Minimalist IAS
CSAT 2022 paper

UPSC CSE CSAT 2022 · Question 14 · Reading comprehension

What does the author mean by ‘poverty of a life’?

Passage—2

The poverty line is quite unsatisfactory when it comes to grasping the extent of poverty in India. It is not only because of its extremely narrow definition of ‘who is poor’ and the debatable methodology used to count the poor, but also because of a more fundamental assumption underlying it. It exclusively relies on the notion of poverty as insufficient income or insufficient purchasing power. One can better categorize it by calling it income poverty. If poverty is ultimately about deprivations affecting human well-being, then income poverty is only one aspect of it. Poverty of a life, in our view, lies not merely in the impoverished state in which the person actually lives, but also in the lack of real opportunity given by social constraints as well as personal circumstances—to choose other types of living. Even the relevance of low incomes, meagre possessions, and other aspects of what are standardly seen as economic poverty relate ultimately to their role in curtailing capabilities, i.e., their role in severely restricting the choices people have to lead variable and valued lives.

CSAT 2022 · Q14

Reading comprehension Medium

What does the author mean by ‘poverty of a life’?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) All deprivations in a human life which stem not only from lack of income but lack of real opportunities

The author says poverty of a life lies “not merely in the impoverished state in which the person actually lives, but also in the lack of real opportunity” to choose other ways of living. That means deprivation from lack of income and from lack of real opportunities together.

  • ✓ (a) Matches both halves of the definition: the impoverished state and “the lack of real opportunity given by social constraints as well as personal circumstances”.
  • ✗ (b) Covers only the first half (the impoverished state), and the rural–urban angle is not in the passage.
  • ✗ (c) Only a fragment: personal circumstances are one source of lost opportunity, and the impoverished state is left out.
  • ✗ (d) “Permanently” is added; the passage speaks of restricting choices, never of a permanent restriction.

Remember · For ‘what does the author mean by’ items, find the defining sentence and pick the option covering all its parts — nothing added.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

More on Reading comprehension

All Reading comprehension questions →