BharatNotes Fencing
noun (also the present participle of the verb "fence")Usage in a UPSC answer
When pressed on the question of fiscal devolution, the minister resorted to deft verbal fencing, parrying every query without conceding a single figure, thereby exposing the executive's reluctance to subject its accounts to genuine legislative scrutiny.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
fence (n/v), fenced (adj), fencer (n), defence (n)
Root
Middle English fens, shortening of defens = defence; de- = away + Latin fendere = to strike
Etymology
From Middle English fens, a shortening of defens ("defence"); border fencing as a security measure became widespread in the 20th century.
Memory Hook
A "fence" both DEFENDS your boundary and is what swordsmen do to defend themselves — the same Latin root "defendere" (to ward off) underlies the barrier, the sword-sport, and the evasive "fencing" of a tricky question.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The construction of a physical barrier along a border. Its function is frequently overstated and the accurate formulation is that a fence does not stop crossing but delays it, and delay is what converts an undetected crossing into an interception, since it buys the time a patrol or quick reaction force needs to arrive. That is why fencing is always described as part of a system comprising the obstacle, floodlighting, roads for lateral movement, observation posts and a response force, and why an unmanned fence achieves very little. Its limits are physical and political together: rivers shift their courses so a fence built on one alignment may end on the wrong side; some stretches lie within the zone where construction close to the boundary is restricted by agreement; marshy and mountainous terrain will not carry it; and land acquisition through inhabited areas is contentious. Comprehensive integrated border management substitutes layered sensors for the obstacle where terrain forbids it.
Don’t Confuse It With
Fencing is the physical obstacle, while border management is the wider system of surveillance, roads, posts, response forces and intelligence within which it sits. A no man's land is the strip between the fence and the actual boundary, which exists because construction is often set back from the border line. Demarcation is the physical marking of an agreed boundary on the ground, and delimitation its definition in a treaty, so both precede fencing and are diplomatic rather than engineering tasks.
Hindi Meaning
बाड़बंदी (bāṛbandī); सीमा प्रबंधन for border management.
Common Questions
- What does border fencing actually achieve?
- It delays rather than prevents crossing, and that delay is what allows patrols and quick reaction forces to intercept, which is why an unmanned fence accomplishes little.
- Why is some of the border left unfenced?
- Because rivers shift course, marshy and mountainous terrain will not support construction, some stretches fall within zones where building near the boundary is restricted by agreement, and land acquisition is contested.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Prelims 2020 — Internal Security
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Fencing” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
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