Which one of the following statements best reflects the crux of the above passage?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Maintaining high environmental standards is now a prerequisite for achieving a steady, sufficient and inclusive growth.
Green growth means rethinking growth around environmental sustainability and frugal use of resources; otherwise we face an economic dead end or affluence for a small elite amid poverty. So high environmental standards are now a condition for steady and inclusive growth.
- ✗ (a) The passage treats sustainability as necessary for growth to continue, not as opposed to it.
- ✗ (b) The passage warns against resource-intensive growth; it does not say environmental degradation is the price of ending poverty.
- ✓ (c) Resource-frugal strategies are needed ‘if we are to avoid an economic dead end’ (steady, sufficient growth) or a world where ‘only a small elite’ enjoys affluence (inclusive growth).
- ✗ (d) The passage offers a way forward; it does not call degradation and inequality inevitable.
Remember · When the passage proposes a solution, reject options that call the problem inevitable or the solution harmful.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·