CBSE Class 12 Economics Current Challenges facing The Indian Economy Poverty Worksheet

 

Providing minimum basic needs to the people and reduction of poverty have been the major aims of independent India. The pattern of development in the five year plans gave importance on the upliftment of the poorest of the poor (Antyodaya), integrating the poor into the mainstream and achieving a minimum standard of living for all. Poverty is not only a challenge for India, as more than one fifth of the world's poor live in India alone. More than 260 million people in India are not able to meet their basic needs. Poverty is a situation that people want to escape. As poverty has many degrees, it has to be looked at through a variety of ways like - levels of income and consumption, social indicators, and indicators of weakness to risks and of socio/political contact.

 

 

• Push cart vendors, street cobblers, women who string flowers, rag pickers, vendors and beggars are some examples of poor and vulnerable groups in urban areas.

 

• They possess few assets.

 

• They reside in kutcha hutments with walls made of baked mud and roofs made of grass, thatch, bamboo and wood.

 

• The poorest of them do not even have such home.

 

• In rural areas many of them are landless. Even if some of them possess land, it is only dry or waste land.

 

• Many do not get to have even two meals a day.

 

• Starvation and hunger are the key features of the poorest households.

 

• The poor lack basic literacy and skills and hence have very limited economic opportunities.

 

• Poor people also face unstable employment.

 

• Malnutrition is alarmingly high among the poor. Ill health, disability or serious illness makes them physically weak.

 

• They borrow from money lenders who charge high rates of interest that lead them into chronic indebtedness.

 

• The poor are highly vulnerable.

 

• They are not able to negotiate their legal wages from employers and are exploited.

 

• Most poor households have no access to electricity.

 

• Their primary cooking fuel is firewood and cow dung cake.

 

• A large section of poor people do not even have access to safe drinking water.

 

• There is evidence of extreme gender inequality in the participation of gainful employment, education and in decision-making within the family.

 

• Poor women receive less care on their way to motherhood. Their children are less likely to survive or be born healthy.

 

Poor are also identified on the basis of their occupation and ownership of assets. Rural poor work mainly as landless agricultural labourers, cultivators with very small landholdings, landless labourers who are engaged in a variety of non-agricultural jobs and tenant cultivators with small land holdings.

 

Urban poor are largely the overflow of the rural poor who had migrated to urban areas in search of alternative employment and livelihood, labourers who do a variety of casual jobs and the self-employed who sell a variety of things on roadsides and are engaged in various activities.

 

 

 

Dadabhai Naoroji was the first to discuss the concept of a Poverty Line. He used the menu for a prisoner and used appropriate prevailing prices to arrive at what may be called ‘jail cost of living'.

 

He assumed that one-third population consisted of children and half of them consumed very little while the other half consumed half of the adult diet.

 

This is how he arrived at the factor of three-fourths;

(l/6) (Nil) + (l/6) (Half) + (2/3) (Full) = (3/4) (Full).

 

The weighted average of consumption of the three segments gives the average poverty line,which comes out to be three-fourth of the adult jail cost of living.

 

 

In 1962, the Planning Commission formed a Study Group.

In 1979, another body called the 'Task Force on Projections of Minimum Needs and Effective Consumption Demand' was formed.

 

In 1989, an 'Expert Group' was constituted for the same purpose. For the purpose of defining poverty we divide people into two categories; the poor and the non-poor and the poverty line separates the two. However, there are many kinds of poor; the absolutely poor, the very poor and the poor. Similarly there are various kinds of non-poor; the middle class, the upper middle class, the rich, the very rich and the absolutely rich.

 

1. Chronic poor: People who are always poor and those who are usually poor but who may sometimes have a little more money.

2. Churning poor: Poor people who regularly move in and out of poverty (example: small farmers and seasonal workers)

3. Occasionally poor: People who are rich most of the time but may sometimes have a patch of bad luck. They are called the transient poor.

4. Non Poor: Those who are never poor and they are the non-poor

 

One way is to determine it by the money value (per capita expenditure) of the minimum calorie intake that was estimated at 2,400 calories for a rural person and 2,100 for a person in the urban area. Based on 1999 – 2000, the poverty line was defined for rural areas as consumption worth Rs 328 per person a month and for urban areas it was Rs 454.

 

 

Scholars state that a major problem with this mechanism as it groups all the poor together and does not differentiate between the very poor and the other poor. This mechanism is helpful in identifying the poor as a group to be taken care of by the government, but it would be difficult to identify who among the poor need help the most. There are many other factors, other than income and assets, which are associated with poverty: for instance, the accessibility to basic education, health care, drinking water and sanitation. The mechanism for determining the Poverty Line also does not take into consideration social factors that trigger and perpetuate poverty such as illiteracy, ill health, lack of access to resources, discrimination or lack of civil and political freedoms. Other measures of Poverty

 

Poverty alleviation schemes should be to improve human lives by expanding the range of things that a person could be and could do, such as to be healthy and wellnourished,to be knowledgeable and participate in the life of a community.

From the view of development, poverty is about removing the obstacles to the things that a person can do in life, such as illiteracy, ill health, lack of access to resources, or lack of civil and political freedoms.

 

 

• When the number of poor is estimated as the proportion of people below the poverty line, it is known as 'Head Count Ratio'.

