RAS question
Which earlier national emergency did PM Modi compare the Centre-state 'Team India' response to, during the March 27 CMs meeting?
Correct answer: (A) COVID-19 pandemic response.
PM Modi compared the Centre-state "Team India" response at the March 27 chief ministers' meeting to India's collective response during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Explanation
PM Modi's comparison was to the COVID-19 pandemic response. The New India Samachar report on the March 27 meeting says he recalled the collective efforts made during COVID-19, when the Centre and the States worked together as "Team India" to reduce the impact on supply chains, trade and daily life. In the meeting, this earlier experience was used as the model for handling the West Asia crisis: coordinated information-sharing, joint decisions and close Centre-state cooperation were presented as India's main strength in dealing with disruptions. That is why option A fits both the wording of the question and the source.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) The 2013 Uttarakhand floods are not the emergency recalled in the cited report; the source specifically names the COVID-19 pandemic as the earlier example of Centre-state teamwork.
- (C) The 2001 Gujarat earthquake is not supported by the cited meeting report, which links the "Team India" comparison to COVID-19 and its effects on supply chains, trade and daily life.
- (D) The 1999 Kargil War does not match the source because the comparison was about coordinated Centre-state handling of a global disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, not a military conflict.
Concept
This tests Centre-state coordination in crisis governance, a recurring RAS theme under cooperative federalism and executive response. Such questions often ask candidates to connect a current governance statement with the institutional precedent being invoked.