Poverty & Inclusive Growth: Chapter test

The Global Gender Gap Index, published annually by the World Economic Forum since 2006, benchmarks the gaps between women and men in four subindexes: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. Each subindex and the overall index are scored from 0 to 1, where 1 means full parity, and the score can be read as the percentage of the gender gap that has been closed. Health and Survival uses the sex ratio at birth and the gap between female and male healthy life expectancy. 'Reproductive Health' is not a GGGI subindex. It is one of the three dimensions of UNDP's Gender Inequality Index, measured by the maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent birth rate. The two indices are often confused because both deal with gender, but they come from different organisations and use different scales: in the GGGI higher is better, while in the GII a lower value means less inequality. In the 2025 edition, Political Empowerment remained the least closed subindex worldwide.

All three are correct. SDG 1 reads 'End poverty in all its forms everywhere'. Target 1.2 asks for halving poverty in all its dimensions by national definitions by 2030 (India tracks it with the national MPI), and target 1.3 asks for nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors. Target 1.1 is about eradicating extreme poverty measured by the international line.

Pair 1 is correct: the Inclusive Development Index was a World Economic Forum product, last published as a stand-alone index in 2018, with economies scored from 1 to 7 in three pillars. Pair 2 is correct: the Gender Inequality Index is one of UNDP's composite indices, published in the Human Development Report since 2010, with dimensions of reproductive health, empowerment and labour market participation. Pair 3 is wrong. The Planetary pressures-adjusted HDI was introduced by UNDP itself in the Human Development Report 2020, which adjusts the HDI for carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint per capita; UNEP publishes other reports, such as the Emissions Gap Report, but not this index. Pair 4 is correct: the Social Progress Index for States and Districts was released in December 2022 by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and prepared at its mandate by the Institute for Competitiveness and the Social Progress Imperative. Three pairs are correctly matched.

The Social Progress Index for States and Districts was released on 20 December 2022 by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). It was prepared by the Institute for Competitiveness and the Social Progress Imperative at the Council's mandate, so statement 2 is correct. The index measures social and environmental outcomes rather than income, using three dimensions, Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing and Opportunity, with 12 components below them and 89 indicators at the State level and 49 at the district level. Statement 1 is correct. Based on their scores, States and districts were grouped into six tiers of social progress, from very high to very low, which makes statement 3 correct as well. Puducherry recorded the highest score (65.99), followed by Lakshadweep and Goa, while Jharkhand (43.95) and Bihar (44.47) were at the bottom. Aizawl, Solan and Shimla led among districts. Because it ignores GDP, the index complements income measures and helps target regional gaps in inclusive growth.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. The Global MPI was introduced in the Human Development Report 2010 by OPHI and UNDP, replacing the Human Poverty Index used since 1997. Its three dimensions each get one-third of the weight. Statement 3 is wrong: a person is MPI-poor if deprived in at least one-third of the weighted indicators; a score of 50 per cent or more marks severe poverty, and 20 to 33.3 per cent marks vulnerability to poverty.

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. The Alagh Task Force converted calorie norms of 2,400 (rural) and 2,100 (urban) calories a day into rupee poverty lines at 1973-74 prices. The Lakdawala Expert Group kept that basket but made it State-specific and updated it with State price indices. Statement 3 is wrong: rural lines were updated with the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL); the CPI for Industrial Workers was used for urban lines.

The World Bank's Spring 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief, based on the Household Consumption Expenditure Surveys, put India's consumption-based Gini index at 25.5 in 2022- 23, down from 28.8 in 2011-12; the PIB release of 5 July 2025 described India as the fourth most equal country after the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Belarus. Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is a standard caveat. Richer households save a larger part of their income, so their consumption is spread less widely than their income, and household surveys also tend to miss the very rich; consumption-based estimates therefore usually show lower inequality than income or wealth data, which is why commentators warned against comparing India's figure with income Ginis of other countries. Statement 3 is wrong. On the World Bank's classification, values below 25 are low inequality, while 25 to 30 is moderately low; at 25.5, India sits just inside the moderately low band, close to the threshold. China (35.7) and the United States (41.8) were well above it.

Each of the three pillars of the Inclusive Development Index had four key performance indicators. The Inclusion pillar captured how widely the benefits of growth were shared and used median household income, the income Gini, the poverty rate and the wealth Gini. Median rather than mean income was chosen because it reflects the situation of the typical household and is not pulled up by the very rich. Items 1 and 2 therefore belong to this pillar. Labour productivity belonged to the Growth and Development pillar, together with GDP per capita, employment and healthy life expectancy, so item 3 is not in Inclusion. The dependency ratio was part of the Intergenerational Equity and Sustainability pillar, together with adjusted net savings, public debt as a share of GDP and the carbon intensity of GDP, because a rising share of dependants puts pressure on future generations. Only two of the four indicators are in the Inclusion pillar.

The 12th Five-Year Plan (2012–17) had the theme "Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth" (d). Options (b) and (c) use some of the same words but miss "faster", and (a) is closer in spirit to earlier plans. The 11th Plan (2007–12) was "Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth", so the 12th simply added sustainability.

The 12th was India's last Five-Year Plan. NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in January 2015 and moved to vision and strategy documents instead. Notice how plan themes trace India's changing priorities: from heavy industry in the 2nd Plan to inclusion and sustainability later.

Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.

Open this question's page →

All three are correct (d). Inclusive growth, the theme of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007–12), means growth whose gains reach the poor and excluded. Self-Help Groups give women and the poor credit, savings and income (1). MSMEs create jobs on a large scale and spread industry beyond big cities (2). The Right to Education Act, 2009 builds the skills that let people share in growth (3). So options (a), (b) and (c) leave out real tools.

Notice the present versions: DAY-NRLM links about 10 crore women to SHGs, the Udyam portal registers MSMEs, and the NEP 2020 builds on the RTE. The 12th Plan's theme was 'faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth'. Trap: inclusive growth is about broad access, so all three fit.

Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.

Open this question's page →