 

• The official data on poverty is made available to the public by the Planning Commission. It is estimated on the basis of consumption expenditure data collected by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO).

 

• In 1973-74, more than 321 million people were below the poverty line.

 

• In 1999 – 2000, this number has come down to about 260 million.

 

• In terms of proportion, in 1973-74, about 55 per cent of the total population was below the poverty line. In 1999 – 2000, it has fallen to 26 per cent.

 

• In 1973-74, more than 80 per cent of the poor resided in rural areas and in 1999-2000, this has come down to about 75 per cent.

 

• More than three-fourth of the poor in India reside in villages. Also poverty in rural areas has shifted to urban areas.

 

• In the 1990s, the absolute number of poor in rural areas had decreased whereas the number of their urban counterparts increased marginally.

 

• The poverty ratio declined continuously for both urban and rural areas.

 

• Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa - account for about 70 per cent of India's poor.

 

• In 1999-2000, only two states - Bihar and Orissa - were left near that same level.

 

• Gujarat reduced its people below the poverty line from 48 per cent to 15 per cent during 1973-2000.

 

• West Bengal has been just as successful; from nearly two-third, i.e. 63 per cent of the population below the poverty line the same was reduced to about 27 per cent.

 

♦ The pattern of development that the successive five year plans envisaged laid emphasis on the upliftment of the poorest of the poor (Antoyo daya) integrating the poor into the main stream and achieving a minimum standard of living for all.
♦ Meaning of Poverty—Poverty refers to a state in which an individual is unable to fulfill even the basic necessities of life.
♦ Relative Poverty—It refers to poverty of people in comparison to other people, regions or nations.
♦ Absolute Poverty—It means the inability to arrange for the basic human needs. Such as food, clothing, health facilities, housing, etc.
♦ Causes of Poverty India

(1) Economic Causes—
(i) Excessive dependence on agriculture,
(ii) Lack of industrialisation,
(iii) Lack of capital formation,
(iv) Lack of efficient entrepreneurship,
(v) Rapid increase in population,
(vi) Un-equal distribution of National Income,
(vii) Low productivity,
(viii) Unemployment and semi-employment,
(ix) Inflationary pressure,
(x) Vicious circle of poverty.

(2) Social Causes—
(i) Traditional Conventions,
(ii) Belief in destiny,
(iii) Policy of Non-violence
(iv) Prevalent child marriage,
(v) Illiteracy and Ignorance,
(vi) Caste system.

(3) Political and Administrative Causes—
(i) Political instability,
(ii) Failure of Government Policies
♦ Special Programmes of Poverty Alleviation—

♦ Self Employment or Wage Employment Programme:
(1) Rural Employment Generation Programme,
(2) Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana
(3) Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana
(4) Sampoorna Grammen Rozgar Yojana

♦ Programmes to improve the food and nutritional status of the poor:
(1) Public Distribution System,
(2) Integrated Child Development Scheme
(3) Mid day Meal Scheme

♦ Programmes to develop Infrastructure
(1) Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(2) Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojana
(3) Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana

♦ National Social Assistance Programmes:
(1) Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme
(2) Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme
(3) Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme
(4) National Family Benefit Scheme
(5) Annapurna Scheme

♦ Other Programmes :
(1) Food for Work Programme
(2) National Maternity Benefit Yojana

♦ Flaws in Anti-Poverty Programmes—
(i) Inadequate Financial Limits,
(ii) Lack of Interest,
(iii) Poor targeting,
(iv)Lack of Accountability,
(v) Chain of mediators.

♦ India is primarily a country of villages. Our most of the poor people live in villages. In our almost all the five year plans focal point has been rural development. Even though, we could not develop our villages. If we are really interested in rural development, we will have to develop villages.
♦ Rural Development—“To improve the living standards to low level of income people living in rural areas and to make this development effort permanent.” In this way concept of rural development is more wider than agriculture development.

♦ Key Issues in Rural Development—
(i) Development of human resources,
(ii) Land reforms,
(iii) Development of basic infrastructure,
(iv) Poverty Alleviation,
(v) Development of productive resources.
♦ Rural Credit—That need of agriculture credit which are required for the completion of agriculture works is known as agricultural credit/finance.
♦ Classification of Agricultural Credit— Short-Term Credit—It is required for a period of 6 to 12 months for buying seeds, tools, manure, fertilizers, etc. Medium-Term Credit—It is required for about one to five years for digging wells, buying machinery, etc. Long-Term Credit—It is required for the period of 5 to 20 years for the purchase of tractors, land, costly equipment, tube wells, etc.

♦ Sources of Agricultural Credit—
(1) Non-Institutional Credit and
(2) Institutional Credit.
(1) Non-Institutional Sources—Money lender, Sahukars, Commission agents, Zamindars, Relatives and Friends etc.
(2) Institutional Sources—
(i) Government,
(ii) Co-operative credit societies,
(iii) Commercial banks,
(iv) Regional Rural Banks,
(v) NABARD,
(vi) Micro Finance Programmes and
(vii) Kisan Credit Card.

♦ Problems of Agricultural Credit—
(i) Lack of financing institutions,
(ii) Lack of co-ordination,
(iii) Loss of time and money,
(iv) Problem of agriculture warehousing,
(v) High rate of interest,
(vi) Non-availability of credit at proper time,
(vii) Differences in working system.

