Reports & indices

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Prelims 2018 · Q3

Hard

As per the NSSO 70th Round "Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households", consider the following statements:

1.Rajasthan has the highest percentage share of agricultural households among its rural households.
2.Out of the total agricultural households in the country, a little over 60 percent belong to OBCs.
3.In Kerala, a little over 60 percent of agricultural households reported to have received maximum income from sources other than agricultural activities.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

The NSS 70th round (2013) found Rajasthan with the highest share of agricultural households among rural households and Kerala as the one major State where most agricultural households earned their main income outside farming. The OBC share was about 45 per cent, not over 60.

✓ 1. 78.4 per cent of Rajasthan's rural households were agricultural households, the highest of any State; Kerala had the lowest share (27.3 per cent).
✗ 2. About 45 per cent of agricultural households belonged to Other Backward Classes, with about 16 per cent from Scheduled Castes and 13 per cent from Scheduled Tribes.
✓ 3. About 61 per cent of Kerala's agricultural households received their maximum income from sources other than agricultural activities.

Remember · NSS 70th round (2013): Rajasthan 78.4% rural households agricultural (highest), Kerala 27.3% (lowest); OBCs about 45% of agricultural households; Kerala the non-farm-income exception.

Sources

Key Indicators of Situation of Agricultural Households in India (NSS 70th round), PIB, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation ↗ “Rajasthan had highest percentage of agricultural households (78.4 percent) among its rural households and Kerala had the least percentage share of agricultural households (27.3 percent) in its rural households. Out of the total estimated agricultural households in the country, about 45 percent belonged to Other Backward Classes. … except Kerala where about 61 percent of the agricultural households reported to have received maximum income from sources other than agricultural activities.”

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

Prelims 2018 · Q14

Easy

"Rule of Law Index" is released by which of the following?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) World Justice Project

The Rule of Law Index is compiled by the World Justice Project (WJP), an independent organisation based in Washington, D.C. It scores countries on how people experience the rule of law, using household and expert surveys.

✓ (d) The WJP describes its Rule of Law Index as its flagship dataset; the 2025 edition covers 143 countries and jurisdictions.
✗ (a) Amnesty International is a human-rights campaigning NGO known for its annual report on the state of human rights, not this index.
✗ (b) The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and decides disputes between States; it publishes no country index.

Remember · Rule of Law Index = World Justice Project (independent, U.S.-based); measures eight factors such as constraints on government powers, absence of corruption and fundamental rights.