS Paper 2. The UPSC GS Paper 2 is a test of an aspirant’s knowledge of both static content from standard books and current affairs, and this year’s paper was no exception. 

UPSC GS 2 Paper featured a Polity and Governance heavy distribution of questions: Nine from Polity, four from International Relations, four from Social Justice, and three questions from Governance. Download Link GS Paper 2

Our reflections on the GS 2 paper reveal how the analytical nature of questions asked this year required aspirants to go beyond memorizing facts and apply their knowledge critically. A holistic preparation approach for UPSC Mains is thus critical to score high marks. The Mains-centric initiatives of Vision IAS, particularly the UPSC Value Added Material, are specifically designed to develop this ability. 

From VAM to Better Answer Writing

The true test of preparation for Mains lies in the quality of answer writing. The Vision IAS UPSC Value Added Material helped the aspirants analyse and focus on the core themes, add necessary depth and breadth of information, including key facts, data, and analytical frameworks. These are all essential for scoring high marks in the UPSC mains. 

This year, our GS 2 Value Added Materials comprehensively covered 14 out of 20 questions indicating a testament to their direct relevance and effectiveness for UPSC Mains.

Reflections in GS Paper 2 from Vision IAS Value Added Materials

Reflections in GS Paper 2: Polity

Q. Discuss the ‘corrupt practices’ for the purpose of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Analyze whether the increase in the assets of the legislators and/or their associates, disproportionate to their known sources of income, would constitute ‘undue influence’ and consequently a corrupt practice.

The Polity VAM provided all the essential components required for a comprehensive and concise response for the UPSC Mains exam. It included:

• Definition & Context: The VAM provided a clear introduction by linking the answer to the Representation of the People Act under which corrupt practices are defined. This ensured that students could begin their responses with precision and legal context.
• Analytical Depth: The VAM gave a detailed discussion of multiple dimensions, such as the grounds for disqualification, the scope of undue influence, and the disqualification process conducted under the Election Commission of India (ECI). This allowed students to move beyond basic definitions and showcase analytical depth.
• Relevant Sections of the Act: The VAM listed specific sections of the Act related to corrupt practices, offering ready substantiation. These references served as value addition and strengthened the answer with authoritative support.
• Conclusion: The structured references enabled students to end their responses with a strong concluding statement, ensuring the answer was comprehensive and exam-oriented.

Q. Comment on the need of administrative tribunals as compared to the court system. Assess the impact of the recent tribunal reforms through rationalization of tribunals made in 2021.

The Polity VAM provided all the essential components required for a comprehensive and concise response for the UPSC Mains exam. It included:

• Definition & Causes: The VAM provides essential information in its Quasi-Judicial Section, which can be used to define tribunals in the introduction of the answer.
• Analytical Depth: The VAM offers a detailed discussion on the need for tribunals, the challenges they face, the challenges they solve, as well as their powers, purpose, and other aspects. Students could also incorporate practical examples such as CAT (Central Administrative Tribunal) and SATs (Securities Appellate Tribunals) to enrich the answer.
• Conclusion: A strong concluding remark can be framed using examples of other countries and how their tribunal systems function, thereby offering a comparative perspective.

Q.  “The Attorney General of India plays a crucial role in guiding the legal framework of the Union Government and ensuring sound governance through legal counsel.” Discuss his responsibilities, rights and limitations in this regard.

The Polity VAM provided all the essential components required for a comprehensive and concise response for the UPSC Mains exam. It included:

• Definition & Causes: The VAM provides essential data for the post of Attorney General of India, such as the Article under which the post exists, along with the qualifications and functions. These details can be effectively used for introducing the answer.
• Analytical Depth: The VAM offers a detailed discussion on the roles and functions of the Attorney General, while also providing relevant cases that illustrate the status of the AG vis-à-vis the Union Government. These legal references serve as a key value addition that could help students secure higher marks in the examination.
• Conclusion: A strong concluding remark can be framed through a comparative assessment of the office of the Attorney General with similar institutions in other nations, for which useful data was provided in the VAM.