♦ Agricultural Marketing— “Agriculture Marketing includes all those activities which are related with the agricultural produce to deliver from farmers to ultimate consumers.”
♦ Defects of Agricultural Marketing in India—
(i) Forced sale,
(ii) Lack of transportation,
(iii) Lack of institutional finance,
(iv) Lack of organisation,
(v) Inadequate and unscientific storage system,
(vi) Lack of grading,
(vii) Lack of market information,
(viii) Predominance of intermediaries,
(ix) Fraudulent practices,
(x) Lack of financial facilities.

♦ Government Measures to Improve the system of Agricultural Marketing—
(i) Establishment of regulated markets,
(ii) Facilities for storage,
(iii) Construction of village storage,
(iv) Facilities of grading and standardisation,
(v) Improvement in weight and measurement measures,
(vi) Better transport arrangements,
(vii) Price stabilisation,
(viii) Establishment of special boards,
(ix) Organisation of co-operative marketing societies,
(x) State trading in food-grains,
(xi) Scientific storage in rural areas,
(xii) Establishment of TRIFED.

♦ Diversification of Agricultural Activities—Diversification of agricultural activities mean basically to grow multiple crops and extension of activities subsidiary to agriculture. It has two aspects :
(i) Change in cropping pattern
(ii) Diversification of agricultural activities
♦ Need of Diversification—
(i) To reduce the risk of agriculture,
(ii) To meet challenges of poverty and other odd situations,
(iii) To reduce the burden of population on agriculture.
♦ Diversification of Agriculture Activities in India—
(i) Animal husbandry,
(ii) Fisheries, (iii) Pottery,
(iv) Horticulture,
(v) Use of I.T.
♦ Organic Farming and sustainable development meaning—Organic farming is a system of farming that maintains, enhances and maintains ecological balance.

♦ Advantages of organic farming—
(i) Inexpensive Process,
(ii) Generates Income,
(iii) Healthier and Tastier food,
(iv) Solves problem of unemployment,
(v) Environment friendly.

♦ Along with physical capital formation, human resource development has a more important and productive role in economic development.
♦ Human Capital Formation—It refers to the process of acquiring and increasing the number of persons who have the skill, education and experience which are critical for the economic and political development of a country.
♦ Difference between Human Capital and Physical Capital Formation—In Physical Capital, the entrepreneur possesses knowledge to calculate the expected rate of return on a range of investment and then rationally decides which investment should be made. In human capital, an individual is influenced by the peers, educators and society regarding human capital investment.

♦ Importance of Human Capital Formation in Economic Development—
(i) Optimum utilisation of resources,
(ii) Helpful in production of National Wealth,
(iii) Co-ordination,
(iv) Speed up the rate of economic growth,
(v) Changes in the outlook of the labour force.

♦ Sources of Human Capital—
(i) Investment on health and nutrition,
(ii) Investment on education and training,
(iii) Housing development,
(iv) Migration and
(v) Expenditure on information.
♦ Human Development Index (HDI)—Human development index is broadly an arrangement of social aggregates average of longevity, knowledge and access to resources.
♦ India’s position is 130th out of 189 countries of the world. It is from the HDI prepared by UNDP in 2018. The value of HDI is 0.638.
♦ Problems of Human Capital Formation—
(i) Problem of estimation of total stock of human capital,
(ii) Problem of estimation of growth rate of human capital formation,
(iii) Neglect of on the job training programme,
(iv) Lack of initiative,
(v) Regional disparities,
(vi) Lack of foreign exchange funds,
(viii) Brain drain.
♦ Education—An Essential Element of Human Resource Development What is Education : It refers to the process of teaching, training and learning especially in schools or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skill.

♦ Development of Education in India—

(1) Elementary Education—Efforts made by Government.
(i) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA),
(ii) Mid-day Meals Plan,
(iii) Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme.
(2) Secondary Education—
(i) Novodaya Vidyalaya,
(ii) Kendriya Vidyalaya,
(iii) National Council of Educational Research and Training,
(iv) Vocationalisation of Secondary Education.

(3) University and Higher Education—
(i) IGNOU,
(ii) Academic Staff College.
(4) Technical, Medical and Agriculture Education.
(5) Rural Education
(6) Adult and Continuing Education.

♦ Defects of Education System—
(i) Wide Spread Illiteracy,
(ii) Low rural access level,
(iii) Low enrolment ratio,
(iv) Dropouts,
(v) Privatisation,
(vi) Unbalanced Development,
(vii) Disparities in Educational Development,
(viii)Defective Examination System.

♦ Measures to Reform Educational System—
(i) Extension of Primary Education,
(ii) Control over higher education,
(iii) Encouragement to female education,
(iv) Encouragements to education system,
(v) Employment oriented education,
(vi) Increase in government expenditure on education,
(vii) Control over political interference.
♦ Human Capital and Economic Growth : Economic growth means the increase in real national income of a country. Higher rate of economic growth is possible only through human capital. In fact there are two main sources of human capital :
(i) Education,
(ii) Health. These two sources play an important role in the economic growth.
♦ Human Capital and Human Development : The two terms human capital and human development seems similar but there is a big difference between the two. Human capital increases knowledge, skills and capacities of the people of the country. Human development, on the other side, considers education and health as integral to human well-being. In the human development, human beings are considered as ends themselves.

