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CSAT 2018 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2018 · Question 53 · Reading comprehension

What is the crucial message conveyed by the above passage?

Passage—5

Being a member of the WTO, India is bound by the agreements that have been signed and ratified by its members, including itself. According to Article 6 of the Agriculture Agreement, providing minimum support prices for agricultural products is considered distorting and is subject to limits. The subsidy arising from ‘minimal supports’ cannot exceed 10 per cent of the value of agricultural production for developing countries. PDS in India entails minimum support prices and public stockholding of food grains. It is possible that, in some years, the subsidy to producers will exceed 10 per cent of the value of agricultural production.

CSAT 2018 · Q53

Reading comprehension Easy

What is the crucial message conveyed by the above passage?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) For India, food security collides with trade.

India's PDS rests on minimum support prices and public stockholding, but WTO rules cap such support at 10 per cent of the value of agricultural production — a cap India may exceed in some years. The crucial message is the clash between food security and trade commitments.

  • ✗ (a) A prescription the passage does not make; it points out the conflict without saying which side should give way.
  • ✗ (b) Too extreme; the passage takes membership as given and says India is bound by the agreements.
  • ✓ (c) PDS (food security) needs minimum support prices that WTO's Agriculture Agreement (trade) limits to 10 per cent — the two collide.
  • ✗ (d) Background at most; the passage is about the conflict with WTO rules, not a statement of India's achievement.

Remember · When a passage sets two commitments against each other, the crucial message is the conflict itself, not a remedy.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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