Other UPSC Mains 2025 GS 2 Questions answerable from our VAM include

UPSC Mains 2025 Question	Reflections from VAM	Utilization in Answer writing
Q. “Constitutional morality is the fulcrum which acts as an essential check upon the high functionaries and citizens alike…” In view of the above observation of the Supreme Court, explain the concept of constitutional morality and its application to ensure balance between judicial independence and judicial accountability in India.		From Polity VAM,  Analysis of PYQ clearly emphasised the need to read about the interpretation of this theme. Further, throughout the VAM examples were given to value add answer for this theme.
Q. Discuss the evolution of the collegium system in India. Critically examine the advantages and disadvantages of the system of appointment of the Judges of the Supreme Court of India and that of the USA.		From Polity VAM, The data in infographics and tables could be used as essential Value Addition for the question. The Collegium system and its advantages and disadvantages are covered comprehensively.
Q. Examine the evolving pattern of Centre-State financial relations in the context of planned development in India. How far have the recent reforms impacted the fiscal federalism in India?		From Polity VAM, issues and recommendations on the financial relations are clearly provided. This could help in active recall of the points for the GS 2 Mains

Reflections in GS Paper 2: Governance

Q. e-governance projects have a built-in bias towards technology and back-end integration than user-centric designs. Examine. 

The Governance VAM provided all the essential components required for a comprehensive and concise response for the UPSC Mains exam. It included:

• Definition & Context: The VAM provides an authoritative definition of e-Governance along with an infographic that can be used to explain the process clearly and secure additional marks in the answer.
• Analytical Depth: The VAM offers a detailed explanation of the frameworks of delivery, their challenges, and the design elements involved in e-Governance. This helps in writing a well-rounded analytical answer.
• Case Studies: A critical value addition comes from the case study on e-Governance as being more than just the use of technology, which provides direct linkage to the question and strengthens the argument.
• Conclusion: The VAM enables students to frame a strong conclusion by citing recent examples such as JAM trinity, India Stack, and other relevant initiatives, making the response contemporary and impactful.

Q. Civil Society Organizations are often perceived as being anti-State actors than non-State actors. Do you agree? Justify.

The Governance VAM provided all the essential components required for a comprehensive and concise response for the UPSC Mains exam. It included:

• Definition & Context: The VAM provides a definition-based introduction that can be effectively used to start the answer. The World Bank definition of Civil Society mentioned in the VAM would help the student gain additional marks by adding credibility.
• Analytical Depth: The VAM gives a detailed explanation of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), highlighting the challenges they face and possible recommendations. Key issues include the Anti-NGO narrative, misuse of laws such as UAPA, and limitations on finance, which are presented in a holistic manner.
• Case Studies: The VAM enriches the answer with specific examples on how laws have been misused to project CSOs as anti-state. It also provides a quote by the National Security Advisor (NSA) that underscores how civil society can be misused, thereby offering substantial value addition.
• Conclusion: A strong conclusion can be framed using the VAM by emphasizing that CSOs are not anti-state but instead play a crucial role in augmenting the actions of the state in governance and development.

Other Governance UPSC Mains 2025 GS 2 Questions answerable from our VAM include

UPSC Mains 2025 Question	Reflections from VAM	Utilization in Answer writing
Q. What are environmental pressure groups? Discuss their role in raising awareness, influencing policies and advocating for environmental protection in India.		From Governance VAM, students could use the content provided for Pressure groups to frame the second part of the answer.  The two cases presented are critical value addition to score additional marks in this answer.

Reflections in GS Paper 2: Social Justice

Q. Women’s social capital complements in advancing empowerment and gender equity. Explain.

The Social Justice VAM provided all the essential components required for a comprehensive and concise response for the UPSC Mains exam. It included:

• Definition & Context: The VAM connects to the theme of Gender Justice under the section “Dimensions of Social Justice,” with a focus on the empowerment of women and girls through schemes. The infographic on “Indian Women Have Recorded Progress in Many Areas” provides data on women’s participation in decisions regarding health, household purchases, and finances. This directly relates to the concept of women’s social capital and their role in decision-making, central to empowerment and equity.
• Analytical Depth: The VAM highlights the challenges of limited social capital among women due to deep-rooted patriarchy, invisible labour, and economic inequality. Issues such as the gender wage gap, unpaid work, and systemic exclusion from networks prevent women from building supportive social safety nets and restrict their agency. The Key Data on Women’s Vulnerabilities box offers concrete statistics on asset ownership, pay gap, and social capital, strengthening the analytical base of the answer.
• Case Studies: A comparative example of Women Empowerment in Norway is included, showing how policy reforms can accelerate women’s representation in leadership. This global perspective adds depth by contrasting India’s challenges with successful international practices.
• Conclusion: The VAM enables a strong conclusion by pointing towards government initiatives that actively build women’s social capital. Programs like Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana (cooperatives through SHGs), Sakhi Centres (supportive networks and community trust), and the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (mandating political representation) provide resources, networks, and legal backing. Together, these interventions enhance women’s agency, ensure inclusion, and strengthen gender justice in governance.