♦ What is Employment—Employment is an indicator of that situation in which worker is engaged in some productive activity for earning his living.
♦ Labour Supply– It refers to the amount of labour that are willing to offer corresponding to a particular wage rate.
Participation Rate = TotalWork Force / TotalSize of Population X 100
♦ Types of Labour—
(i) Self-Employed Labour—An arrangement in which a worker uses his own resources to make a living is known as self-employed. He owns and operates an enterprise to earn his livelihood.
(ii) Hired-Workers—Those people who are hired by others on paid wages or salaries as a reward for their services are called hired workers.
Hired workers can be of two types:
(a) Casual Workers—Those people who are not hired by their employers on a regular or permanent basis and do not get social security benefits are called casual workers.
(b) Regular Workers—This type of workers are hired on permanent basis by the employer.
♦ Size of work force in India— 

♦ Participation Rate—Aggregate participation rate in India is approx. 39%. In Urban areas this rate is 36 percent while in rural it is approximately 40 percent.
♦ Trends is Employment Pattern (Sector-wise and Status-wise), 1972-2012(in %) 

♦ Jobless Growth—If economic growth is driven by better technology but it fails to improve the rate of participation in economy, such a growth is called ‘Jobless Growth’. 

♦ What is Unemployment—Unemployment means a situation in which a person willing to work and able to work does not get employment at the prevailing wage rate.
♦ Nature of unemployment in India—In rural areas, open and disguised unemployment and in urban areas’ industrial, educated and technological unemployment are common.
♦ Adverse Effects of Unemployment—

(A) Economic Mal-effects—
(i) Waste of human power,
(ii) Decrease in Economic Disparity,
(iii) Industrial Conflict,
(iv) Increase in poverty,
(v) Adverse effect on capital formation.

(B) Social and Political effects—
(i) Creation of Social Problems,
(ii) Exploitation of labour,
(iii) High inequality,
(iv) Political instability.
♦ Causes of Unemployment in India—

(A) General Causes—
(i) Rapid increase in population,
(ii) Slow pace of development,
(ii) Inadequate economic planning.

(B) Specific Causes—
(i) Seasonal Nature of Agriculture,
(ii) Increase in Pressure of population,
(iii) Shortage of Capital,
(iv) Social Status,
(v) Shortage of Secondary Education.

♦ Measure to Eradicate Unemployment in India— General Measures :
(i) Control of population,
(ii) Increase in investment rate,
(iii) Manpower planning,
(iv) Employment oriented planning,
(v) Social reforms,
(vi) Development of entrepreneurs qualities. Specific Measures :

(A) Rural Unemployment—
(i) Encouragement to rural industrialisation,
(ii) Institution changes in agriculture,
(iii) Employment oriented planning in villages,
(iv) Encouragement to multiple cropping in agriculture.

(B) Urban Unemployment—
(i) Fuller utilisation of production capacity,
(ii) Encouragement to small industries,
(ii) Practical form of Education.

♦ Government Measures to solve unemployment—
(A) General—
(i) Population control,
(ii) Reforms in education policy,
(iii) Diversification of farm activities,
(iv) Development of village and small industries.
(B) Special Measures—Employment generation programmes, e.g., Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005.

♦ Infrastructure increases the productivity of productive resources and raises the standard of living and economic development of the country. All those factors like-energy, transport, communication, school, college and hospitals etc. which are the basis of economic and social development of human are termed as infrastructure.
♦ Concept of Infrastructure—Infrastructure refers to the basic supporting structure which is built to provide different kinds of success in an economy. These services include roads, railways, ports, airports, dams, power stations oil and gas pipelines, telecommunication facilities, schools and colleges, health system including clean drinking water facilities, banks, insurance and other financial institutions.

♦ Types of Infrastructure
(i) Economic Infrastructure—It refers to all such elements of economic change (like power, transport, communication and monetary system) which serve as a support system to the process of economic growth.
(ii) Social Infrastructure—It refers to all such elements which help in human capital formation, e.g., health, education, housing, etc.

♦ Importance of Infrastructure in economic development—
(i) Raises productivity,
(ii) Provides employment,
(iii) Induced foreign investment,
(iv) Enhances ability to work,
(v) Facilitates outsourcing,
(vi) Raises size of market,
(vii) Raises economic development.
♦ State of Infrastructure in India—India invests only 34 percent of its GDP in Infrastructure.

♦ Sources of Energy—
(i) Conventional Sources
(a) Commercial Sources—Coal, petroleum, electricity, etc. are used for commercial purposes.
(b) Non-commercial Sources—These are obtained from the nature and firewood, agriculture waste, cow dung, etc. are its example.
(ii) Non-conventional Sources of Energy—These are renewable sources like –Wind energy, solar energy, tidal energy, bio-gas, etc.

♦ Consumption Pattern of Commercial Energy—
(i) Presently 74 percent of total energy is consumed commercially.
(ii) Coal has highest share upto 54 percent, oil 32 percent, 10 percent natural gas and 2 percent hydro-energy.
(iii) Non-commercial energy account for 26 percent to total energy. 

