UPSC Prelims 2022 · CSAT

Question 12: Reading Comprehension

Passage beginning “The poverty line is quite unsatisfactory…” — Passage—2 · as printed by UPSC

Why is the methodology adopted in India to count the ‘poor’ debatable?

aThere is some confusion regarding what should constitute the ‘poverty line’.

bThere are wide diversities in the condition of the rural and urban poor.

cThere is no uniform global standard for measuring income poverty.

dIt is based on the proposition of poverty as meagre income or buying capacity.

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (d).

The passage says the poverty line counts only a shortfall of income or buying power, which the author calls income poverty, and treats that as a narrow basis for what is really a wider deprivation of well-being. So the counting method is debatable because it rests on the premise that poverty means too little income or buying capacity. The passage says nothing about confusion over what the line should be, about rural and urban differences, or about a global standard.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) Not stated: the passage does not discuss confusion over what the line should be.
(b) Not stated: rural and urban differences are not mentioned.
(c) Not stated: global standards are not discussed.
(d) Correct: the method assumes poverty is only low income or low buying power.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2022, General Studies Paper II (CSAT), Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.