Q. Inequality in the ownership pattern of resources is one of the major causes of poverty. Discuss in the context of ‘paradox of poverty’.

The Social Justice VAM provided all the essential components required for a comprehensive and concise response for the UPSC Mains exam. It included:

• Definition & Context: The VAM provides a definition on poverty as a multidimensional issue, which could be used for this question as a ready made intro. It highlights the paradox of poverty, where economic growth coexists with persistent deprivation.
• Analytical Depth: The VAM identifies unequal resource ownership as a key root cause of poverty. 
  • For example, Scheduled Caste households are predominantly landless and own only 7% of India’s wealth, which forces them into low-productivity, informal sectors. 
  • The document also stresses the poverty–malnutrition link, showing how undernutrition perpetuates poor human capital, further deepening the poverty trap.
  • It also examines economic inequality as an invisible struggle, noting that women consistently have lower ownership of assets such as land, houses, and bank accounts. 
  • This systemic exclusion exemplifies the paradox of poverty, where lack of resource access prevents upward mobility. Additionally, Scheduled Tribes face exclusion from natural resources, with displacement from development projects worsening their poverty cycle.
• Case Studies / Examples: The VAM directly states that unequal asset ownership (especially gendered disparities) and ST displacement serve as structural barriers that perpetuate poverty. These examples strengthen answers by moving beyond income-based measures and highlighting social and structural inequities.
• Conclusion: The VAM suggests a holistic approach to poverty alleviation, moving beyond fragmented schemes. It advocates for data-driven targeting, stronger last-mile delivery, enhanced awareness, rationalized benefits, inter-ministerial convergence, and outcome-based strategies.

Reflections in GS Paper 2: International Relations

For International Relations a new initiative under the name “Editorials Through Q&A INTERNATIONAL RELATION (GS PAPER 2) UPSC MAINS 2025” was launched by Vision IAS. The idea behind this document was to simplify complex foreign policy analyses from newspaper editorials into a time-efficient, exam-ready Q&A format for UPSC aspirants. From this document, the reflections in International Relations include:

UPSC Mains 2025 Question	Reflections from Editorials Through Q&A	Utilization in Answer writing
Q. “The reform process in the United Nations remains unresolved, because of the delicate imbalance of East and West and entanglement of the USA vs. Russo-Chinese alliance.” Examine and critically evaluate the East-West policy confrontations in this regard.		From the Editorials Document, students could use the content provided for UNSC Legitimacy Crisis to build the core part of the answer.
“With the waning of globalization, post-Cold War world is becoming a site of sovereign nationalism.” Elucidate.		From the Editorials Document, students could use the content provided for understanding the critique of Globalization and then write the core part of the answer.
“Energy security constitutes the dominant kingpin of India’s foreign policy, and is linked with India’s overarching influence in Middle Eastern countries.” How would you integrate energy security with India’s foreign policy trajectories in the coming years?		From the Editorials Document, students could use the content provided for West Asia to understand the role of energy security part of the answer.

Final Thoughts

The analytical nature of this year’s paper holds significant implications for all aspirants, particularly those targeting UPSC 2026. Success in the UPSC mains demands a sophisticated approach to answer writing. Reflections on UPSC Mains 2025 GS Paper 2 indicate the need to integrate both static knowledge and contemporary developments in answer writing. By utilizing resources like VAM, future aspirants can learn how to structure their answers, enrich them with relevant examples, and effectively tackle the analytical demands of the UPSC GS Paper 2. 

Vision IAS Resources for UPSC CSE 2026

• Enroll in Vision IAS GS Foundation course for holistic preparation of UPSC exam
• UPSC Mains high quality, updated and toppers trusted notes and documents by Vision IAS at UPSC Mains Corner.
• Explore topper’s trusted and recommended most important answer-writing tool for UPSC CSE Examination, the VisionIAS Mains Test Series, to effectively practice answer writing for Mains 2026.
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• Vision IAS provides a new age, AI integrated Digital Current Affairs solution that can help you navigate the course of Current affairs. The flagship “Vision Intelligence” can help you keep a track of the enormous task of handling current affairs in your preparation. These resources can be found at our dedicated Current Affairs page.
• We at VisionIAS also prioritise mental health of all students. At Student Wellness Cell, you can reach out to us for counseling if you feel overwhelmed with the exam. We strive to assist the students and help you with effective stress and time management under the guidance of best counselors.