♦ Some challenges in Power Sector:
(i) To meet growing demand for electricity, India’s Commercial energy supply needs to grow at about 7%
(ii) Increased losses of State Electricity Boards.
(iii) Private sector power generators are yet to play their role in a major way.
(iv) General Public unrest due to high power tariffs and prolonged power cuts in different parts of the country.
(v) Shortage of raw material and coal supplies to thermal power plants.

♦ Measure to cope with challenges:
(i) More public expenditure,
(ii) Better research and development,
(iii) Technological Innovation,
(iv) Use of renewable energy sources
♦ Health: It does not mean only absence of disease but to raise ability to works.
♦ Health Infrastructure in India: Expenditure on health sector is only 4.7% of the total GDP. (IMG 171)
Sources: National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Government of India, New Delhi. 2005.

♦ Health services after Independence—
(i) Decline in death rate,
(ii) Reduction is infant mortality rate,
(iii) Rise in expectancy of life,
(iv) Control over deadly diseases,
(v) Reduction in child mortality rate,
(vi) Role of Private Sector,
(vii) Medical tourism,
(viii) Role of Community and non-profit organisations.
♦ Indian System of Medicine (ISM)—AYUSH A = Ayurveda, Y = Yoga and Naturopathy, U = Unani, S = Siddha, H = Homeopathy and Naturopathy
♦ State of Power/Electricity in India: The growth rate of demand for power is generally higher than GDP growth rate. In order to have 8% GDP growth rate per annum, power supply needs to grow around 12% annually.

♦ Problems of Indian Health infrastructure:
(i) Malnutrition and inadequate supply of vaccines.
(ii) No full utilisation of Public health services.
(iii) Insufficient stock of medicines to Primary Health Centres.
(iv) Urban-rural and Poor-rich division class.

♦ Measures to Improve health infrastructure of India:
(i) Decentralisation of public health services.
(ii) Proper & sufficient supply of medicines, vaccines and other equipment and facilities to Primary Health Centres.
(iii) Use of Information Technology to spread health awareness.
(iv) Check on divide between rural and urban, rich and poor.
♦ Government Schemes/Initiatives (i) Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Scheme (Sep. 2018)
(ii) Swachh Bharat Mission (Oct. 2014) (iii) Make in India (Sep. 2014)
(iv) PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana) (Aug. 2014)
(v) PMUY (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana) (May. 2016)
(vi) Digital India (May. 2015) (vii) Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana 

♦ Environment—It means, at a particular place, surrounding or conditions in which our organism lives on operate.
♦ Physical Environment—This is also known as non-biological environment. It includes land, water, climate, mountains minerals and all other sources which nature provides to us as a free gift.
♦ Biological Environment—It is also called living environment. It includes human, animals, birds, plants and all micro organisms.
♦ Functions and Role of Environment—
(i) It supplies resources,
(ii) It sustains life,
(iii) It assimilates waste and
(iv) It enhances quality of life.

♦ Causes of Environmental Degradation—
(i) Population Growth,
(ii) Poverty,
(iii) Agricultural Development,
(iv) Industrialisation,
(v) Transport Development,
(vi) Urbanisation,
(vii) Foreign indebtedness,
(viii) Market failure.

♦ Effects of Economic Development on Environment—
(i) Global warming,
(ii) Depletion of Ozone layer,
(iii) Environmental crisis,
(iv) Rise in opportunity cost of negative environmental impacts,
(v) Supply-Demand reversal of environment resources.

♦ Challenges of India’s Environment—
(i) Air Pollution,
(ii) Water Pollution,
(iii) Solid and hazardous waste,
(iv) Deforestation,
(v) Land degradation.
♦ Sustainable Development—Development that means the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs is called sustainable development.

♦ Objectives of Sustainable Development—
(i) To increase economic growth,
(ii) To meet basic needs,
(iii) To improve quality of life,
(iv) To maximise the net benefits of future generations.

♦ Strategies to Achieve Sustainable Development—
(i) Use of Non-conventional sources of energy,
(ii) LPG & Gobar gas in rural areas.
(iii) CNG in urban areas,
(iv) Wind power
(v) Solar power through photovoltaic cells,
(vi) Mini hydel plants,
(vii) Bio-composting,
(viii) Bio-pest control.

Question. With which disparity of income and its distribution are associated ?
(a) Absolute Poverty
(b) Relative Poverty
(c) Chronic Poverty
(d) All o the above
Answer: B

Question. Relative Poverty is prevalent in —
(a) Capitalist Countries
(b) Socialist Countries
(c) Communist Countries
(d) Developed Countries
Answer: A

Question. Agriculture marketing includes :
(a) Purchase of commodity
(b) Sale of agricultural produce
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above
Answer: B

Question. Which of the following activities are not included in agricultural marketing :
(a) Assembling of agricultural products
(b) Grading of agricultural products
(c) Processing of agricultural products
(d) None of the above
Answer: D

Question. Farmer is forced for sale of his products at low price. Because :
(a) Ignorance about market information
(b) Financial Problems
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above
Answer: C

Question. AGMARK is related with :
(a) Agricultural production in government farms
(b) Standard Quality of agricultural produce
(c) For sale
(d) None of the above
Answer: B

Question. Which of the following is not an institutional credit agency :
(a) Co-operative Societies
(b) Commercial and Regional rural banks
(c) NABARD
(d) Desi Banker
Answer: D

