In a given year in India, official poverty lines are higher in some States than in others because
- A.poverty rates vary from State to State
- B.price levels vary from State to State
- C.Gross State Product varies from State to State
- D.quality of public distribution varies from State to State
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, price levels vary from State to State. A poverty line is the money needed to buy a minimum basket of goods, and that basket costs more in some States than in others.
India's poverty lines are expressed as monthly per capita consumption expenditure. Expert groups such as the Tendulkar Committee (2009) and the Rangarajan Committee (2014) first fixed a national basket of food and non-food needs and then converted it into State-wise rural and urban poverty lines using State price indices. So the line for a State with costlier food, rent and transport is higher, though the standard of living it represents is the same.
A is wrong: the poverty rate is the result of applying the line, not the reason the line differs.
C is wrong: Gross State Product measures output and is not used to set the line.
D is wrong: the quality of the public distribution system affects access to grain, not the official line itself.
Exam tip: State poverty lines differ because of price differences; Tendulkar and Rangarajan committees used State price indices.
Practice Questions
View allIndia enacted The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 in order to comply with the obligations to
- A.ILO
- B.IMF
- C.UNCTAD
- D.WTO
Show answer
As a member of the World Trade Organization, India had to protect geographical indications under the TRIPS Agreement, and the 1999 Act was passed for that purpose.
Read the full explanation →With reference to the provisions made under the National Food Security Act, 2013, consider the following statements :
1. The families coming under the category of 'below poverty line (BPL)' only are eligible to receive subsidised food grains.
2. The eldest woman in a household, of age 18 years or above, shall be the head of the household for the purpose of issuance of a ration card.
3. Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a 'take-home ration' of 1600 calories per day during pregnancy and for six months thereafter.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
- A.1 and 2
- B.2 only
- C.1 and 3
- D.3 only
Show answer
The Act makes the eldest woman of 18 or above the head of the household for the ration card, but the other two statements misstate it.
Read the full explanation →The Wholesale Price Index in India is released by the Office of the Economic Adviser, which works under
- A.The Ministry of Finance
- B.The Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- C.The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- D.The Ministry of Labour and Employment
Show answer
The Office of the Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, which is a department of that ministry, compiles and releases the Wholesale Price Index every month, along with the index of eight core industries; the wholesale index covers primary articles, fuel and power and…
Read the full explanation →The Index of Industrial Production in India is compiled and released by
- A.The Reserve Bank of India
- B.The National Statistical Office
- C.The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
- D.The Labour Bureau
Show answer
The index measures the short term change in the volume of production of the industrial sector and is published every month, with mining, manufacturing and electricity as its three sectors and a use-based classification into primary goods, capital goods, intermediate goods, infrastructure and construction goods, consumer durables and consumer non-durables.
Read the full explanation →Which Act provides the legal framework for the collection of official statistics in India?
- A.The Census Act, 1948
- B.The Collection of Statistics Act, 2008
- C.The Right to Information Act, 2005
- D.The Indian Statistical Institute Act, 1959
Show answer
It empowers the Union, the State and local governments to collect statistics on economic, demographic, social, scientific and environmental matters, obliges the informant to furnish the information asked for, and bars the disclosure of the information of an individual informant for any purpose other than statistics; it was amended in…
Read the full explanation →