Governance and social justice

Civil society and participatory development

First systematic UPSC study after basic constitutional institutions; school-level reading fluency. Shared Polity, Society and Economy foundations are budgeted in their own chapters.

Includes

• Assigned sections and concise recall notes
• Available mapped practice and analysis of mistakes
• One initial closed-book review

Separate time needed

• Subsequent revision and full mock tests
• Continuing updates to schemes, rules, statistics and court decisions
• Repeating shared constitutional and economic foundations

Editorial planning estimate; not learner timing data

• National Policy on the Voluntary Sector, 2007 ↗

  Sections 2.1–2.2, 4.1, 4.2 first three sentences, 4.5, 4.6 first two sentences, 5.1–5.6.2 and 6.1–6.3. Read organisational forms, funding, partnership and accountability. A 2007 policy commitment is not proof of implementation; exclude obsolete Companies Act/FCRA provisions, tax proposals and claims that a national accreditation body now exists.

• Role of NGOs and Social Movements ↗

  Section 9.6 Agenda Setting, Drafting, Implementing and Monitoring subsections, PDF pages 6–7; section 9.8, page 10, as possible autonomy/accountability tensions only. Exclude the historical preamble, universal NGO-registration claim, numerical UN-status claim, rigid NGO/non-profit distinction and assertions that every social movement requires an NGO.

• Self Help Group ↗

  Sections 8.2–8.3, PDF pages 2–8: member savings, decisions, group formation and learning; section 8.5, page 11: dimensions of agency. Exclude universal size/loan-eligibility rules, fixed household-head membership, mandatory personal disclosure, outcome guarantees and the historical Grameen success claim.

• FAQs on Corporate Social Responsibility, General Circular 14/2021 ↗

  Questions 2.2–2.3, 5.1, 7.4, 9.1, 9.4 and 10.3; PDF pages 4, 12, 17–18, 20 and 22. Institutional responsibilities, delivery modes, utilisation, independent impact assessment and disclosure in the 2021 circular. Exclude thresholds, penalty amounts, tax eligibility and later-amended cost rules; do not use as a live compliance checklist.

• Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act: PIB explanatory questions and answers, 22 July 2026 ↗

  First paragraphs only of What is FCRA? and Does FCRA prohibit NGOs and civil society organisations from receiving foreign donations? (22 July 2026). Funding scope and registration/prior-permission distinction. Exclude statistics, promotional comparisons, all amendment/proposal descriptions and detailed financial rules; these require separate current statutory verification.