Question. Farmers need credit for consumption purpose such as on birth and death, etc. called
(a) Productive credit
(b) Unproductive credit
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above
Answer: B

Question. ‘TRYSEM’ a programme made for the :
(a) Employment to retired government employees
(b) Employment to Rural youths
(c) Employment to Urban youths
(d) Credit to rural people
Answer: A

Question. The Union Government announce KUSUM scheme for promoting solar farming. In the term KUSUM, the letter ‘S’ stands for
(a) Solar
(b) Suraksha
(c) Samvidhaan
(d) Sarvopari
Answer: B

Question. Which industry employs the largest number of women in India?
(a) Tea
(b) Textile
(c) Jute
(d) Coal
Answer: A

Question. Absolute Poverty is prevalent in —
(a) Communist Countries
(b) Developing Economies
(c) Socialist Economies
(d) Developed Countries
Answer: B

Question. In which category, the loan taken for buying agriculture equipment is generally put :
(a) Short-Term Loan
(b) Medium-Term Loan
(c) Long-Term Loan
(d) All of the above
Answer: B

Question. In which year regional rural banks were established:
(a) 1969
(b) 1971
(c) 1975
(d) 1980
Answer: C

Question. When was NABARD constituted :
(a) July, 1982
(b) June, 1982
(c) July, 1980
(d) July, 1984
Answer: A

Question. Which institute do not provide direct loan to farmers :
(a) NABARD
(b) Commercial Bank
(c) Regional Rural Bank
(d) Primary Agriculture Debit Society
Answer: A

Question. Which is an apex institute of rural credit :
(a) Reserve Bank of India
(b) NABARD
(c) State Bank of India
(d) Syndicate Bank
Answer: B

Question. Estimation of poverty in rural economies is at per day consumption of calories—
(a) Less than 2200
(b) Less than 2100
(c) Less than 2400
(d) Less than 2000
Answer: C

Question. Estimation of poverty in urban areas is at the consumption of per day calories is—
(a) Less than 2000
(b) Less than 2100
(c) Less than 2400
(d) Less than 2200
Answer: B

Question. What is the main reason of poverty in India in urban areas—
(a) Lack of Professional Education
(b) Unequal Distribution
(c) Lack of Family Planning Facilities
(d) Money Inflation
Answer: A

Question. Which of the following is not a self-employment programme?
(a) Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP)
(b) Prime Minister’s RozgarYojana (PMRY)
(c) City Employment Guarantee Act (CEGA)
(d) Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
Answer. C

Question. The main causes behind poverty are.
(a) Social inequality
(b) Indebtedness
(c) Unequal wealth distribution
(d) Both (a) and (c)
Answer. D

Question. The people who frequently move in and out of the poor section are called :
(a) Churning poor
(b) Major poor
(c) Hidden poor
(d) None of these
Answer. A

Question. Which of the following is NOT a source of health expenditure?
(a) Preventive Medicine
(b) Curative Medicine
(c) Interim Medicine
(d) Social Medicine
Answer. C

Question. Which level of education takes the major share of total expenditure by the government?
(a) Higher Education
(b) Elementary Education
(c) Tertiary Education
(d) None of these
Answer. B

Question. Source of Human Capital Formation :
(a) Investment in education
(b) Investment in health
(c) Investment in on-the-job training
(d) All of these
Answer. D

Question. Indicator of growth of education sector :
(a) Life expectancy rate
(b) infant mortality rate
(c) Literacy rate
(d) none of these
Answer. C

Question. Nationalisation of commercial banks took place in
(a) 1967
(b) 1965
(c) 1962
(d) 1969
Answer. D

Question. Traditional sources of rural credit in India are:
(a) Money lenders
(b) Traders
(c) Relatives and friends
(d) all of these
Answer. D

Question. Arrange the following government policy in chronological order and choose the correct alternatives.
I. Study group formed by planning commission for poverty
II. Task force on projections of the minimum needs and effective consumption demand
III. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
IV. Jan Dhan Yoyana
Choose the correct alternative:
(a) II, III, IV, I
(b) III, II, I, IV
(c) I, II, III, IV
(d) II, IV, I, III
Answer. D

Question. Arrange the following poverty alleviation programmes in India in chronological order and choose the correct alternative:
I. National Rural Employment Programme (NREP)
II. Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)
III. Rural Landless Employment Guarantee
Programme (RLEGP)
IV. Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY)
Choose the correct alternative:
(a) II, I, IV, III
(b) II, IV, I, III
(c) IV, I, III, II
(d) III, IV, I, II
Answer. A

Question. Arrange the following poverty reduction programmed in chronological order and choose the correct alternatives.
I. Indira Awaas Yojana:
II. National Rural Livelihood Mission
III. National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojna
IV. Food for Work Programme
Choose the correct alternative:
(a) III, II, I, IV
(b) I, II, III, IV
(c) II, III, I, IV
(d) IV, III, II, I
Answer. A

Question. Arrange the following programmes introduced by the government to improve food and nutritional level of the poor in chronological order and choose the correct alternatives.
I. PDS
II. Midday Meal Scheme
III. Integrated Child Development Scheme
IV. Universal Health Insurance Scheme
Choose the correct alternative:
(a) I, II, III, IV
(b) IV, III, II, I
(c) III, I, II, IV
(d) II, III, IV, I
Answer. C

