Writing ESI descriptive answers for RBI Grade B

Half of the ESI paper is descriptive, and it is where candidates with the same knowledge end up many marks apart. The difference is rarely what they know. It is whether the answer addresses the exact question, is organised so an examiner can see the argument in a quick read, and ends with something practical. This guide is about building that answer. The mechanics of typing it (speed, the plain-text box, proofreading) are in the typed answers guide.

What you are writing for

The descriptive section is reported as four answers from six questions: two of 15 marks and two of 10 marks, in 90 minutes. Recent notices have been reported to set word limits of about 600 words for a 15-mark answer and 400 for a 10-mark answer, and to evaluate only the first four answers attempted.

Treat the limits as ceilings, not targets. A tight 350-word answer to a 15-mark question that finishes on time beats a 600-word answer that leaves the fourth question half written.

Step 1: read the directive word

Underline two things before you plan: the directive and the limiting words ("in India", "in the context of MSMEs", "since 2016"). An answer on financial inclusion in general, when the question asked about women, loses marks however good it is.

Step 2: a two-minute plan

Before typing, jot down in the rough area or in your head:

1. The core claim in one sentence: what is your answer?
2. Three or four headings for the body, chosen to fit the directive.
3. One example or fact you are sure of.
4. Three measures for the way forward.

Two minutes of planning saves five minutes of wandering. The plan also stops you from front-loading everything you know about the topic into the first paragraph.

Step 3: build the answer

Assume the answer box is plain text: no bold, headings or bullet formatting. Structure comes from short paragraphs and signposts: "First", "Second", "On the other hand", "The way forward has three parts". Number points in the text itself if you like ("1.", "2."), but keep each to a full sentence.

Five ways to add analysis

Lists of points earn some marks. Analysis earns the rest. In each answer, try to use at least two of these:

1. Mechanism: explain the chain. "A repo cut lowers banks' cost of funds, which lowers lending rates under external benchmarks, which raises borrowing."
2. Trade-off: name what is given up. "Higher MSP supports farm incomes but raises food inflation and fiscal cost."
3. Distinguish short run and long run.
4. Disaggregate: by region, gender, sector, or formal and informal.
5. Cite a framework: a committee, a theory, a constitutional provision or a named survey.

Using data safely

A precise, wrong number damages your credibility more than a careful general statement. Use a figure only if you know it and its source.

A named source with a trend is often worth as much as a number.

Time budget for 90 minutes

Divide the time in proportion to marks. There are 50 descriptive marks in 90 minutes, so 1.8 minutes per mark:

1. 15-mark answer: 15 × 1.8 = 27 minutes.
2. 10-mark answer: 10 × 1.8 = 18 minutes.
3. Total: 27 + 27 + 18 + 18 = 90 minutes.

That leaves nothing for reading and choosing. A practical plan is 3 minutes to read all six questions and choose, then 25 + 25 + 16 + 16 = 82 minutes of writing, and 5 minutes to reread. Start with the question you know best, so a good answer is banked early.

A worked 15-mark answer

Question: Examine the progress and remaining challenges of financial inclusion in India.

Plan: core claim, access largely achieved, usage and quality are the gap. Headings: progress (accounts, DBT, payments, insurance), challenges (usage, credit, literacy, fraud), way forward.

The answer, as you would type it:

Financial inclusion means that individuals and small businesses have access to useful and affordable financial services, such as savings, credit, payments, insurance and pensions, delivered responsibly. India's record shows a clear pattern: access has been largely achieved, but usage and quality lag behind.

Progress has come from three directions. First, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana of 2014 opened basic accounts on a very large scale, and together with Aadhaar and mobile phones created the JAM trinity. Second, this allowed direct benefit transfers into beneficiaries' accounts, cutting leakage and giving many first-time users a reason to use their accounts. Third, UPI made small digital payments cheap and instant, bringing street vendors and small shops into the formal system. Low-premium insurance and pension schemes linked to bank accounts extended protection to informal workers. The RBI's Financial Inclusion Index tracks these gains across access, usage and quality.

Challenges remain. Many accounts are used only to receive transfers. Formal credit still reaches few small borrowers, because they lack collateral and credit histories, so moneylenders survive. Financial and digital literacy is uneven, especially among older, rural and women users. Rising digital fraud threatens the trust on which usage depends. Finally, regional gaps persist, with the North-East and parts of central India behind.

The way forward is to move from access to meaningful use. Cash-flow-based lending using digital transaction data and the account aggregator framework can bring credit to thin-file borrowers. Business correspondents need better pay and training to serve as trusted local points of contact. Literacy campaigns in local languages, simple products designed for irregular incomes, and fast grievance redress for fraud victims would build confidence.

India has largely solved the problem of reaching people. The next stage is making finance work for them, and that depends on trust as much as technology.

That is about 300 words, finished well within time, with a mechanism, a named index, a disaggregation and grouped measures.

Practice drills

1. Which directive asks for a judgement on merits and limits?
   • Critically analyse, or evaluate.
2. In "Discuss the role of SHGs in women's empowerment in rural India", what are the limiting words?
   • "Women's empowerment" and "rural India". An answer on SHGs in general misses both.
3. With 50 marks in 90 minutes, how long should a 10-mark answer take in proportion?
   • 18 minutes.
4. How many answers are reported to be evaluated if you attempt five?
   • The first four.
5. Rewrite "Inflation is bad for the poor" as a mechanism.
   • "Food takes a larger share of poor households' budgets, and their incomes are rarely indexed, so a rise in food prices cuts their real consumption most."

What to do next

• Take three past-style questions and write only the two-minute plan for each.
• Type one 15-mark and one 10-mark answer under time this week.
• Check each answer for at least two of the five analysis moves.
• Use the ESI plan to schedule two typed answers a week until Phase 2.