UPSC Prelims 1995 · General Studies

Question 76: Economy and Social Development

One of the reasons for India’s occupational structure remaining more or less the same over the years has been that

ainvestment pattern has been directed towards capital-intensive industries

bproductivity in agriculture has been high enough to induce people to stay with agriculture

cceilings on land holdings have enabled more people to own land and hence their preference to stay with agriculture

dpeople are largely unaware of the significance of transition from agriculture to industry for economic development

AnswerThe answer is (a).

India's occupational structure, with most workers still in agriculture, has changed little because planned investment went mainly into capital-intensive industries such as steel and heavy machinery, which created too few jobs to draw people out of farming. Farm productivity was not high enough to induce people to stay, and land ceilings were too weakly enforced to matter. Remember: capital-intensive industry created few jobs, so workers stayed in agriculture.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Right: capital-intensive investment created too few jobs outside agriculture.
(b) Farm productivity was low, so it did not induce people to stay; they stayed for lack of other work.
(c) Land ceilings did not give enough people land to explain the pattern.
(d) People did not stay for lack of awareness; the lack of non-farm jobs was the problem.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 1995, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.