Question. When was Food for Work (FFW) programme started?
(a) 2002
(b) 2000
(c) 2004
(d) None of these
Answer. B

Question. Arrange the following poverty alleviation programmes in India in chronological order and choose the correct alternative:
I. The great proletarian cultural revolution
II. State allocated production quotas
III. Permission of direct foreign exchange
IV. Rural economic reform’
Choose the correct alternative:
(a) III, I, II, IV
(b) IV, II, III, I
(c) I, III, IV, II
(d) I, IV, II, III
Answer. C

Question. What was the percentage of the population below the poverty line in India in 2011-12 ?
(a) 26.1%
(b) 19.3%
(c) 22%
(d) 32%
Answer. C

Question. Which of following is the poverty determination measure ?
(a) Head Count Ratio
(b) Sen Index
(c) Poverty Gap Index
(d) All of these
Answer. D

Question. When was National Food For Work Programme launched ?
(a) 2005
(b) 1992
(c) 2012
(d) 2004
Answer. D

Question. Which of the following is an indicator of poverty in India ?
(a) All of these
(b) Illiteracy level
(c) Income level
(d) Employment level
Answer. C

Question. Which of the following is not a means of human capital formation ?
(a) Improves technical knowledge
(b) Enlarges the size of business
(c) Increases cost of production
(d) Changes social outlooks
Answer. C

Question. Which of the following is not an indicator of education level ?
(a) Years of schooling
(b) Life expectancy
(c) Teacher-pupil ratio
(d) Enrollment rate
Answer. B

Question. The stock of skill, ability, expertise, education and knowledge in a nation at a point of time known as
(a) Human Development
(b) None
(c) Human Resource
(d) Human Capital
Answer. D

Question. Which of the following are indicators of HDI
(a) Longevity
(b) Educational attainment
(c) Standard of living
(d) All of these
Answer. D

Question. Which among the following is an initiative taken for the development of rural India?
(a) Human Capital Formation
(b) Land Reforms
(c) Poverty Alleviation
(d) All of these
Answer. D

Question. What is the full form of SHG.
(a) None
(b) Self Higher Group
(c) Social Help Group
(d) Self Help Group
Answer. D

Question. An academy established for rural prosperity is know as
(a) Janta Tata National Virtual Academy
(b) Jamshedji Tatron National Real Academy
(c) Jamshedji Tata Net Virtual Academy
(d) Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy
Answer. D

Question. The reason of Distress sale is
(a) Farmers need cash immediately for paying debts
(b) High Storage Cost
(c) Lack of Storage facilities
(d) All of these
Answer. D

Question. .............. introduced the poverty line, in preindependent India that proved beneficial for the government to make policies for the weaker section.
(a) Jawahar Lal Nehru
(b) Dadabhai Naoroji
(c) Mahatma Gandhi
(d) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Answer. B

Question. Human capital formation is the process of .................... to the stock of human capital overtime.
(a) reduction
(b) consistency
(c) eliminating
(d) adding
Answer. D

Question. ...................... is not the cause of poverty.
(a) Social exclusion
(b) Indebtness
(c) Income equality
(d) Unemployment
Answer. C

Question. This inequality widens the problem of ................... .
(a) illiteracy
(b) poverty
(c) death rate
(d) labour reduction
Answer. B

Question. The ................... causes overall backwardness of the Indian economy.
(a) scarcity of capital
(b) labour scarcity
(c) unemployment
(d) poverty
Answer. A

Question. Agriculture and allied products account for ................... of India's total export.
(a) 15%
(b) 5%
(c) 18%
(d) 10%
Answer. D

Question. .................. acts as an impediment to India's economic development.
(a) Unemployment
(b) Poverty
(c) Mass illiteracy
(d) Improper rural development
Answer. A

Question. Indian agriculture exhibits a considerable amount of.................. .
(a) under employment and disguised unemployment
(b) unemployment
(c) disguised employment
(d) voluntary employment
Answer. A

Question. ….……… is major source of human capital.
(a) Taxes
(b) Subsidies
(c) Health
(d) All of above
Answer. C

Question. Significance of human capital was recognised in………. five year plan.
(a) Third
(b) Second
(c) Seventh
(d) Fourth
Answer. C

Question. Credit taken for a period of 15 years is ………….. .
(a) Short term credit
(b) Medium term credit
(c) Long term credit
(d) all of these
Answer. C

Question. NABARD is …………….. source of rural credit
(a) Institutional
(b) Non-Institutional
(c) Cooperative society
(d) Regional
Answer. A

Question. Agriculture marketing does not comprise of .............. .
(a) Transportation of the produce to the market place for sale.
(b) Grading of the produce according to the quality.
(c) Storage of the produce for sale in future.
(d) Credit taken to meet expenditure on agriculture.
Answer. D

Question. In ..............., the Karve Committee noted the possibility of using small-scale industries for promoting rural development.
(a) 1944
(b) 1951
(c) 1955
(d) 1953
Answer. C

Question. Choose the correct pair of statement from the following column I and column II:

Column I	Column II
Kudumbashree	Kerala
SHGs	Helped urban people
Apni Mandi	Pune
Major milk producing state	Haryana

