Essay:
Candidates may be required to write essays on multiple topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression.
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Here are the official essay topics from the UPSC Civil Services Mains Essay Papers. Candidates had to write two essays (one from Section A and one from Section B), each in about 1000–1200 words.
📘 UPSC CSE Essay Paper 2022:
Section A
Forests are the best case studies for economic excellence
Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world
History is a series of victories won by the scientific man over the romantic man
A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ship is for
Section B
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining
You cannot step twice in the same river
A smile is the chosen vehicle for all ambiguities
Just because you have a choice, it does not mean that any choice will be right
📘 UPSC CSE Essay Paper 2023:
Section A
Thinking is like a game, it does not begin unless there is an opposite team.
Visionary decision-making happens at the intersection of intuition and logic.
Not all who wander are lost.
Inspiration for creativity springs from the effort to look for the magical in the mundane.
Section B
Girls are weighed down by restrictions, boys with demands – two equally harmful disciplines.
Mathematics is the music of reason.
A society that has more justice is a society that needs less charity.
Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.
📘 UPSC CSE Essay Paper 2024:
Section A
Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them
The Empires of the future will be the empires of the mind
There is no path to happiness; Happiness is the path
The doubter is a true man of Science
Section B
Social media is triggering ‘Fear of Missing Out’ amongst the youth, precipitating depression and loneliness
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but to test the character, give him power
All ideas having large consequences are always simple
The cost of being wrong is less than the cost of doing nothing
📘 UPSC CSE Essay Paper 2025
Section A
The Earth has enough for every man’s need but not for every man’s greed
Technology is the silent partner in human progress
The pen is mightier than the algorithm
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes
Section B
Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live with dignity
Globalisation is the new form of colonisation
The future of governance lies in balancing tradition with innovation
Justice delayed is democracy denied
