Master the art of writing answers in Group-I Main (TSPSC groups)

Writing an answer is an art that one must master to crack the Group-I job. This art of writing can be mastered with continuous practice over a period of time. To ace the process of writing an answer in competitive exams one must have three things — effort, time and expert guidance. These series of articles will guide you in improving your writing skills and aid in maximising your score in the Group-I Main examination.

The Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) had issued notification for 503 Group-I posts. The recruitment test will be a two-stage process with preliminary test (objective type) and written exam (Main) with theory questions. The Main exam conducted for 900 marks comprises six papers with each paper carrying 150 marks.
Now, let us understand the fundamentals of how to structure an answer:

Introduction
Firstly, introduce the topic asked and briefly narrate the central theme of the answer. Ideally, an introduction should not be lengthier than 10–20 percent of the total word limit at any cost. For a 150 word answer, 20-30 words should be allocated for the introduction.

Body
The main body of the answer has to be divided into pointers and paragraphs. Each paragraph or pointer should have one point only unless it is elaborative. In some questions you need to discuss both positive and negative aspects of an issue. For such questions, you can list out the positive information in one paragraph and write the negative aspects in another one.

Well-balanced conclusion
You need to balance the conclusion with a positive opinion. The answer should never end on a negative note because you must be able to see the brighter side of an issue. Also, avoid ending your answer in the rhetoric and instead try to put forward a solution or a way-forward (20-30 words) ideally. This shows your positive attitude and a willingness to find solutions — things that any aspirant or future officer should possess.

Now let’s look into the above framework with an example by taking a previous year question. The following question was asked in UPSC GS -2, in the year 2020. The emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Digital Revolution) has initiated e-governance as an integral part of the government. Discuss (150 words) [10 Marks]

Let us try the introduction for the above given question. We can introduce in this way —
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a way of describing the blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital and biological worlds. It is the fusion of advances in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Quantum computing and others (30 words).

In the body — address the demand of the question by giving some brief introduction about e-governance and how industrial revolution has initiated e-governance as an integral part of government. Give positive examples of the e-governance that have promoted effectiveness of government at the national level.
Bharat Net
Digital India
Umang
Direct Benefit Transfer
You can write two lines for each sub heading, here is an example:

Digital India: Strives to bring inclusive growth and bridge the digital divide by leveraging technology solutions that are low cost, developmental, transformative, and designed to empower citizens.

In conclusion
The Fourth Industrial Revolution brings with it immense potential to improve governance. Its right use will result in improving accountability, access to services and strengthening of democracy (26 words). Here accountability, access to services and democracy are key words in the syllabus — thus addressing the demand of the question.
All the aspirants should note that in the above framework you can add more facts, data and information. Without framework, your answer will be directionless which leads to not addressing the question completely and finally ends up scoring less. The above framework serves as the “guiding light for your answer”.