Alternatives:
(a) A - (i)
(b) B - (ii)
(c) C - (iii)
(d) D - (iv)
Answer. A

Question. From the set of terms given in Column I and corresponding definitions/categories given in Column II.
Choose the correct pair of statement :

Column I	Column II
Unequal distribution of income	Number/ of individuals who are searching of a job work.
Unemployed	High among the lowincome group (poor)
Transient poor	Poverty
Malnutrition	Hardly/occasionally poor

Alternatives:
(a) A - (i), B - (ii), C - (iii), D - (iv)
(b) A - (ii), B - (iii), C - (iv), D - (i)
(c) A - (iii), B - (i), C - (iv), D - (ii)
(d) A - (iv), B - (ii), C - (iii), D - (iv)
Answer. C

Question. From the set of terms given in Column I and corresponding definitions/categories given in Column II.
Choose the correct pair of statement :

Column I	Column II
Sex Ratio	Rate of increase in population
Fertility Rate	The proportion of females per 1000 males
Population Density	Number of live births per thousand women
Growth Rate of population	Population per unit area

Alternatives:
(a) A - (i), B - (ii), C - (iii), D - (iv)
(b) A - (ii), B - (iii), C - (iv), D - (i)
(c) A - (iii), B - (iv), C - (ii), D - (ii)
(d) A - (iv), B - (ii), C - (iii), D - (iv)
Answer. B

Question. Match the Columns:

Column I	Column II
Childhood stunting	Standard of living, education
Agriculture distress	India
Mixed economy	Malnutrition
Human development index	Falling food prices

Alternatives:
(a) A - (iii), B - (iv), C - (ii), D - (i)
(b) A - (i), B - (ii), C - (iii), D - (iv)
(c) A - (i), B - (iii), C - (iv), D - (ii)
(d) A - (i), B - (iv), C - (iii), D - (ii)
Answer. A

Question. The economic consequences of COVID-19 on South Asia are proving to be even greater than the healthcare challenges in the region. Different South Asian countries have dealt with the pandemic in various ways, but the economic costs overall seem to be higher than the healthcare consequences", said Rabbani. The economic consequences of the pandemic in South Asian countries are ………… the health care challenges.
(a) greater than
(b) smaller than
(c) equal to
(d) none of these
Answer. A

Question. We need good human capital to produce other human capital (say, doctors, engineers etc.). It means that we need investment in human capital to produce more human capital out of human resources.For that we need….
(a) investment in education
(b) investment in heath
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) none of these
Answer. C

Question. The government is planning to enhance welfare schemes for villagers by making sure that all eligible people in various databases in different ministries get benefits. Officials said they have begun the process by looking at the Aadhar-based list of ration card holders and the rural development ministry's data on deprived household The govemment of India is targeting welfare schemes for people in rural areas by taking data from
(a) Aadhar-based list of ration card holders
(b) Rural development ministry's data on deprived households
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) neither (a) nor (b)
Answer. C

Question. The government has database of more than 800 million beneficiaries covered under Food Security Act. It has implemented one nation one ration card' scheme in 28 states and union territories covering 686 million people where a person can get subsidised foodgrains from any ration shop irrespective of the state, municipality or panchayat where the person is registered.
Government has implemented .................... to provide subsidised foodgrain through fair price shops to the eligible persons.
(a) one nation one card
(b) Food security act
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) neither (a) and (b)
Answer. A

Question. Diversification in Agriculture includes two aspects one relates to change in cropping pattern to shift from subsistence farming commercial farming (by shifting from single cropping system to multi-cropping system) and the other relates to a shift of workforce from agriculture to other allied activities (livestock, poultry. fisheries etc.)
This helps in…
(a) To overcome poverty
(b) gainful employment in new areas
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) none of these
Answer. C

Question. 1.Under PMGKAY 1 and 2, which started from April and is due to end in November, the government has so far distributed an additional 5 kg of wheat and rice per month to 800 million beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), over their usual entitlement of 5 kg of grains a month. In addition, the government has distributed 1 kg of free pulses (largely chana) to every NFSA family in the last eight months.
Under this scheme, the government maintained
adequate stock of…………..
(a) wheat
(b) rice
(c) chana
(d) all of these
Answer. D

Question. The government uses Monthly Per Capita Expenditure to determine poverty line Poverty line is defined on the basis of minimum calorie intake of 2400 calories per person per day in rural areas and 2100 calories for a person in urban areas.
The minimum calorie intake in rural areas is in defining poverty line.
(a) 2600 calories
(b) 2400 calories
(c) 2100 calories
(d) 2000 calories
Answer. B

 

Fill in the blanks :

Question. The growth of real India is possible only by the development of ______.
Answer: Villages

Question. At the time of independence _____exploited the small and marginal farmers.
Answer: Money lenders and Traders 

Question. _____farming is free from chemicals.
Answer: Organic

Question. The fishing community regards the water body as _________.
Answer: Mother

Question. __________predominates agricultural market.
Answer: Big merchants and rich farmers.

True or False :

Question. Indian farmers take productive loans only.
Answer: False

Question. The loan taken by farmer for purchase of cattle and agricultural equipment is not called medium term loan.
Answer: False.

Question. India has a comparative advantage in organic farming.
Answer: True

Question. UP and Bihar are major producers of marine products.
Answer: False

Question. Indian Farmers, generally, get caught in Debt trap.
Answer: True