परिच्छेद द्वारा संप्रेषित सर्वाधिक तार्किक और निर्णायक संदेश क्या है?
Read this question in English
What is the most logical and crucial message conveyed by the passage?
(a) Urban local bodies must recover costs through user charges. · (b) Urban local bodies are not efficient enough to meet the water requirements of our cities. · (c) Water shortage in our cities is a perennial problem that cannot be solved. · (d) In view of the water crisis in our cities, there is an urgent need to limit the population of cities by adopting an upper limit of population size.
उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English
Answer: (a) शहरी स्थानीय निकायों को उपभोक्ता शुल्कों के माध्यम से लागत वसूलनी चाहिए।
The passage lists the heavy costs of supplying water and treating sewage, says financing mechanisms are essential, and ends: water could be free only if cities could bear the whole cost — 'They are not.' The message is that the cost must be recovered, which points to charging users.
- ✓ (a) Cities cannot meet 'the entire cost', so water cannot be delivered free; the financing the first line demands must come from the users of the service.
- ✗ (b) The passage blames a lack of money, not inefficiency of the urban bodies.
- ✗ (c) The author offers a way out — financing mechanisms — so the problem is not presented as unsolvable.
- ✗ (d) Capping city populations is not discussed at all.
Remember · When a passage ends by ruling out 'free', its crucial message is about who should pay.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·