50. In Marxian analysis, which process is centrally associated with the persistence of poverty?
[MPPSC Assistant Professor (Sociology), 4 Aug 2024]
- A. Natural scarcity
- B. Cultural conflict alone
- C. Exploitation of labour
- D. Illiteracy alone
Answer: C. Exploitation of labour
Explanation: Marx emphasized the economic relationship in which owners of capital appropriate surplus value created by labour. This unequal relationship, rather than merely individual shortcomings, helps explain class inequality and material deprivation within a capitalist system in his analysis.
49. Assertion: Indian states performing well in HDI tend also to perform well in SDG rankings.
Reason: Education and health feature prominently in both frameworks.
Choose the relationship.
[UPPSC PCS Prelims 2024, GS-I]
- A. Both true, reason explains assertion
- B. Both true, but unrelated
- C. Only assertion true
- D. Only reason true
Answer: A. Both true, reason explains assertion
Explanation: HDI measures health, knowledge and income, while multiple SDG targets involve health, education and inclusive livelihoods. Their shared dimensions can generate a positive relationship across states. This does not make the indexes identical, but explains why their results can be correlated.
48. Which statement about HDI is incorrect?
[SSC CHSL Tier-I, 03 Aug 2023, Shift 2]
- A. HDI incorporates educational achievement
- B. A standard-of-living component is used
- C. Birth and death rates directly form a separate HDI component
- D. Life expectancy at birth represents health
Answer: C. Birth and death rates directly form a separate HDI component
Explanation: The HDI measures health through life expectancy at birth, knowledge through schooling, and living standards through GNI per capita. Crude birth and death rates are demographic indicators, not additional direct HDI components. Older formulations used different education and income proxies.
47. Arrange Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh from better to poorer HDI rank in the 2021–22 report.
[SSC CGL Tier-I, 18 Jul 2023, Shift 1]
- A. Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan
- B. Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh
- C. Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan
- D. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka
Answer: B. Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh
Explanation: In the 2021–22 report, Sri Lanka ranked ahead of Maldives, which ranked ahead of Bhutan and Bangladesh. Here a numerically smaller rank denotes a better relative position. The ordering must be judged using the specifically cited report rather than current ranks.
46. Which statistical body supplies household-survey data underlying official poverty estimates in India?
[SSC CHSL Tier-I, 11 Aug 2023, Shift 1]
- A. Finance Ministry
- B. Reserve Bank of India
- C. Rural Development Ministry
- D. National Statistical Office
Answer: D. National Statistical Office
Explanation: The National Statistical Office and its former NSSO structure undertake large sample surveys, including household consumption expenditure. Poverty-estimating authorities use survey distributions with specified thresholds. Survey data collection and the choice of a poverty line are distinct activities.
45. Which measure is used as an input for estimating poverty from household spending?
[SSC CGL Tier-I, 19 Jul 2023, Shift 2]
- A. Average marginal utility
- B. Maximum support value
- C. Minimum support price
- D. Monthly per capita expenditure
Answer: D. Monthly per capita expenditure
Explanation: Monthly per capita expenditure is obtained by dividing household monthly consumption spending by household size. Comparing this figure with a defined poverty threshold helps estimate the share of people below the line, making it more relevant than farm support prices or utility concepts.
44. Which state had the highest multidimensional-poverty incidence in NITI Aayog’s first National MPI report of 2021?
[SSC CGL Tier-I, 14 Jul 2023, Shift 1]
- A. Bihar
- B. Madhya Pradesh
- C. Uttar Pradesh
- D. Mizoram
Answer: A. Bihar
Explanation: The first National Multidimensional Poverty Index, published by NITI Aayog in 2021, identified Bihar as having the highest headcount proportion among states. The measure reflects several simultaneous deprivations rather than only monetary poverty.
43. What urban monthly per-person poverty threshold was used in the 2011–12 Tendulkar-based all-India estimates?
[SSC CGL Tier-I, 21 Jul 2023, Shift 1]
- A. ₹3,000
- B. ₹1,000
- C. ₹2,000
- D. ₹1,500
Answer: B. ₹1,000
Explanation: The Tendulkar-based all-India urban poverty threshold for 2011–12 was approximately ₹1,000 monthly per person. Its rural counterpart was about ₹816. These are period-specific historical lines, not contemporary cost-of-living standards.
42. Which listed factors can contribute to poverty: low resource endowment, unequal income and asset distribution, and inadequate social services?
[SSC CGL Tier-II (AAO), 27 Oct 2023]
- A. First and third only
- B. First and second only
- C. All three
- D. Second and third only
Answer: C. All three
Explanation: Poverty can arise from limited productive resources, inequitable control of income and assets, and weak access to health and education. These mechanisms can reinforce one another, reducing earning opportunities and slowing improvements in living standards across generations.
41. Which are accepted categories of poverty among absolute, relative, subjective and functional poverty?
[UPPSC PCS Prelims 2023, GS-I]
- A. Absolute and functional
- B. Absolute, relative and subjective
- C. Subjective and functional only
- D. Absolute and relative only
Answer: B. Absolute, relative and subjective
Explanation: Absolute poverty refers to deprivation relative to a fixed minimum, relative poverty compares conditions within a society, and subjective poverty relies on perceived adequacy. Functional poverty was not included as a conventional category in this examination’s classification.
