UPSC CARE Mains Practice 8th December 2025
Mains Practice Questions for the Day
- Examine the significance of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 in strengthening governance, depositor protection, and operational efficiency in India’s banking sector.
- White Revolution 2.0 aims to transform India’s dairy sector by strengthening cooperatives and expanding procurement capacity. In light of the current structure of India’s dairy economy, critically examine the need, objectives, and challenges of this new initiative.”( GS Paper III – Economy / Agriculture)
1Q.Examine the significance of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 in strengthening governance, depositor protection, and operational efficiency in India’s banking sector.
Introduction:
The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 marks a major overhaul of India’s banking legislative framework. It amends five foundational acts governing commercial and cooperative banks, aligning them with the needs of a rapidly digitising and financially inclusive economy.
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1. Strengthening Governance
- Redefinition of ‘substantial interest’ to ₹2 crore modernises oversight and mitigates undue influence.
- Tenure reforms for cooperative bank directors align with the 97th Constitutional Amendment, promoting democratic management.
- Enhanced auditor remuneration authority strengthens governance of PSBs.
2. Enhancing Depositor Protection
- Modernised nomination rules (up to four nominees, simultaneous/successive structure) reduce family disputes and expedite claim settlements.
- Supports India’s financial inclusion goals where first-generation account holders face succession challenges.
3. Improving Audit Transparency
- Permission for PSBs to transfer unclaimed funds to IEPF improves tracking and public accountability.
- Facilitates better investor awareness and reduces dormant financial assets.
4. Operational & Procedural Efficiency
- Updating statutory timelines from archaic terms (e.g., “last Friday”) to digital-ready formats improves automation, reduces manual errors, and enhances reporting accuracy.
- Supports technological scale-up in the banking ecosystem.
5. Cooperative Banks Under Stronger Oversight
- Additional powers to RBI support better regulation, preventing cooperative bank failures witnessed in the past.
- Ensures stability in regions where cooperative banks are major credit providers.
Challenges
- Implementation burden on smaller cooperative banks.
- Need for public sensitisation on new nomination rules.
- Variation in digital maturity across institutions.
Conclusion:
The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 is a forward-looking legislative reform that modernises India’s banking framework. By strengthening governance, improving depositor safety, enhancing audit transparency, and aligning operations with technological realities, the Act bolsters public trust and prepares the banking sector for a rapidly evolving financial ecosystem. It is a crucial step towards an inclusive, secure, and digitally resilient financial architecture.
Q. White Revolution 2.0 aims to transform India’s dairy sector by strengthening cooperatives and expanding procurement capacity. In light of the current structure of India’s dairy economy, critically examine the need, objectives, and challenges of this new initiative.”( GS Paper III – Economy / Agriculture)
(GS Paper 3 – Environment, Pollution, Conservation, Climate Change)
Introduction:
India is the world’s largest milk producer (230.58 MMT in 2022–23), yet the dairy economy remains fragmented. While 63% of milk reaches markets, nearly two-thirds of this marketable surplus lies in the unorganised sector, exposing farmers to low prices, adulteration, and lack of value addition. Against this backdrop, the government has launched White Revolution 2.0 to replicate the transformative impact of Operation Flood.
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Need for White Revolution 2.0
- Low cooperative penetration
Only 10% of national milk production and 16% of marketable surplus is procured by cooperatives. Many states (Assam, Odisha, WB, NE) have <10% coverage. - Geographic disparities
Gujarat, Kerala, Sikkim have >70% cooperative coverage, whereas UP, MP, Uttarakhand have just 10–20%. - Rising demand & nutritional needs
Per capita milk availability is 459 g/day—high, but uneven across states. - Declining growth rate
Milk output growth declined from 6.47% (2018–19) to 3.83% (2022–23). - Women-dominant sector
Over 8.5 crore livelihoods, mostly women, depend on dairy; low cooperative reach reduces income security.
Objectives of White Revolution 2.0
- Expand cooperative footprint
- Set up 56,000 new DCSs and strengthen 46,000 existing DCSs.
- Increase procurement from 660 lakh kg/day to 1007 lakh kg/day by 2028–29.
- Organise the unorganised sector
- Increase cooperative share in milk handling; reduce exploitation and adulteration.
- Infrastructure and capacity building
- Funding through NPDD 2.0, support for milk chilling, testing, transport, and village-level MPACS.
- Employment & women empowerment
- Assure fair, direct payment and increase rural non-farm jobs.
- Value addition & market access
- Promote high-value products (cheese, whey, nutraceuticals), improving farmer returns.
Challenges Ahead
- Regional imbalance & socio-economic diversity
Difficult to replicate the Gujarat-Amul model in low-yield, low-participation regions. - Animal productivity constraints
Indigenous/nondescript cattle yield only 3.44 kg/day, hurting profitability. - Infrastructure deficit
Cooling chains, quality testing, transport are inadequate in eastern and hill states. - Funding & institutional coordination
Success depends on alignment between Ministry of Cooperation, DAHD, NDDB, states, and PACS reforms. - Market competition from private sector
Private dairies dominate in several regions, complicating cooperative expansion. - Climate vulnerability
Heat stress and fodder shortages can affect milk production.
Conclusion:
White Revolution 2.0 is a timely intervention aimed at democratising dairy economics by strengthening cooperatives, expanding procurement, and empowering women farmers. However, its success depends on addressing regional disparities, upgrading infrastructure, improving animal productivity, and ensuring robust institutional coordination. With effective implementation, it can become the next transformative milestone in India’s rural economy.
