With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: 1. Equality is a prerequisite for people to participate in the multiple transactions of society from a position of confidence. 2. Occurrence of inequality is detrimental to the survival of democracy. 3. Equal standing of all citizens is an idea that cannot actually be realised even in a democracy. 4. Right to equality should be incorporated into our values and day-to-day political vocabulary. Which of the above assumptions are valid?

UPSC CSAT 2021 Q33: With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made: — Answer & Explanation

Passage—3

Inequality violates a basic democratic norm: the equal standing of citizens. Equality is a relation that obtains between persons in respect of some fundamental characteristic that they share in common. Equality is, morally speaking, a default principle. Therefore, persons should not be discriminated on grounds such as race, caste, gender, ethnicity, disability, or class. These features of human condition are morally irrelevant. The idea that one should treat persons with respect not only because some of these persons possess some special features or talent, for example skilled cricketers, gifted musicians, or literary giants, but because persons are human beings, is by now part of commonsense morality.

CSAT 2021 · Q33

Reading comprehension Hard

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

1.Equality is a prerequisite for people to participate in the multiple transactions of society from a position of confidence.
2.Occurrence of inequality is detrimental to the survival of democracy.
3.Equal standing of all citizens is an idea that cannot actually be realised even in a democracy.
4.Right to equality should be incorporated into our values and day-to-day political vocabulary.

Which of the above assumptions are valid?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 1 and 4 only

The author treats the equal standing of citizens as a basic norm and a default principle, and notes that respecting persons simply as human beings is now commonsense morality. This rests on equality mattering for people to take part in society with confidence (1) and belonging in our everyday values (4); claims about democracy's survival or equality being unattainable go beyond or against the text.

✓ 1. Equal standing and respect for persons 'because persons are human beings', whatever their caste, gender or class, is what lets people deal with society without being lowered — the premise behind calling equality a default principle.
✗ 2. Inequality 'violates a basic democratic norm'; the passage does not say it threatens the survival of democracy — that escalates the claim.
✗ 3. This contradicts the passage, which says equal respect is 'by now part of commonsense morality'.
✓ 4. Since equal respect is a moral default and part of commonsense morality, the author assumes equality belongs in our values and everyday political language.

Remember · 'Violates a norm' is not 'threatens survival' — reject assumptions that escalate the passage's claim.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2021, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

With reference to the above passage, the following assumptions have been made:

Passage—3

CSAT 2021 · Q33

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